text: As a boy, I was fascinated by looking at all of the drawings and descriptions in this diary.  It gave me a great appreciation for life in the US in the early 1800s, and the fortitude and ingenuity of our forefathers.  I have found that the magic still holds, as I read it to each of my sons when they were about 8.  They still love the basic how-to descriptions which bring frontier construction to life
  