Museum, touristic site of Chantier Gédéon

The Chantier Gédéon tells of the life of the loggers


The sleep camp

The ‘’sleep camp''

Photo credit: Mathieu Dupuis, photographer


The cookery

The ‘’cookery'' at Chantier Gédéon.

Photo credit: Mathieu Dupuis, photographer


The lumberjack trade

At dawn at 4:00 in the morning, after having had a good lunch in the ''cookery'', the loggers walked along the beaten snow trails to the clearing area which was about 1 mile from the camp, bringing with them lunch. They were cutting as many trees as possible and then coming back before dark. Their workday was easily 12 hours.

A good lumberjack was strong, skillful, hardworking, patient, determined and knew how to file his tools.

His axe strokes were carried and he knew how to handle the ''godendart'' or 'bucksaw'. He had to get along well with his teammate, those men who are of a proud nature and were seeking to excel themselves since their performances were recorded by the clerk on a table in evidence in the ''sleepcamp''.


The sanitary conditions

Men could wash in a specially installed trough at the back of the 'sleepcamp'. As there was no running water, the 'showboy'' brought the necessary water. Most of the time a water tank heated on all the stoves so that men did not have only ice water to spray.

The first ones to wash had clean water, while those who followed were often content with already used water. In short, the men were dirty and slept in dirty clothes because they kept the same linen worn during the day to work. Washing the clothes was done on Sundays, in metal tanks, with washing boards and soap powder.

Text of the audio

Here we are in front of a reconstruction of five logging camps from the 1930s-1940s. The Chantier Gédéon tourist museum shows you the hard work and difficult living conditions in which lumberjacks lived. There are five buildings: the sleepcamp, cookerie, office, jobber, and stable.

Work in the forestry yards usually lasted from October to April. Very early in the fall, the required site for the camps was cleared. The men were building them with wood cut on site. It took no more than seven to ten days to complete all buildings. October to the end of February was the time for tree felling. In March and April, the wood was transported to the water.

In the spring, when the frost thawed, the drave and the flotation of the wood began. The work in the forest ceased. The men would collect their belongings, collect their wages and pay their debts to the clerk. They would then return home.

The hard living conditions on the job sites, the arduous work of lumberjacks, a job that was quite dangerous and the meagre salary of one dollar a day were the reality for his men.

Extract of
Angliers, a Landscape for History - Patrimonial Tour

Angliers, a Landscape for History - Patrimonial Tour image circuit

Presented by : Le site historique T.E. Draper
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