27

CAMBOOSE AND SHANTY
1940
Early Ontario

28

CAMBOOSE AND SHANTY

The lumber camps of Upper Canada and later the Province of Ontario were a vital component of the development of the land. John McCrea's father worked his first winter in Canada in such a camp.
A camboose was erected to house the gang of thirty or forty men. This was a long low log building which could be 30 by 40 feet. A fireplace or open hearth would be constructed in the centre of the building and an 8 feet hole in the roof above the hearth provided for the log chimney. The meals for the gang were cooked on the hearth and were very basic, often consisting of only fat pork, baked bread, black molasses and tea. The keeping of the food was a problem except in the colder months. The camboose had little light. Sleeping was in double bunks along the walls and deacon seats were in front of the bunks to allow seating for meals. The morning and evening meal would be eaten in the camboose with the noon meal being eaten while working.

29

LOGGING RAFT
1940
Early Ontario

30

LOGGING RAFT

The forests of Ontario had white pines that in first growth grew to a height of as much as 150 feet and could be four feet in circumference. These were highly desirable and easily obtained for cutting. The problem was how to get them to the sawmills. In the winter, they would be drawn by horse and sleigh. The preferred method of hauling the balance of the year, the timber was drawn to a river or lake and the lumberjacks became river-drivers as they herded large "booms" of timber downstream. Once the water widened, timber cribs were constructed. A crib consisted of ten or more sticks of about the same length, bound firmly together side by side. Several cribs where made into a band and several bands formed the raft. Using these rafts or cribs, meant having to dismantle them several times over rapids and through narrows. The timber market would be finally reached or the railway terminus for the final trip to the sawmills or for export.