MOFM - Stories

Wally Knott on saw and his partner Red Meyers at Meades Creek Oct. 1945 by W.H.Gold Photo

STORIES
Loggers have been stereotyped as hard drinking, rowdy and uneducated. That image is about to be challenged! In this fascinating exploration of the roots of the forest industry, many of the men and women who worked in the woods during the 1930's to 1960’s give voice to the industry that built and sustained our province. What they say might be a bit surprising: they loved their work, were dedicated to the communities they lived in, and are as disappointed by the forest practices that eventually led to its demise as anyone else. While reading these stories, you may note that some words have been highlighted. When you find a word that is highlighted, you may click on it to bring up a pop-up box that will give you a description of the word or phrase that you have selected. We hope this will create another dimension to your reading experience!


DAVE ANDERSON Faller	CECIL ASHLEY Mill Worker	WALLY CARLSON Machine Operator	JOHN COUPLAND Cat Operator	PETE DAVIES CAT Operator


BRUCE DEVITT Forester	HOWARD DONAHUE Machine Operator	JIM EDDY Faller	THELMA GODKIN Whistle Punk	TOM GORDON Power Engineer


TREVOR GREEN CLRS Employee	KEN HALLBERG Superintendant	ERNIE HARRISON Machine Operator	BOB HEYES Mill Worker	WALLY HUGHES Forester


JIM KERRONE Rigger	KEN KERRONE Scaler	GORDY KNOTT Faller	TED KNOTT Faller	JENJI KONISHI Forester


AL LUNDGREN Faller	MARGARET McGOWAN Caycuse Resident	DICK McQUINN Machine Operator	BIKAR MANN Mill Worker	AL MARGETISH Machine Operator


GARNET MARGETISH Machine Operator	ART NEISER Faller	BOB NORCROSS Woods Foreman	THE NORMANS Three Generations	NELS OLSON Faller


JOHN OLTEANU Mill Worker	MIKE PATON Machine Operator	RICK PHYE Head Loader	LEONA PORTELANCE Hillcrest Resident	THE ROBERTSONS Caycuse Residents


BILL ROUTLEY Mill Worker	RALPH SCHMIDT Forester	JIM SHILLITO High Rigger	GEORGE SMART High Rigger	HOWARD SMITH Faller


LUCILLE SMITH Caycuse Resident	ROGER STANYER Hook Tender	FRANK VANYO Cat Operator	THE VEITCHS Head Rigger	BOB VESSEY Machine Operator


BARRY VOLKERS Mill Worker	VERN WELLBURN Forest Engineer	ARCHIE WHITE Head Loader	MERV WILKINSON Eco Forester	IN MEMORIAM

VANCOUVER ISLAND AUTHORS

Carlton Stone's Hillcrest by Ian McInnes

Excerpt from “Those Lake People ”
Lynne Bowen 1995®

Twenty-six miles of fresh water teeming with fish and surrounded by old-growth forest: this was Cowichan Lake at the end of the nineteenth century. Home to trappers, hunters and a handful of remittance men, the lake was also the favourite holiday destination for dukes and duchesses, Hollywood actresses and New York tycoons. Soon the giant trees began to fall to the crosscut saws of immigrant loggers from Finland, Norway, Sweden, India, Japan and China.

As technology advanced in the logging industry and the woods became a killing ground for loggers, the camps around the lake became the testing ground for union organizers whose clandestine activities contrasted remarkably with those of rhododendron and alpine flower growers who have left their mark on gardens throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Excerpt from “Carlton Stone’s Hillcrest”
Ian MacInnes 2003®

The collapse Oct.24, 1929, of the New York stock market marked the beginning of what became known as the Great Depression. Conditions that led to this event must have been obvious for weeks, but with no forewarning of imminent economic disaster in the Cowichan Leader, the suddenness and severity of its arrival appear to have surprised everyone. Before the day now known as Black Friday, people went about their business as they had throughout the ‘20s, most in blissful ignorance of the market’s alarming ups and downs, or of the situation that would soon bring bankers, brokers, businessmen and many ordinary folk to ruin.

When the collapse came, those who had gambled on the market rushed to the banks in Duncan, where some learned they had lost their all. In desperate straits and without hope of redeeming themselves, a few eventually took their own lives. But for those who had not gambled on the market but simply worked for a living, the bitter realization that they no longer had means of supporting their families, and that the depression was here to stay, was still a few months away.

Excerpt from “Never Chop Your Rope ”
Joe Garner 1998 ®

Loggers are tough, independant. Bill Lloyd operated a grade shovel, and told me about the time he quit the VL&M Camp. The railroad they were working on was through a swampy area. He told the superintendant he needed some mats (timbers bolted together) so the shovel wouldn't get mired in the swamps. Highball Isbister, the superintendant, told him to keep going without the mats. Bill Lloyd argued that he'd get stuck in the mud, but, 'if that's the way you want it, that's the way you'll get it,' and stomped out of the office, back to the shovel. He worked until the thing was hopelessly mired up over the tracks and partway up the cab out there in the slough. Then he walked back to camp and demanded his pay. Isbister was there and wanted to know how badly the shovel was bogged in. 'Bill with his usual drawl said, 'Well , just to help you find it, I cut a 20ft pole and stuck it in the mud where the shovel was last seen'. It turned out to be a very expensive decision for Isbister. Most good loggers were extremely independent. Any unnecessary interference from a boss and they'd just quit.