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Hard Labour

Old black and white photograph of a dozen lumberjacks in the forest. On the left, a man is sitting on a rock and leaning on a peavey.

Lumberjacks in the forest, circa 1900

Reference: Société d’histoire et de généalogie de l’Île Jésus, C001/F2.001-A

For most of the year, lumberjacks worked as farmers or hunters or practised another trade. In winter, they went out to the logging camps (shanties) to supplement their annual incomes. In the 1800s, the two-handed saw, which was about 2 metres long, required two men to operate it. It was eventually replaced by the bow saw, which was more practical, provided that the diameter of the tree wasn’t too big.

It was only in the early 20th century that mechanization resulted in the job becoming a four-season occupation.