LOGGER'S LINGO

AGUE - MALARIAL FEVER. MOST EARLY PIONEERS AND LOGGERS
ENDURED THE "FEVER 'N' AGUE'" CAUSED BY THE BITES OF
PESKY MOSQUITOES THAT BRED IN SWAMPY AREAS. QUININE WAS
GENERALLY TAKEN AS A REMEDY.

AX (BRANDING) - SEE "MARKING HAMMER."
BOOM - AN ENCLOSURE DESIGNED TO HOLD BACK, ENCIRCLE,
OR "FENCE IN" FLOATING LOGS.

BAG-BOOM - A GIANT SIZE RAFT MADE UP OF FREE-FLOATING
LOGS ENCLOSED IN A BOOM, DESIGNED TO RIDE LAKE
GROUND SWELLS OVER GREAT DISTANCES ON THE LAKE'S
SURFACES.

BOOM-DOGS - TWO 5 1/2" IRON WEDGES CONNECTED BY FOUR
TO EIGHT LINKS OF CHAIN. WEDGES WERE DRIVEN INTO THE ENDS
OF THE LOGS, CHAINING THEM TOGETHER TO MAKE A FLOATING
FENCE OR BOOM.

BOOMING GROUNDS - WERE LOCATED AT THE MOUTHS OF THE
MAIN STREAMS AND WERE WHERE THE LOG DRIVES TERMINATED.
HERE, LOGS WERE SORTED ACCORDING TO COMPANY LOG MARKS,
GATHERED TOGETHER INTO RAFTS WITH ROPE AND HARDWOOD PINS,
AND TOWED TO THE SAWMILLS. THE LARGEST BOOM COMPANY IN
THE SAGINAW VALLEY WAS THE TITTABAWASSEE RIVER BOOM
CO. IT OWNED OVER TWELVE MILES OF BOOMS. DURING PEAK
YEARS, THE TITTABAWASSEE BOOM CO. PURCHASED 110 TONS
OF RAFTING ROPE, WHICH WOULD "BARELY LAST 60 DAYS."
IN 1872, THE COMPANY SPENT $64,541 FOR RAFTING ROPE
AND ALMOST $10,000 FOR RAFTING PINS.

BOOM-STICKS - A KIND OF NARROW, WOODEN PLANK CATWALK,
HELD UP JUST ABOVE THE WATER LEVEL BY PILINGS.
SORTERS STOOD ON BOOM-STICKS WHILE SORTING LOGS
AT THE BOOMING GROUNDS.

BUCKING LOGS - CUTTING OR SAWING FELLED TREES INTO
12, 14, 16, 18 OR 20 FOOT LENGTHS. USING A CROSS-CUT
SAW, TWO SAWYERS WORKING TOGETHER, COULD "BUCK" ABOUT
ONE HUNDRED LOGS A DAY.

CANT HOOK - A TAPERED WOODEN POLE, THREE TO SIX FEET
LONG WITH A SEVEN TO NINE INCH, LOOSE DANGLING HOOK
NEAR ITS WORKING END. CANT HOOKS WERE USED FOR
LOADING LOGS ON SLEIGHS, ON SKIDS AND FOR DECKING LOGS
AT THE BANKING GROUNDS OR ROLLAWAYS. THE CANT HOOK
MAN PLACED THE HOOK ON A LOG AND BORE DOWN ON THE
HANDLE, GAVE IT A PULL AND THE LOG WOULD CANT OVER.
A GOOD CANT HOOK MAN WAS HIGHLY RESPECTED IN THE
LOGGING CAMPS. CANTING LOGS WAS A DANGEROUS JOB.

CHEAT STICK - THE LOGGER'S RULE OR SCALE, SIMILAR
IN APPEARANCE TO A YARDSTICK, WITH A METAL TIP ON
ONE END. IT WAS USED TO MEASURE LOGS, NOTING THE
NUMBER OF BOARD FEET EACH CONTAINED. THE TWO SCALES
MOST COMMONLY USED WERE THE SCRIBNER'S SCALE AND
DOLYE'S {DOYLE'S?} RULE.

CHICKADEE - THE CHICKADEE'S HUMBLE TASK WAS TO KEEP
THE LOGGING ROADS AND TRAILS FREE OF HORSE MANURE.

CORKS - ALSO KNOWN AS "CAULKS" AND "KORKS." THEY WERE
THE LONG, NEEDLE-SHARP SPIKES IN THE RIVERMAN'S BOOT
HEELS AND SOLES, TO KEEP HIM FROM SLIPPING FROM THE
LOGS WHEN HE RODE THEM DOWN THE SWIFT STREAMS.

CROSS-CUT - A SAW SOMETIMES SEVEN OR EIGHT FEET LONG
WITH CUTTING EDGE SLIGHTLY CURVED OR BOW-LIKE FROM
END TO END. IT WAS EQUIPPED WITH A HANDLE AT EACH END
SO TWO MEN COULD WORK, ONE FROM EACH SIDE OF A TREE,
FELLING IT AND THEN BUCKING IT INTO LOGS.

CROSS-HAUL - A SORT OF WAY STATION WHERE LOGS WERE
SNAKED OR DRAGGED BY HORSES OR OXEN TO AWAIT BEING
TRANSPORTED TO SKIDWAY OR BANKING AROUND.

DEACON - THE SHANTY BOY WHO COULD SING BALLADS OR RECITE
VERSES, PLAY THE HARMONICA, SQUEEZE BOX, FIDDLE,
GUITAR, JEW'S-HARP, OR TELL A GOOD YARN. HE USUALLY
PERFORMED FOR THE MEN IN THE BUNKHOUSE ON SATURDAY
NIGHT, SITTING OR STANDING ON THE DEACON'S BENCH
WHILE ENTERTAINING.

FLY BOOM - A BOOM OR ENCLOSURE MADE OF LONG TIMBERS
CHAINED TOGETHER, TO BE STRUNG ACROSS A STREAM AND
FASTENED TO A TREE ON THE OPPOSITE BANK WHENEVER
TROUBLE THREATENED BELOW. "JAM BELOW!" BROUGHT
IMMEDIATE RESULTS.

GRAYBACK - LICE OR BEDBUGS.

GUT HAMMER - A METAL TRIANGLE ON WHICH COOKEE BEAT
A TATTOO TO CALL THE SHANTY BOYS TO MEALS.

INK SLINGER - THE CLERK WHO KEPT TIME AND PRODUCTION
RECORDS IN THE LOGGING CAMP. HE SOMETIMES DOUBLE AS
A SCALER.

JAM - WHEN LOGS BECAME HUNG UP ON SAND BARS, BENDS
IN RIVERS, ON ROCKS OR OTHER OBSTACLES, LOGS SOMETIMES
BACKED UP FOR MILES. A LOG JAM WAS ONE OF THE MOST
DANGEROUS AND CONSTANT HAZARDS OF A RIVER DRIVE.

JOBBER'S SUNS - KEROSENE TORCHES USED FOR NIGHT WORK
IN THE WOODS.
KERF - THE GASH IN A LOG, MADE BY THE SAW.

LOG MARK - A BRAND OR MARK STRUCK WITH A HEAVY MARKING
HAMMER, ON EACH END OF ALL CUT LOGS TO DESIGNATE OWNERSHIP.
THE RAISED DESIGNS ON THE STRIKING SURFACE OF THE HAMMER
WERE MANY AND VARIED, TRIANGLES, CIRCLES, FIGURES, AND
COMBINATIONS OF ALL OF THESE. THE LOG MARK WAS FIRST
DEVELOPED AND USED IN MICHIGAN, NEAR MUSKEGON IN 1842
AND WAS ADOPTED THROUGHOUT MICHIGAN LOGGING CAMPS.

LOGGER'S SMALL POX - SAWMILL TOWNS' WOOD PLANK SIDE-
WALKS, SALOON AND DANCE HALL FLOORS AND THE FACES OF
VICTIMS OF BARROOM BRAWLS ALWAYS SHOWED SIGNS OF IT.
IT WAS A COMMON MALADY DURING THE BRAWLING DAYS OF
LOGGING ERA, MARKS LEFT BY THE RIVERHOGS' CORKED
BOOTS.

LUMBER HOOKER - A SHALLOW DRAFT LAKE VESSEL THAT
CARRIED CARGOS OF LUMBER TO LAKE PORTS. IN THE EARLY
DAYS OF LUMBERING, THE THREEMASTED, FORE-'N-AFT
SCHOONERS SAILED THE LAKES, POWERED ONLY BY THE WIND,
THEIR HOLDS FILLED AND DECKS SOMETIMES PILED TWELVE
FEET HIGH WITH LUMBER. THE BOOM JAWS WERE SHIFTED UP
THE MAST TO ALLOW FOR STACKED CARGO. GRADUALLY, THE
WINDJAMMERS WERE SHORN OF THEIR SAILS AND CONVERTED TO
BARGES. THEY WERE LOADED WITH LUMBER AND TOWED BY TUGS
OR WOODEN STEAMERS. IT WAS NOT UNUSUAL TO SEE A SOW AND
HER PIGS, A STEAMER OF LOGS FOLLOWED BY A STRING OF
THREE, FOUR OR FIVE CONSORTS CAPABLE OF TRANSPORTING
OVER 3,000,000 FEET OF LUMBER. AS YEARS PASSED, WOODEN
STEAMSHIPS GREW LONGER AND WERE STRENGTHENED TO CARRY
GREATER LOADS OF LUMBER IN THEIR HOLDS AND ON THEIR
DECKS. THEY BECAME THE FORERUNNERS OF THE STEEL
FREIGHTERS WE SEE ON THE LAKES TODAY.

MARKING HAMMERS - ALSO CALLED STAMPING AX, IRON,
BRANDING AX, STAMP HAMMER MARKING IRON. A HAMMER-
LIKE TOOL THAT WAS USED TO STRIKE THE OWNER'S MARK
ON THE END OF THE LOGS. THE STRIKING SURFACE OF THE
HAMMER HAD THE OWNER'S MARK RAISED ON IT AND SHARPENED
SO IT WOULD EASILY CUT INTO THE SOFT WOOD OF THE LOG.
THE A.F. BARTLETT COMPANY, A FOUNDRY FIRM IN SAGINAW,
WAS THE CHIEF MAKER OF MARKING HAMMERS IN THE
SAGINAW VALLEY.

PEAVEY - THE RIVERMAN'S TOOL INVENTED BY JOSEPH PEAVEY
OF MAINE IN 1858. A STOUT, TAPERED, WOODEN POLE
APPROXIMATELY FIVE TO SIX FEET LONG, WITH A STEEL OR
IRON POINT ON ITS END AND A LARGE, DANGLING HOOK THAT
OPENED TO EIGHT OR TEN INCHES. THE PEAVEY WAS USED FOR
TURNING, ROLLING, JABBING AND HOOKING LOGS PILED ON
TOP OF EACH OTHER AND TO FREE THEM FROM OBSTACLES OR
FROM RIVER BANKS.

PIKE POLE - A LONG WOODEN POLE WITH A SHARP IRON OR STEEL
POINT AND A SMALL, SPUR-LIKE STATIONARY HOOK. PIKE POLES
WERE FROM SIX TO TWENTY FEET LONG AND WERE USED BY
RIVERMEN TO JAB, PUSH AND PULL LOGS HUNG UP IN THE
STREAMS OR AT THE BOOMING GROUNDS IN THE SORTING PENS.

PIN WHACKER - USUALLY A LIGHTWEIGHT MAN OR BOY WHO
WORKED IN ONE OF THE MANY SORTING PENS OR POCKET-BOOMS
AT THE BOOMING GROUNDS. HIS JOB WAS TO STAND ON EACH
LOG AS IT FLOATED INTO THE PEN, AND WITH A WOODEN
MALLET, DRIVE A STAPLE-LIKE HARDWOOD RAFTING PIN OVER
A LENGTH OF ROPE, PINNING IT TO THE CENTER OF THE LOG.
AS EACH LOG ENTERED THE ENCLOSURE, IT WAS PINNED, ROPED
AND DRAWN UP NEXT TO ITS NEIGHBOR. THUS A RAFT WAS MADE
AND READY TO BE TOWED AWAY.

PUSHER - THE FOREMAN OR BOSS OF THE LOGGING CAMP.

RIVERHOG - ALSO CALLED RIVERPIG, WHITE-WATER MAN,
RIVERJACK, RIVERDRIVER. THESE MEN WERE AGILE, SKILLFUL,
FEARLESS INDIVIDUALS WHO DROVE THE LOGS ON THE RIVERS
FROM THE ROLLAWAYS TO THE BOOMING GROUNDS.

ROAD-MONKEYS - ALSO CALLED A LANDING BANKING OR DECKING
GROUND. AN INCLINED WAY ON THE RIVER BANK, WHERE LOGS WERE
DECKED OR STACKED HORIZONTALLY UPON EACH OTHER OR PILED
LIKE GIANT JACKSTRAWS DOWN THE BANK AND ON THE FROZEN
STREAMS DURING THE WINTER MONTHS. THIS WAS THE STARTING
POINT OF THE RIVER DRIVES.

'ROUND FORTY - A DISHONEST WAY TO CUT TIMBER. A LOGGING
COMPANY, AFTER PURCHASING LAND, WOULD NOT ONLY CUT THE
TIMBER ON THAT PIECE, BUT DISHONESTLY CUT TREES ON LAND
SURROUNDING IT. LEGISLATION, MAKING THE PRACTICE ILLEGAL,
WAS EFFECTIVE IN 1903 BUT TOO LATE TO BENEFIT THE STATE
OF MICHIGAN. MOST OF THE WHITE PINE HAD BEEN CUT.

SCALER - THE MAN WHO ESTIMATED HOW MANY BOARD FEET OF
LUMBER THERE WERE IN EACH LOG AT SKIDWAY OR ROLLAWAY.
THE SCALER USED A LOGGER'S RULE TO MEASURE THE LOGS.

SHANTY BOYS - LOGGERS, WOODSMEN. THESE WERE THE HARDY
MEN WHO LIVED AND WORKED IN THE LOGGING CAMPS,
CHOPPING DOWN AND SAWING THE WHITE PINE TREES INTO LOGS
THEN SWAMPING, SKIDDING AND FINALLY LOADING THE LOGS
ON THE SLEIGHS AND DECKING THEM HIGH AT THE ROLLAWAYS.

SHOOKS - BARREL STAVES, HOOPS AND HEADS SHIPPED
KNOCKED-DOWN TO SAVE SPACE.

SKIDDING TONGS - STEEL TONGS, SIMILAR TO HUGE ICE TONGS.
THEY WERE CLAMPED ON ONE END OF A LOG WHICH WAS THEN
DRAGGED OR SNAKED TO A CROSS HAUL OR SKIDWAY BY A TEAM
OF HORSES OR OXEN.

SKIDWAY - PLATFORMS OF PILED LOGS PILED AT WAY-STATIONS
ALONG THE SLEIGH ROADS. THE LOGS WERE LOADED ON SLEDS AT
THESE STATIONS AND HAULED OVER ICED ROADS TO THE ROLLAWAYS
ON THE RIVER BANKS.

SLEIGH - ALSO CALLED BOBSLEIGH, BOBSLED OR SLED. THE MAJOR
VEHICLE FOR TRANSPORTING SAWLOGS FROM THE SKIDWAYS TO THE
ROLLWAYS. RUNNERS ON A SLED WERE SIX TO EIGHT INCHES WIDE
AND ABOUT EIGHT FEET LONG. FASTENED ABOVE EACH PAIR OF
RUNNERS WAS A TEN TO SIXTEEN-INCH-WIDE WOODEN CROSS BEAM
KNOWN AS A BUNK. THE LOGS WERE LOADED ON THE BUNKS AND
HAULED BY TEAMS OF HORSES OVER ICED ROADS TO THE ROLLAWAY.
A LOADED SLEIGH OF SIX THOUSAND FEET OF LOGS, OR SIXTY
THOUSAND POUNDS WAS NOT UNUSUAL.

SORTER - ALSO CALLED GAP SORTER. SORTERS WERE STATIONED
AT THE ENTRANCES OF INDIVIDUAL ENCLOSURES OR PENS LOCATED OFF
EACH SIDE OF THE LOG CENTRAL CHANNEL OF THE BOOMING
GROUNDS. THE SORTERS STOOD ON CATWALKS AND AS THE LOGS
FLOATED DOWN THE CHANNEL TOWARD THEM, THEY LOOKED FOR
THEIR COMPANY'S LOG MARKS STAMPED ON THE ENDS OF THE
LOGS. THE IDENTIFIED LOGS WERE POLED WITH LONG PIKE-POLES
INTO THE PENS WHERE THE ACCUMULATED LOGS, ALL BEARING THE
SAME MARKS, WERE MADE INTO RAFTS AND THEN TOWED TO THE MILL.

SNUBBERS (SNUBBING) - SLEIGH ROADS WERE USUALLY DOWN
INCLINED WAYS LEADING TO THE BANKING GROUNDS. A COMMON WAY
TO KEEP THE HEAVILY LOADED SLEIGH FROM RUNNING OVER THE
HORSES AND SPILLING THE LOAD, WAS FOR MEN TO HOOK ROPES
TO THE SLED, THEN LOOP THE OTHER ENDS OF THE ROPES
AROUND TWO OR MORE STOUT TREES OR STUMPS TO HOLD THE SLEIGH
IN CHECK. THE SLEIGH WAS THEN GENTLY EASED DOWN THE
TREACHEROUS ROAD BY GRADUALLY LETTING OUT ON THE TAUT
ROPES UNTIL THE SLED WAS ON LEVEL GROUND ONCE MORE.
ANY BRAKING DEVICE ON SLEIGH OR WAGON WAS CALLED A
SNUBBER.

SPRINKLER - A DEVICE USED TO ICE THE SLEIGH ROADS. A
SQUARE, STRONGLY-BUILT WOODEN TANK, HOLDING AS HIGH AS
ONE HUNDRED BARRELS OF WATER, WAS PLACED UPON A PAIR OF
SLEDS WITH A TONGUE AT EACH END TO SAVE TURNING IT
AROUND. THE TANK WAS GENERALLY BUILT AS WIDE AS THE ROAD,
OR THE WIDTH OF THE SLED, WHICH HAD ELEVEN TO FOURTEEN FOOT
BUNKS. THE WATER ESCAPED FROM TWO HOLES LOCATED DIRECTLY
OVER THE RUNNER'S TRACKS. ON COLD NIGHTS THE WATER FROZE
ALMOST INSTANTLY ON REACHING THE ROAD. ICING THE SLEIGH
ROAD WAS DONE AT NIGHT BY TEAMSTERS SO AS NOT TO
INTERFERE WITH TEAMS HAULING LOGS BY DAY. CRUDE BOILERS WERE
SOMETIMES USED TO KEEP THE WATER IN THE TANK FROM
FREEZING BEFORE IT REACHED THE GROUND.

TEAMSTER - THE MAN WHO DROVE THE HORSES, OXEN OR MULES,
HAULING SUPPLIES, DRIVING THE BOBSLED, SKIDDING LOGS OR
ICING THE CAMP SLEIGHROADS. THE TEAMSTER WAS USUALLY
HIRED ALONG WITH HIS TEAM OF HORSES.

TRAVOIS - SOMETIMES CALLED A GO DEVIL, A SHORT, HEAVY SLED
(MANY TIMES CUT FROM A FORKED BRANCH OF A TREE) USED TO
SUPPORT ONE END OF A LOG OR SEVERAL LOGS THAT WERE
DRAGGED BY A TEAM OVER THE GROUND TO THE SKIDWAY.

VALLEY BOYS - SAGINAW VALLEY LOGGERS HAD LEGENDARY
REPUTATIONS OF BEING ROUGH AND TOUGH, WHO COULD OUTFIGHT
OUTDRINK, OUTSAW ANY OTHER BLANKITY-BLANKITY SHANTY BOY
IN THE UPPER OR LOWER PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN.

WANIGAN - ALSO SPELLED WANNEGAN, WANGAN, ETC. THE WORD HAD
DIFFERENT MEANINGS AND SPELLINGS IN DIFFERENT CAMPS AND IN
VARIOUS PARTS OF THE COUNTRY... BUT MOST ALWAYS A WANIGAN
WAS KNOWN AS A SCOW OR RAFT WITH A RAISED DECK, AND A PINE
SLAB SHACK, LOG CABIN OR CANVAS TENT PERCHED ON TOP. THE
WANIGAN WAS A KITCHEN, OFFICE, SUPPLY ROOM, DINING SHACK
AND CAMP STORE (VAN) DURING THE SPRING RIVER DRIVES. SEVERAL
WANIGANS WERE USUALLY CHAINED TOGETHER AND FLOATED DOWN
THE LOGGING STREAMS BEHIND THE RIVERMEN TO SERVE THEM
WHILE THE DRIVE WAS ON.

WHITE PINE - A CONE-BEARING EVERGREEN THAT REACHED THE
HEIGHT OF ABOUT EIGHTY TO ONE HUNDRED FIFTY FEET, AND HIGHER
THE TRUNK MEASURING AS MUCH AS FOUR TO SEVEN FEET IN
DIAMETER. THE NEEDLES OF THE WHITE PINE COME IN A BUNDLE
OF FIVES AND ARE PLEASANTLY AROMATIC. ITS CONE DROOPS AND
ARE FROM THREE TO FIVE INCHES IN LENGTH. THE MICHIGAN WHITE
PINE WAS THE MOST VALUABLE TO LUMBERMEN OF THE THREE NATIVE
PINES BECAUSE OF ITS HEIGHT, BUOYANCY, ITS STRAIGHT TRUNK
AND ITS SMOOTH, ALMOST WHITE WOOD.
WIDOW-MAKER - A LONG LIMB ON A TREE WHICH COULD FALL ON A
MAN AND KILL HIM.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SAGINAW

Date learned: 03-04-1990