Logging camp in Haute-Mauricie.
The history of the Haute-Mauricie region is closely linked to that of the lumberjacks and log drivers who worked on the Saint-Maurice River. The timber industry allowed loggers to earn a sizeable wage and the potential livelihood proved irresistible for local workers who left their wives and children to “head into the woods” in the winter. When this expression is used today, it mainly refers to a wide range of activities such as quad biking and sport fishing.
Hôtel Leclerc and its logging supplies store, circa 1906.
As of 1830, the number of logging camps between Matawin and Rivière-aux-Rats grew exponentially since there was no shortage of forests and rivers. Foremen, cooks, pot washers and lumberjacks had no trouble finding a job between November and March. The men ate bacon and split pea soup which was sometimes accompanied by fish or game to build up their strength. Felling, trimming and squaring work was exhausting, but the wage paid for a cutting area was up to $8 per square mile, often five times more than anywhere else. In the spring, the logs were taken to streams and then to the swollen rivers which transported the wood to the Saint-Maurice paper mills.
While scouts prepared the paths, the carters, nicknamed skidders, loaded the logs onto sleds and headed for the waterways. That was where the log drivers took over. The log drivers, known as draveurs in French, jumped from one log to another, ensuring all the logs floated freely along the river to avoid the need for blasting, a delicate operation that often sent logs flying in all directions.
The log drivers ended up soaked to the skin since they had to wade through the icy water. Many of them were unable to swim. Fortunately, they had pike poles which were long poles measuring 3.6 metres (12 feet) equipped with an iron tip to push the logs, and a hook to pull them. When logging reached its peak, more than 30,000 log drivers and raftsmen led the logs known as pitoune in French (a name derived from happy town) downriver and contended with the often turbulent waters for three seasons a year.
The lumberjacks, who were mainly farmers and labourers, returned to La Tuque to get supplies or when summer finally arrived. Leonidas Leclerc was waiting for them close to the railway in La Tuque. From 1906 onwards, Hôtel Leclerc and its logging supplies store, where Léo piled up equipment for sale, were buzzing with activity. The hotel was often a place of music and laughter. Félix Leclerc was born there in 1914 and spent his early years in the hotel. It is said that his grandfather Nérée, a natural storyteller, used to visit each construction site in turn to entertain the workers. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!
