Lumberman's Museum
P.O. Box 300
Patten, Maine 04765
(207) 528-2650
HISTORY OF LOGGING IN MAINE
Photo - Cookee Serving Meal On Drive
Early Camps
The early logging camp, coming into use in 1820, consisted of a main camp built around a fire pit which supplied warmth and a cooking fire. This was used by a crew of 12-14 men and a team of oxen. The camp was constructed of large notched spruce logs chinked with moss and mud, usually making a square 20x20 feet. The whole camp was put together without nails, and all the work was done with an ax and froe. The roof was made of cedar shakes held down by long poles across each tier and tied down with cedar and spruce roots and bark strips. There was a square hole in the roof center for the smoke to escape. There usually was one window and a wooden door. The community bed occupied the entire low side of the camp. The deacon seat, a half log hewn smooth on one side, served as both a footboard and a seat. Between the wall and the deacon seat, small boughs were spread, preferably balsam fir which made a pleasantly perfumed, springy mattress. All slept in this same bed under one long blanket, in their underwear, and sometimes using a boot for a pillow. The kitchen sink was a hollowed log. The men ate four meals a day which consisted of flap jacks, pickled beef, boiled codfish, beans, sourdough biscuits, and strong tea. Clothes were dried over the fire on a long "stink" pole held up by two forked stakes. Wet socks and clothes drying by the fire gave off an indescribable fragrance; it was said that you could smell a logger half a mile away. A grindstone was the only piece of "furniture" in the camp; it was used to keep the axes sharp and in good condition.Later, double camps were used that had the cooking area separated from the bunk house with a dingle in between. The dingle was used to store the grindstone and barrels of cod fish, salt pork, bully beef, and sometimes flour.