The Logging Camp

[Quin]

This summer, my brother and I got to work metal detecting an abandoned turn of the century logging camp. We spent many mornings and afternoons exploring and discovering relics from a time that has long since past. From saw blades, lanterns and ax heads to buckles, buttons and brooches, these relics define a truly American way of life. We have documented our finds through a series of videos on the “Quin’s Coins” YouTube channel, but these hardly tell the full story. That is why we have decided to release images of our finds. These images will be accompanied by short excerpts in an attempt to explain how these items ended up where they were. This way, we can bring together the broken pieces of the past to tell a story that has long since been forgotten. Ladies and gentlemen...welcome to the logging camp.



In case you are interested in seeing these hunts from the summer of '17, this is the first video in the series.

 

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[mindcrime1988]

Sweet relics. Hope y'all find more.

 

[pa plateau hiker]

Great video. You sure toughed it out swinging in the tall grass. Hit it next spring after the weeds are dead. Did you find any log stamps, chains, peaveys? Years ago, here on TreasureNet, there was a fellow by the name of Michigan Badger, who used to dig logging camps.

 

[GB1]

sweet finds

 

[scruggs]

Very good story and exceptional relics you brought back to light. Hope you find many more!

 

[Quin]

Great video. You sure toughed it out swinging in the tall grass. Hit it next spring after the weeds are dead. Did you find any log stamps, chains, peaveys? Years ago, here on TreasureNet, there was a fellow by the name of Michigan Badger, who used to dig logging camps.

My brother is still in the area and he plans to hit it in October when he gits a chance. Might even bring a weed wacker back there to take down some dead ferns. Haven't found any peaveys or log stamps yet. Peaveys were used to control logs floating in water, correct?

We have found plenty of ax heads and two-man saw fragments. Actually, one of the coolest pieces that came out was a fly wheel. That will make an appearance in a future post for sure- I will continue to update this thread with new pictures and stories so stay tuned!

 

[pa plateau hiker]

Pike poles were used to maneuver logs in the water. Peaveys were used to roll logs on the ground or were used to load logs on to RR cars and other uses. Peaveys and cant hooks serve the same purpose. Cant hooks have points on the end, cant hooks are blunt on the end.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

thanx for sharing !

 

[Quin]

These posts will follow the life of John Prosen, a fictional lumber camp employee working in the heart of Michigan’s upper peninsula in the early 1900s. John has just been hired and is preparing to move into the woods to begin work. These are the items he has chosen to bring with him.
“I will need a jackknife - as I will be literally a jack of all trades. Although my official job is sawyer, there is never a time a knife is not needed! Even in recreation - wood carving, throwing contests...and I imagine I will be getting quite a few slivers in my hands with this work. Come to think of it, I haven't been without this knife since my dad gave it to me on my 8th birthday.
Pencils, of course, to write letters to my family downstate. Although the postmaster can't assure my letters will get through in a timely manner - my mother and sisters will want to know that I am ok. This is the first time I have been away from home, and starting right off in this unforgiving wilderness so far away will be hard for me too.
Although I have been told I don't need to bring eating utensils, this drinking cup is special to me. My Grandmother gave it to me on my first communion, and I can't imagine being without it. Of course, I may use it differently - maybe baptize myself with some stronger spirits at those bars I've heard about in Seney…”

 

[pa plateau hiker]

Wait til you find yourself a copper dinner plate to go with that cup. Then you will really be excited!!

 

[Iron Buzz]

Subscribed to your channel. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your videos.

Are you in the U.P.? I spend a number of years up there as a kid and young man. My grandfather worked in a logging camp up there when he was a young man. Perhaps you'll find something of his!

 

[Quin]

Subscribed to your channel. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your videos.

Are you in the U.P.? I spend a number of years up there as a kid and young man. My grandfather worked in a logging camp up there when he was a young man. Perhaps you'll find something of his!

Thanks Iron Buzz! I am not actually in the UP, but I have a lot of family history there. It turns out that John Prosen, the "fictional" character I am basing these posts on, was a real person who lived and worked in the UP. He would have been my great great Uncle.

 

[Iron Buzz]

Thanks Iron Buzz! I am not actually in the UP, but I have a lot of family history there. It turns out that John Prosen, the "fictional" character I am basing these posts on, was a real person who lived and worked in the UP. He would have been my great great Uncle.

Can you point me to the video(s?) with the logging camp detecting? I see that you have a lot of coin roll hunting, which I'm not interested in.

 

[Quin]

Can you point me to the video(s?) with the logging camp detecting? I see that you have a lot of coin roll hunting, which I'm not interested in.

This link should bring you to the most recent detecting playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW0KC7KO20o&list=PLYnOB-xWrjTVTSLpV-abmYHSx5-SpPCyF

 

[pa plateau hiker]

Can you point me to the video(s?) with the logging camp detecting? I see that you have a lot of coin roll hunting, which I'm not interested in.

And I thought I was the only one not interested in coins.

 

[Quin]

This is the continued story of John Prosen, a fictional turn-of-the-century logging camp employee who lived and worked in the heart of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Pictured relics were found by Ryan and Kevin Quinlan in the Summer of 2017.

"We are deep into the logging season now that it is winter. I am finding that some of my work clothes need to be replaced as they have worn out. We sure go through a lot of coveralls and work coats in the camp! I need to make a trip to the company store soon to pick up some more. There is a decent selection and it is kept well stocked, and whatever I purchase there is taken from my wages.

The standard outfit for working in the woods is a flannel shirt, wool mackinaw jacket and pants, short rubber boots, and wool caps and socks. Many, many socks, and all dried inside the bunkhouse every night. I think I am becoming immune to the smell! I hear the river drivers wear tall caulked (spiked) boots and shorten their pants so they don’t get caught in the logjams. I haven’t seen that yet, as this is my first year here.


Shirts and jackets are often very colorful for visibility – everyone needs to be aware of where everyone else is in this line of work! I heard a funny story about the mackinaw jackets – I guess they were originally commissioned to be made from blue blankets for a military unit, but they ran out of blue blankets and had to finish up with red and the red/black checkered plaid that everyone wears now!


Sometimes, if our clothes are dry, we sleep in them. However, when they get wet we need to dry them at night while we sleep. And those socks always need mending! That’s another pastime (necessity) when the work day is done! On Sundays we can wash and disinfect our clothes in a pot of boiling water. I try to do that at least every other week, but some of the guys don’t do it much at all (another smell I am becoming immune to…). If a photographer comes by (usually on a Sunday), we all try to put on our best clothes for the picture.


So I guess I am off to the company store for more clothes!"

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratualtions on the relic hunting!

 

[against the wind]

Very interesting. I have about 6 acres up on a hill. There is a spring up there as well as the remains of a slate quarry. Halfway up there is a buried set of rails that were used by the early lumber trade, to get the timber to a place where it could be transferred to a mill. I'm going to have to pay a little more attention to the early history of my property.

 

[GA_Boy]

I really like those double bit axes. I carry one in my truck. The really sharp bit is for wood and the other bit is for grubbing roots.
Marvin