Reader mr. beer n. hockey suggested I write about boom men, those agile workers who rode the logs and manouvered them with pike poles and peaveys.
This request brought back good memories, as I began my own career on the log booms.
Anyone who has spent any time on or near the coast of BC will recognize the image above as a log boom, a group of logs likely assembled 'up coast' and towed to a sawmill or pulp mill. In the old days most of the making of the booms was done by hand. Now boom boats do much of the work.
Here is an artist's impression of an early boom man at work.
Stay tuned for more on the topic of log booms.
3 comments:
A booming thank you. I too spent some time on the booming grounds. Wish I had taken some photos while I was there now that chapter of my life is closed. Thanks for putting up a couple images. I have looked many times without luck for western boom images. What I remember best is feeling so darn puny beside massive sitka spruce from the Charlottes and red cedar from Vancouver Island.
I too enjoyed your post. For mr.beer n.hockey, here is a link I found at the Library and Archives Canada that had some old logging pictures. You can put in any search words. I tried logging camp and got quite a few good ones. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/index-e.html
Many thanks to Powell River Books. The Archives have several dandy photos from back in the days of wooden pike poles.
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