Life at the Boom

Life at the Boom. . , As the St. Croix logging industry center, the Boom Site bustled with activity beginning in June and ending when all of the logs were sorted from the river, usually in August but sometimes as late as October. At the height of operations, around 600 laborers walked the logs on the river in calked books, bearing pikes and peavies, and engaged in the work of catching, sorting, marking, and measuring logs. In 1902, they earned $1.75 per day., Boom Site accommodations were much the same as at any logging camp. Men lived in cramped bunk shanties and ate for free at the cook house while working long hours., In 1910, the Boom Site community consisted of six bunk shanties, washrooms, woodsheds, smith and carpentry shops, animal corrals, chicken coops, a two-story office building, and a large cook house. A cave located 30 feet below the cook house was used as a storage cellar for food supplies. An elevator shaft connected the two., Lumber Camp Lingo , The men of the river had their own unique language. In the cookhouse you would have heard some strange sayings, such as: , Stove Lids or Flapjacks – Pancakes , Blackstrap – Syrup , Mulligan – Meat and Potato Stew , Sinker – Doughnut, Caption: , From this office, thousands of river drivers were given "time checks" that were converted into cash at the St. Croix Boom Company's Stillwater office.