Long before the lumber industry made it to the Great Lakes region, logging was an important industry along the Atlantic Coast and specifically in the Northeast of what became the United States. The first region to be impacted by this boom was Maine.

Maine, at the time a part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and later the state of Massachusetts until its own statehood in 1820, was one of the first regions where lumber would be the most important economic industry. Like in the Great Lakes region, it was the Eastern White Pine that was the monarch of the forest. This tree was important to settlers for construction material and as an economic commodity. For the British Royal Navy, it was as the source of ship's masts and other vital ship building material. The white pine trade, specifically the mast trade would become a source of dissidence towards the British Crown by American Colonists that would lead to the American War of Independence.

The first water-powered sawmills were constructed in Maine in the 1630s and would be the primary source for milled lumber until the 1830s and 40s when steam-powered sawmills took over. Sometime around 1787 Oliver Leonard established his sawmill on Nichols Stream (now Blackman Stream) in the Town of Bradley. A saw mill on this site would continue to operate into the late 1800s. The site became the Maine Forest and Logging Museum, that was established in 1960. A recreation of the Leonard's Mill community is the centerpiece of the museum.

Maine contributed in other ways to the lumber industry. In Joseph Peavey, a blacksmith in Stillwater, Maine was watching river drivers having a difficult time with mulitple tools to move logs in the Penobscot River. He sketched out an idea for a new tool and instructed his son to put it together in their blacksmith shop. The "Peavey Pole" as it became known, used a wooden tool handle, made of hardwood, typically of hickory, ironwood, or of another strong wood, usually between four and six feet long. At the front end of the pole, it was topped with an iron or steel pike that was driven into the end. About 12-18 inches below the pike, an iron or steel hook was attached. The end was pointed and how it was attached with a bolt through it, it could swing to catch the hook on a log. The user could then push, pull, rolled, and lift the log with his Peavey Pole, having it act as a lever. Joseph Peavey's invention quickly caught on in Maine and elsewhere and helped to revolutionize the industry.

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Episode Resources

A History of Maine Logging. Website: woodsplitterdirect.com/blogs/wsd/a-history-of-maine-logging

Maine Forest and Logging Museum, Inc. 2024. 64 Years of Living History at Leonard's Mills Bradley, Maine. Guidebook. Maine Forest and Logging Museum, 2024.

Pike, Robert E. Tall Trees, Tough Men. New York, W. W. Norton and Company, 1967.

The Rich Lumbering History of the Maine Highlands. Website: themainehighlands.com/lumbering-in-maine

Vietze, Andrew. White Pine: American History and the Tree that Made a Nation. Guilford, Connecticut, Globe Pequot. 2018.

Places to Visit for More Information:

Maine Forest and Logging Museum, Bradley, Maine. Website: maineforestandloggingmuseum.org

Patten Lumbermen's Museum, Patten, Maine. Website: https://lumbermensmuseum.org/

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On this week's episode of North Country History with Rob Burg, I am joined by Bill Jamerson, an award winning documentary filmmaker turned author and performer, to discuss the life and experiences of CCC Boy Michael Rataj. Mike came from poverty in Detroit and came of age in the wilderness of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where the CCC changed his life. Both Bill and I knew Mike and heard his numerous stories over the years, and we share some of our own stories and thoughts on Mike.

Michael Rataj was the perfect representative of what the CCC did for more than 102,000 young men in Michigan and millions across the country. For many years Mike was involved with both the National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni (NACCCA) and the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni (MCCCA). Mike helped lead and organize the annual CCC Alumni Reunion that was held at Higgins Lake for many years, and was a volunteer and seasonal historical interpreter at the CCC Museum at North Higgins Lake State Park.

In 1993 Bill Jamerson produced his film on the CCC in Michigan, titled "Camp Forgotten." Michael Rataj was a contributor to the film. In 2007 Bill published the historical novel "Big Shoulders" about the coming of age story of a teenager who joins the CCC. Mike Rataj was Bill's main inspiration for the story and many of Mike's own experiences were used in the book.

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For more Information:

For Information on Bill Jamerson, his programs, films, book, and CD: http://billjamerson.com/

For information on the CCC Museum, its hours and programs: https://www.michigan.gov/mhc/museums/hln-ccc

For further information on the Civilian Conservation Corps in the United States: https://ccclegacy.org/

For further reading about the CCC:

Apps, Jerry. The Civilian Conservation Corps in Wisconsin: Nature’s Army at Work. Madison, WI. Wisconsin Historical Society Press. 2019.

Hivert-Carthew, Annick. Proud To Work: A Pictorial History of Michigan’s Civilian Conservation Corps. Wilderness Adventure Books. 2006.

Rosentreter, Roger L. Roosevelt's Tree Army, Michigan's Civilian Conservation Corps. Lansing, MI. Michigan Bureau of History. 1986. (It is available online at: https://www.michigan.gov/mhc/museums/hln-ccc/ccc-in-michigan)

Schueller, Mary J. The Soldiers of Poverty. Richfield, WI. Rustic Books. 2006.

Sommers, Barbara W. Hard Work and a Good Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota. St. Paul, MN. Minnesota Historical Society Press. 2008

Symon, Charles A. We Can Do It! A History of the CCC in Michigan 1933-1942. Escanaba, MI. Richards Printing. 1983.

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Conservation and Reforestation in the North Country was of great importance in the beginning of the Twentieth Century, several states had their own programs to bring back forests, and the United States Forest Service was created to replant forests across the country. These programs did some good, early work, but the most important impact was made in the wake of the Great Depression.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt was innaugurated as the 32nd president in 1933 he offered up his "New Deal" to put the country back to work. One of his most successful programs was the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps. This week I am joined by Phil Naud, a CCC historian, who speaks about the creation of the CCC, the work that they performed in Michigan, and about a special population of enrollees, Military Veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) and the First World War (1917-1918).

In Michigan, the CCC would do great work to stimulate the regrowth of the forests that were largely destroyed during the 19th century lumber boom, and by the wildfires that followed. More than 484 million trees were planted by the CCC in Michigan alone from 1933-1942. More than 102,000 men served in the CCC in Michigan, doing everything from planting trees, fighting fires, building roads, bridges, dams, and airfields, creating or improving parks and campgrounds, and doing stream improvement, among other jobs.

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Episode Corrections:

At 7:02 I mention eight national forests in Michigan. This is incorrect. There are four in Michigan, eight in the Great Lakes region (Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin). The four in Michigan are: Huron NF and Manistee NF in the Lower Peninsula (they are managed jointly as the Huron-Manistee National Forest), and Hiawatha NF and Ottawa NF in the Upper Peninsula. The Marquette NF was also established in the Upper Peninsula, bust was later merged into the Hiawatha NF.

At 13:19 I respond to Phil's comment about the U.S. Senator from Michigan who suggested work that could be done. I said Vandenburg (Senator Arthur Vandenburg from Grand Rapids). It was actually James Couzens from Detroit. Couzens had been an executive with the Ford Motor Company and Mayor of Detroit before he was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Additional Reading:

Carr, Ethan, Wilderness by Design: Landscape Architecture & the National Park Service. Lincoln, NE. University of Nebraska Press/Bison Books. 1998. (There is information regarding Recreational Demonstration Areas including Waterloo and Yankee Springs Recreation Areas in Michigan.)

Cohen, Stan. The Tree Army: A Pictorial History of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-42. Missoula, MT. Pictorial Histories Publishing Company. 1980.

Rosentreter, Roger L. Roosevelt's Tree Army, Michigan's Civilian Conservation Corps. Lansing, MI. Michigan Bureau of History. 1986. (It is available online at: https://www.michigan.gov/mhc/museums/hln-ccc/ccc-in-michigan)

Schueller, Mary J. The Soldiers of Poverty. Ritchfield, WI. Rustic Books. 2006. (This is the book I referenced of the enrollee going from southern Illinois to Wisconsin to Isle Royale.)

Symon, Charles A. We Can Do It! A History of the CCC in Michigan 1933-1942. Escanaba, MI. Richard's Printing. 1983.

Additional Online Information:

CCC Legacy: https://ccclegacy.org/

Higgins Lake

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