Lumberman's Monument facts for kids
The Lumberman's Monument is a special statue in Oscoda Township, Michigan, United States. It honors the brave workers who were part of Michigan's early logging industry. This bronze statue is about 14 feet (4.27 m) tall and was made by Robert Ingersoll Aitken. It shows a log with three important figures around it:
- A timber cruiser holding a compass. This person explored the forests to find the best trees.
- A sawyer with a saw over his shoulder. This person cut down the trees.
- A river rat resting his peavey (a tool used to move logs) on the ground. This person helped guide logs down rivers.
The statue sits on a granite base. This base has a message that says it was built to remember the first lumbermen of Michigan. Their hard work helped build the "prairie states" (like Illinois and Iowa). It also lists the names of families who worked in the logging industry there. The monument was built in 1931 and officially opened in 1932. The USDA Forest Service takes care of it today. You can find the monument along the River Road Scenic Byway. This is a 22-mile (35 km) drive between Oscoda and South Branch, right next to the Au Sable River.
Where is the Monument Located?
The Lumberman's Monument is in the eastern part of the Huron-Manistee National Forests. It's about 11 miles (18 km) from Tawas City and East Tawas to the south. Au Sable and Oscoda are about 15 miles (24 km) to the east. Hale is about 11 miles (18 km) to the southwest. In the late 1800s, this whole area was heavily logged. People cut down many trees for wood to build houses and factories. After the logging slowed down, many new trees grew back. This is the beautiful forest we see there today.
Visiting the Park
You can visit the Lumberman's Monument park all year round, and it's free! The visitor's center and other buildings are open from May to October. There are special pathways with signs that tell you all about Michigan's logging history. The monument also has a great view of Cooke Dam Pond and Horseshoe Island on the Au Sable River. This river was very important for floating logs downstream.
Michigan's Logging Story
The forest around the monument was a very busy place for logging in the late 1800s. The white pine trees that grew here were in huge demand across the country. People used this wood to build houses, ships, and many other things. A lot of the homes in the Midwest were built with lumber from Michigan's forests.
When people realized how many trees Michigan had, logging became very popular and profitable.
- Timber cruisers worked for lumbermen. They explored the woods to find the best areas of trees. Then, they would claim these areas for their bosses at the land office. Back then, land could be bought for as little as $1.25 an acre!
- In the winter, sawyers cut down the trees. Swampers would trim the branches off the logs.
- The logs were then loaded onto large sleds. Horses or oxen pulled these sleds over icy paths to the nearest riverbank.
- Once at the river, the logs were dumped into the water. They would float downstream towards the sawmill.
- Loggers downstream often had to deal with log jams. This is when many logs got stuck together, blocking the river.
- Finally, when the logs reached the sawmill, they were cut into boards. These boards were then used to build houses and factories.
Michigan had a big advantage in the lumber business. It had many rivers and lakes, plus huge forests of pine and hardwood trees. This meant there was plenty of timber to cut, and easy ways to transport the logs. By 1867, sawmills on the western side of Michigan (near Lake Michigan) were worth about two million dollars. On the eastern side, they were worth over five million dollars! Michigan had about 665 sawmills in total.
The lumber industry in Michigan grew very fast after the Civil War. The economy was getting stronger, and cities like Detroit and Chicago were growing quickly. Logging reached its highest point from the 1870s to the 1890s.
Logging also helped many towns grow, such as Grayling, Manistee, Muskegon, and Alpena. However, by the late 1800s, most of Michigan's old-growth forests (trees that had never been cut) were gone. Thousands of acres were left as mostly clear-cut land with small trees and bushes. Even though people started to realize the importance of replanting trees, it takes a very long time for new trees to grow big. The decline of logging also led to many ghost towns. These were towns that people left when the logging jobs disappeared. Examples include Alcona and Killmaster (now Gustin Township, Michigan). There were even 25 ghost towns in Benzie County.
The Lumbermen Monument statue was created by Robert Ingersoll Aitken. If you look closely, you might see the words ‘Aitken Fecit’ on one corner. "Fecit" is a Latin word that means "made it." So, it means "Aitken made it."
Gallery
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A wide view of the area with the Au Sable River and Cooke Dam Pond in the background.
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An outdoor exhibit showing what a log jam on the river might have looked like.
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A typical sled that was used to transport logs to the riverbank.
See Also
- Hartwick Pines State Park and Interlochen State Park are two places where you can still see very old Eastern White Pine trees in Michigan's Lower Peninsula.
