same dangers and privations were faced, and the women,
as well as the men, quickly adapted themselves to the hardships of
life in a new country. Shortly after the War of 1812, which secured to
the United States a clear title to this vast region, the great
migration into the Ohio Valley began. Some families came by way of the
Great Lakes, some by wagon over the Pennsylvania ridges, and still
others by horseback over the mountains from Virginia. One and all of
these pioneer families brought with them their most cherished
household possessions. It is hardly necessary to say that every family
had one or more quilts among its household goods. Many cases are on
record of rare old mahogany bureaus and bedsteads transported hundreds
of miles over trails through the wilderness on pack horses. Upon
arrival at the site chosen for the future home, the real work of house
building and furnishing began.

[Illustration: ORIGINAL FLORAL DESIGNS

This quilt contains twenty blocks, each of a different
design. The border is composed of festoons decorated
with cockscomb and sprays of flowers. A southern Indiana
quilt made about 1825]

[Illustration: CONVENTIONAL TULIP

Made from a pattern used 130 years ago. Colours: pink
and green]

"Only he who knows what it means to hew a home out of the forest; of
what is involved in the task of replacing mighty trees with corn; only
he who has watched the log house rising in the clearing, and has
witnessed the devotedness that gathers around the old log schoolhouse
and the pathos of a grave in the wilderness, can understand how
sobriety, decency, age, devoutness, beauty, and power belong to the
story of those who began the mighty task of changing the wild west
into the heart of a teeming continent." Thus Jenkin Lloyd Jones, in
his address on "The Father of Lincoln," gives a graphic picture of the
labours and trials confronting those who made the first settlements in
what are now the flourishing states of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky,
Illinois, and Michigan.

As in the colonies of New England, so here, the comforts of the
family depended upon the thrift, energy, and thoughtfulness of the
women. Practically every article of clothing worn by the entire
family, as well as all household supplies, were the work of their busy
hands. All day in the frontier cabin could be heard the hum of the
spinning wheel, the clack of the loom, or the click of knitting
needles. In many l