A Canadian Family

Some time ago I acquired a little pamphlet (and set of cards) that was published in London, England by the Imperial Institute. It contained information and images of the lumber industry in what the pamphlet refers to as the Dominion of Canada. The term Dominion fell out of usage in Canada by the 1950s so it’s a fair assumption that the pamphlet dates from that period. I’m sharing it here today because the photographs – and clear explanations of the steps in getting the wood from forest to mill – may be useful to the many family historians who have ancestors who worked in the lumber industry.

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THE FORESTS OF CANADA

Forests cover one third of Canada’s total land area and are one of her chief sources of wealth. They provide employment in logging and lumbering; raw material for pulp and paper manufacture, and or a number of wood-using and paper-using industries. These industries in the aggregate amount to between 20% to 30% of the total manufacturing industries of the Dominion and rank second only to agriculture in the value of the export goods they produce.

THE EASTERN FORESTS

Eastern Canada was the cradle of the Canadian lumber industry, but the territory is now primarily pulpwood area although large quantities of timer are still obtained. Some of the largest pulp and paper in the world are found in this region, which is characterized by interlacing systems of lakes and rivers. These waterways, coupled with rigorous winters followed by sudden spring thaws, are factors which determine the logging and lumbering methods practised.

A mixed forest in Eastern Canada

This air view shows spruce pine and fir intermingled with birch, maple, elm, poplar and basswood. Note the general flatness of the country and the network of rives and lakes which are used for floating logs from the forests to the mills.

Unloading logs into the river

The trees are felled during the winter when teh forest floor is frozen and snow-bound. The logs can then be snaked and sleighed out of the woods with a minimum of effort. The are piled on the ice or the sloping banks of a stream to await the spring thaw.

The start of a log drive

When the melting ice and snow provide the annual “freshets”, the piles of logs are rolled into the stream. They are carried by the fast flowing current down to the mills, being guided on their way by intrepid river-men.

Blowing up a log jam

Log jams frequently occur where a river bends suddenly or becomes shallow over an uneven bed. These “jams” are usually broken up by the river-men armed with pike-poles or peavies, but when these efforts fail dynamite is used.

Log boom at the mills

After an eventful journey of 100 or more miles, the logs are collected in a boom at the mills to await conversion into lumber, or into wood-pulp or lumber.

Pulp and paper mill, Quebec

At mills such as this the logs are converted by grinding or chemical treatment into wood pulp for paper-making. The principal kind of paper made is newsprint.

Note the huge log pile at the left of the picture.

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