Thursday, February 20, 2014

Companions In A Desolate Place: Dogs & Their 'Jacks

I bet the first animal that comes to your mind when you think of a lumberjack is a big blue ox, or maybe a horse. Yet, dogs were a constant companion for the lumberjacks -- often as a helper or the camp mascot. Sometimes a dog or an animal ceased being of this world, like the Hodag-- which has no relation to a dog outside of a claim that its name means horse dog. What follows will be mostly a look into the lives of dogs in lumber camps. However, like so much in the Northwoods, you can learn most of about the reality by examining the folk stories and songs that permeated throughout the camp.
An amazing caption from Explore Rhinelander
Most of the accessible stories show that dogs were mainly used for transportation on site. Joe Lefebvre's shares a story in Donald MacKay's The Lumberjack, about using a team of dogs to deliver 200 loads of wood, most likely cords, a quarter of a mile one winter. The dogs were beneficial because the lumberjacks were cutting in swamp in Quebec. Horses would sink. Dogs could make it through. Later Joe had an accident. It was the team of dogs that made the 70 mile dash to safety (Mackay, 293). 

In fact, it sounds like the use of dogsleds rose out of multiple strains of need. In the entry "Lumberjack Sky Pilots" on Mnopedia.org, Frank Higgins, a minister who would visit the camps, would in addition to saving souls would attempt to save lives and limbs. Frank would bring injured lumbermen into town. "After a particularly long and bumpy toboggan ride," Frank came up with using dogs "as a dog-drawn ambulance." 

Frank Higgins and his dog sled as found on http://www.mnopedia.org/multimedia/frank-higgins

Friday, February 14, 2014

President's Day at the Sawmill Museum

Photo Courtesy of the National Park Service
We are familiar with the presidential faces on Mount Rushmore, aren't we? George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln peer down at us from their places carved in the side of the mountain. Did you know that these men also had experience with surveying?

A special President's Day event is taking place at the museum this Saturday, February 15, starting at 10 a.m. At that time, museum director Matt Parbs will be giving a presentation about presidential surveyors. Not only will he shed some light on the Mount Rushmore men's experience in the profession, but he will share information on over ten more presidents who also have experience in the field, including Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan. The presentation will also showcase the field's changing position as a professional and recreational activity through the years.

Later in the day, children will have the opportunity to create a President's Day craft, beginning at 1 p.m. A repeat presentation will take place at 4 p.m.

We hope to see you at what will prove to be an interesting and informative presidential surveyor discussion!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Twice the Love for Valentine's Day and Love the Boy Scouts Day

February 8 will be a day full of love at The Sawmill Museum. With Valentine's Day nearing, participants will get the opportunity to create the perfect box to collect this year's valentine cards in. The day also brings us the birthday of the Boy Scouts of America. 2014 marks the 104th year of the Boy Scouts, a day we are commemorating with Love the Boy Scouts Day. You could say that we'll be feeling twice the love on February 8!

Speaking of love, isn't that what Valentine's Day is all about? The centuries-old holiday is celebrated in the name of St. Valentine by swapping cards, candies, and gifts, but who is St. Valentine? What is the history of this lovely holiday?

 One legend says that St. Valentine was a priest who, when the emperor of Rome in the 3rd century prohibited young men to marry in favor of them becoming soldiers, continued to marry young people in love in  secret. Another story has St. Valentine being killed for helping imprisoned Christians escape the Romans. A third legend says that Valentine himself was imprisoned and sent the first valentine card to a young girl with whom he'd fallen in love during her visits to his place of incarceration. Legend would have him sign his letter "from your Valentine," a phrase that has survived to be printed on the Valentine cards we send today.

This time of the year was celebrated by the Pagans as a festival called Lupercalia, which focused on fertility, and by Christians as St. Valentine's feast. It was at the end of the fifth century when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine's Day. However, the association with love that defines the day for us now didn't come about until much later, and well into the Middle Ages.

The earliest known written Valentine dates to the year 1415, and was written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, during the Hundred Years' War. 

Today, Valentine's Day is celebrated in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Mexico, and Australia. The Greeting Card association estimates that about 1 billion Valentines cards are sent each holiday.

With that much love being spread,  maybe we could extend some to the Boy Scouts of America!