Lumberjack

A Maine logging camp in 1906.

Lumberjacks worked in lumber camps and often lived a migratory life, following timber harvesting jobs as they opened.[13] Being a lumberjack was seasonal work. Lumberjacks were exclusively men. They usually lived in bunkhouses or tents. Common equipment included the axe[14] 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 westward migration on the continent to the Upper Midwest, and finally the Pacific Northwest. Stewart Holbrook documented the emergence and 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.[15]

Lumberjacks at work in Kuopio, Finland on July 5, 1967

Felling axes

The division of labour in lumber camps led to several specialized jobs on logging crews, such as whistle punk, chaser, and high climber.[16] 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) used iron climbing hooks and rope to ascend a tall tree in the landing area of the logging site, where he would chop off limbs as he climbed, chop off the top of the tree, and finally attach pulleys and rigging to the tree. After that, it could be used as a spar so logs could be skidded into the landing. High climbers and whistle punks were both phased out in the 1960s to early 1970s when portable steel towers replaced spar trees and radio equipment replaced steam 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. The chasers removed the chokers once the logs were at the landing. Choker setters and chasers were often entry-level positions on logging crews, with more experienced loggers seeking to move up to more skill-intensive positions such as yarder operator and high climber or supervisory positions such as hook tender. Despite the common perception that all loggers cut trees, the actual felling, and bucking of trees were also specialized job positions done by fallers and buckers. Faller and bucker were once two separate job titles, but they are now combined.[17]

Before the era of modern diesel or gasoline powered equipment, the existing machinery was steam powered. Animal or steam-powered skidders could be used to haul harvested logs to nearby rail roads for shipment to sawmills. Horse driven 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 "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, originated in a way in which harvested logs were once transported. Logs could be "skidded" down hills or along a corduroy road. 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.

Lumberjacks near Bellingham, Washington, c. 1910

Among the living history museums that preserve and interpret the forest industry are:

• BC Forest Discovery Centre, 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
• Cradle of Forestry in America historic site, near Asheville, North Carolina
• Forest History Center, Grand Rapids, Minnesota
• 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 Logging Museum[18] in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario

A specialty form of logging involving the felling of trees for the production of railroad ties was known as tie hacking. These lumberjacks, called tie hacks, used saws to fell trees and cut to length, and a broad-axe to flatten two or all four sides of the log to create railroad ties. Later, portable saw mills were used to cut and shape ties. Tie hacking was an important form of logging in Wyoming and northern Colorado and the remains of tie hacking camps can be found on National Forest land. The remains of flumes can be seen near Dubois, Wyoming,[20] and Old Roach, Colorado. In addition, a decaying splash dam exists near the Old Roach site as well. There, tie hacks attempted to float logs down to the Laramie River for the annual spring tie drives, and the splash dam was used to collect winter snow-melt to increase the water flow for the tie drive.[21]

Modern technology changed the job of the modern logger considerably. Although the basic task of harvesting trees is still the same, the machinery and tasks are no longer the same. Many of the old job specialties on logging crews are now obsolete.

Chainsaws, harvesters, and feller bunchers are now used to cut or fell trees. The tree is turned into logs by removing the limbs (delimbing) and cutting it into logs of optimal length (bucking). The felled tree or logs are moved from the stump to the landing. Ground vehicles such as a skidder or forwarder can pull, carry, or shovel the logs. Cable systems "cars" can pull logs to the landing. Logs can also be flown to the landing by helicopter. Logs are commonly transported to the sawmill using trucks. Harvesting methods may include clear cutting or selective cutting. Concerns over the environmental impact have led to controversy about modern logging practices. In certain areas of forest loggers re-plant their crop for future generations.

A Wall Street Journal survey on the best jobs in the United States ended by listing being a logger as the "worst" 3D's job,[22] citing "work instability, poor income, and pure danger". According to a Wall St. review studying the 71 most dangerous jobs, the most dangerous job was identified as that of logging workers in 2020.[23]

Statue of Paul Bunyan (Portland, Oregon), listed on the National Register of Historic Places

The most famous depiction of a lumberjack in folklore is Paul Bunyan. Several towns claim to have been Paul Bunyan's home and have constructed statues of Bunyan and his blue ox "Babe".[37]

"Nätti-Jussi" ("Pretty-John") was a legendary Finnish forest laborer and lumberjack. The stories told by Nätti made him a very famous figure, particularly in Lapland.[38]

Known for their many exploits, many real life loggers have become renowned for their extraordinary strength, intuition, and knowledge of the woods. Men such as Jigger Johnson, the Maine woodsman who supposedly kicked knots off frozen logs barefooted,[39][2] and Joseph Montferrand (better known as Big Joe Mufferaw), the French-Canadian known for his physical prowess and desire to protect the French-speaking logger,[40] have been celebrated as folk heroes throughout North America, and have contributed to the myths of the Lumberjack.[41]

• Blackwater Ben, 2003, by William Durbin, about a boy who gets to live with his father as a cook in a lumberjack camp
• Sometimes a Great Notion, 1964, by Ken Kesey (1964), about an Oregon family of gyppo loggers
• Lumberjack, 1974, by William Kurelek, about his days working in a logging camp.[42]
• The Alphabet of Manliness, 2006, by Maddox, lists the lumberjack as one of 26 examples (each corresponding to a letter of the alphabet) of the pinnacle of manliness

• Come and Get It, 1936 film directed by Howard Hawks and William Wyler
• The Howards of Virginia, 1940 film directed by Frank Lloyd
• Wild Geese Calling, 1941 film directed by John Brahm
• The Enchanted Forest, a 1945 film directed by Lew Landers
• The Strange Woman, a 1946 film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
• The Big Trees, 1952 film directed by Felix E. Feist
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, 1954 film directed by Stanley Donen
• North to Alaska, a 1960 film directed by Henry Hathaway
• Sometimes a Great Notion, 1970 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, directed by Paul Newman
• Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, 1992 animated film directed by Bill Kroyer
• Fargo, 1996 film directed by Joel Coen
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 2009 film directed by Gavin Hood

The lives of loggers have been featured on the following American television series:

• American Loggers on the Discovery Channel
• Axe Men on History
• Here Come the Brides
• The Pink Panther cartoon short, Pink Campaign
• Wacky Races
• Gravity Falls
• Dexter

• Lumberjacks rapidly developed their own distinctive musical culture of work songs. Many were based on traditional European folk tunes, with lyrics that reflected the lives, experiences and concerns of lumberjacks, with the themes of cutting, hauling, rolling, and driving, as well as narrative songs that involved romance.[43]
• Big Joe Mufferaw, a song recorded and performed by Stompin' Tom Connors, one of Canada's most prolific and well-known country and folk singer-songwriters, about legendary folk hero Joseph Montferrand, a French-Canadian logger. This song appears on the album Stompin' Tom Meets Big Joe Mufferaw (1970), on the live album Live At The Horseshoe (1971), and on the album Move Along With Stompin' Tom (1999).
• The Log Driver's Waltz, a 1956 song by Wade Hemsworth on his album Folk Songs of the Canadian North Woods[44]
• Lumberjack, a 1960 song by Johnny Cash on his album Ride This Train
• The Lumberjack, a song by Hal Willis
• The Lumberjack, a song featuring a chainsaw solo, by the American rock band Jackyl
• The Lumberjack Song, a song by Monty Python, known for its refrain: "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay / I sleep all night and I work all day. ..."