Sawmills And Lumbercamps

Collins Inlet Lumber Company

By the early 1850's, lumbermen had moved to the upper Great Lakes in search of timber to meet the demands created by the industrial revolution. In 1868 a mill was established at Collins Inlet, 15 km east of Killarney near the Point Grondine Reserve. The residents of the area prospered until the early 1900's. During this time period the prime wood had been cut, which consisted of red and white pine, spruce, hemlock, cedar, ash, birch, maple and oak. Remnants of the logging era consisted of log chutes, work camps, boom rings anchored in rock faces, wharf pilings, and thousands of tree stumps. In the 1870's a small lumber camp was located at Collins Inlet. In 1886, John Bertram took over the site under the name of Collins Inlet Lumber Company. The site contained a boarding house, homes, a store and a school. Twice each week steamers docked at the inlet to unload mail and supplies.

Old photograph of the Collins Inlet Lumber Company.
Notice the barrels on the roof, these barrels were filled with water
at all times. In the event of a fire the barrels were then tipped.

Typical Camp

For a typical camp the work of cutting down timber is commenced in September or the latter end of August. A suitable spot is selected for a lumber camp where the lumbermen build a large rough building of logs, roof boards are covered with shingles or tarred felt. A smaller building is build for the cook and near the sleeping and eating area a stable is built for the horses, a shop for the blacksmith, and carpenter. These sawmills were usually build of wood upon a stone foundation and are one or more storeys high. The Anishnaabe of Point Grondine allowed the merchantable timber on their reserve sold for their benefit. The timber that was cut was likely sawed at Collins Inlet Sawmill.

Shingle Manufacturing

The manufacturing of shingles were not always attached to a sawmill, but on one of our field survey's into the interior of Point Grondine we did discover a shingle making machine on display at a local bed and breakfast. It is therefore possible that the residents of Beaverstone did at one time produce shingles as part of their lumbering activity. Shingles were used for roof buildings and in some cases outside walls are covered with them.

Laborious And Dangerous Work

The work, may it be at camp, the drive or in the mill, is at all times laborious and dangerous. Many men lost their lives by some accident, or were injured. They had no doctors or nurses to assist them and had to be carried many miles back to camp, and sometimes the person would die en-route to camp. Accidents in the mill did happen, saws will split or some of the machinery give way and pieces of iron or steel would be hurled in every direction with terrible force. They would also have dangers from fire, lumber valued in the thousands would be consumed by fire. The engine shaft would at times be the cause of this problem. A spark could possibly fall on the roof, and as mentioned earlier the roofs were ususally made of shingles. It is for this reason that guards were placed on the roofs with large barrels of water.