Minnesota Digital Library

Interview with Fred E. Cyr, Beltrami County Historical Society Oral History Collection, Bemidji, Minnesota

Interview with Fred E. Cyr, Beltrami County Historical Society Oral History Collection, Bemidji, Minnesota
Fred Cyr discusses biographical information; memories of logging drives on the Clearwater River when he was a child; how logging drives worked; his experience toting supplies for J.C. Parker; what wanigans were like; how logs were sorted; and the role of the swamper. The recording continues with Cyr's experience in logging industry; when Cyr's father came to Red Lake Falls; locations of high and low water on the Clearwater River; his experience in a logging camp in winter; how lumberjacks dealt with lice; delays at a sorting gap; his experience with Native American loggers; logging near Cass Lake; and whether logs were transported on the Mississippi River. In the final portion of the recording, Cyr discusses logging at Portage Lake near Bena; how logs were hoisted onto trains near Cass Lake; getting injured as a lumberjack; driving on the river, possibly Clearwater; knowledge of J. C. Parker; how lumberjacks ate; the contents of some unidentified photographs; and fishing on the Battle River. This record contains parts of multiple interviews. Please refer to the transcripts for help understanding these.
1952-06-27
English
BCHS37a
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