When Pine was King


Book Description

Lewis Reimann was the son of German immigrants who ran a boarding-house for miners and loggers in the Iron River district of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. When Lewis C. Reimann brought out his volume of reminiscences of early life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in 1951, Between The Iron and the Pine, consisting of the author’s recollections with anecdotes and historical commentary about the region, he thought of it mostly as a labor of love in connection with a centennial at Iron River, his birthplace. Reimann conveyed a sense of the occupational lifestyles and multiple ethnicities of Iron River’s inhabitants and dealt in some detail with its folklore, material culture, foodways, and memorable local characters. Between The Iron and the Pine enjoyed such a wide success that it was as surprising as it was gratifying to its author—and it was only natural that he should write a sequel. This book, When Pine Was King, first published in 1952, with its locale in the semi-wilderness land across the Straits of Mackinac, treats of the early days of the Upper Peninsula when men were men and every lumberjack could lick his weight in wildness...or thought he could. Another gripping read from Lewis Charles Reimann.




When the White Pine Was King


Book Description

“From the ring of the ax in the woods, to the scream of the saw blade in the mill, to the founding of many of Wisconsin’s communities, Jerry Apps does an outstanding job bringing Wisconsin’s logging and lumbering heritage to life.”—Kerry P. Bloedorn, director, Rhinelander Pioneer Park Historical Complex For more than half a century, logging, lumber production, and affiliated enterprises in Wisconsin’s Northwoods provided jobs for tens of thousands of Wisconsinites and wealth for many individuals. The industry cut through the lives of nearly every Wisconsin citizen, from an immigrant lumberjack or camp cook in the Chippewa Valley to a Suamico sawmill operator, an Oshkosh factory worker to a Milwaukee banker. When the White Pine Was King tells the stories of the heyday of logging: of lumberjacks and camp cooks, of river drives and deadly log jams, of sawmills and lumber towns and the echo of the ax ringing through the Northwoods as yet another white pine crashed to the ground. He explores the aftermath of the logging era, including efforts to farm the cutover (most of them doomed to fail), successful reforestation work, and the legacy of the lumber and wood products industries, which continue to fuel the state’s economy. Enhanced with dozens of historic photos, When the White Pine Was King transports readers to the lumber boom era and reveals how the lessons learned in the vast northern forestlands continue to shape the region today.




Justus S. Stearns


Book Description

Examines a major Michigan timber baron and political figure who also founded a coal-mining empire in Kentucky. Near the turn of the twentieth century, "Pine King" Justus S. Stearns was Michigan's largest producer of manufactured lumber and the owner of a prosperous coal mining operation headquartered in Stearns, Kentucky, a town he founded. Over the course of his career, Stearns would own at least thirty manufacturing businesses—making everything from finished lumber to kitchen utensils, game boards, and motors—as well as hotels, a railroad, and a power company. He was also an active member of the Republican Party who served one term as Michigan's secretary of state and a philanthropist who gave a great deal of his wealth to causes in both Michigan and Kentucky. In Justus S. Stearns: Michigan Pine King and Kentucky Coal Baron, 1845–1933, author Michael W. Nagle details Stearns's astounding range of accomplishments and explores the influence of both paternalism and Social Darwinism in his business practices. Nagle begins by addressing key events in the first few decades of Stearns's life and his initial foray into the lumber industry. Subsequent chapters explore Stearns's political career, his timber operations in Wisconsin, and his coal, lumber, and railroad operations in Kentucky and Tennessee. Nagle also details the ancillary businesses that Stearns founded or purchased in the early twentieth century, even as his Stearns Salt & Lumber Company served as the anchor of his Michigan holdings, while Stearns Coal & Lumber did the same for his operations in Kentucky. The final chapter offers an overview and analysis of Stearns's lifetime of accomplishments, including his impact on the town of Ludington, Michigan, where he maintained a residence for over fifty years. Nagle makes extensive use of primary source material from several historical archives as well as contemporary newspaper accounts, court documents, company records, and other primary sources. American history scholars, as well as general readers interested in Michigan's lumbering era and Kentucky's mining history, will enjoy this biography of an exceptionally influential businessman.




Minnesota Logging Railroads


Book Description

During the heyday of lumberjacks and sawmills, railroads such as the Duluth and Northern Minnesota and the Alger-Smith enabled logging companies to break away from the traditional mode of transportation (floating logs downriver) and its shortfalls (logjams and winter freezes). Frank King traces this rich history from its beginnings in 1886 to the railroads' disappearance around 1937 when the last of the giant sawmills closed down. King profiles every logging railroad in Minnesota and examines all aspects of their operations, including locomotives such as the geared Shays and Heislers, McGiffert log loaders, Russel log cars, dump trestles, hot ponds, logging camp life, railroad finances, and the impact on communities as timber supplies ran out and lumbering and sawmill operations shut down, causing thousands to lose their jobs. Heavily illustrated throughout, Minnesota Logging Railroads contains maps, photographs, postcards, engineering drawings, and railroad memorabilia such as timetables, passes, fare receipts, and freight tariffs. The appendixes comprehensively list the state's logging railroads, locomotive rosters, and railroad and lumber company names.




White Pine


Book Description

The history of the ubiquitous pine tree is wrapped up with the history of early America—and in the hands of a gifted storyteller becomes a compelling read, almost an adventure story.




Maine


Book Description

The first comprehensive history of Maine to be published in decades, Maine: The Pine Tree State surveys the region's rich history from prehistoric times to the early 1990s. Drawing on a team of twenty-six scholars with a professional interest in Maine's past, the book features fresh research and new interpretations of even familiar periods such as the Civil War. The chapter authors are respected authorities in Maine history from the fields of archaeology, anthropology, ethnic studies, and the various sub-disciplines of history: political, cultural, economic, labor, military, maritime. Certain themes recur from chapter to chapter and across historical periods. For example, larger structural changes in the nation - market trends, wars, economic fluctuations, demographic flows - strongly affected the everyday world of Maine people. Other prominent themes are the importance of geography and the environment in shaping Maine's economy and culture. Caught up at times in national events, Maine has also led the nation in important ways. Its fishing industry fed and its textile industry clothed the nation's people. Maine loggers contributed heavily to the technologies used in cutting, hauling, and driving timber. Maine excelled in the production of wooden ships and supplied the expertise to sail them. In the nineteenth century Maine's political leaders were among the most powerful in the nation, and Maine's contribution to social reform attracted national recognition.




The King and the Christmas Tree


Book Description

'An unlikely hero has a master storyteller to tell his tale. The King and the Christmas Tree is a poignant Christmas treat.' Lucy Worsley, historian, broadcaster and author Every December, a huge Christmas tree arrives in Trafalgar Square. Bedecked in lights, it is a shimmering, festive beacon in the heart of London. But even more enchanting than the twinkling decorations and scented pine is the story behind the tree; a story of loyalty, friendship and resistance. On a cold evening in 1940, German warships made their way towards Oslo. It seemed inevitable that Norway, like so many other European nations, would soon submit to the Nazi regime. But the country's indomitable King Haakon VII refused to surrender. Making his escape through his country towards the safe haven of Britain, King Haakon became an icon of hope for his people. And so, over seventy years later, the tree in Trafalgar Square remains as an enduring gift of thanks from Norway to the people of Britain. In The King and the Christmas Tree historian A. N. Wilson artfully weaves together this tale of courage and friendship between nations. Richly illustrated and beautifully told, it is a delightful Christmas cracker for everyone, young and old alike.




The Big Book of King Cake


Book Description

"I once ate more than eighty king cakes in a single Carnival," author Matt Haines proudly remembers, demonstrating his dedication to this delicious Mardi Gras tradition. "So you can imagine how amazed I was to learn there has never been a coffee table book dedicated to king cakes!" The Big Book of King Cake changes that, telling the thousands-year-old story through lush photography of more than one hundred and fifty unique king cakes, as well as stories from the diverse and talented bakers who make them. While king cakes are typically only available during Carnival season, readers can enjoy this book year-round. From the traditional cakes generations of New Orleanians have loved, to the unconventional creations that break all the rules, this book is your guide to the Crescent City's favorite baked good. The Big Book of King Cake is for anyone who loves food, history, sweets, culture, and of course, New Orleans.




The Making of Pioneer Wisconsin


Book Description

From the mid-1830s through the 1850s, more than a half million people settled in Wisconsin. While traveling in ships and wagons, establishing homes, and forming new communities, these men, women, and children recorded their experiences in letters, diaries, and newspaper articles. In their own words, they revealed their fears, joys, frustrations, and hopes for life in this new place. The Making of Pioneer Wisconsin provides a unique and intimate glimpse into the lives of these early settlers, as they describe what it felt like to be a teenager in a wagon heading west or an isolated young wife living far from her friends and family. Woven together with context provided by historian Michael E. Stevens, these first-person accounts form a fascinating narrative that deepens our ability to understand and empathize with Wisconsin’s early pioneers.




Logging in Wisconsin


Book Description

Logging in Wisconsin explores the 70 years when logging ruled the state, covering the characters who worked in forests and on rivers, the tools they used, and the places where they lived and worked. Wisconsin was the perfect setting for the lumber industry: acres of white pine forests (acquired through treaties with American Indians) and rivers to transport logs to sawmills. From 1840 to 1910, logging literally reshaped the landscape of Wisconsin, providing employment to thousands of workers. The lumber industry attracted businessmen, mills, hotels, and eventually the railroad. This led to the development of many Wisconsin cities, including Eau Claire, Oshkosh, Stevens Point, and Wausau. Rep. Ben Eastman told Congress in 1852 that the Wisconsin forests had enough lumber to supply the United States "for all time to come." Sadly, this was a grossly overestimated belief, and by 1910, the Wisconsin forests had been decimated.