Aitkin Reaps The Fruit of Prosperity

Aitkin County was logged during the late 1800s. First the pinery camps came and took the virgin pine. Later hardwoods such as White Oak were cut to fill the demand of local sawmills. In winter, the camps cut timber and skidded it to the river landings. By spring, the high water caused by snow melt runoff made the rivers run swift and wide. This was the time for the 'river pigs' to float the booms of logs down river to the sawmills. The work was hard, the hours long, but it was the food that attracted the best men for the job.

Aitkin developed as a lumbering boom town and a riverboat transportation center in the 1870s. Riverboats carried men and supplies to pinery camps along the Mississippi river. Soon sawmills and the wood-related industries followed to capitalize on the yield of the logging operations. The young town of Aitkin was a magnet for lumberjacks fresh from the woods with a paycheck in their pocket. At one time, Aitkin had no less than 16 saloons. The local sheriff often had his hands full shutting down the sporting houses that popped up in tents outside the city limits each spring. Brawls, knifings, shootings were sometimes the fare when "the boys" made their annual trip to town.

A Life Of Danger and Adventure

Able men without work, fugitives from the law and career lumberjacks alike all flocked to the northwoods each winter to earn a living. The work was often backbreaking, the hours long, and the risk of injury-or even death was high.

The typical lumberjack risked his life everytime he went out in the morning to work. Falling trees during the cutting process were uncommon risks, but more dangerous were the top-loaders and men who stacked cut timber. It was a rolling log from the pile that killed or crippled more often than a falling tree. 'River pigs' led a risky life as well. Their job in the spring was to float the logs down river to the sawmills. They worked in soaked conditions, in icy-cold water and ran the risk of drowning, or being crushed by the force of logs slamming against them if they fell in the water. Each cutting season the local newspaper would tell grim stories of another death, injury or drowning in the winter camps, or on the river in spring.

Aside from the danger, the call of adventure was often too much for a young man to resist. The life provided isolation from the troubles of the world, put hot food on the table, and provided a care-free summer of lesiure for some who lived off their winter's wages and later returned to camp each fall penniless to begin the cycle once more.

A Refuge From The Law

One of the most wanted fugitives in Minnesota history, John Sorenberger, avoided the law by hiding in pinery camps in this area. At one camp, Sorenberger was encountered by a "sky pilot" (circuit preacher) who could sense the man carried a heavy burden. When the sky pilot offered to console him spiritually, Sorenberger broke down and confessed his deeds. He swore he wanted to turn his life around and offered to give himself up to take his punishment.

The preacher saw a remarkable transformation take place in Sorenberger. The preacher knew the governor of Minnesota personally and asked him to take a chance and pardon this seemingly reformed man. The change of character was so remarkable that the governor conceded, and nearly was impeached from office as a result of public outcry. The former lawbreaker never did let the governor down. As it happened, Sorenberger himself became a 'sky pilot,' ministering to camps all over the northwoods for the remainder of his life.

The Cooking Made All The Difference

The bull cook was often the most feared and respected man in camp. Camps hired the very best cooks they could find. Good food brought good men into a camp. Dining etiquette was strictly enforced. No talking in the dining hall--eat and get out! Everyone ate at the same time--stragglers lost out on the meal. Breakfast at the dining hall in the morning, lunch served in the woods at noon, and a hot meal in the dining hall again in the evening. The men amused themselves with games and stories in the bunkhouse at night, hung their soaked clothes near the stove to dry, and turned in early. Morning comes very early in a pinery camp.