Why Anoka? Why Minnesota?
Anoka’s history in the logging industry begins right at the city’s heart – the river. Anoka became a logging town, or rather a town at all, with sawmills and logging men because of its position on the Rum and Mississippi Rivers. The Anoka County Union in 1906 poetically described why Anoka was a perfect location for this industry, “…there was growing on the upper stretches of Rum River one of the most valuable and extensive tracts of white pine which the lavish hand of nature had produced in the state. The exceptionally favorable conditions for lumbering operations went far to dictate the location of Anoka at its junction with the Mississippi.”[1]
Logging began in Minnesota by the 1830s.[1] The state had become a leader in the industry during the latter half of the 19th century—at one point we ranked third in the nation for lumber production.[2] In about 100 years, lumbering removed and processed 67 BILLION (yes, Billion with a B) board feet of lumber. By 1890, more than 20,000 men worked as loggers in the state, and there were 307 mills to process the material. [3] For comparison, in 1890, there were more loggers in the state than people living in Anoka today.[4]
George Atwood, Anoka resident
past President and historian for the Anoka County Historical Society
George, originally from Vermont, worked as a logger at the Ball Club Logging Camp in the winter of 1912-1913. In 1912, He said that loggers needed “to be strong and rugged to withstand the rigour[sic] of the life of a lumberjack, of hard work, long hours out in the cold air with temperatures often in the minis 40% [sic] with days on end…”[1] The work week was Monday through Saturday with only Sundays off. The men woke, left camp before sunrise, and wouldn’t return until sunset. The depictions of lumbermen as larger than life are exemplified in Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.[2] While not exclusive to Minnesota, Paul Bunyan towers over other men and can achieve feats of strength with his ax and outdoor knowledge that “normal,” non-logging men cannot.
The Anoka County Union editor described the logging man as MORE than other men in 1890, “I have always found [Lumbermen]…generous, noble-hearted, brave and kind. If a companion is overtaken with sickness, or accident, none so quick to respond with sympathy and assistance. There is a bond between them which binds as close as a brother.”[3]
In the fall of 1912, George joined about 20 other men from Anoka to trek to the Ball Club logging Camp, operated by John Goss of Steamboat Lake (near Cass Lake.) Mrs. Grace Troy of Anoka remembered, “Mr. John Goss was one of the wealthy men of our street and was very generous in many ways I think.”[4]
The logging men left Anoka for winter logging work around November 15th and wouldn’t return until April 1st. For a farmer or younger man still living at home, the logging camp provided income over the non-growing months and meant one less person to feed throughout the winter.
George made the trip with his brother Leslie. A number of the men who worked at Ball Club between 1912 and 1914 went with another family member: a father and his sons or pairs of brothers. Others came alone, “home unknown”[5], and traveled the circuit from logging camp to logging camp without any permanent hometown. George listed the workers at camp he remembered. He noted where they were from, their camp job, and sometimes a tiny description. There was “Deafy” from Cass Lake, who was “very deaf” and lived up to his name; Carl Lindman “Fresh from Sweden”; Paddy Phalen from Anoka, who was a “heavy drinker”; and “Slim – home unknown…extremely tall (6’6”) awkward & self-conscious.”[6]
George’s descriptions give just a taste of who these men were and leaves us wanting to know more about them. But getting to know your fellow loggers wasn’t always possible. There was a high turnover of men at the camp. “Many of the men were habitual drifters – never staying on any one job for more than a few weeks….”[7] The camp was an all-male space. The boss’s wife or daughter may appear at the company store and post office, but logging camps generally were exclusively male domains.
ACHS Photo: George Atwood 1976 Tool demonstration at Colonial Hall.
ACHS photo: Logging 4.3 Group of unidentified men standing in front of building at H.F. Brown's Camp. Donated by R.W. Leach. No date.
Stella Kline (1890-1990)
Stella was the oldest daughter of Dr. J. F. Kline – who owned and ran the Kline Sanitarium on the Rum and Mississippi Rivers (you can still see this building). This picture shows Stella “running logs on the Mississippi River.” And she wouldn’t have been the only one! That generation told many stories about the popular sport of "running logs," along the Mississippi. This photo was taken near the mouth of the Rum, circa 1910.
William Drew, or W.D., Washburn
William first operated a sawmill and then a flour mill in Anoka. Like many others in this industry, Washburn came from Maine to Minnesota in 1856 and began purchasing pine land along the Rum River. From these pineries, his sawmill W.D. Washburn & Co produced lumber and other building materials. The mill itself had a double gang of 35 saws, two double circular saws, a cut-off crosscut and trimming saw, the planing mill, the shingle machinery, and lath machinery.
References
[1] Northern Lights Textbook 226
[2] Northern Lights textbook 226
[3] http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/anniversary/peaklogging.html and History of the White Pine Industry in Minnesota by Agnes M. Larson, pg157. Logging file #17
[4] By 1900 more than 400 lumber companies were operating in the state Northern lights textbook 226
[1] “The Washburn Story – From Lumber to Flour” Bicentennial issue of Anoka County Union - mills file #13
[1] “The Annu7al Exodus from Anoka in 1912” by George Atwood. Logging File 3.1
[2] Earliest references to Paul Bunyan 1885-1886, according to Wisc. Historical Society http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=N:4294963828-4294963805&dsRecordDetailS=R:CS504
[3] Anoka County Union – April 16, 1890.
[4] Slabtown #1.2 – Goss had a partner named Dunham, who is mentioned in the full excerpt of this quote.
[5] “Worked at Ball Club, mn 1912-13-14” Logging File #6.1
[6] Logging file #6
[7] Life in a logging camp by George Atwood logging file 12.4