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106 The I n i t i a l p h a se was a s s o c i a t e d w ith th e f r o n t i e r when th e need f o r s h e l t e r , how ever m a k e s h if t, was a n imme­ d i a t e c o n c e rn o f a l l f a m i l i e s ; a l l w ere more o r l e s s engaged s im u lta n e o u s ly i n th e a c t o f b u i l d i n g t h e i r homes, d o in g m ost o f th e work th e m s e lv e s w ith l i t t l e t r a d e o r b a r t e r . E v e ry s te p i n th e p r o c e s s o f a c q u ir in g and p r e p a r in g m ate­ r i a l s f o r a house was p e r s o n a l l y a c c o m p lish e d w ith a minimum o f t o o l s and w ith o u t th e a i d o f m iddlem an, b r o k e r , o r p ro ­ fe s s io n a l s u p p lie r. B ut t h e m a t e r i a l s s e l e c t e d d u r in g th e i n i t i a l p h a se v a r ie d from p la c e t o p la c e . In some a r e a s co tto n w o o d an d w illo w s p re d o m in a te d w h ile in o t h e r s p in e lo g s w ere im p o r ta n t; i n s t i l l o t h e r s i t was s o i l f o r ad o b es o r f i e l d s t o n e f o r d ugout w a l l s . C h ie f among th e f a c t o r s i n f l u ­ e n c in g th e i n i t i a l s e l e c t i o n o f m a t e r i a l s w ere a c c e s s i b i l i t y and r e s o u r c e s u p p ly ; th e r e l a t i v e e a s e w ith w hich a m a t e r i a l c o u ld be a c q u ir e d l a r g e l y d e te rm in e d i t s c o s t in b o th la b o r and tim e . N e ith e r l a b o r n o r tim e was a b u n d a n t in v i r g i n la n d s w here I n d ia n s and c o ld w i n te r s w ere p o t e n t i a l l y in h o s ­ p ita b le . The ra n g e o f c h o ic e s d u rin g th e i n i t i a l p h a s e , t h e r e f o r e , re m a in ed c o n fin e d t o m a t e r i a l s p ro d u ced q u ic k ly — p r i n c i p a l l y lo g and a d o b e , w ith s to n e s p o r a d i c a l l y im p o r ta n t, and lum ber an d b r i c k m in u s c u le . The i n i t i a l p h a s e was a l s o s i g n i f i c a n t a s a s c h o o lin g p ro c e ss to a l l p a r tic ip a n ts re g a rd le s s o f c u ltu r a l o rig in , a tim e i n w hich c u l t u r a l d i f f u s i o n and th e a s s i m i l a t i o n o f once d iv e r s e p e o p le s w ere m ost e f f e c t i v e . Time s p e n t i n a f r o n t i e r s e tt le m e n t was a tim e t o l e a r n anew , t o s h a r e a l i k e , t o c o o p e r a te and f e llo w s h ip ; th e n o n c o n fo rm is t d id n o t re m a in . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.