~ LUMBERING ~
__________
__________
Please do not copy the photos on this site, many of which have been submitted by private individuals...
just come back and visit the site often to view the photos.
The design and compilation of the text and photos on this site are copyrighted 2014.
just come back and visit the site often to view the photos.
The design and compilation of the text and photos on this site are copyrighted 2014.
Photo Below: Accompanying text stated on a submission from the Collection of Eddie May: "Back in 1888 when this picture was taken, Walloon Lake may not have looked as pristine as it does today. This picture was taken looking up M-75 toward U.S. 131 Highway. Notice the amount of brush, tree stumps and other shoreline debris. The time this was taken, the area was in the early stages of the logging boom which lasted until the late 1920s."
Photos Above And Below: The buildings appear that they are probably the same in each photo, and the log/ice bridge is the same as well.
Compare the lady/cook in the doorway and the dark dog, in the photo above, to Albert Bacon's wife Bernice with the dark dog in the photo below. It appears that they could be the same woman and the same dog, and perhaps that could be Albert Bacon standing two men to the right of the lady, in the photo above. The above photo was not labeled as to people, however. Does anyone know for sure that the people in the photo above truly includes members of the Bacon Family? Another label for this identical photos stated: "Von Platen Camp in Resort Township. Shows bridge built across the ice of a stream emptying into Walloon Lake. Typical logging camp - Cook stands in the doorway with her dog." ~ Karla Howard Buckmaster
LATER: This same photo above was found in the book Muhqua Nebis by Krenrich with the following description written below it: "Von Platen lumber camp located back of and to the west of Echo Beach. On the left is the cook shanty, in the center the bunkhouse and on the right the horse barn. Mrs. Albert Bacon stands in the door of the cook shanty. Superintendent Warner Wheaton is behind the team of horses and behind him is Albert Bacon. These buidings were at one time the home of the Bolton family, Indian Friends of Ernest Hemingway."
LATER: This same photo above was found in the book Muhqua Nebis by Krenrich with the following description written below it: "Von Platen lumber camp located back of and to the west of Echo Beach. On the left is the cook shanty, in the center the bunkhouse and on the right the horse barn. Mrs. Albert Bacon stands in the door of the cook shanty. Superintendent Warner Wheaton is behind the team of horses and behind him is Albert Bacon. These buidings were at one time the home of the Bolton family, Indian Friends of Ernest Hemingway."
On page 158 of Resort Township Remembers, Van Platen's (spelling as in the book) lumber camp (photos below) was said to have been located "on the east side of the south end of Resort Pike." Other lumber camps were noted as follows: "Morford's Lumber Camp lay north of Echo Beach Inn property. Harlow Wheaton was the owner of a mill on the North Arm of Walloon Lake where he produced railroad ties. Fred Ernst and son, Milo, had a small mill on the east boundary of his father's property on Resort Pike. The Scherrer brothers operated a cedar shingle mill on their father's property on Intertown Road. Mr. Keyes operated a sawmill on the north end of Lake Grove Road. In the 1880's James Bell was the owner of a sawmill and broom handle factory four miles west of Petoskey". Does anyone know of other lumber camps in the Walloon Lake area?
Warner Wheaton's grandson Dean Wheaton wrote in his book titled The Wheatons of Northern Michigan on page III-41: "During the winters, Warner worked in the timber woods logging off parts of Resort Township while Lucy (wife) cooked for the camps. Many pictures exist of Warner driving a team hauling immense sleigh loads of logs. The logs were hauled across frozen Walloon Lake to the lumber mills in Boyne City. In Muhqua Nebis, A Compilation of Legend of Walloon (Dorothy Munson Krenrich), page 22, He (Warner Wheaton) is identified in a photograph as superintendent of the Von Platen Lumber Camp near Echo Beach." One lumber camp in the early 1900s was the Clyde Morford camp located back in the woods, and to the west of the Hemingway's cottage.
Picturesque Walloon published in 1911 has the following point of interest regarding lumbering on page 7:
"When settlement and commercial interest first entered Northern Michigan, the establishing of resorts was little thought of. The great values in the extensive forests of pine and hardwood was the sole attraction, but prominent persons attracted to this country through commercial pursuits would not fail to notice the many pretty lakes and delightful climate. This was particularly true of Walloon Lake, and years ago large tracts of timbered land, adjacent to its shores, were purchased and held with a knowledge that sooner or later this picturesque lake, with its ideal surroundings, would become a popular resort."
"When settlement and commercial interest first entered Northern Michigan, the establishing of resorts was little thought of. The great values in the extensive forests of pine and hardwood was the sole attraction, but prominent persons attracted to this country through commercial pursuits would not fail to notice the many pretty lakes and delightful climate. This was particularly true of Walloon Lake, and years ago large tracts of timbered land, adjacent to its shores, were purchased and held with a knowledge that sooner or later this picturesque lake, with its ideal surroundings, would become a popular resort."
The virgin timber existed early on, but lumbering took place in the Walloon Lake area only after the railroads arrived to help with transporting the logs to the saw mills, and to markets. By the time that the railroads arrived, the water route through Lake Charlevoix (then called Pine Lake) from White's Mill in Boyne City to Round Lake before entering Lake Michigan, had its shallow streams dredged to accommodate the ships to carry the logs. Walloon Lake's neighboring village of Clarion had a sawmill with Ken Starr's grandparents owning the Sheatsley Saw Mill which was located closer to Clarion than to Walloon Lake. The lumber camps included Von Platen's which owned acreage all over Northern Michigan. Von Platen's Walloon Lake lumber camp was located near Echo Beach. Cobbs and Mitchell Railroad Inc. owned large a great deal of timber near Walloon Lake (then called Talcott). The largest sawmill on Walloon Lake was owned by A.W. Olds, and they harvested timber from the Wildwood Harbor, and West Arm areas as well as the Echo Beach area. Olds transferred his timber and ties over horse drawn trolleys on a three-mile track to Horton Bay on to Pine Lake (later Lake Charlevoix) to be shipped to other ports. Walloon Lake also had a saw mill on the North Arm operated by John Coveyou, as well as a Wheaton sawmill that made railroad ties, also on the North Arm. William Grund's sawmill was located right at The Foot, behind where the general store is located in 2013, then convenient to both the railroad tracks, and to the Bear River, for transporting the logs and timber. Also at The Foot was the small mill of Frank Winsor which was located just a bit north of Si's Marina. When Winsor's saw mill no longer existed, Garfield and Cassius Winsor, started a needed boat repair. When the lumbering died out in the early years of the 1900s, Walloon Lake continued to thrive because of their tourist trade, unlike Springvale, a lumbering town in adjacent Chandler Township. Springvale, was strictly built for, and by, the lumbering industry, so when the last logging train left Springvale, the Cobbs & Mitchell railroad tracks were pulled up behind the train. Springvale had no other reason for its existence, and consequently became a ghost town, with virtually no remains in 2013. Unlike Springvale, Walloon Lake has remained viable with its natural beauty, and the lake.
Although the Village of Walloon Lake itself was never threatened by a forest fire, forest fires were a menacing threat after the lumbering companies removed the logs from the land. When the loggers left, large amounts of brush were left behind, to become dry, and extremely flammable to whatever causes of fires. During 1908 both the South Shore and the North Shore had forest fires in their surroundings. In 1924 the Indian Garden Hotel was threatened by a huge forest fire which was finally put in check by the firefighters creating a backfire.
Although the Village of Walloon Lake itself was never threatened by a forest fire, forest fires were a menacing threat after the lumbering companies removed the logs from the land. When the loggers left, large amounts of brush were left behind, to become dry, and extremely flammable to whatever causes of fires. During 1908 both the South Shore and the North Shore had forest fires in their surroundings. In 1924 the Indian Garden Hotel was threatened by a huge forest fire which was finally put in check by the firefighters creating a backfire.
Two Photos Above: After I received the photo on the right in 2015 of Albert Bacon's load of logs, I noticed how the photo was taken in the identical spot as the photo on the left of Ben Ellis which had been placed in a 1979 newspaper. Then, I realized that other loads of logs were lined up behind the Ellis and the Bacon loads... so obviously some photographer found the perfect spot to take photos of the many loads of logs which were coming through on Resort Pike. Marna Wheaton believes that the buildings in the background were probably the Bacon Homestead. ~ Karla Howard Buckmaster
Article Below: "Mr. Olds, an experienced stave and heading mill man, says they have set values too high on elm logs to make much money, and that his concern will pay no more fancy prices unless the manufactured article brings more money."
A.W. Olds owned the largest sawmill right on Walloon Lake on his 1025 acres of land which ultimately were sold to Camp Michigania. Mr. Olds owned enough land to supply his sawmill, but farmers and various land owners of Walloon Lake also made money by selling their logs to Mr. Olds. Many of the logs delivered to Olds Sawmill came from the Echo Beach area. The logs were hauled across the lake by horses on the ice. Sometimes the logs would sink through the cracked ice, pulling the horses to the bottom of Walloon Lake along with the logs. A special clevis was devised for a quick release by the teamster if the logs began to sink, but, sadly, the whole process was not always a quick enough release. The lost logs often became waterlogged on one end. The log then sank on that end, with the other end lying near the surface, thus becoming "deadhead" and a danger for the boats on the lake. During the early years of Mr. Olds' sawmill the railroad at Walloon was not convenient, so he built a three mile long tramway with horse pulled flatcars from his mill to Horton Bay over on Pine Lake (now Lake Charlevoix). There the logs were loaded from the Horton Bay dock on to large sailboats that could then access Lake Michigan, and ports beyond. After Mr. Olds retired, the mill was bought by Case and Crotser, and operated by John Grund.
Mr. Albert W. Olds died in 1912 with NO male descendants to carry the Olds name forward, as noted in his obituary below. Although Mr. Olds died on Elizabeth Street in Petoksey Michigan, at the home of his daughter Mrs. Ferris, he was buried in Nashville Michigan beside his wife died 10 years previous.
Not all of the logs were shipped out from Walloon Lake. Several factories in the area produced items made of wood. The Bowl Factory and a small handle factory were located right in Talcott (now the Village of Walloon Lake). Rolling pins, bowl chairs, potato mashers, and beehives were also wood products produced in the Walloon Lake area. On the farthest end of the West Arm of Walloon Lake (Mud Lake), Manthei Veneer Mill was started with much of their veneer shipped to other parts of the country like California. Although the Manthei mill burned in 1967, it has been totally rebuilt.
One lumber camp in the early 1900s was the Clyde Morford camp located back in the woods, and to the west of the Hemingway's cottage.
The people in the photos below, and the locations, are ALL unidentified. The photos were all submitted from the collection of Ross Renwick, along with other photos definitely related to Walloon Lake, so it is assumed that these unidentified photos are connected somehow with Walloon Lake, as well. From another source, I have seen a photo of this particular logger as labeled as "Harry Taylor". Does anyone know his identity for sure, and also any other information about him, or where he was logging? If anyone can identify anyone in the photos, or identify the surroundings in the photos, please let me know. IF the photos are of Harry Taylor, then the news articles below may also be regarding this same Harry Taylor.
~ Karla Howard Buckmaster
LATER: After locating the obituaries (below) for Harry Taylor, and his two wives Mabel May Gokee (m. 1908) and Adah Keech Hankins (m. 1951), and recognizing that he had a son Malcom with Mabel, other labeled photos that had been submitted previously by Charlie Conn, seem connected to this Harry Taylor. Also, a photo of a very distinctly marked dog, labeled as Harry Taylor's dog Tim, helped to identifiy more photos as being connected. If anyone has different information please contact Karla Howard Buckmaster.
At this point, it is not known the specific location of the Cobbs & Mitchell lumber camp where Harry Taylor worked. UPDATE: Harry Taylor's lumber camp was located in Emmet County, Epsilon, Michigan.
The people in the photos below, and the locations, are ALL unidentified. The photos were all submitted from the collection of Ross Renwick, along with other photos definitely related to Walloon Lake, so it is assumed that these unidentified photos are connected somehow with Walloon Lake, as well. From another source, I have seen a photo of this particular logger as labeled as "Harry Taylor". Does anyone know his identity for sure, and also any other information about him, or where he was logging? If anyone can identify anyone in the photos, or identify the surroundings in the photos, please let me know. IF the photos are of Harry Taylor, then the news articles below may also be regarding this same Harry Taylor.
~ Karla Howard Buckmaster
LATER: After locating the obituaries (below) for Harry Taylor, and his two wives Mabel May Gokee (m. 1908) and Adah Keech Hankins (m. 1951), and recognizing that he had a son Malcom with Mabel, other labeled photos that had been submitted previously by Charlie Conn, seem connected to this Harry Taylor. Also, a photo of a very distinctly marked dog, labeled as Harry Taylor's dog Tim, helped to identifiy more photos as being connected. If anyone has different information please contact Karla Howard Buckmaster.
At this point, it is not known the specific location of the Cobbs & Mitchell lumber camp where Harry Taylor worked. UPDATE: Harry Taylor's lumber camp was located in Emmet County, Epsilon, Michigan.
Photo Below was described in a 17 March 1965 Petoskey News Review: "Logs are piled high in this photo of more modern vintage taken a mile east of Epsilon. In the foreground is the special truck owned by the late Harry Taylor which he used to haul logs." The photos on the newspaper's page were from the collection of Mrs. Harry Taylor of Kalamazoo Avenue in Petoskey and belonged to her late husband who was a woodsman and logger in the area for more than half a century. The by-line stated Springvale... alluding to Springvale Township, not to the Village of Springvale which was in Chandler Township.
Article Below: Logs were floated like a raft from the West Arm and sent over the dam at The Foot in 1910.
Logs would sometimes be hauled, by horses, across Walloon Lake on the ice to proceed to White's saw mill in Boyne City MI.
McManus Lumber in Petoskey MI used the Bear River to float many of their summer logs to their mills.
In the winter, as mentioned in the news article below,
the log transportation was still as brisk, with 100s of loads of logs hauled to their mills.
No regulations for logging governed the lumbering boom, and it was not until later that any type of reforestation program existed.
Scenes like that in the photo below were the barren result.
Scenes like that in the photo below were the barren result.
Bacon Camp
The Bacon Family owned property on the shores of the "Main Basin" of Walloon Lake. The Bacon Family sold property to the Hemingway Family where in 2024 the Hemingway Windemere cottage still stands. In the early 1900s when lumbering was still a vital industry in Northern Michigan, the Bacon Family had a Lumber Camp. The photo below shows member of the Bacon Camp. On the back of the photo labeled "Bacon's Camp Huston Bacon Camp Jan 1913" were written the following names: Arthur Hunt, Ed Couch, Mr. Colley, Albert Bacon, Huston Bacon, Warner [Wheaton], Jap Dunbar, Irvin Bowers, Worden [Wheaton] .
Photo Above: This copy of the image of the original Bacon Family Camp photo has been shared by Dean (a grandson to Lucy Bacon Wheaton) and Marna Wheaton who have given me permission to post it only on this "Walloon Lake Wanderings" website. Notice some of the family names listed above the photo. ~ Karla Howard Buckmaster
Photo Above: This copy of the image of the original Bacon Family Camp photo, showing Albert Bacon with a horse, has been shared by Dean (a grandson to Lucy Bacon Wheaton) and Marna Wheaton who have given me permission to post it only on this "Walloon Lake Wanderings" website. ~ Karla Howard Buckmaster
Photo Above: This copy of the image showing Henry Pagel (husband of Emma Bacon Pagel) with a large load of logs with board feet marked on the log ends, has been shared by Dean (a grandson to Lucy Bacon Wheaton) and Marna Wheaton who have given me permission to post it only on this "Walloon Lake Wanderings" website. ~ Karla Howard Buckmaster
Photo Above: This copy of the image showing Huston Bacon with the same large load of logs with board feet marked on the log ends, as the photo directly above, has been shared by Dean (a grandson to Lucy Bacon Wheaton) and Marna Wheaton who have given me permission to post it only on this "Walloon Lake Wanderings" website. ~ Karla Howard Buckmaster
CAMP 7 IN 1910
John Kilborn Tells of His Early Early Days in Lumberjack Camps...
John Kilborn Tells of His Early Early Days in Lumberjack Camps...
PHS Football Stadium, Site of Logging Camp
By John Kilborn
(Undated Petoskey News Review Article)
These facts will give you an idea of what logging and the logging industry were like in the era around the turn of the century 65 years ago.
In those days, power saws, caterpillar tractors, trucks and such power equipment were not heard of, presenting a real task for lumbermen to bring their logs to the ready market.
The cutting of the timber was done by two men with a cross-cut saw and each man had an axe. The skidding was done with horses, the decking and loading on sleighs was done by a crew of three men, a team and a single chain.
For loading in the sleigh, two skids were placed against the main logs that were already on the sleigh. The decking chain is passed around the log that is to be loaded and fastened to a log on the sleigh by a hook called a swamp hook, The team, being on the opposite side, are hitched to the other end of the chain and they pulled the log up the skids to the top of the load. A man with a cant hook worked on each end of the log to keep it balanced in the chain as it went up the skids. These men were known as ground men. A third man with a cant hook worked on top to place the log on the load and he was called a top loader.
DANGEROUS
The cutting and handling of logs was a dangerous operation for a man with no experience, one that didn't know or realize where the danger was, and many men lost their lives and had legs broken but, for a regular lumberjack that knew his job, I don't think any more men were hurt than at lots of other work where there was any danger encountered.
The first large scale logging operation I can remember was in 1898. A camp was just a short distance from our school and they took the timber off of a a large tract of land that adjoined our farm. This crew, consisted of about 30 men and eight teams of large horses. The timber was cut and skidded in the fall and hauled by teams and sleighs when the winter came, taking the timber to the Thomas Foreman and Company mill at Petoskey. The mill was where the present Petoskey High School football stadium is located today.
CRUSHED BY A LOG
Being interested in what was going on and to watch the mill operations I used to go out to the woods when I could on Saturdays. One Saturday after the snow came and they were hauling I was out in the woods watching them load. One high skid way broke down and one of the men that was loading (groundsmen) was crushed and killed instantly by a falling log. There were several men and teams waiting to be loaded. The men took some horse blankets and wrapped the body and brought it to Petoskey on an empty sleigh. They made me realize the power and danger of logging. In 1900 there was a vast amount of virgin hardwood timber within a radius of 20 miles of Petoskey to the north, south or east. This was being bought up by large logging concerns. As a result, there was a lot of logs hauled into Petoskey by teams and a lot shipped on cars. Petoskey wasn't known as a sawmill town or a hangout for lumberjacks as much as some of the towns near here such as Boyne City. White Company, located there, had several large saw mills and a flooring factory, Von Platten Company; a large saw mills, the Boyne City Lumber Company; the chemical plant and a blast furnace.
PETOSKEY MILLS
In Petoskey there was the Thomas Foreman saw mill and flooring factory that burned to the ground in 1901; The W.L. McManus Lumber Company that operated here as long as the timber lasted; the Michigan Maple Block Company that used to operate a saw mill; the combined shingle and saw mill operated by L.G. Grimes and the Baurle Brothers saw mill and broom handle factory along with the few other small operations.
The largest timber holdings and logging operation nearest to Petoskey were the Cobb and Mitchell Company's spreads. Their saw mills were located at Cadillac. They had large timber holdings in the southeast part of Bear Creek township, Springvale township, parts of several townships in Charlevoix county and some in Cheboygan county.
Their railroad branched off the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, now known as the Pennsylvania Railroad, at Boyne Falls, going north and east through the timber at a distance approximately 15 miles to Section 11, Chandler township, Charlevoix county where a headquarters was established for their operations. This was named Springvale.
SPRINGVALE BOOMED
At this location there was built a town hall, a dance hall, a hotel and a large store that was in operation for 22 or 24 years. They handled everything that was in use at that period from a spool of thread, groceries of any amount or kind and a good supply of horse shoes and harnesses.
Later, several small homes were built in the near vicinity.
This railroad out of Boyne Falls was built around 1898 as near as I can remember. As time went on and as timber was cut off along the railroad, the company built branch lines in other sections of timber to be logged off, then pulled up the steel rails and moved to other timber sections.
A number of different camps had to be built to house the horses and lumberjacks to log off this vast amount of growth. The first camp I knew was Camp 22 about four miles north-east of Boyne Falls. The last camp the company built was Camp 50 in 1922, making a total of 28 camps that I can remember that were built and torn down.
They operated three camps at a time and they would often have independent contractors, known as 'jobbers.' They would take a contract to cut, skid, haul to the railroad and load on cars a certain section of timber for certain price per thousand feet.
THE 'WALKING BOSS'
For such an operation as this size, the company had a woods superintendent, known as a 'walking boss.' He had charge of the entire operation and he in turn had a foreman for each camp and a manager for each store. It was up to him to decide where the branch railroads were to be built in the timber and after the railroad was in the location, he would build the camp where it would be most convenient to the timber. When locating a camp, a good supply of water was necessary and this was also taken into consideration, even before running the lines in.
A camp of that period had about 60 to 80 men and 10 to 14 pairs of horses in each camp. The buildings of the camp consisted of: No. 1, the 'cookcamp,' a large building approximately 24 feet wide by 60 feet long; No. 2, barn for 12 pair of horses, 30 feet wide and 60 feet long; No. 3, bunk houses for the men. (Some camps housed the men in one building but most camp foremen would rather have two bunk houses.) For a larger crew of about 35 or 40 men, one bunk house worked out best; No. 4, the blacksmith shop where all repairs were made in equipment, horses shod, sleighs and big wheels were built and the whiffle trees and neck yokes were made by hand; No. 5, camp office, where the foremen, scaler and time keeper slept. In addition there was the camp store of 'van' which was attached.
In the van was most of anything that a lumberjack would need such as plenty of Peerless or Giant tobacco, socks, shirts, rubbers, underwear, wool pants, caps and mitts.
No. 6 was the filer's shack where one man did all the filing for all the saws and each gang of sawyers would bring their saw in to camp at night or when it needed to be sharpened and took out a sharp one. The filer always had a good supply of saws to hand out and would have a sharp one in stock at all times.
WORKED LONG HOURS
In the period before World War I, the scale of wages didn't vary much from one year to the next. The camps paid by the month, a certain amount plus board and there was no hourly pay in those days. The workday started shortly before daybreak and you worked until it was too dark to see, often 10 or 12 hours a day, six days a week.
Following is a table of the average wages paid to lumberjacks, based on so much a month and board:
Swampers, $26; loaders, $28 to $32; top loaders, $32 to $35; teamsters, $30 to $35; blacksmith, $35 to $40; camp cook, $40 to $50; camp cookee (helper) $20 to $26.
In the early days 50 or 60 years ago, woods work was about the only kind of work where a young man could get a job at any time to earn some extra money.
I have worked in the camps as a lumberjack, as a swamper, teamster and loader in my younger years and later as a contractor or 'jobber' for the W.L. McManus cCompany, the Michigan Maple Block Company of Petoskey, the Jackson and Tindle Company of Pellston and the VanAvery Brothers of Van. In 1922 to 1931 I was in the Upper Peninsula where I contracted for the Sawyer, Goodman Company on quite an extensive operation at that time. One season we had an average of 100 men and 20 pairs of horses working at one time.
Later, after retiring from the lumber business I was the sheriff of Emmet County and then state representative of Lansing and I could tell many more experiences from either of the positions.
By John Kilborn
(Undated Petoskey News Review Article)
These facts will give you an idea of what logging and the logging industry were like in the era around the turn of the century 65 years ago.
In those days, power saws, caterpillar tractors, trucks and such power equipment were not heard of, presenting a real task for lumbermen to bring their logs to the ready market.
The cutting of the timber was done by two men with a cross-cut saw and each man had an axe. The skidding was done with horses, the decking and loading on sleighs was done by a crew of three men, a team and a single chain.
For loading in the sleigh, two skids were placed against the main logs that were already on the sleigh. The decking chain is passed around the log that is to be loaded and fastened to a log on the sleigh by a hook called a swamp hook, The team, being on the opposite side, are hitched to the other end of the chain and they pulled the log up the skids to the top of the load. A man with a cant hook worked on each end of the log to keep it balanced in the chain as it went up the skids. These men were known as ground men. A third man with a cant hook worked on top to place the log on the load and he was called a top loader.
DANGEROUS
The cutting and handling of logs was a dangerous operation for a man with no experience, one that didn't know or realize where the danger was, and many men lost their lives and had legs broken but, for a regular lumberjack that knew his job, I don't think any more men were hurt than at lots of other work where there was any danger encountered.
The first large scale logging operation I can remember was in 1898. A camp was just a short distance from our school and they took the timber off of a a large tract of land that adjoined our farm. This crew, consisted of about 30 men and eight teams of large horses. The timber was cut and skidded in the fall and hauled by teams and sleighs when the winter came, taking the timber to the Thomas Foreman and Company mill at Petoskey. The mill was where the present Petoskey High School football stadium is located today.
CRUSHED BY A LOG
Being interested in what was going on and to watch the mill operations I used to go out to the woods when I could on Saturdays. One Saturday after the snow came and they were hauling I was out in the woods watching them load. One high skid way broke down and one of the men that was loading (groundsmen) was crushed and killed instantly by a falling log. There were several men and teams waiting to be loaded. The men took some horse blankets and wrapped the body and brought it to Petoskey on an empty sleigh. They made me realize the power and danger of logging. In 1900 there was a vast amount of virgin hardwood timber within a radius of 20 miles of Petoskey to the north, south or east. This was being bought up by large logging concerns. As a result, there was a lot of logs hauled into Petoskey by teams and a lot shipped on cars. Petoskey wasn't known as a sawmill town or a hangout for lumberjacks as much as some of the towns near here such as Boyne City. White Company, located there, had several large saw mills and a flooring factory, Von Platten Company; a large saw mills, the Boyne City Lumber Company; the chemical plant and a blast furnace.
PETOSKEY MILLS
In Petoskey there was the Thomas Foreman saw mill and flooring factory that burned to the ground in 1901; The W.L. McManus Lumber Company that operated here as long as the timber lasted; the Michigan Maple Block Company that used to operate a saw mill; the combined shingle and saw mill operated by L.G. Grimes and the Baurle Brothers saw mill and broom handle factory along with the few other small operations.
The largest timber holdings and logging operation nearest to Petoskey were the Cobb and Mitchell Company's spreads. Their saw mills were located at Cadillac. They had large timber holdings in the southeast part of Bear Creek township, Springvale township, parts of several townships in Charlevoix county and some in Cheboygan county.
Their railroad branched off the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, now known as the Pennsylvania Railroad, at Boyne Falls, going north and east through the timber at a distance approximately 15 miles to Section 11, Chandler township, Charlevoix county where a headquarters was established for their operations. This was named Springvale.
SPRINGVALE BOOMED
At this location there was built a town hall, a dance hall, a hotel and a large store that was in operation for 22 or 24 years. They handled everything that was in use at that period from a spool of thread, groceries of any amount or kind and a good supply of horse shoes and harnesses.
Later, several small homes were built in the near vicinity.
This railroad out of Boyne Falls was built around 1898 as near as I can remember. As time went on and as timber was cut off along the railroad, the company built branch lines in other sections of timber to be logged off, then pulled up the steel rails and moved to other timber sections.
A number of different camps had to be built to house the horses and lumberjacks to log off this vast amount of growth. The first camp I knew was Camp 22 about four miles north-east of Boyne Falls. The last camp the company built was Camp 50 in 1922, making a total of 28 camps that I can remember that were built and torn down.
They operated three camps at a time and they would often have independent contractors, known as 'jobbers.' They would take a contract to cut, skid, haul to the railroad and load on cars a certain section of timber for certain price per thousand feet.
THE 'WALKING BOSS'
For such an operation as this size, the company had a woods superintendent, known as a 'walking boss.' He had charge of the entire operation and he in turn had a foreman for each camp and a manager for each store. It was up to him to decide where the branch railroads were to be built in the timber and after the railroad was in the location, he would build the camp where it would be most convenient to the timber. When locating a camp, a good supply of water was necessary and this was also taken into consideration, even before running the lines in.
A camp of that period had about 60 to 80 men and 10 to 14 pairs of horses in each camp. The buildings of the camp consisted of: No. 1, the 'cookcamp,' a large building approximately 24 feet wide by 60 feet long; No. 2, barn for 12 pair of horses, 30 feet wide and 60 feet long; No. 3, bunk houses for the men. (Some camps housed the men in one building but most camp foremen would rather have two bunk houses.) For a larger crew of about 35 or 40 men, one bunk house worked out best; No. 4, the blacksmith shop where all repairs were made in equipment, horses shod, sleighs and big wheels were built and the whiffle trees and neck yokes were made by hand; No. 5, camp office, where the foremen, scaler and time keeper slept. In addition there was the camp store of 'van' which was attached.
In the van was most of anything that a lumberjack would need such as plenty of Peerless or Giant tobacco, socks, shirts, rubbers, underwear, wool pants, caps and mitts.
No. 6 was the filer's shack where one man did all the filing for all the saws and each gang of sawyers would bring their saw in to camp at night or when it needed to be sharpened and took out a sharp one. The filer always had a good supply of saws to hand out and would have a sharp one in stock at all times.
WORKED LONG HOURS
In the period before World War I, the scale of wages didn't vary much from one year to the next. The camps paid by the month, a certain amount plus board and there was no hourly pay in those days. The workday started shortly before daybreak and you worked until it was too dark to see, often 10 or 12 hours a day, six days a week.
Following is a table of the average wages paid to lumberjacks, based on so much a month and board:
Swampers, $26; loaders, $28 to $32; top loaders, $32 to $35; teamsters, $30 to $35; blacksmith, $35 to $40; camp cook, $40 to $50; camp cookee (helper) $20 to $26.
In the early days 50 or 60 years ago, woods work was about the only kind of work where a young man could get a job at any time to earn some extra money.
I have worked in the camps as a lumberjack, as a swamper, teamster and loader in my younger years and later as a contractor or 'jobber' for the W.L. McManus cCompany, the Michigan Maple Block Company of Petoskey, the Jackson and Tindle Company of Pellston and the VanAvery Brothers of Van. In 1922 to 1931 I was in the Upper Peninsula where I contracted for the Sawyer, Goodman Company on quite an extensive operation at that time. One season we had an average of 100 men and 20 pairs of horses working at one time.
Later, after retiring from the lumber business I was the sheriff of Emmet County and then state representative of Lansing and I could tell many more experiences from either of the positions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Kilborn, same person who wrote the article above, was the feature of another Petoskey News Review article (again undated) written by Reg Sharkey, telling about John's times as "A Swamper and Teamster" in the lumbering industry:
"In the winter of 1907 John got a job as a swamper (the man who cleared brush for logging trails and trimmed downed trees), and his boss was a man who worked for McManus. George McManus was a well known lumbering man who had a mill, and built the dam on the Bear River which was recently removed. Later on that fall John drove a team hauling logs to Hardscrabble for loading on railroad flatcars. How that place got its name, John doesn't know, but it was located along the railroad just about where Gruler Rd. would hit the railroad if it went that far, and was a mile below Wabmeme. That's where they had a dam and ponding area that furnished logs for the sawmill there. It was the mill who's boiler blew up, part of which can still be seen in the Bear River."
John Kilborn, same person who wrote the article above, was the feature of another Petoskey News Review article (again undated) written by Reg Sharkey, telling about John's times as "A Swamper and Teamster" in the lumbering industry:
"In the winter of 1907 John got a job as a swamper (the man who cleared brush for logging trails and trimmed downed trees), and his boss was a man who worked for McManus. George McManus was a well known lumbering man who had a mill, and built the dam on the Bear River which was recently removed. Later on that fall John drove a team hauling logs to Hardscrabble for loading on railroad flatcars. How that place got its name, John doesn't know, but it was located along the railroad just about where Gruler Rd. would hit the railroad if it went that far, and was a mile below Wabmeme. That's where they had a dam and ponding area that furnished logs for the sawmill there. It was the mill who's boiler blew up, part of which can still be seen in the Bear River."