Memories of a Great Woodsman

Once in a life time you meet a great woodsman and story teller. My father met one. They were contemporaries that probably met in their younger days. The times were in the late 1920's or early 1930's, hard times for many. My grandfather owned an old log cabin and a large acreage of wooded land.

My father (on the right in the photo) was one of the lucky employed and his friend (left) was unemployed. We call my dad's friend 'Buck'. 'Buck'was an excellent trapper at the time. My father asked 'Buck' if he would like to go up to the old cabin to continue trapping and to use it as long as he wanted. 'Buck' knew that trapping would be good, so he took up my father's proposal. The old log cabin was primative as it had no well water and only an outhouse. The heating was an old oil drum stove and needed a constant wood source. That kind of cabin living appealed to 'Buck', so he felt at home.

At that time, the timberwolf population was large and growing. The state had a bounty on the wolves so as to control the wolf population.

'Buck' took up trapping timberwolves and other fur bearing animals such as mink, beaver and ermine. Trapping was 'Buck's' main source of income. He trapped out of my grandfather's cabin for a number of years, probably up to World War II.

I met 'Buck' when my father and I visited the old log cabin 'Buck' and his friend now lived in a rented farm house not far from the old log cabin. The farm house had well water and better toilet facilities. My father and 'Buck' would sit for hours telling trapping, hunting, fishing and outdoor stories. I sat back and only listened, being only 10 years old. The stories were more interesting than anything I ever read.

My father and 'Buck' planned many fishing and hunting trips during these visits, and I was included on these trips. We had a 12' fishing boat and an outboard 2- 1/2 horsepower motor with the usual fishing gear.

One fishing trip I remember was a two week trip to a remote great fishing lake in Canada. Many walleyes were taken and again the stories told around the canp fire were wonderous. My father caught a 32 pound lake trout, the largest of the trip.

'Buck' was a true outdoors man. Others say he was one of the best trappers in the state of Minnesota. 'Buck' was also a great story teller as he experienced and lived these great stories of the outdoors. If he had written a book, it would be a great best seller.

Traditional Chinking

Years ago log cabin construction was made with handcrafted logs. The logs were straight and of durable first growth timber. The bark was skinned from the trees while green and was set aside for drying (seasoning). Some logs were pressure treated to resist weathering, insects and termites.

In constructing the old traditional cabin walls, the largest logs were placed at the bottom of the walls, tapering to the smallest logs at the top of the wall. The logs were reversed by placing the log top end of one log directly above the butt end of another log. This method insured a more uniform space between logs. This space between the logs was about two inches, with a minimum space of one inch.

After the logs were placed, chinking of the space between the logs proceeded. Six inch strips of expanded metal lath or heavy, small spaced wire fabric was placed on a diagonal between the logs. The metal strips were securely nailed to the bottom inside face of the top log and nailed to the top outside face of the bottom log. These metal strips were then covered by the mortar that ran continuously between the pgs for the length of each log.

The mortar my family used on our old cabin was a portland cement mortar mix; one bag of portland cement, 20% of lime by volume, and 3 cubic feet of loose plaster sand. These materials were mixed together dry. Water was added to produce a stiff mix. This mortar was allowed to stand for about one hour under a cover of wet cloth, then remixed. No additional water was added to the mortar.

The mortar was then ready to be placed for chinking. The mortar was simultaneously placed into the log spaces from both sides of the wall with compacting tools, pushing the mortar through the openings in the metal lath or wire fabric thus forming an anchor for the mortar.

The compacting tools were wood blocking about ten inches long with convex shaped face to produce a curved concave face to the chinking.

Feather edges against the logs were cut off with a trowel leaving approximately 1/4 inch shoulder on the top and bottom of the joint on both sides of the wall. Two to three hours later, the chinking and logs were painted with water glass (a sodium silicate solution). The water glass film began to peel and flake after several days and was removed with a dry rough scrub brush. The surfaces were then finished with sandpaper and finally stained. This sealed the walls from snow, wind, rain and animals.

In modern chinking (if used), the space between the logs is somewhat reduced. The space is filled with strip foam near the center of the logs and backer rods tight against the foam on each side. Then a synthetic chink is placed tight against the backer rods covering them, the foam and sealing against the logs. This new chink looks and feels like mortar. It is a permanent seal because of the elastic properties of the synthetic chink.

Old Log Cabins

For your viewing pleasure. Some photos of old log cabins of friends, family and local folks.

Some of these cabins look virtually identical, but if you look closely you can see the differences. Most date from the mid 1800's to the early 1900's.

Please keep in mind that during the Great Depression it was common for people to make a living by trapping and living off the land.

Wood Decay

Wood decay is created by microscopic fungi which feeds on the starches and sugars that are in the wood. The fungi slowly destroys the wood cell structure of the log.

There are several types of decay fungi, but the prevailing cause of log damage is from brown rot. The wood appears brown and crumbly and looks unusually dry. Sometimes this rot is called "dry rot".

Wood decay fungi requires four conditions to survive: a warm temperature (about 70 degrees to 100 degrees F), oxygen, wood (food source), and water. Keeping the water away from the log contruction is the most effective means of decay control.

Of course, choosing the proper wood species helps control wood decay too. Wood species such as cedar, cypress, redwood heartwood are naturally resistant to decay and insect attack. The heartwood is that portion of the log that is the central column of wood that runs through the center of the log. The sapwood of the log is that wood that surrounds the heartwood and is less durable in nature. The sapwood is the light colored wood: whereas, the heartwood is the darker portion of the log.

The historic log structures of Europe, United States, and Canada are grand because of the virgin timber of years ago. These virgin timbers had large portions of heartwood, thus these log structures have stood for years. Some good examples are the Lodges of Yellowstone, Glacier, and Yosemite National Parks.

(Grand Canyon Lodge photo curtesy of the National Park Service. Photo by L.S. Harrison)