Series consists of information pertaining to lumbering. In this series, the Museum collected such records as newspaper clippings and photos on lumbering in the Ottawa Valley.
Arnprior and District Museum collection F3.6
Series: Lumbering. -- 1957; 1966-1967. -- 1.5 cm of textual records, 6 b&w photos, and 2 negatives.;
In the 1800’s, demand for Canadian timber rose sharply, and lumber merchants (such as Philemon Wright, John R. Booth, Daniel McLachlin, James Gillies, E.B. Eddy, Stewart Brothers) were quick to lease timber limits up the Ottawa Valley (some notable river names include Petawawa, Madawaska, Bonnechere, Mississippi, Gatineau and Ottawa rivers). Timber “cruisers” would select timber stands for the cut (which would take place in winter) and also select sites for the “shanties” or camps in which the cutting crews would live. These crews would then take up residence in October and, throughout the winter, fell the trees for hewers to square. The teamsters would then haul the timber to the riverbank to await the spring break-up. In the spring, the “drivers” “ran” the logs down to rafting sites (such as Arnprior) on the Ottawa. The timber was then assembled into “rafts”. These timber rafts were eventually sent to Quebec City, where they were taken apart; the timber was then loaded onto ships and sent overseas. Although lumbering continued into the 20th century, external factors (such as the use of steel and iron) meant lumbering would not witness as colorful an era as in the 1800’s.
Series consists of records on such themes as the following: articles about the log drivers, the first chute at Madawaska, J.R. Booth, squared timber, the tug boat call the Opeongo, Bob Charbonneau’s lumber camp in Gatineau, Tony Deschenes, McLachlin’s No. 4 mill, lumbering operations in bygone days in Arnprior and area, and the historical plaque in Bell Park commemorating timber rafting on the Ottawa River. Photos include Gillies Mills’ administrative office (to be confirmed) taken in 1957, participants at the ceremony for the unveiling of the plaque in 1967, one of the McLachlin mill sites, inside a mill, and a square timber log jam. Negatives are of different types of tools used in lumbering.;