ABOVE:  Plaque attached to front door of Sager Cabin

ABOVE:  Simon Sager Cabin (front), Siloam Springs, Arkansas

ABOVE:  Wood plaque hanging from front porch ceiling of cabin

ABOVE:  Simon Sager Cabin (back), Siloam Springs, Arkansas

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Receiving honorable mention in "Original Structures Still in Existence in Northwest Arkansas" is the Sager Cabin in Siloam Springs.  Named after Simon Sager, Siloam Springs oldest known settler, this cabin is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

It is located in the center of campus at John Brown University.  Today, the interior has been retrofitted, and Eagle Construction has their offices there.  Eagle Construction is a student-operated construction company and is an extension of the Department of Construction Management.

Maggie Smith, a direct descendent of Simon Sager, is a lifetime resident of Siloam Springs.  She has written a book about the history of Siloam Springs entitled Hico:  A Heritage.  Siloam Springs History, Volume I.  It is her contention that this cabin was built in 1837, though no historical document can support her claim.  However, it can be legitimately certified that Simon Sager did indeed settle in this area in the year 1837 (Smith, 1976, p. 7).

In the 1990's the cabin was restored.  In order to more accurately support the historic age of the cabin, the curator at the Siloam Springs Museum, Don Warden, took a section of a log while it was being restored and sent it to be studied by David Stahley, a dendrochronologist at the University of Arkansas.  Dendrology ("tree dating") relies on the basic fact that trees grow fast when weather conditions are less favorable and slow, and so have a similar pattern of wide and narrow seasonal growth rings.

Dr. Stahley matched the ring pattern of this sample to the regional chronology which he had developed for this area.  His report stated the tree sample provided him was a seedling born in 1730 which was cut down in 1844 (Siloam Springs Museum).

Because the cabin is still in excellent condition, and since it provides such a strong historical structural existence dating back when this community in northwest Arkansas was first settled, it deserves an honorable mention in our study.