Nauvoo Hideaway Cabin

The John Henry Blackner cabin was skillfully built by John, his oldest sons and with the help of his friends. It was the home of John and Hanna Eyre and their fourteen children from 1898 to 1916. Four of their youngest children were born in the cabin. John was skilled at building log cabins using a hand saw, augur and a broad axe. The 33 foot long pine logs were harvested from the north slope of the Uinta Mountains. Trees on the colder north slope got less sunlight, which caused the trees to grow slower. The growth rings on the Blackner cabinlogs are on an average 1/32 of an inch, a real tight grain which is great and makes tough, long lasting log. The heavy green logs had to be dragged or hauled five miles using oxen and horses. Each log was hewn flat on one side the entire length of the log using a broad axe. The inside walls of the cabin were whitewashed by mixing lime and water and brushing it onto the walls. The last known person to live in the cabin was a sheep herder in 1949. For many years after it was used for lambing pens and sometimes calving.