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Logging Camps: An Overview

Guest Writer





North of an imaginary line from Muskegon and Saginaw, the pines grew: white, jack and Norway, as well as other conifers. It was the white pine that allowed the heyday of the lumber industry. Many white pines were over 200 years old, two hundred feet in height and five feet in diameter.


Michigan’s pine became important as the supply of trees in the northeast was used. By 1880, Michigan was producing as much lumber as the next three states combined.


The first people to understand the immensity of the woods were the government surveyors, but their job was to get information about the topography. The timber cruisers worked for the lumbermen and would select the best land available and reserve it at the land office for their employers.


After the timber cruisers found the best stands of pine, the crew would come in and build a camp, which consisted of a bunkhouse, cook shanty which had a dining room and kitchen, the most

important part of camp. There was a blacksmith and a carpenter as well as a granary and barn for the animals. The camp store would have the basic supplies need by the men, such as clothes and tobacco. These buildings were not very well built, as they were often meant to be temporary, to be moved when the trees were gone.


(Article courtesy of State of Michigan.)

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