Part 2 of my "Logging in the Northeast" miniseries has me exploring the forest history of the Adirondack Mountains in New York state.

New York's Adirondack Mountains is the largest state park in the United States, protecting 6,000 square miles of land. Created in 1892, it is larger than many National Parks. It is a unique public-private partnership where many people live in numerous communities within the park. Where it is now a place of recreation, featuring 42 mountain peaks over 4,000 feet tall, 3,000 lakes, and 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, including the headwaters of the Hudson River, the Adirondacks were once nearly stripped of its forest cover.

I ventured into the Adirondacks in October of last year during my Northeastern vacation. It was a couple of rather rainy days, but the beauty of the Adirondack Mountains could not be hidden by the rain and fog.

You can support the podcast by clicking on the "Support" button on the right (Desktop version) or the $ symbol at the top (Mobile version).

https://northcountryhistorywithrobburg.buzzsprout.com/

For Additional Information:

The Adirondack Experience-The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake. https://www.theadkx.org/

Adirondack Interpretive Center. https://wildadirondacks.org/adirondack-interpretive-center.html

https://www.esf.edu/aic/index.php

Episode Sources:

"A Gift of Wilderness: The Adirondack Park." www.wildadirondacks.org/forever-wild-the-adirondack-park.html

"Adirondacks: Lumber Industry and Forest Conservation." www.nps.gov/articles/adirondacks-lumber-industry-forest-conservation.htm

To leave a comment, send me a text here.

Support the show

Long before the lumber industry made it to the Great Lakes region, logging was an important industry along the Atlantic Coast and specifically in the Northeast of what became the United States. The first region to be impacted by this boom was Maine.

Maine, at the time a part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and later the state of Massachusetts until its own statehood in 1820, was one of the first regions where lumber would be the most important economic industry. Like in the Great Lakes region, it was the Eastern White Pine that was the monarch of the forest. This tree was important to settlers for construction material and as an economic commodity. For the British Royal Navy, it was as the source of ship's masts and other vital ship building material. The white pine trade, specifically the mast trade would become a source of dissidence towards the British Crown by American Colonists that would lead to the American War of Independence.

The first water-powered sawmills were constructed in Maine in the 1630s and would be the primary source for milled lumber until the 1830s and 40s when steam-powered sawmills took over. Sometime around 1787 Oliver Leonard established his sawmill on Nichols Stream (now Blackman Stream) in the Town of Bradley. A saw mill on this site would continue to operate into the late 1800s. The site became the Maine Forest and Logging Museum, that was established in 1960. A recreation of the Leonard's Mill community is the centerpiece of the museum.

Maine contributed in other ways to the lumber industry. In Joseph Peavey, a blacksmith in Stillwater, Maine was watching river drivers having a difficult time with mulitple tools to move logs in the Penobscot River. He sketched out an idea for a new tool and instructed his son to put it together in their blacksmith shop. The "Peavey Pole" as it became known, used a wooden tool handle, made of hardwood, typically of hickory, ironwood, or of another strong wood, usually between four and six feet long. At the front end of the pole, it was topped with an iron or steel pike that was driven into the end. About 12-18 inches below the pike, an iron or steel hook was attached. The end was pointed and how it was attached with a bolt through it, it could swing to catch the hook on a log. The user could then push, pull, rolled, and lift the log with his Peavey Pole, having it act as a lever. Joseph Peavey's invention quickly caught on in Maine and elsewhere and helped to revolutionize the industry.

You can support the podcast by clicking on the "Support" button on the right (Desktop version) or the $ symbol at the top (Mobile version).

https://northcountryhistorywithrobburg.buzzsprout.com/

Episode Resources

A History of Maine Logging. Website: woodsplitterdirect.com/blogs/wsd/a-history-of-maine-logging

Maine Forest and Logging Museum, Inc. 2024. 64 Years of Living History at Leonard's Mills Bradley, Maine. Guidebook. Maine Forest and Logging Museum, 2024.

Pike, Robert E. Tall Trees, Tough Men. New York, W. W. Norton and Company, 1967.

The Rich Lumbering History of the Maine Highlands. Website: themainehighlands.com/lumbering-in-maine

Vietze, Andrew. White Pine: American History and the Tree that Made a Nation. Guilford, Connecticut, Globe Pequot. 2018.

Places to Visit for More Information:

Maine Forest and Logging Museum, Bradley, Maine. Website: maineforestandloggingmuseum.org

Patten Lumbermen's Museum, Patten, Maine. Website: https://lumbermensmuseum.org/

To leave a comment, send me a text here.

Support the show

On this week's episode of North Country History with Rob Burg, I am joined by Bill Jamerson, an award winning documentary filmmaker turned author and performer, to discuss the life and experiences of CCC Boy Michael Rataj. Mike came from poverty in Detroit and came of age in the wilderness of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where the CCC changed his life. Both Bill and I knew Mike and heard his numerous stories over the years, and we share some of our own stories and thoughts on Mike.

Michael Rataj was the perfect representative of what the CCC did for more than 102,000 young men in Michigan and millions across the country. For many years Mike was involved with both the National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni (NACCCA) and the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni (MCCCA). Mike helped lead and organize the annual CCC Alumni Reunion that was held at Higgins Lake for many years, and was a volunteer and seasonal historical interpreter at the CCC Museum at North Higgins Lake State Park.

In 1993 Bill Jamerson produced his film on the CCC in Michigan, titled "Camp Forgotten." Michael Rataj was a contributor to the film. In 2007 Bill published the historical novel "Big Shoulders" about the coming of age story of a teenager who joins the CCC. Mike Rataj was Bill's main inspiration for the story and many of Mike's own experiences were used in the book.

You can support the podcast by clicking on the "Support" button on the right (Desktop version) or the $ symbol at the top (Mobile version).

https://northcountryhistorywithrobburg.buzzsprout.com/

For more Information:

For Information on Bill Jamerson, his programs, films, book, and CD: http://billjamerson.com/

For information on the CCC Museum, its hours and programs: https://www.michigan.gov/mhc/museums/hln-ccc

For further information on the Civilian Conservation Corps in the United States: https://ccclegacy.org/

For further reading about the CCC:

Apps, Jerry. The Civilian Conservation Corps in Wisconsin: Nature’s Army at Work. Madison, WI. Wisconsin Historical Society Press. 2019.

Hivert-Carthew, Annick. Proud To Work: A Pictorial History of Michigan’s Civilian Conservation Corps. Wilderness Adventure Books. 2006.

Rosentreter, Roger L. Roosevelt's Tree Army, Michigan's Civilian Conservation Corps. Lansing, MI. Michigan Bureau of History. 1986. (It is available online at: https://www.michigan.gov/mhc/museums/hln-ccc/ccc-in-michigan)

Schueller, Mary J. The Soldiers of Poverty. Richfield, WI. Rustic Books. 2006.

Sommers, Barbara W. Hard Work and a Good Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota. St. Paul, MN. Minnesota Historical Society Press. 2008

Symon, Charles A. We Can Do It! A History of the CCC in Michigan 1933-1942. Escanaba, MI. Richards Printing. 1983.

To leave a comment, send me a text here.

Support the show