Tannery
Tanning was a lengthy, two-step process that required water and tannin, a chemical found in tree bark. Oak bark is especially good for tanning leather, and oak trees were plentiful in the woods around the French family’s trading post. In addition, the Frenches planted an alley of live oaks between the house and Concord Road, the travel route nearest their settlement. Water probably came from a creek that once ran through the land.
First, the hides were scraped to remove flesh and hair and sometimes “batted”—soaked in water with salt and animal manure to make them more pliable—then rinsed and re-rinsed until they were clean.
Next came the actual tanning process. The vats were lined with ground-up bark, then nearly filled with alternating layers of bark, hides, and water. The hides were soaked in the “ooze” formed by the bark and water and were stirred every few days with wooden paddles. The ooze would keep the hides from rotting, making the outer surface impenetrable. Slowly, over many months, they became tanned leather. They were then removed from the vats with long poles, washed in the creek, and finally hung under the covered shed to dry.
