We arrived at Katahdin Shadows Campground in Medway, Maine and while registering starting talking with the couple behind us in line who had also just arrived. When we drove to our campsite, they were pulling in right next to us. We visited with Chuck and Carole who are from a different area of Maine than we are in now, about three and a half hours away. At six o’clock we all drove on the Golden Road to look for moose. They rode with us and it was quite a ride......many pits and bumps on the windy road. Unfortunately none of us saw any moose but noticed the deer flies were thick. After arriving back at our rigs around 8:00 p.m. Mike b.b.q.ed chicken and we ate dinner.
The next day while driving to the town of Patten where the Lumbermen’s Museum is located we saw Mt. Katahdin, which is Maine’s highest peak at 5,267’. The mountain was pretty, but nothing spectacular. There was still a little snow at the top. We paid the museum entrance fee and while watching a twenty minute history movie Carole and Chuck arrived. We toured the grounds together starting with an 1820 camp that was built without any nails. Then on to a double camp which was more modern (1850s). The cooking quarters were separated from the sleeping quarters by a ‘dingle’ where the provisions were stored in barrels. In the Saw Mill we saw a variety of saw mill equipment and logging dioramas. There was a blacksmith shop and, because of a school group touring the museum today, a blacksmith was making items and answering questions. Next onto the “Lombard” shed where they had on display a Lombard Log Hauler and many other pieces of equipment, both large and small. Alvin Lombard patented the log hauler, an idea from Johnson Woodbury of Patten, Maine. That was the beginning of the tracks like on the modern day Caterpillar tractor. Another building we visited was the horse hovel which is where we saw a birch bark canoe, a horse-powered drag saw, and many, many other pieces of equipment. The original museum building, which was reconstructed in 1962 from original hand hewn 1840 house timbers, had many pieces of equipment and logging camp dioramas.
Cooks working for the Great Northern Paper Company in 1919 earned $4 per day, a blacksmith earned $3.65 per day. The laborers earned between $2.30-3.65 per day for doing the really difficult and dangerous work. These people led very difficult lives, doing this work year round. We took a different road on the return trip and one stop was a pull off to see Grindstone Falls. It was very pretty, but the falls was just a place in the river where it gets lower. The weather was beautiful so when Carole and Chuck came back we each got our dinners ready, put on a table cloth and enjoyed our meals together. After dinner we visited until about 10:30. A fun day with new friends!
Mt. Katahdin
1820 Logging Camp
1850 Logging Camp
Hey Waiter!
Lombard Log Hauler
Lombard Log Hauler
Grindstone Falls
Dinner with Chuck & Carole
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