Dan Schoeneberg - General Manager, Experience Resources

Of all of the sights, sounds, and smells around Conner Prairie, there are a few that always stand out to me, in no particular order.

-    The impressive sight of oxen pulling a cart through Prairietown.
-    The sight and sound of our blacksmiths forging and shaping hot metal.
-    The obvious smells of farm life around the Golden Eagle.
-    The smell of a cooking fire, with its smells of food, and wood smoke.
-    The sight of our interpreters engaging our guests.

I always come back though to the view of the Prairie from the front of the Conner House as my favorite spot. As we wind down summer, and head in to fall with the turning of leaves, coupled with the late day sun, these two elements will morph this vista into something unheralded and rare.

When William Conner built his brick home, he positioned it very purposefully at the crest of a hill with a commanding view of the prairie, and river below. This was not lost on those who visited Conner in those early days. In fact, the view of the prairie has always been commented on by early travelers and visitors to Conner’s Home. Nathan Bolton, an Indiana newspaper man, and contemporary of William Conner, stated in 1823:

    “I looked down from the second story window of Mr. Conner’s dwelling, on a field of 300 acres of waving corn, some two feet high, with 15 or 20 merry plowmen scattered over it at work.”

Almost 200 years later, you can look out to see the land being restored to a prairie, along with crops being planted that continue on a 200 year old tradition. One thing however remains the same, the power of the view.

Paula Guernsey - Clothing Coordinator

In Lenape Camp buildings and Prairietown homes, there’s no insulation in the attics and walls like we have in our modern homes, and all the heat is provided by burning wood, either in fireplaces or cast iron stoves. The further you get from the fire, the colder you are. While we know that people in the past had to accept being cold in winter and hot in summer, there are some differences between their lives and Conner Prairie. We have a lot more people moving in and out of our buildings than would be normal then; their fireplaces didn’t have to heat nearly as much cold air as ours do. 

In the past, people wore more wool during cold weather. Because the grounds are closed from November through March, most of our staff don’t have wool dresses, trousers and waistcoats. How do they stay warm? They use a combination of thermal underwear and historic outer garments to be able to share the 19th-century life with our guests.

Historic Clothing provides garments to keep staff and youth volunteers as warm as possible. For men and boys, we have knit hats, scarves, overshirts, waistcoats and coats, all in nice, warm wool. Many men wore two waistcoats for warmth in the 19th-century. For women and girls, there are shoulder capes called tippets, knitted zephyrines to tie over the ears, and a few stuffed bonnets that look like the hood of a down parka, as well as shawls and cloaks, all made of wool. Women often added wool petticoats under their dresses. All our costumed staff can borrow muffatees, fingerless gloves like cuffs with holes for the thumbs, which keep their fingers free for work. Adding wool stockings helps keep the feet warm, but don’t ruin your shoes by holding your feet up to the fire.

Doesn’t a visit to Conner Prairie make you thankful for modern heating systems?