MUSCATINE, Iowa — When a group of Muscatine County history lovers discovered a log cabin in the Wildcat Den State Park area, they were fascinated with its possible history.

The cabin was discovered by Ryan Schneider when he was tearing down an old, wood-paneled home on his property near the park in the hamlet of New Era.

Schneider knew his property’s original owner was Muscatine County’s first settler, Benjamin Nye, and hoped that Nye had built the cabin.

He discussed the possibility with his fellow members of the Friends of the Pine Creek Grist Mill, a group of volunteers who have restored the 160-year-old  historic structure in Wildcat Den.

Tom Hanifan, president of the Friends of the Mill, said funding from former Muscatine resident, Don Bently of Nevada, made it possible for the Friends to hire a team of dendrochronologists. people who specialize in the science of tree-ring counting.

Hanifan said Bently’s interest in the project stemmed from the fact that he may be a descendent of the Nye family.

After studying a sample, the dendrochronologists determined the logs had come from trees cut in 1857 to 1858. Because Nye died in 1852, they concluded he did not build the cabin. 

That finding did not discourage Schneider and the Friends from seeing the value of the cabin as an educational tool.

And it wasn’t the only

new information they gleaned from the study.

 The Friends also asked the dendrochronologists to take samples from the  beams in the Pine Creek Grist Mill. Historic records give several dates for construction of the mill including 1848, 1849 or 1850, said Hyman, but most sources say the mill was built in 1848 so that is the date the Friends of the Mill use.

According to the tree-ring analysis of the mill beams, they were built out of trees that were cut in the winter of 1846-1847. Because dendrochronology is estimated to be accurate within two years, Hyman said the construction date of 1848 is very possible.

“Since the mill is a large structure, some of the beams may have been cut a year or two ahead of the actual mill construction,” said Hyman. “Only a couple beams were sampled so other beams may have other dates.”

An early fire

Hyman said the dendrochronologists also found that the cabin logs had fire scars,   which can be used to accurately date fires that burned through the woods.

“We assume the logs were cut in the vicinity of where the cabin was built,” said Hyman. “Why cut a log 10 miles away?”

Based on that information, the Friends members deduce that fires occurred in the Wildcat Den State Park area in 1714, 1734, 1745, 1752, 1756, and 1776.

“In 1714, while the European settlers were living just on the East Coast, we know there was a forest fire in eastern Muscatine County – amazing,” said Hyman.

Reporter contact information

Cynthia Beaudette 563-262-0527

cynthia.beaudette@muscatinejournal.com