What a Logging Camp was like 1880-1910 - Minnesota Museum

More videos like this and more then Google: "mike wick minnesota videos" (Now with over 200 educational videos +) Many are Norwegian-American travel, Norwegian history and Scandinavian music videos. Forest History Center Logging Camp 1890s to 1910 (Minnesota Historical Society) Grand Rapids Minnesota. The logging of the forests was the most dramatic event in the relationship between people and the environment of Minnesota. Because so many Scandinavians settled in Minnesota the lumber camps were manned by a huge number of Swedes and Norwegians.

So if you think your Norse grandparents worked as a logger this is the Minnesota Historical site you want to visit to see how he may of worked and lived for a few years. White pine logging was done in the winter. Logging camps were usually used for one or two seasons until the timber was cut, and then moved to another location.

1890s to 1910 The “golden era” of lumbering in Minnesota. Logging railroads reached deep into the woods as steam power became the mover of logs. Over 20,000 lumberjacks and half that number of draft horses were working in the northern forests of the state. An equal number of men worked in the state’s sawmills and another 20,000 people worked in related wood-production factories. Yet, dark clouds emerged on the lumbering skyline; catastrophic forest fires, fueled by logging operations leaving dry tree tops called "slash," swept the landscape and devastated many northern communities — Hinckley in 1894, Chisholm in 1908, Baudette in 1910, and Cloquet & Moose Lake in 1918.

1900 The peak year of white pine logging. From that year alone, Minnesota pine could build over 600,000 two-story homes or a boardwalk nine feet wide encircling the earth at the equator.

Visitors are welcome to explore the fire tower and visitor center on their own, and take a short walk to the moored river “wanigan” — the floating cook shack and bunkhouse used by river drivers on the Mississippi River when moving logs down river to the mills. At the beginning of the century, the most viable and economical way to move logs from forests to the sawmills was to float them down the river. These river drives were the most colorful and dangerous part of the lumbering story.

The river drives took place early in the spring, to take advantage of the high water resulting from the melting snow. The wanigan, a barge-like boat, was the headquarters for the drive.

Guided 60-minute tours of the recreated logging camp leave the visitor center on the hour during summer hours. During winter season, visits to the logging camp are self-guided.

Tours begin in the visitor center with an introductory video and time to explore the exhibits. The visitor center also houses the museum store and restrooms.