Ep156: Homestead History - How did early settlers clear land?

In this video, we take a look back at some homestead history involving how early settlers in the US colonies were able to clear land they purchased.
Book Reference: archive.org/stream/americanhi...
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[@FreeAmerican-mm2my]

I had uncles tell me stories about what it was like to clear "new land" in North Alabama in the 1930s. They said that the roots would be so bad that as you plowed with the mule the roots would come back and slap you in the leg. To avoid this, you were constantly trying to jump over the roots before they hit you.

[@Wren6858]

Almost like the land was fighting back! People did what they had to but its a shame we dont have more old growth left. I saw a tulip poplar in georgia maybe 7 or 8 feet in diameter. It still amazes me. Cant imagine what a whole forest full of them would have been like.

[@nelsonariza4075]

That's a good formula to tackle living nowadays. Live in a shitty house for sometime. Start tacking small things, and clearing the way for what's going to be more productive. Tackle the bigger things anyway you can, so you can even be more productive. And then once you're out of debt, get a bigger home. Most of us do it backwards nowadays. Get bigger home, and not clear the clutter out of our life.

[@RedToolHouse]

Yes, I fell into that trap at a young age. Had I known then what I know now, I would have done it all differently.

[@bevlower6793]

i'd be happy with 40 acres & a mule. thanks again, most enjoyable.

[@RedToolHouse]

That would fulfill a great number of people's dreams today!

[@drstevenbrule]

Seems like that was promised to many Americans

[@treyellis3]

Got 37 myself, just need the mule now.

[@shealdedmon7104]

No you wouldn't.

[@shealdedmon7104]

@@RedToolHouse so when you ring a tree and the canopy is opened up. How are you supposed to plow the ground around the tree with all those roots?

[@MrTaylorfenoglio]

Its amazing how sometimes we think people can't be like they were in the day. however we just got hit with a hurricane and all my neighbors and myself got to work clearing the trees together. We cleaned the entire neighborhood in just a couple days and started repairs to homes and fences. This is the American way.

[@MrCoaster36]

I'd love this type of video as a series. I liked the readings for your wife. I found it fascinating. Thumbs up

[@RedToolHouse]

Thanks! She reads much better than I!

[@theparkjunkie]

Love the historic nature of this piece!

[@historygradstu]

Very interesting, makes excellent sense to tackle it like that. Its also my understanding that much of the deforestation was on equal plane as the coaliers who produced wood charcoal for forges.... A group of 4 coaliers could strip a 1/4 square mile area in the effort to produce charcoal

[@CliffsideStables]

Well that was certainly an interesting and different “how to“ video! Tim

[@NadyaPena-01]

I loved this video. It was an engaging history lesson. Please keep them coming! Thank you.

[@williamrakes4637]

Keep the historical videos coming, love them.

[@RedToolHouse]

Will do!

[@deanbarr5740]

Loved the history lesson RTH. I couldn't imagine having to work like our forefathers and trying to protect the family at the same time. Not to mention everything you did was with handtools. We have si much to appreciate and be Thankful for. Good video Troy👍👍👍

[@RedToolHouse]

Yes! I always tell my boys when they complain about the hard work of splitting and stacking firewood, "Imagine trying to do this with the constant threat of getting shot by an Indian!"

[@MrVailtown]

Lest we forget the work they did . Very nice

[@livelife4471]

Interesting topic, well presented. Thank you.

[@hoffmanfamily_homestead2381]

I love videos like this! It is so refreshing to find others who share the same interests as we have! Keep them coming!

[@RedToolHouse]

Will do!

[@robertbates6057]

I read an account of one of the early white settlers to Fannin Co. GA that chopped a trail from NC down into N GA, chopped a clearing to chop a small cabin and chop his way back to NC to collect his family. Chopped a trail wider to get his ox cart and family down into N GA and chopped a farm down by the river. Holy crap! This was right after Indian removal and these were giant trees .Appalachian folks absolutely have my respect!

[@chux11379]

U can definitely homestead happy in 2022

[@relwoodmusic3630]

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

[@mikegriffin3437]

That was a fun video. Thanks to both of you for the education.

[@RedToolHouse]

Glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!

[@francoispienaar1256]

Great video! Love the Spirit of the Pioneers! The Spirit of God greatly moved during that time!

[@RedToolHouse]

Absolutely!

[@51rwyatt]

Very interesting and answered a question I've long had

[@leoncaruthers]

Big trunks generally translates into sparse forest, so it doesn't take as many felled trees to clear the land, and the soil under it will be good and rich from a century or more of leaf fall and mycorrhizal growth. I'm not terribly surprised that it didn't take many hands to carve out a cleared spot and profit on it, especially if you can take the time to ring and dry out the trees a bit first.

[@RedToolHouse]

I guess if you had all day to work it and your very life depended on it, you would be motivated to move much quicker!

[@civilwarbuff4555]

Love these kinds of vids.....keep them coming.....

[@RedToolHouse]

Will do!

[@robertsteinbrecher5269]

I love these videos about history. Great job as usual.

[@RedToolHouse]

Thanks, Robert!

[@RickMartinYouTube]

same here - never really imagined the size of the trees/forests our ancestors dealt with when arriving - and what it entailed to clear the land....very industrious folks....(what happened?)

[@psjasker]

Dunno if I like this channel because of the first-rate info or how likeable and decent you folks are. No matter - great stuff.

[@dennisst.germaine3497]

I really like this kind of video thanks for sharing!

[@RedToolHouse]

Glad you liked it

[@btetschner]

Thank you for the video.

[@stephenlindsey9233]

Absolutely fascinating materal!

[@Duben-ym5vi]

The concept of farmer helping farmer is just the American way. To see it in abundance meet plain people.

[@mzh22003]

I am glad to hear that you got more than what you needed...

[@RedToolHouse]

Yes, gifts like yours were very helpful. God bless you!

[@mzh22003]

God bless us all...

[@colettemitchell3412]

Very interesting thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@RedToolHouse]

Thanks for watching.

[@tommybounds3220]

Thank you for the video

[@garybartek]

nice video. great format. The readings were very enjoyable. The use of prescribed burn sotospeak was a surprise to quickly tame a section of his forest land. I wonder how widespread that burn practice was for the early pioneers.

[@RedToolHouse]

That is a good question. I know there are accounts of fire being used to burn out vegetation quickly around fortifications.

[@grdelawter4266]

I’ve begun to look at some older videos of yours. I absolutely love love love this video! I love every piece and part of it. I’ve always wondered how they did that. It reminds me of the story of how do you eat an elephant.

[@vernonvest9927]

Thanks bring out what our four fathers accomplished together,we would not be here today if it were not for them joining together. Together Together.

[@nancys.100]

I enjoy your channel!

[@berttondo6170]

Awesome video. I am doing this same type of clearing right now and was curious how they did it before powerful equipment.

[@jamesalanstephensmith7930]

Interesting!

[@trevorstolz8580]

I really appreciated this video. I grew up in northern British Colombia. I read a book that contained the original writings of people who were abducted by the Indians and spend considerable time with them. In one account, one of the writers was talking about how he was in the bush with a native. They saw claw marks on a cedar tree but there were no animal foot prints at all around the tree and there was a large hole in the trunk of the tree several feet up from the ground. They surmised that a female bear had hibernated in the tree because that's why they do so that when their cubs are born, they are protected, being inside the tree. (Of course that's what female bears do, right? Because there are just so many cedar trees big enough for bears to hibernate in, right? Well at least there were in the 1700's in British Colombia.) As an aside, I loved the movie, Dances with Wolves, but I am surprised that no one has made a movie about the west coast Indians. Being west of the Rocky Mountains, where the vegetation is so lush and there is (or used to be) just endless deer, moose, salmon, seafood, blueberries, wild strawberries, etc food was easy to find. It was the west coast Indians who had the time to develop such a rich culture with long houses, totem poles, cedar mask, elaborate costumes, pot latches, etc. The plains Indians were the nomadic Indians who had to follow the buffalo. I think the culture of the west coast Indians has been under appreciated. I'm Canadian but I wonder if it was similar in California, also west of the Rockies where the California Redwood trees grow.

[@twbishop]

@8:50 a "handsome wooden house" at that time would have probably had a dirt floor and certainly no indoor plumbing. fun fact: the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the US was recorded to be in the early 19th century. @9:28

[@TheTrashologist]

You can still get the land on credit only difference is not even your kids will be able to pay it off in their life time.

[@ubetchya78]

Great job raising $ to help out the charity! Interesting history refresher, kids today don't seem to hear this stuff at all.

[@RedToolHouse]

This is why I love source documentation. Really gets to the details

[@donnieboyjohnson]

awesome

[@mzh22003]

I wish to live in a place like that... I wish to buy some land and build a log cabin... hopefully that day will come true soon... haha thanks for sharing your videos...

[@RedToolHouse]

Thanks for watching and for your support!

[@julier1080]

I was waiting to see if there was mention of the stumps. The trees are easy enough to deal with, but with only horses or oxen, I can imagine getting rid of those huge stumps/roots was a major chore. Even burning a stump takes long time, and doesn’t get rid of the root system to allow plowing.

[@RedToolHouse]

I believe the oxen were the key to removing the stumps. My grandfather had experience as a child working a team for that reason.

[@getintothewildwithjeffruma8777]

I cleared some of my own land last year on my channel using chainsaws and it was back breaking work. I enjoyed it but it is hard work for sure. Great video.

[@farnorthhomested844]

wow! great video. i always wonder how they cleared the forest. where i am from i was told years ago that every thing around was fields. now most is over grown. i remember helping hay a field that now when i drive by its mostly all grown up with trees. or i would walk in the woods and find stone walls like almost a mile in the woods. was there another town there? i also wondered before seeing this, what they did with all the trees. please do another one. i would like to save this video if i could so i can order that book that you quoted from.

[@DavidSmith-fr1uz]

The fact that land was that cheap and they could make enough product to take to market in a couple of years is amazing. It takes at least a 1000 acres to be profitable raising cereal grains according to one Missouri farmer I heard on KZbin bemoaning the state of farming today. With arable land running 8k or more and acre, that would be 8 million dollars in land alone. It seems a hard hill to climb if you don't already have access to land.

[@autoglass08]

Do you have a video how ponds where built back in the day ??

[@christinamoneyhan5688]

You can never go back but, I left a small village in Pa. where neighbors would willingly help another neighbor with out compensation. Great place to have lived for 52 of my now 68 years. It's there you just need to look for it. Hint it's not in the bigger cities or towns. Just in small villages.

[@RedToolHouse]

I grew up in a similar small town. We had many a hay weekend where people would help one another put up hay.

[@vernonvest9927]

Was the canopy under those large trees 🌳 was it more open .

[@Oxmanfarmer]

What is the name of the book you are referencing? It sounds like one I would enjoy reading.

[@RedToolHouse]

They Hacked the Clearings. It is pre-copyright so if you send me your email via our website (redtoolhouse.com) contact form, I will email it to you.

[@kevinhuff]

It's always possible to become a planter. City life has been easier so that's what people chose. As city life has gotten harder and more dangerous people will start choosing small farms again.

[@artytomparis]

Those things do still happen. Not necessarily for homesteading but where new territory and adventure are involved people show how great they can be Yes, a pity about the tax's.

[@helmet151]

It was nice seeing your wife read the text

[@russellmillar7132]

Maybe it doesn't occur to the average white person that the natives of the land that Europeans were discovering, had practiced agriculture for millennia prior to the 1500s. The Indians had cleared forest for garden plots long hence and shared with white settlers the knowledge of which crops could sustain them and how to clear the land of the healthy forests, the likes of which had long since been scraped from the western European landscape. The vast majority of those immigrants had never seen a virgin forest or taken down any wild game. If it wasn't for the native American's willingness to share and trade with whites peacefully, and teach them how to hunt deer and grow corn--our early history and conquest of this continent would have been far more difficult.

[@historygradstu]

Horse poo, the population of immigrants before the revolution was a flood, the population doubled every 25 years...all political butt kissing aside, it was going to happen with or without indians help or slaves

[@georgepeters9381]

Do you log around Charleston?

[@michaeldalton8374]

Girdling and gunpowder. They drank cider because the water was considered unsafe/unknown.

[@demyrahall]

This is interesting information for modern-day homesteading but today one may have to focus on a specialized crop that has a higher market value or use a barter system with neighbors and have a nice paying part-time job for subsistence income to get to the point of paying the debt off quickly. It also makes me wonder what would the Africans enslaved in this land have accomplished if they had been given the same opportunities???

[@DEVUNK88]

I guess my first question is what is todays equivalent of $200 back then.

[@bigwigstothegibbets6157]

By merely removing a ring of bark, won't the tree continually sprout shooters from the root? What'd the settlers do about the re-growth from all the root balls in the forest? Constant maintenance?

[@RedToolHouse]

There are a few trees in the Appalachian forest that would sprout back. Most would die out especially the oaks. In my experience, the resprouting doesn’t occur until after the next dormant season. The garden harvest would be done before then

[@user-wv5fq8di2m]

I think the livestock may have grazed down the sprouts. Tree sprouts are pretty high in nutrition.

[@joshblick]

General "Rochambeau"??? From Southpark? LOL

[@lordvader5246]

"You used to be able to buy, build and flourish on a plot of land in america within 5 years. But now thats impossible. Oh well." Bullshit. Theres no reason why we cant have that. We allowed that to be taken from us and so far we havent been willing to do what it takes to get it back. We just need the bravery and audacity of our founding fathers. But we can absolutely have that again, and without any of the downsides you mentioned.

[@bobcriss600]

At 1.20. ....”tip my hat...l but, the hat didn’t move...? Just joking....

[@richtomlinson7090]

It's obvious that the land is cheap because of the need to clear it in order to settle it and let the income roll in, for the crown. Of course the native people are angry and they will attack because the land was their hunting grounds.

[@realxxbulletsxx7624]

They must not have had briars 12ft tall and 3inch thick! I hate that stuff!

[@bootmender]

I see so many of you have a negative outlook, as I read your response to this great video. You have been taught this negativity by our educational system. For instance we are always hearing the argument about minimum wage being to low? I personally don’t think there needs to be a minimum wage. I am a 10th grade dropout and I never worked for minimum-wage. Why are you looking at your feet instead of at the stars. I bought 1300 acres farm in 1988 for 1 million Dollar loan. People said your crazy. The property had a lot of timber and farms on both sides were drilling gas wells. The worst thing that could happen I give it back to the Bank. Nothing ventured nothing gained! I paid it off in 10 years and it was producing a profit. I took a chance and it paid off. Our forefathers didn’t know the future, but they were going to shoot for the stars 🌟 and let God do the rest. An’t America Great!

[@authaire]

ok boomer

[@authaire]

@Danny DNA ok boomer

[@middleway1885]

If the government wanted more food security and productive people, they should open up the homestead act again... and let the farmers and those wanting to create job opportunities to terraform the blm...

[@fizzybillylah3816]

In them days Francois should have said "Any white man could"...not to be a party pooper but it wasn't that easy for everyone to get ahead...not to mention the original inhabitants of the land. But thanks for the info.

[@SkinnyFatHero]

Black labor

[@RedToolHouse]

Not quite.

[@larrykluckoutdoors8227]

I would not like to do all that

[@RockSolidPro]

It amazes me how excited a culture of people can be over stolen land and the use of slave labor. This is the culture clash

[@Coherentm]

good stuff