One of the hardest working groups of laborers in American history were lumberjacks.
Visitors to the Oxford Public Library got a glimpse into the lives of the 19th century’s ax men when Sheepshank Sam gave a presentation on Jan. 21.
It was part of ‘The Way We Worked,? a Smithsonian traveling exhibition that will wrap up its visit to the library on Feb. 1.
Portrayed by Ben Thompson, Sheepshank Sam is an old-time shanty boy lumberjack who mixes history and tall tales to transport listeners back to an 1800s logging camp in northern Michigan.
Timber harvesting used to be big business in Michigan.
Between 1840 and 1900, one billion logs were floated down the state’s rivers to sawmills and each of them sold for approximately $4, according to Sheepshank Sam.
‘Anywhere between 40 and 80 lumber camps would be floating their logs down the same river,? he said.
Sheepshank Sam discussed the different jobs in a lumberjack camp, how the camp functioned, how trees were cut down and what daily life was like in the woods back then.
Armed with a diverse array of authentic old lumberjack tools, he explained how each of them was used.
Being a lumberjack was an extremely physically demanding occupation, so it required men as tough as their ax handles.
They were out in the woods before the sun was up and worked ‘from can see to can’t see,? or from sunrise to sunset, according to Sheepshank Sam.
‘You would be standing by your tree (ready to work) right when the sun was up in the morning,? he said.
There were no gasoline-powered chainsaws back then, so the axes and saws they used were fueled entirely my muscle and stamina. That’s why lumberjacks consumed an astounding 4,000 calories per day.
‘They would eat tons and tons and tons of food, as much food as they could possibly eat,? Sheepshank Sam said.
Because the lumberjacks often came from many different countries and spoke many different languages, Sheepshank Sam explained how the camps developed their own language when referring to everyday items.
For example, sugar was called sand, eggs were cackleberries, coffee was blackjack, doughnuts were sinkers, tea was swampwater, corned beef was red horse, ketchup was red lead, prunes were logging berries, potatoes were murphys and salt was gravel.
‘They needed a common language that everybody would understand,? Sheepshank Sam said. ‘A lot of times the words described what (the item) looks like.?