Logging Camps

Grade Level • Grade 11&12

Main Idea Logging camps were a popular place for men to work in the 1900’s. Even though there was long days, dismal resources and tasteless food, men poured into the area because the jobs were endless and wages were better than what other occupations offered. Subjects Covered

• English Language Arts 11 and 12 • Social Studies 11 • History 12

Objectives Students will be able to describe:

• The economy in the early 1900’s • What the working day consisted of in the 1900’s • The general operations of a logging camp

Teacher Notes No prior knowledge of logging camps is needed to successfully present this lesson plan. Materials

• “Early 1900’s” handout • “Camp Life” handout • “Reading Questions” handout • “Student Assignment” handout • “Logger Lingo” handout

Vocabulary Cook Shanty: A building were a cook would prepare meals for a logging crew Fallers: Men who saw down trees. Teamsters: Men who work the horse the haul logs out of the forest.

Page 1 www.theexplorationplace.com

Outline 1. Distribute the “Early 1900’s” photo to each student.

a. Do not tell class what the photo is of.

2. Give students 5 minutes to analyze the photo and write down their thoughts.

3. After 5 minutes take comments from students regarding the photo. Their thoughts of what it is and what it means.

4. Once discussion is over have students put away the “Early 1900’s” handout so they can

not see it.

5. Distribute the “Camp Life” handout to each student and have them skim over the reading.

6. After reading the “Camp Life” handout, have students look at the “Early 1900’s” handout again.

7. Ask students if their view or knowledge of the photo has changed. If so, discuss how and why.

8. Divide class into groups of 2 or 3 and hand out “Reading Questions” to each group.

9. Once each group has answered all the questions have a class discussion on each question. a. Question 1

i. The importance of logging camps. b. Question 2

i. Economy of the early 1900’s. c. Question 3

i. Hours the men worked in the logging camps. d. Question 4

i. Temperature. e. Question 5

i. Have each group present their “Logger Lingo Slogan” to the class.

10. Distribute “Student Assignment” handout to each student. Have them choose one of the two topics to report on.

Resources Holm, David. Oral History of Jim and Margaret McConaghy. Canada: College of New Caledonia, 2003. Roberge, Earl. Timber Country. Idaho: Caxton Printers, LTD, 1973. Work in the Nineteenth-Century in Forest Industry. National Museum of Man: NO 46, 1983. Where Two Rivers Meet. http://collections.ic.gc.ca/princegeorge/noframes/logging.html, 2003. The Exploration Place. http://www.theexplorationplace.com/, 2003.

Page 2 www.theexplorationplace.com

Early 1900’s

Early 1900’s Answer Key

The kitchen, dining, bunk house, and office of Logging Camp #2 at Horseshoe Hill on the long road to Shelley.

woo

d st

ove.

Wire

s and

rope

s dan

gled

from

the

ceili

ng fo

r dry

ing

clot

hes t

hat w

here

was

hed

whe

n ev

er p

eopl

e co

mpl

aine

d ab

out t

he

smel

l. A

bun

khou

se w

ould

con

sist

of f

alle

rs o

r tea

mst

ers,

who

“ree

ked

with

hor

ses”

. M

ost m

en w

ere

used

to e

very

kin

d of

smel

l

imag

inab

le.

All

cam

ps h

ad a

coo

k w

ho w

ould

hav

e th

eir o

wn

cabi

n, m

ost o

ften

calle

d a

“Coo

k Sh

anty

”. H

ere

the

cook

pre

pare

d m

eals

for t

he

men

and

slep

t. M

cCon

aghy

from

She

lley

stat

es th

at th

e fo

od w

as

“who

leso

me”

and

“ba

sic”

. H

e go

es o

n to

say

“if y

ou h

ad a

goo

d

cook

in c

amp,

you

had

goo

d fo

od.”

Coo

ks w

ould

rise

abo

ut 4

am

As l

oggi

ng b

ecam

e an

impo

rtant

asp

ect i

n th

e B

ritis

h

Col

umbi

a ec

onom

y in

the

early

190

0’s,

lum

ber c

ompa

nies

cam

e

rush

ing

into

the

area

. In

ord

er fo

r the

se c

ompa

nies

to su

ccee

d th

ey

need

ed la

rge

crew

s who

whe

re w

illin

g to

wor

k aw

ay fr

om a

ny

type

of c

ivili

zatio

n. T

o ac

com

mod

ate

thes

e cr

ews l

umbe

r

com

pani

es n

eede

d to

con

stru

ct lu

mbe

r cam

ps th

at w

ould

pro

vide

crew

s a p

lace

to e

at a

nd sl

eep.

Acc

omm

odat

ion

at th

e ca

mps

con

sist

ed o

f mak

e sh

ift

cabi

ns w

ith p

oor v

entil

atio

n an

d no

reso

urce

s suc

h as

ele

ctric

ity.

Clo

thes

did

not

dry

and

men

had

to b

ring

thei

r ow

n be

ddin

g. M

en

wou

ld h

ave

to sl

eep

on b

unks

cra

mm

ed in

to o

ne ro

om, t

here

cou

ld

be fr

om 6

men

to 2

0 m

en in

one

are

a w

ith b

unks

aga

inst

the

wal

ls.

At o

ne e

nd o

f the

cab

in w

ould

be

bunk

s and

at t

he o

ther

, a sm

all

Men

stan

ding

in fr

ont o

f a w

ood

build

ing

with

a c

anva

s roo

f am

ongs

t sta

cks o

f lo

gs.

Men

at c

amp

on S

eeba

ch C

reek

,192

4.

Page

1

Page

2

ww

w.th

eexp

lora

tionp

lace

.com

to p

repa

re b

reak

fast

and

lunc

h fo

r the

cre

w.

The

crew

wou

ld

gath

er in

one

bui

ldin

g an

d ea

t bre

akfa

st to

geth

er in

sile

nce.

Mos

t

men

wan

ted

to sa

vor t

he q

uiet

tim

e in

the

brea

kfas

t sha

nty

befo

re

head

ing

out t

o th

e lo

ggin

g si

te.

Lunc

h w

as p

acke

d w

ith th

e m

en to

the

site

whe

re th

ey w

ere

wor

king

, as i

t was

usu

ally

a lo

ng h

ike

back

to th

e ca

mp

from

the

wor

k si

te.

Supp

er w

as th

e bi

g m

eal a

nd

was

usu

ally

serv

ed la

te a

t nig

ht a

roun

d 7

or 8

pm.

Soon

afte

r sup

-

per,

men

wou

ld b

e of

f to

bed

to re

st fo

r ano

ther

long

day

ahe

ad.

T

he w

eeks

and

day

s whe

re lo

ng fo

r the

cre

ws.

Som

etim

es

it w

ould

be

mon

ths b

efor

e a

crew

wou

ld g

o to

tow

n fo

r a c

oupl

e of

days

. W

ork

star

ted

whe

n it

was

still

dar

k, m

en w

ould

wak

e, e

at

brea

kfas

t, ha

rnes

s the

hor

ses a

nd h

ead

out t

o th

e w

orks

ite.

Mos

t

men

wor

ked

in 3

’s, o

ne m

an w

ho w

ould

fall

the

trees

, one

to b

uck

and

limb

and

the

othe

r to

skid

logs

to th

e la

ndin

g si

te o

r to

the

A gr

oup

of su

rvey

ors i

n fr

ont o

f a lo

g ca

bin.

river

. Th

e m

ain

goal

of e

very

cre

w w

as to

bea

t the

reco

rds f

rom

the

day

befo

re, t

o cu

t mor

e tre

es a

nd m

ake

mor

e lu

mbe

r. T

he

wor

k sc

hedu

le c

onsi

sted

of l

oggi

ng in

the

win

ter,

mill

ing

in th

e

sum

mer

and

surv

ival

dur

ing

brea

k up

and

free

ze u

p. W

ork

did

not

com

men

ce a

fter i

t was

“25

to 3

0 be

low

…it

was

n’t h

ard

on th

e

men

, it w

as h

ard

on th

e eq

uipm

ent.”

The

re w

as a

lway

s wor

k fo

r

men

due

to th

e ab

unda

nce

of sa

wm

ills i

n th

e ar

ea.

McC

onag

hy

stat

es th

at “

if yo

u le

ft a

job

you

coul

d go

into

tow

n an

d ge

t ano

ther

one

befo

re y

ou w

alke

d th

e le

ngth

of t

he P

rince

ss T

heat

re.”

Ther

e w

here

no

wom

en in

logg

ing

cam

ps u

nles

s the

re

whe

re fa

mily

qua

rters

set u

p. I

t was

onl

y th

en th

at w

omen

and

child

ren

help

ed w

ith th

e co

okin

g an

d cl

eani

ng, o

ther

wis

e it

was

the

men

coo

king

and

cle

anin

g. S

unda

y w

as a

day

to p

lay,

men

wou

ld d

ance

and

pla

y m

usic

acc

ordi

ng to

thei

r cul

tura

l bac

k-

grou

nd.

Prin

ce G

eorg

e w

as a

bus

y pl

ace

durin

g br

eak

up a

s men

from

all

over

wou

ld c

ome

to re

lax,

spen

d m

oney

, and

hav

e tim

e w

ith th

eir

fam

ilies

. Lo

gger

s had

a re

puta

tion

of sp

eaki

ng, s

mel

ling

and

dres

sing

diff

eren

tly a

nd m

ost p

eopl

e st

ayed

aw

ay fr

om th

em.

Page

3

Page

4

ww

w.th

eexp

lora

tionp

lace

.com

W

ages

pai

d in

the

earli

er y

ears

may

seem

unr

ealis

tic to

day.

In 1

920

a sa

wye

r may

rece

ive

50 c

ents

per

hou

r, 5

cent

s or l

ess f

or

team

ster

s, ca

mp

help

and

cle

an u

p. A

fore

man

may

rece

ive

up to

$125

per

mon

th.

Thes

e w

ages

wou

ld c

hang

e an

d by

the

time

the

depr

essi

on h

it, w

ages

whe

re c

ut to

22

cent

s per

hou

r. C

onsi

derin

g

pric

es o

f eve

ryda

y pr

oduc

ts su

ch a

s bre

ad a

nd m

ilk w

ages

whe

re

not a

s bad

as t

hey

seem

.

Page

5

ww

w.th

eexp

lora

tionp

lace

.com

Reading Questions

1. Why did logging operations set up logging camps? 2. If a foreman made $120 per month, why was that considered to

be a good income in the 1900’s? 3. How often did men get to go to town? 4. When was the only time men did not have to work in the logging

camp?

www.theexplorationplace.com

Student Assignment

Choose one of the following two questions. 1. Pretend that you are a logger in the 1920’s.

a. Research prices from the 1900’s on the following topics. This can be done through readings, websites and old is-sues of The Citizen.

i. Activities ii. Food iii. Rent iv. Gas v. Clothes

b. Create and compare a budget of today’s prices and wages of the above topics and those from the early 1900’s and compare. What are the biggest changes and what con-tributed to these changes.

2. Write a 500-700 word essay on life in a logging camp using at

least 5 terms from “Logger Lingo”

www.theexplorationplace.com

Logger Lingo Ace in the hole – loggers love poker. Alabama wool – cotton underwear. Ask for time – Quitting. Axel grease – butter Back to camp – following a strike or a shut down, going back to work. Back up to the window for his paycheck - someone who does so little work he’s embarrassed to take pay. Bait can – lunch bucket. Balloon it – pack and leave camp. Barbwire deal – tough problem or situation. Boiling dishwater – to determine how cold the weather is, throw boiling dishwater outside. If it freezes before hitting ground, it’s cold. Bone Butcher – company doctor. Bow his back – refuse to do a job Bucker – man who cuts felled trees. Bull Cook – besides a cook, also does odd jobs. Bull of the woods – could be one though man in camp, or the boss.

Page 1 www.theexplorationplace.com

Bunch the job – quitting without warning. Camp lawyer – logger who has to argue about everything. Can opener artist – poor cook, only slightly better than a belly robber. Chicken crap outfit – crummy logging show. Cookie pusher – waitress. Crooked elbow – caused by leaning against too many saloon bars. Dog robber – camp cook, who feeds everything to loggers, has nothing left for dog. Draw day – Payday. Draw your time – your fired. Faller – a man who cuts down trees. Family show – logging operation run by an old man and his sons. Fish eyes – poorly cooked tapioca. Flunkie – dishwasher. Give’ er snoose – feel in the power. Gunny sack show – haywire operation. Gut heater – whiskey. Haywire job – do anything the cheapest possible way.

Page 2 www.theexplorationplace.com

Kitchen Mechanic – dishwasher. Like a handful of ants – everything in confusion. Little bull – foreman either too young or lacking experience, not respected by his men. Monthly insult – paycheck. Nosebag show – camp where midday meal was taken to the woods in lunch buckets. One-donkey show – very small operation. Pass the 44’s – pass the beans. Quick like a cow – clumsy, two left feet. Tar – really bad coffee. Walk the bugs to death – turn shirt inside out so lice must walk to front to get in. War department – a wife.

Page 3 www.theexplorationplace.com