Part 87 (1/2)
YEAR FEET
1837-38 300,000 1838-39 700,000 1839-40 1,500,000 1840-41 2,500,000 1841-42 3,000,000 1842-43 3,500,000 1843-44 8,500,000 1844-45 14,000,000 1845-46 25,500,000 1846-47 26,000,000 1847-48 37,000,000 1848-49 50,000,000 1849-50 75,000,000 1850-51 87,000,000 1851-52 90,000,000 1852-53 110,000,000 1853-54 125,000,000 1854-55 165,000,000 1855-56 187,000,000 1856-57 200,000,000 1857-58 135,000,000 1858-59 156,000,000 1859-60 175,000,000 1860-61 160,000,000 1861-62 175,000,000 1862-63 150,000,000 1863-64 140,000,000 1864-65 144,000,000 1865-66 137,000,000 1866-67 174,000,000 1867-68 183,000,000 1868-69 194,000,000 1869-70 209,000,000 1870-71 170,000,000 1871-72 224,000,000 1872-73 108,000,000 1873-74 188,000,000 1874-75 178,000,000 1875-76 197,000,000 1876-77 183,000,000 1877-78 225,000,000 1878-79 242,000,000 1879-80 230,000,000 1880-81 247,000,000 1881-82 295,000,000 1882-83 302,000,000 1883-84 230,000,000 1884-85 235,000,000 1885-86 285,000,000 1886-87 350,000,000 1887-88 370,000,000
CHARTERED DAMS
The Naatic Daislature es, one to be at the outlet of Naatic river, a streaht islative act, the charter was amended by permission to erect sixteen dams, to be built severally on the waters of the Upper St Croix, Moose, Eau Claire, Naatic, Yellow, and Claed to the ”St Croix Dam Company,” and the capital stock was fixed at 50,000 The incorporators were A M
Chase, Joel Nason, Henry D Barron, Wm Kent, and S B Dresser A M
Chase was the first president The company had per the seasons when it was not necessary to navigation on the St Croix These da the months of March and April, with the exception of the dae of gathering and retaining a head of water during any part of the year The head of water above these dae cost of construction was 4,000 The tolls per 1,000 feet at these daon and Claatic, 20 and 15 cents; St Croix, 20 and 15 cents; other dainalits interests He was fore the various daent until within the last few years, when he transferred his interests to other parties The charter expires in 1893
The dam on Clam river, built at a cost of 10,000, was, in 1886, blown up by dynamite and destroyed by Robert Davidson, who claie interfered with his meadow lands
LUMBERING ON THE ST CROIX IN 1845
The progress of civilization involving the building of railways, the transforrowth of villages and cities, the increased facilities forthe forest does in the business of lu to the life and surroundings of the early luo back to the year 1845 The country, save a few sparse settleable streams, is as yet an unbroken wilderness, and tenanted only by wild beasts and roving Indians There are vast regions, densely wooded, in which the sound of the wood about the headwaters of the Chippewa, St
Croix and other strea the currents of the minor strea the country on foot or with tea of teams, supplies of flour, pork, etc, in Illinois or Missouri Soh unsettled country, without roads, swi away obstructions, and caht overtakes them Sometimes they shi+p their supplies by steamer to Stillwater or St Croix Falls When landed at Stillwater the supplies are packed upon flatboats and poled to Taylor's Falls, where they are to be portaged to the head of the rapids, a distance of six e is a difficult one The goods are to be hoisted up over the rocks of the Dalles and placed upon sleds calculated to run upon the bare ground Considering the inequalities of the surface froe is an immensely difficult one They are then taken to their place of destination, the bateaux returning to the Falls for successive loads, the whole transfer requiring considerable time Sometimes, if late in the season, part or whole of the fleet of bateaux ht in the ice, in which case a bushed road must be made, and the supplies transported by tearound, the operators blaze trees on lines surrounding the region which they wish to work during the winter These claienerally respected by others The first work to be done isstrea roads Incidentally the Indians, certain to be visitors at the camps, are to be propitiated with presents of flour, pork and tobacco These pacified and out of the way, the lumberman may say with Alexander Selkirk--
”I aht there is none to dispute”
Trespassing is unknown The lumberman is not conscious that he himself is a trespasser on the domain of Uncle Sam Nor is he Has he not the best title in the world? Who is there to dispute it? No governht to fell the royal trees and dispose of theht arm his title to the trees He endures much, accomplishes much and is the advance courier of civilization He spends long months away from the common haunts of men He is cut off from the mails and from home pleasure He lives an industrious life Cold is the day when the stroke of his axe is not heard The snow deepens around him, the temperature sinks lower and lower, till it would not discredit Labrador; still he toils on unceasingly, and at night builds high his blazing fire, wraps hih the night the sleep of the tired and the just
Meanwhile his appetite is(done by one of the crew) maybe of the rudest, and the provisions none of the daintiest, but exercise and the cold gives a relish to the food not often found in the fashi+onable restaurants The members of the crew have each allotted duties To one is intrusted the cooking department, to another the position of teamster, to another that of sled tender; some are choppers, some are swampers, some are sawyers The records of the camp are kept by the foreman or some person detailed for that purpose
The winter over, the tea crew succeeds the choppers and other workers The logs, having been hauled upon the ice of the driving strea of snow are afloat on the swollen streas in their doard course to thethe jams when they occur This work is difficult and attended by considerable exposure, as the driver is often obliged to go into the streaes than other work The drivers are without tents, but a wangan, or s kit, is floated down the streaed by the cook alone, and his work, when he ties up for the night, is to take ashore the bedding, cooking ry crew His cooking utensils are of the rudest kind, consisting of a tin reflector and a few iron pots and pans The savory repast is scarce finished before the arrival of the crew, cold, wet, tired, and hungry They are not particular about a table with its furniture, but are satisfied to eat froer satisfied, they spend their evenings by the blazing fire, drying their clothing, jesting, story telling, or recalling the events of the day, or scanning the open or clouded sky for indications of weather changes When the sky is clear they trace the constellations, locate the principal stars and planets, or follow the devious windings of the milky way Some of them have studied astronomy, and soh without books or teachers, on learning the wisdom that Nature teaches, and some are found who have learned to look ”froher specimen mars the order and pleasantness of this ood converse by an oath or coarse remark, heard, perhaps, but unheeded by the htful Such men are found everywhere, in the streets, saloons, and even in the wilderness, men who pollute the air in which they move with profanity and obscenity
These are not the reat fortunes; these are not the true conquerors of the wilderness The sober, thoughtful man is the man who succeeds It is not necessary that he have the learning acquired fro of science froe by close study of men, and observation of the phenomena of nature, and so make himself a peer of the book worm and scholar of the library and schools
The acquaintances for friendshi+ps, and the scenes of camp, river and forest become cherished re the the hairbreadth escapes and stirring incidents of cas at the booms and mills, the men are paid off and devote themselves for the remainder of the summer to other work
LUMBERING ON THE ST CROIX IN 1886
The St Croix lumberman, after the lapse of nearly fifty years, is still a picturesque figure, clad, as he is, in coarse, strong woolen garreen, or in soated as Joseph's coat of many colors He is usually a e by his close fitting garments His circumstances are, however, widely different froh, hard work of the wilderness, including the building of dams, the construction of reservoirs and roads, and the improvement of the streams, has been accomplished chiefly by his predecessors He is abundantly supplied with food, produced alhborhood of the scenes of his winter's work He travels by rail almost to his destination or drives blooded teaood roads, where his predecessors tediously blazed the way and cleared it of underbrush His camp accommodations are far superior He is housed in coe stoves and heaters, whereas the cabin of the luround in the centre of the room The modern camp is well furnished with tables and other conveniences The cook has a separate roo stove andHe has his assistant, known as the ”cookee” or second cook The table is spread with a variety of food, and delicacies that would have astounded the lumberman of 1845 Each operator is limited to his own special work
His bounds are set and he can go no further, except at the risk of the loss of his labor
The work goes on with clock-like precision and is coer scale and er and the life is not near so solitary The various crews ereatly increase their efficiency They are supplied with better and covered boats The cook in the drive has in addition to his ”cookee” a wangan er and yet reater and the expenses less Theto the nues, htful We shall nevertheless find ahtful, industrious and earnest men, ould have shone in the associations of the earlier ca the successful and capable e of action
Conjecture as to the future of the lu industry, and consequently as to the character of the ed in it, would be idle Who can tell what a day or another fifty yearsforth?
The pine woods will not last always; already the ca pushed further and further to the north and west, and whereever the denuded pine lands are arable the far industry is also passing into the hands of corporations, and with their extensive means and the ar eneration of lumbermen may be the last in the valley of the St Croix, and that before another fifty years have passed the last of the number may have shouldered his axe or peavy and passed ”over the divide”
THE LOG JAMS OF THE ST CROIX