History of Saginaw county, Michigan; together with ... portraits ... and biographies ... History of Michigan ...

408

HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.

division of the Michigan Central touches the extreme headwaters
of the district in Roscommon county. The Muskegon is one of the
principal pine-producing streams of the State, in fact is surpassed
by none save the Tittabawassee and tributaries. The lower Muskegon pine has been exhausted largely, but the extent of the stream
and its numerous tributaries will continue a source of supply for
years yet to come.
LIFE IN THE LUMBER WOODS.
Life in the lumber woods is, perhaps, the most peculiar feature
connected with the timber business. In the woods the inaugural
labors of the timber-worker begins. The tree which he fells today may pass through hundreds of hands here, and afterward be
ultimately utilized by a European or Asiatic carpenter. Rev. C.
A. Brigham, in speaking on this subject, said:
"The first party of woodmen usually go out in November. As
soon as the ground begins to freeze, the men select a place for
their camp as nearly as possible in the center of the 'lot' which
they are to work upon, taking care to get a dry soil in the neighborhood of some spring or brook; they build a log house and cut a.
road to the nearest stream on which the logs must be floated down.
The log houses are large enough to accommodate from 25 to 50
persons. In the center a raised fire-place is built, directly under
the apex of the roof, and the only chimney is a tunnel above this
fire-place. The work of wood-cutting begins as soon as
the roadis finished and the ground becomes hard enough to haul
the logs,-usually early in December,-and it is continued until
the stream breaks up in the spring. The daily wood-chopping begins with the early morning, and is kept up as long as there is
light. In the evenings the woodmen sit around their fire, smoke
pipes, play cards, tell stories, and sometimes get up rude dances.
There is very little drinking among themn during the season of
work in the woods. Sutlers are not allowed on the premises, and
the men lhave usually no money to buy liquor. They are paid by
the day and supplied with suitable food by their employers. Pork
andbeans, dried fish, bread and tea, are the most approved articles of diet. Coffee is not generally provided, and the delicacies
consist chiefly in the wild game which the woodmen themselves
may chance to catch. There is plenty of this to be had, if they
had only the time to take it, for the woods are still full of squirrels,
rabbits, coons, deer, and black bears, whose flesh is not unpalatable; the streams, too, are full of fish. But the mnenl are too busy
in their craft to do ]nuch1 fishing or hunting, and are content with
their simple, but nourishing, regular fare. In addition to their
'nourishment,' they get, on an average, about one dollar per day
for their labor. Ilile whole gain of a lumberman in his winter's
hard work is about $100, which a new suit of clotles and a few
weeks of sport in the spring generally exhaust. The life of lum