Art Martin
ArboristSite Operative
Several important industries sprang up, in the Redwood region, other than lumber. They were railroad ties, cord wood, and tan oak bark which was used in the tanning of leather. Beginning in the 1870s, they reached their peak around the turn of the century. Tapering off began in the 1920s. Around the 1900s, there were some 4,000 people directly employed in the making, swamping, hauling and shipping of ties, and getting out tan oak bark and cord wood. This merchandise was shipped out to market by small sailing vessels. Around the 1880s, they began to convert them into steam scooners, which made it easier and safer for them to enter and maneuver around the small mooring places along the rocky coast. They could also get out to sea much faster when sudden storms blew in. There were over a hundred of these sailing ships lost along the coast due to storms and other mishaps during these times. The tie makers endured real hardships during the season while making millions of railroad ties. They lived in make-shift shacks that were put together with shakes that were hand split from 2 foot long shingle bolts. I ran across many of these old shacks when I worked in remote areas cutting timber. These shacks were put together with square nails. I found old bottles, discarded tools, and horse shoes that were left there when they moved to other areas. They apparently live off the land to some degree by eating deer meat, rabbits, and birds, to splice in with the other food stuff they brought with them. They stayed there for months at a time while others would come with horses and mules pulling wagons, to haul the ties to the loading docks. They would pick up necessary food staples and supplies and head back to the camp sites to pick up more ties. The northern California area was a large source of supply for cord wood to the San Francisco bay area, where it was used for fuel, up until the 1900s, when gas and oil became the main fuel. Cord wood was made from old Douglas fir trees. A cord was a pile 4'x4'x8' long. The price paid for a cord of wood was 90 cents to $1.10. You have to remember that there were no chainsaws at that time, so they had to buck up the trees with crossvcut saws, then split it with malls, then pile it into horse drawn wagons and then haul it to where ever it was shipped from. There was no unemployment or disability or medical insurance, no food stamps, welfare and very few doctors. I can't say that these were "the good old days". The lumber barons lived in opulence and incredable fancy mansions, with maids and butlers, in the bay area, complaining that it was had to make ends meet with the high cost of labor.
Art Martin
Art Martin
