I was recently tearing some old pine lumber off a very old shack on our property, just working and thinking how primitive and rough those guys had it. They didn't really have access to the building information we have now days. Probably just threw these old shacks together any way they could. Probably did't even have a square. Hell, Didn't know what square was. It's a miricle these old houses didn't fall down in a year or so. Rough sawn pine on the outside from an old circle mill, never any type of treatment or preservative.
Well, when I started pulling that old siding off, much of which is still plenty solid, I noticed that the top plate was a solid 4x4 or 4x5 and all the studs are mortised into it. When I get to the corner, the corner is mortised into the top plate and pegged. The peg is still holding. Come to think of it, this was my great granddads old house. About 125 yrs. old. It just fell down about 5 years ago.
I didn't think those guys knew much about building. Shoot, I wish they could come back and teach me some stuff!!
with new respect, jack