Editing Lumberjack (section)

== History ==

=== Lifestyle ===
[[File:A Maine Logging Camp.jpg|thumb|A Maine logging camp in 1906]]
Lumberjacks worked in [[lumber camp]]s and often lived a migratory life, following timber harvesting jobs as they opened.<ref>Rohe, 1986</ref> Being a lumberjack was seasonal work. Lumberjacks were exclusively men. They usually lived in [[bunkhouse]]s or tents. Common equipment included the [[axe]]<ref>{{cite web| url = https://clutchaxes.com/michigan-axe-pattern-uses-and-origin| title = Michigan Axe Pattern, Uses and Origin| work = clutchaxes.com| access-date = 2021-01-13| archive-date = 2021-02-01| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210201202720/https://clutchaxes.com/michigan-axe-pattern-uses-and-origin/| url-status = usurped}}</ref> and [[cross-cut saw]]. Lumberjacks could be found wherever there were vast forests to be harvested and a demand for wood, most likely in Scandinavia, Canada, and parts of the United States. In the U.S., many lumberjacks were of Scandinavian ancestry, continuing the family tradition. American lumberjacks were first centred in north-eastern states such as Maine. They then followed the general [[American frontier|westward migration]] on the continent to the [[Upper Midwest]], and finally the [[Pacific Northwest]]. [[Stewart Holbrook]] documented the emergence and [[American frontier|westward migration]] of the classic American lumberjack in his first book, ''Holy Old Mackinaw: A Natural History of the American Lumberjack''. He often wrote colourfully about lumberjacks in his subsequent books, romanticizing them as hard-drinking, hard-working men. Logging camps were slowly phased out between World War II and the early 1960s as crews could by then be transported to remote logging sites in motor vehicles.<ref>Smith (1972)</ref>

=== Division of labour ===
[[File:Felling axe.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Felling axes]]

Despite the common perception that all loggers cut trees, the actual felling and bucking of trees were specialized job positions done by fallers and buckers. Faller and bucker were once two separate job titles, but they are now combined.<ref>Sorden and Vallier, 1986</ref>

The natural division of labour in lumber camps led to other specialized jobs on logging crews, such as whistle punk, high climber, and chaser.<ref>Radford (1987)</ref>  The whistle punk's job was to sound a whistle (usually at the [[Steam donkey]]) as a signal to the [[yarder]] operator controlling the movement of logs. He also had to act as a safety lookout. A good whistle punk had to be alert and think fast as others' safety depended on him. The high climber (also known as a tree topper) established a [[spar (tree)|spar]] tree so logs could be skidded into the landing. Using tree climbing gaffs and rope to ascend a tall tree in the landing area of the logging site, he would chop off limbs as he climbed, chop off the top of the tree, then attach pulleys and rigging to the tree for the yarder.  High climbers and whistle punks began to be phased out in the 1960s to early 1970s when portable steel towers began to replace spar trees and radio equipment supplemented whistles for communication. The choker setters attached steel cables (or chokers) to downed logs so they could be dragged into the landing by the yarder, and still do today. The chasers remove the chokers once the logs are at the landing. Choker setters and chasers are often entry-level positions on logging crews, with more experienced loggers seeking to move up to more skill-intensive positions such as yarder operator or supervisory positions such as hook tender.

=== Machinery ===
[[File:Women's Land Army Training Camp at Culford in Suffolk, England – D 14116.jpg|thumb|right|A lumberjack chaining logs to a wagon, {{circa|1943}}.]]
Before the era of modern diesel or gasoline powered equipment, the existing machinery was steam powered. Animal or steam-powered [[skidder]]s could be used to haul harvested logs to nearby rail roads for shipment to [[sawmill]]s. Horse driven [[Michigan logging wheels|logging wheels]] were a means used for moving logs out of the woods. Another way for transporting logs to sawmills was to float them down a body of water or a specially-constructed [[log flume]]. [[Log rolling]], the art of staying on top of a floating log while "rolling" the log by walking, was another skill much in demand among lumberjacks. Spiked boots known as [[caulk boots|"caulks" or "corks"]] were used for log rolling and often worn by lumberjacks as their regular footwear.

The term "[[skid row]]", which today means a poor city neighbourhood frequented by [[homeless]] people, derives from a way harvested logs were once transported. Logs would be "skidded" down hills or along a [[corduroy road]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=skid row {{!}} Etymology of phrase skid row by etymonline |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/skid%20row |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=www.etymonline.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Yates |first=Chris |date=2021-03-15 |title=Why Do They Call It Skid Row? {{!}} Conner Industries |url=https://www.connerindustries.com/why-do-they-call-it-skid-row/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |language=en-US}}</ref> One such street in [[Seattle]] was named Skid Road. This street later became frequented by people down on their luck, and both the name and its meaning morphed into the modern term.<ref>{{Cite web |last=issue |first=Hannelore Sudermann {{!}} June 2023 |title=Professor’s book walks readers through history of Seattle’s ‘Skid Road’ |url=https://magazine.washington.edu/feature/professors-book-walks-readers-through-history-of-seattles-skid-road/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=UW Magazine — University of Washington Magazine}}</ref>

[[File:Logging Scene Near Bellingham, WA.jpg|thumb|Lumberjacks near Bellingham, Washington, {{circa|1910}}]]

Among the [[living history]] museums that preserve and interpret the [[forest industry]] are:
* [[BC Forest Discovery Centre]], [[Duncan, British Columbia|Duncan]]
* [[Camp Five Museum]], [[Laona, Wisconsin]]
** The [[Lumberjack Steam Train]], a passenger excursion train, operates as part of the museum.
* Central New Brunswick Woodsmen's Museum, [[Boiestown, New Brunswick]]
* [[Coos County Logging Museum]], [[Myrtle Point, Oregon]]
* [[Biltmore Forest School|Cradle of Forestry in America]] historic site, near [[Asheville, North Carolina]]
* [[Forest History Center]], [[Grand Rapids, Minnesota]]
* [[Hartwick Pines State Park|Hartwick Pines Logging Museum]], near [[Grayling, Michigan]]
* [[Lumberman's Monument]], near [[Oscoda, Michigan]]
* [[Maine Forest & Logging Museum]], [[Bradley, Maine]]
* [[Pennsylvania Lumber Museum]], near [[Galeton, Pennsylvania]]
* [[Algonquin Provincial Park#Algonquin Logging Museum|Algonquin Logging Museum]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Algonquin Logging Museum |url=http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/visit/locations/algonquin-logging-museum.php |website=Algonquin Provincial Park |publisher=The Friends of Algonquin Park |access-date=17 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618053223/http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/visit/locations/algonquin-logging-museum.php |archive-date=2018-06-18 |url-status=live }}</ref> in [[Algonquin Provincial Park]], [[Ontario]]