Logging
Understanding our past helps us strengthen our future
The timber barons had harvested the white pine in the Great
Lakes area and discovered large virgin stands in Northern Idaho. They quickly
procured vast areas of the virgin stands and began constructing sawmill,
railroads, and settlements where lumberjacks were housed. Over a period of 80
years, approximately 150 logging camps could be found in this area. Towns such
as Headquarters, Elk River, Deary, Bovill, and Potlatch were established to
support the camps. Camps were labeled with a number or a letter. The
letters represented the camps that put logs in the river for transport and the
numbered camps supplied logs for transport by rail.
The Yearly log drive carried millions of board feet of logs from
the North Fork of the Clearwater River down to Lewiston, Idaho to the Potlatch
mill. The first log drive was in 1928 and the last was in 1971 when the Dworshak
Dam was completed. The logs were decked along the North Fork all year, then
released in the spring when the rivers were high from snow melt. The wannigan
followed the logs down the river to provide meals and sleeping quarters for the
men on the log drive. These men were responsible for breaking up log jams,
occasionally needing to use dynamite.
Exhibits Include:
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Flumes carried logs out of the remote forests to
central locations for transport.
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Driving a logging wagon with 1 large log, dated 1909. |
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Loading logging trucks with teams of horses in
the winter of 1936. |
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During log drives this was always a problem. Clearing
log jams was difficult and very dangerous work. |
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Click on Photos for larger images |
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Clearwater
Historical Museum
315 College Ave.
P.O. Box 1454
Orofino, ID 83544-1454
(208) 476-5033
Email: info@clearwatermuseum.org
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