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Nature Link

With Blake Mann

Timber Trivia

Tuesday, November 19, 2002

Chatham-Kent, and southern Lambton County are known today for intense agriculture. Before settlement, there were large tracts of dense forest, oak savannah, as well as prairie in the Lake St. Clair/Walpole Island region. This area was once known for its prized timber. Large oak and walnut trees once grew in abundance. Only a few small fragments of large forest still remain such as Walpole Island, Rondeau Park, and Clear Creek Forest. None of these really resemble the virgin forest that once graced the land.
In the 1800's, Wallaceburg was especially known for lumbering. It was only natural with all of the prized timber that was available. Leafing through old history books, the wealth of available timber originally in this area, is realized.
For example, the well-known local entrepreneur, Captain James W. Steinhoff, was involved with hauling one of the largest stocks of timber ever. Sometime in the 1850's, four head of horses in front of 17 yoke of oxen were used to haul a white oak log with dimensions of 7'x72' within 1 1/2 miles of Wallaceburg. After squaring, this immense piece of timber made a "stick" 4'x42'x52' !
In the summer of 1980, timber was raised from the wreck of the barque New Brunswick in Lake Erie not far from Erieau. It sank in a storm in 1858, while hauling a cargo of black walnut and white oak from the Wallaceburg area, destined for Montreal. About 16 walnut timbers up to 52' long and 18' square were aboard this vessel. After 122 years under water, these immense timbers were as good as the day they were loaded! In fact they were better, because they were aged and hardened. These would have fetched a large sum of money on the market, because these were "old growth". It was estimated these timbers were in the region of 600 years old. Imagine trying to count the tightly-packed growth rings in these logs!
It was common for sailing vessels to venture into Wallaceburg to load for distant ports. Some were even towed up to Wilkesport, or Dresden. It is hard to believe since the Sydenham is now clogged with silt and debris.
These two examples give us an idea as to the size of trees found in this area. There are still some champion trees found in the county, but none of the calibre seen 150 years ago.
The accompanying photo was taken in Clear Creek Forest showing a large White Ash tree. Clear Creek, as mentioned in previous articles, has some "old-growth" trees.
The other photo shows the schooner Katahdin loading lumber on Sydenham River north branch about 1895 near Park Street.