by Michael Hoy
Log driving began in Maine on the Saco river in the 18th century. It was a way of transporting a large amount of logs to mills by floating them down rivers. Logs were also transported across lakes using booms. Booms were large logs attached together by a chain. The booms circled the logs, not letting them escape. Bangor became the lumber capital of the world.
boat pulling logs across Moosehead Lake
Logging started with the contractor- he selected the spot where wood was to be cut, and later dumped in rivers. If it was deep in the forest, roads were needed to be built. Then a group of year-round loggers arrived and built the camps out of logs (surprise!). The buildings were usually huge, having to hold hundreds of loggers at a time. The loggers then started storing logs for spring. During that time they played anything from football to whiffle ball. They read stories, played cards, and did anything that could interest them. In spring, workers from out of state came to drive the logs. The whole thing was a year-round process.
The forest was where the log driving began. When it was winter, the year round loggers chopped down trees. They worked in crews with four or five men. In the crew there were two choppers, some to tend to the sled and horses (called a teamster), and someone to help unload at the landing (called a yard man). The team worked hard -- two choppers could cut 6-7,000 feet of logs a day. The choppers used crosscut saws and backsaws. The logs were then peeled and sent off for storage. As soon as the ice thawed, the men would bring the logs out of storage.
Life on the log drive was hard. The men worked hard 14 to 16 hours a day. They had four meals: breakfast, two lunches, and a supper. A cook accompanied the loggers, sometimes good and sometimes, well, not-so-good. The men worked under hazardous conditions the whole time -- slipping on a log and going through a sluice gate were real problems these men faced. The water was freezing cold most of the time, so when the workers fell in they were unable to swim. Mosquitoes, black flies, leeches, and moose flies were all annoyances that the loggers had to put up with. However, most of the workers enjoyed the thrill of the log drive, and kept at it. They had to have liked it to be a part of it, or it wasn't much use because loggers were not paid well (about $20 a week), and usually needed a secondary job.
Log jams were common on the log drive. The logs sometimes got caught up on rocks, stopping the ones behind or even forcing them under. The loggers used poles, booms and even dynamite to break up the log jam. One of the biggest jams in history was on the Kennebec in early March, 1896, when there was a huge flood.
You can see that log driving had its dangers but was enjoyable for the workers and at the same time was crucial to Maine's economy.
Resources used for research include: Salt II River Driving In Maine , Tall Trees Tough Men by R. Pike, From Stump to Ship (video), The Upper Kennebec Valley , Vol. 2, by Jon Hall