Submitted by Nute Chapman, written by Clifford Knowles
From Onaway Outlook May 17, 2013
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Submitted by Nute Chapman, written by Clifford Knowles From Onaway Outlook May 17, 2013 |
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CAPTION #1: A TYPICAL SCENE at suppertime in a lumber Camp. Take note that three of the men are undoubtedly
in their teens.
CAPTION #2: PART OF THE CREW getting ready to start their day. Note the ladies about to get into the cutter.
The gentleman standing in the doorway of the cook shack is holding a large broom.
CAPTION #3: THE COOK, bottom front, and perhaps his wife and daughters on the bench have 31 lumberjacks
surrounding them. One can only imagine the pancakes and bacon that this crew would eat. Note the coats hung
on the outside of the building.
Noon hour approaches; we return to the engine and in a brief space of time have our feet under the long tables
in the mess hall of the lumber camp. This building also contains the kitchen and the commissary. Everything
is scrupulously clean and in order. Pete Jackson, the chef, knows the appetite of the woodsman and the two
tables were covered with generous portions of boiled beef, potatoes, baked beans, green peas, cucumbers, fresh
corn, apple pie, fried cakes and homemade cookies.
Conversation was conspicuous by its absence at the tables and I was later informed that unnecessary talk is
prohibited during mealtime, thus eliminating possibilities for heated arguments and a free-for-all. Following
the meal, I explored the camp proper, a blacksmith shop, barn, toolhouse and two bunkhouses, each containing
a lounging room at the front. All buildings are of rough, undressed lumber, sturdily built to combat the
rigors of the northern Michigan winters.
The camp has been three years upon the present site and occupies about two acres including two garden plots
and ample space for horseshoe pitching-the sole outdoor diversion of the lumberjack.
The personnel of Camp No. 28 consists of three loaders, eight teamsters, one blacksmith, one chore boy, a
train crew of two, chef and kitchen helper, ten sawyers and a camp boss. The lumberjacks of this crew cut
6,000,000 feet of standing timber per year, and they stop not for rain, snow or cold, each working day finds
these men at their labor. Their day begins at 4:30, which is breakfast time, and continues until 6 p.m. The
chef arises at 3:30 and begins his duties, which ends at 7 p.m.
A lumber camp is designated by numbers, which increase one numeral each time the camp moves to a new location.
Three months more and Camp 28 will be deserted and these woodsmen will make their last move in this 2,500-acre
tract when they enter Camp 29, which is now under construction about three miles from Onaway.
Two years at the new camp will bring to an end the logging industry in this region, if not in all of Michigan
south of the Mackinac straits. Thirty years ago this section was one vast stretch of timberland comprising an
area extending north from Bay City to the northern peninsula and across the state east to west. Towns and
villages have followed in the wakes of the lumberjacks, only to be deserted or burned out as the timberline
was gradually pushed north.
In mid afternoon the train crew was ready to start the return trip so I climbed aboard old No. 2. Fireman
Ray Heffner had 160 pounds of steam up, but even this pressure seems inadequate to pull approximately
50,000 feet of logs over tracks containing numerous curves and inclines, but Bill Comfort knew his engine
and it responded courageously to the demands.
As the camp faded into the distant horizon and the Dinkey gradually approached the clearings, I realized
I was leaving the environs of an industry rich in color, romance and tradition that will soon pass into
history I was crossing the last frontier, which characterized the progress and restlessness of a people
born to conquer.
In Denny McDouwd I could vision the spirit of the pioneer of the century ago as he blazed the trail
through dense forests and trekked the broad prairies, ever seeking the Eldorado, but never contented
unless living close to nature.
-From The Onaway Outlook, May 17, 2013, p. 3.
Retyped by J. Anderson.