Stathi,
Thanks. I'm not that familiar with railroad camps, but the time
spans you note are certainly longer term that logging camps by all
definitions. From what I can tell, capitalization began in the western
Lakes (Michigan) logging and was associated with the shift from river drive
to railroad logging (obviously not 100% associated. There were corporate
structures around during the river drive era) because of the heavy
investment needed to construct railroads, etc. [companies did own their own
railroads, railroad facilities as well as logging camps, etc here,
too] The time period I'm most familiar with is 1870-1920, which pre-dates
yours, but chronologically fits if you follow and east to west
frontier/settlement time line.
Thanks for introducing such an interesting (to a logging/frontier
archaeologist, anyway) discussion to the listserv.
Tom
At 03:41 PM 7/24/2006 -0400, you wrote:
> Tom,
> Definition of terms is always a good thing and thank you for asking me
> to clarify temporary vs. permanent. Section camps could be in operation
> for up to approximately 80 years in some cases, and in the case of
> Scales, occupation was around 40 years. Logging camps do exhibit a great
> deal of variety depending on whether they are camps associated with
> actual felling, cross-loading, maintenance, base-camps, etc. The
> sophistication and duration of habitation seem to increase over time as
> logging became more capitalized, intensive, and large scale. However,
> Great Lakes logging did not exhibit many of the hallmarks of heavy
> industrial logging that were to develop later in the Pacific Northwest
> for example. I personally have more experience with the highly
> industrialized logging of the 1920s to 1950s in the west. In these
> situations, you often find lumber companies with their own railroads and
> section camps! However, in almost every case that I can think of, logging
> camps are very !
> much more temporary than section camps with few lasting beyond 10 years.
> Once again, thank you for giving me the opportunity to clarify my lack of
> specificity! :-)
>
> Stathi
> ______________________________________________________
>
> Efstathios I. Pappas, MS
> Doctoral Student
> Department of Anthropology/096
> University of Nevada, Reno
> Reno, NV 89557
> (775) 323-5730
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask]
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Mon, 24 Jul 2006 5:16 AM
> Subject: Re: Railroad/logging Camps
>
> Here's an interesting point: What's your definition of temporary?
> Railroad logging camps, at least in the western Great Lakes, could have a
> life span of 5 years, give or take. This is based on informant interviews
> (conducted in 1970s-early 1980s)/ethnohistoric accounts/company
> documents. This was considered long term, at least by accounts I've seen.
> The remaining characteristics (size, layout, etc.) that you mention I
> agree with. I'm not sure how these characteristics would compare with
> railway logging camps in other regions, however.
>
> Tom
>
> At 03:17 AM 7/22/2006 -0400, you wrote:
> >A section camp will typically consist of a section foreman's house,
> >bunkhouse, car shed, tool shed and any other additional
> outbuildings >deemed necessary
> >for maintenance work. These structures, especially the section foreman's
> >house would have been associated with a localized landscape similar to
> a >farmstead
> >as there was typically domestic production associated. Logging camps,
> >depending on the size would have had a more temporary imprint on
> the >landscape and
> >usually would have served a larger population than the maximum of
> >approximately eight individuals that would have been in a section
> camp >during the busy
> >season (it could fluctuate greatly based on demand). Logging camps
> would >have
> >evidence of loading apparatus (platforms, A frames, Spar poles, etc),
> at >least
> >a passing siding on the railroad (section camps often did not as there
> was no
> >reason for them), and other infrastructural features to service
> active >logging
> >and loading. Section camps on the other hand are small yet permanent with
> >none of these extra features. I hope this very brief overview is of
> some >aid
> >and it is nice to be talking about a subject so near and dear to my
> heart on
> >histarch! :-)
> >
> >Stathi
> >
> >
> >
> >______________________________________________________
> >
> >Efstathios I. Pappas, MS
> >Doctoral Student
> >Department of Anthropology/096
> >University of Nevada, Reno
> >Reno, NV 89557
> >(775) 323-5730
>
> W. Thomas Langhorne, Jr., Ph.D. [log in to unmask]
> Pre-Health Professions Advisor (phone) 607-777-6305
> Adjunct Assistant Professor-Anthropology (fax) 607-777-2721
> Binghamton University
> P.O. Box 6000
> Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
> http://prehealth.binghamton.edu/
>
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