• Where were they cut? As we all know, Schroon Lake is a dammed up river,
with constant flow north to south. These logs floated from somewhere.
Throughout the 1800's logs were cut and stamped (logmarks on the ends) and
intended to go downriver with the spring high water (we do have lots of high
water in the spring, right???). We know there were teams of loggers who cut
trees by hand and rolled them onto the ice in wintertime. The logmarks on the
ends of some of the logs tell me who owned them (which sawmill they were
intended for in GF), and we know they were cut to exactly 13'4" so that they
could be consistently handled at those sawmills. But I've never been able to
find any record of which owners cut where on Schroon Lake (or above, in
Paradox or upriver somewhere). Thoughts anyone?
• Why are the logs usually in such good shape even after 150 years of being
underwater? Yes I know this is a well-oxygenated lake, so wouldn't this help
break them down? The logs I find are not down deep in the coldest parts of
the lake - they are mostly in the shallows.
• Why are there so many 8"-12" (diameter) logs down there? Don't these
seem too small to have bothered with at the sawmill? Unfortunately I only
want those that are 14" or larger in diameter for my guitar tops, so I give all
those smaller ones a pass.
• What was it like back in the 1800's around Schroon Lake when they were
clear-cutting so much of the land around the lake? They say there were times
when huge sections of the lake that were just covered with floating logs in the
spring, waiting to go downriver.
Speaking as someone who likes working with my hands and making stuff, I
have a lot of respect for these loggers who worked so hard and efficiently,
with the basic tools they had, to get wood out of the wilderness and to the
mills. Some gave their lives for this job. I think about this rich history every
time I handle an old log and mill it into a fine guitar. I especially feel a
connection when I dive down and put my hands on that log for the first time,
dig my fingers in the silt underneath to get a rope around it, and then when it
comes out into the open air for the first time in 150 years. Wow. Thanks to
those loggers, I get to build an exciting machine - a machine with resonating,
moving parts that enhances the quality of life of others.
Snippet from the
Times of Ti
"100 years ago
today"
about the Schroon
River log drive in
1914