The Pioneer Woodsman as He Is Related to Lumbering in the NorthwestWarren, George Henry
History
The Pioneer Woodsman as He Is Related to Lumbering in the Northwest
Warren, George Henry
Camping; Lumbering -- Northwestern States
It is not customary for land hunters to work less on Sunday than on
other days, for the principal reason that all of their provisions must
be carried with them on their backs, and, that by resting on Sunday, the
provisions would disappear as rapidly, or more so, than they would if
work continued on that day. However, toward the end of our trip which
had been a very successful one in point of finding desirable government
timber lands to enter, we decided that we would rest on the next day,
which was Sunday, just previous to our taking our boat to make our
return trip on Lake Superior waters to the land office at Bayfield. As a
precaution, lest other land lookers should discover our presence, our
camping ground was selected in the interior of the section. We had eaten
our dinner, and were enjoying a siesta when we heard voices. Listening,
we heard men discussing the most direct line to take to reach their
boat, hidden somewhere on the shore of the lake. Time sufficient was
given to allow them to get so far in our advance, that any movement on
our part would not be heard by them. Soon, thereafter, we packed our
tent and all of our belongings and started for our boat. We did not
reach it until nine o'clock the following morning. We were then
forty-five miles from Bayfield by water.
Soon after we had rowed out into the lake, a northeasterly wind began to
blow and did not cease blowing during the entire day. The sandstone
bluffs around that portion of the south shore of Lake Superior in many
places are nearly vertical and rise to very considerable heights,
preventing any possible way of escape from the water's edge for miles in
extent. It was with the greatest effort that we, pulling with all our
might, could keep the boat out into the lake, so powerful was the wind,
and so increasingly great were the waves. Besides, it was not possible
to take a rest from our labors for, the moment we ceased rowing, our
boat began rapidly drifting toward the rocks on the south shore. Thus we
labored until near the middle of the afternoon, when we got under cover
of the first of the friendly Apostle Islands. After resting awhile,
before dark we were able to reach the Red Cliff Indian Agency, where we
spent the night at the chief's wigwam.
The next morning early, we resumed our boat and rowed into Bayfield,
arriving in time to be present at the opening of the land office. With
much anxiety, I made application to enter the vacant lands that had been
selected on this trip, fearing that the men whom we had overheard
talking in the woods two days before, might have arrived in advance of
me and have secured at least a part of the same descriptions. With great
satisfaction, however, I found the lands to be still vacant, and all of
the minutes chosen while on this strenuous cruise, I bought.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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