Chapter 7, page 194-195.
The crew of a lumbering operation outside of their camp, circa 1900.
Getting lumber from the forest to the sawmil was an extensive process, that began with setting up a logging camp in timber land.
Logging season began in October and would extend through the spring. Loggers depended on icy roads in winter and flooded rivers in the spring to transport timber to sawmills.
Primary Sources for Finding Katahdin Chapter 7, Section 1
Item 8324
Item 9366
Chapter 7, page 194-197.
Edwin H. Eddy's personal account of a visit to a logging camp in 1800. Edwin H. Eddy was 17 years-old when he accompanied his father to the camp, which was located on a tributary of the Penobscot River upstream from Bangor.
The Penobscot river and its branches above Bangor drain 8,200 square miles of land, which is the largest area of land drained by a river in the state. By the mid-1800s, the majority of logging in Maine occoured in the woods along the branches of the Penobscot.
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Item 4200
Chapter 7, page 198-200.
During the spring river drive, river drivers travelled with the newly cut logs downstream by walking on top of them as they floated down river. The drivers would dislodge logs from jams and direct them down river until they reached the sawmill.
These drivers are pictured with tools known as "cant dogs" or peaveys, which were used to help drive the logs downriver.
Item 9389
Chapter 7, page 193.
This 1835 letter describes the efforts of the Boston and Eastern Mill and Land Company to erect housing to accomodate workers coming to work at the mills in Machias.
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Item 1488
Chapter 7, page 194.
This engraving illustrates the sawmills on the Penobscot River at Old Town.
Item 6609
Chapter 7, page 201-202.
This Great Northern Paper mill is in Millinocket along the Penobscot River. The development of the paper industry in the late 1800s changed the way Maine's forest products were used.
Maine's abundant supply of spruce was excellent for paper-making. The wood was cooked down into pulp, mixed with rag pulp and paste, and then condensed and flattened into long sheets of paper.
Item 9360
Chapter 7, page 200.
The interior of J.G. Deering & Son Lumber Company on the Saco River in Biddeford.
The photograph is one in a series that was taken for a court case in which an employee sued the company for an accident at the saw mill.
Item 9365
Samuel Souther Jr. Congregational newsletter item, Fryeburg, ca. 1850 / Maine Historical Society
Chapter 7, page 192-193.
This undated letter to the editor reports on lumbering and shipbuilding during the winter months.
The city of Bangor was a thriving center for the lumber industry for much of the 19th century.
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Item 9396
Letter from Benjamin Mathes Jr. to Samuel S. Lewis, Apr. 12, 1836 / Maine Historical Society
Chapter 7, page 193-194.
This 1836 letter describes two cargoes of lumber shipped from Machias by the Boston and Eastern Mill and Land Company. The shipments were bound for New York.
The letter, written my Benjamin Mathes in 1836, also mentions the upcoming spring river drive and the company's abundant timber lands above Bangor.
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Item 9371
Copy of a letter from Joshua Richardson to Benjamin Walker, Aug. 24, 1840 / Maine Historical Society
Chapter 7, page 204.
This 1840 letter, from Portland merchant shipper Joshua Richardson, mentions his interest in procuring 2,000 feet of seasoned boards from Benjamin Walker of Bridgton. The market for Maine lumber was booming during this period.
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Item 9372
Copy of a letter, May 8, 1841, Joshua Richardson to David Magoun / Maine Historical Society
Chapter 7, page 204.
Maine shipbuilders required a vast supply of lumber. In this 1841 letter, Portland merchant shipper Joshua Richardson is seeking a buyer from Bangor for a load of Savannah [Georgia] ship timber.
Although timber was abundant in Maine, shipbuilders did make use of lumber from other states.
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