1. Economic Growth and Lumbering

2. Big Ideas of Lesson 2, Unit 4
The natural resources in Michigan have been used for economic activities.
These economic activities helped Michigan grow and develop.
One very important economic activity was lumbering.
Lumbering made use of Michigan’s forests and rivers.
Towns grew up in lumbering areas to provide goods and services.

3. What do you notice about these two photos?
·       What things can you identify in the photographs?
·  Where do you think the photographs were taken?
·  What are people doing in the photographs?
·  Do you think the photographs are connected in some way? Why or why not?

4. The two photographs show an important economic activity that began in Michigan just around the time Michigan became a state. Early settlers saw trees as both a valuable resource and a problem. They needed the trees for log cabins, but they also needed to clear land of trees in order to farm. Lumbering became an economic activity in Michigan. Lumbering is where people cut down trees as a business. .”

5. In the 1830’s this began to change
In the 1830’s this began to change. People began to see lumbering, or the cutting of trees, as an important economic activity. Several factors led to the growth of the lumber industry.
    ~Michigan had many white pine trees in its northern forests.
~White pine was the most popular wood to use for building in the 1800s.
·        ~States like Maine and New York had supplied the young country of the United States with white pine.
~Over time, white pine trees became scarce in these areas.
~People began to look for a new place where they could find and use white pines. Michigan was the perfect place.

6. Why might Michigan be ideal for the lumber industry?
·        Besides having many white pines, Michigan also had a network of rivers that could be used to float the pines to sawmills located at ports on the Great Lakes.
·  The fur trade was just about over in Michigan because beavers had become so scarce. Therefore, people in Michigan needed a new economic activity to take its place.

7. The Lumber Process
1.        A site was chosen for logging.
2.        A logging camp was built on the site with a bunkhouse, stable, blacksmith shop, and cookhouse.
3.        Workers moved into the camp.
4.        Lumberjacks began to cut trees in winter.
5.        Branches were taken off the trees and then the trees were cut into shorter logs about 15 feet long.
6.        Sleighs were used to move the logs to the banks of a river.
7.        Stampers put a log mark on the end of each log. This mark showed which company owned the log.
8.        In spring the logs were pushed into the melting river.
9.        Men called “riverhogs” rode the logs to the mouth of the river.
1.   At the mouth of the river, “boomers” sorted the logs out by company.
2.   The logs were floated to a sawmill where they are cut into boards.
3.   The boards were stacked and dried.
4.   Ships took the boards to cities like Chicago and Detroit.
How many different jobs were created by the lumber industry?

8. Let’s look at some historical photos of the lumber industry

9. Stampers in the lumbering process used log marks to show which logs they owned. This was important because many different companies used the same rivers to float their logs. Historians have collected examples of these log marks.
Examine the various log marks. What kinds of things were shown on the marks?

10. Technology
Improvements in technology affected the lumber industry. These improvements increased logging production. Two of the most important improvements:
·  ~Silas Overpack invented what became known as the “Big Wheels”. These were used to carry logs to riverbanks and to sawmills. This invention meant that companies could now log in all four seasons because the big wheels could haul logs over land. Previously, companies relied on sleds to move lumber over ice-covered roads. <
·  ~ The development of the logging railroad, which used small engines and portable track, also meant they could lumber year round.

11. 1. These improvements meant more and more pines were cut
1.      These improvements meant more and more pines were cut. How did this affect the environment of Michigan?.
Where forests once stood there were huge areas in Michigan of stumps and brush that were called “cutover lands.” Cutover lands caused problems such as erosion and fires.

12. 1.   Over time there was an effort to replant trees in Michigan in areas that had been heavily lumbered. In addition, lumbering companies now tried to be more careful about replanting after they cut trees in an area.

13. Let’s listen to a story