The Evolution of the Log Cabin 
and convenience. Occa¬ 
sionally a traveler would 
construct a shack of stone, 
which would also serve as 
a rude tort. A little later, 
men of means penetrated 
into the forests, and in 
many cases erected build¬ 
ings of stone, which would 
also serve as fortifications. 
This was almost universally 
the case where permanent 
settlements were made 
along the Mohawk Valley 
during the early French 
and Indian wars. 
After the advent of the 
saw-mill, the home of the 
early settler took on a 
different appearance; but 
even then, they were con¬ 
structed in the interest of economy and rude 
convenience and were entirely devoid of lines 
of beauty. If one will ride along roads lead¬ 
ing from the Mohawk River either north or 
south, he will perhaps notice old dwellings in 
all degrees of dilapidation and decay, situated, 
sometimes, near a more modern mansion 
quite pretentious perhaps in the midst of its 
rural surroundings. He will also occasionally 
THE DEN AT “ FORT JOHNSON 
THE OLD BUTLER HOUSE 
see dwellings that seem to indicate adverse 
fortunes in a family, as well as the decay of 
buildings, and will be able, sometimes, to trace 
their misfortunes in broken palings, and roses 
grown wild and choked with a dense growth 
of weeds. 
The Frey house, near the Palatine Bridge 
Station on the New York Central Railroad, is 
a fair representative of the rude architecture 
of the Mohawk Valley 
during the French and 
Indian wars, having been 
built in 1739, and pali¬ 
saded as an additional 
defense against the in¬ 
roads of the French and 
their savage allies. The 
Ehle house was erected in 
1750 and was also fortified 
by a stockade as a refuge 
of defense during the 
Revolution. The Van 
Alstyne house, situated 
in the village of Canajo- 
harie, is somewhat more 
pretentious than the Frey 
and Ehle houses and is 
sometimes miscalled Fort 
Rensselaer. Some of the 
interior fittings of this old 
house, notably the deep 
fireplaces and ornamental 
