Jackson Brothers Logging...From the Sechelt online Archives and Peter Jackson Collection
Burns and Jackson Logging, hauling a 180 ft spar tree with a 29 inch top....in the 50's
My dad worked for Jackson Bros logging on and off, as a faller for many years. When we lived on Davis Bay Road, that was Jackson's logging road. All the kids knew to stay away from the small hill just outside our house when a loaded logging truck could be heard rumbling towards us. One fine day, when an empty truck went zooming up the hill, it hit a pothole and the trailer jumped off the back of the truck. The loose trailer rolled through the ditch and right through our fence, just feet away from where I was playing on the lawn. Link to other logging related posts are here... http://adventuresinmikeslife.blogspot.ca/2012/07/lost-treasure-trove-of-abandoned.html
When we moved to a new Davis Bay house, the majority owner of Jackson Bros, Mike Jackson lived a few doors down on Whitaker road. One of my first paying jobs outside of doing dishes at home and mowing my parents lawn, was mowing the lawn at Mr. Jackson's property.
I was 12 years old and had big dreams of the payday that a guy would get for working for a millionaire. Mr. Jackson was a very fussy kind of man, and demanded all kinds of trimming and detail work for his dollars. I was just a little peeved when after all that screwing around, he didn't pay me right away. A couple days later my parents got a phone call from Mr Jackson, saying that I could come and get my money now. So away I went, not more than half a block on a nice summer day to collect my dough.
Instead of a fist full of cash, I received an envelope. Inside the envelope was a cheque from Jackson Brothers Logging ....for two dollars. Two...not twenty, not twelve....but two dot zero zero dollars.
A few years later, I got a summer job at Jackson's as the welder/mechanics helper
( gopher and floor-sweeper ) This where I worked with Floyd Wilson ( Davis Bay neighbor, and awesome all round guy )...and Al Hemstreet, Awesome welder/fabricator.
These photos are from the Sechelt archives...mostly from the Pete Jackson collection....two are from the Carolyn Keeley collection.
That needs a quick Pete story...
When we lived in the Whitaker road house, Pete would always be at Floyd's visiting. When Pete left to go home, he drove past our house and without fail would blow yarder signals on his car horn. At the time I thought it was the corniest thing in the world. Now I think I would pay someone to do that once once a while. Pete is one of the last of the old guard still standing from those days depicted in the photos that you will see soon.
When Apple or Microsoft brings out a time machine one day in the future, my first trip... is going back to the 60's and 70's, to talk to the all the loggers that were in my world, when I was a kid.
photos in this installment come from the Pete Jackson Collection and the Sechelt Online Archives
Jackson Bros Cat and arch, skidding logs from the experimental thinning operation on the tree farm
In the mid-fifties, showing off the tree thinning operation
Log dump at Roberts Creek, which is now...ground zero for the enviro/green movement on the Coast
Log sort at Wilson Creek. When I was a kid, I could hear the outboard powered work boats pushing logs around at night ...working with the tides to make their job easier. There is a condo development there now.
Wilson Creek log dump in the 50's
Jackson Bros sawmill in Wilson Creek, beside the highway
Wilson Creek log dump
Logging at McNab Creek in the 20's ( past Port Mellon ) with a steam train and steam yarder
Aerial view of the Wilson Creek log sort back in the day
Pete Jackson, Mike Jackson and Al Jackson. I grew up with Al's kids in the neighborhood, Steve and Dean.
Jackson's crew and trucks in the 50's. That truck on the left used to haul logs past our house on Davis Bay road. That's the one that dropped it's trailer.
Al Jackson with the little D-4 cat that is in the photo of the Cat and arch set-up
Loading logs "old school"...notice the lack of hard hats
Mike Jackson on the Cat...in the 50's
Off Highway logging truck in 2005
Jackson's built "cherry-picker"...approx 1950
Logging truck accident
Jackson Bros road building equipment at the Gray Creek yard
Experimenting with using hydraulic jacks to fall trees ( to get them to go in the right direction ) The photo doesn't say so, but I gotta think that the faller is Art Wayment
Loading up an off-highway truck
Early version of a log skidder
Setting up a slack-line machine
Very old logging truck...likely had hard tires ( no air in them )
Pete's son Scott, ran this machine down at Twin Creeks for years, to pull logs out of the water
The truck driver, supervising the loading of the logging truck
Sechelt MayDay Parade in the 50's
Awesome photo of a "Donkey" sleigh.. getting hauled across what is now Highway 101... the IGA mall in Wilson Creek is there now. This is looking Southeast, towards what would be McCollough Rd. It looks like the area in behind was cleared then....as it is fully treed and green now.
Jackson Bros truck mounted yarder
Link to a page with fantastic logging stories, songs and poems ( you really don't want to miss this! )
Just awesome history Mike! Thanks a million for sharing this with us- as you well know by now there are many of us out here who can't get enough timber history!
Thanks for the comment. The content of course comes from other sources. I want to make that clear. I'll try to rustle up some more content from the locals who might have photographs stashed away, and get them digitized.
Makes me wish that I was paying more attention to all this stuff when it was happening....never occurred to me at the time that logging was photo worthy.
Awesome read. My father and myself are very close to Pete and his family. I remember being a kid and Pete showing me his photo albums, and Scotty taking me for rides in his madill loader. Love the timber history. Thanks from the newtons, Dave and james.
Hi Mike. I did some timber cruising and engineering work on the claim from the mid 70's until around 1990 when Interfor bought the cut. I learned a lot from Mike, Pete, Art, and Al Hempstreet. It was the last of an era. Thank you for documenting. I have some pictures of Art falling with the jack, when he was clearing the property at Wilson Creek for Mike's new house. Chris Ortner
Hi Chris, Mike Jackson ( Mr Jackson to me ) was a pretty interesting guy...way ahead of his time on environmental issues around logging. He also worked really hard to keep the crew fully employed as much as possible. I remember him sending operators back up the hill to re-park machines on the level...so that they could be properly pre-tripped in the morning.
I'm still a little pissy about getting a Jackson Bros cheque for two dollars a week after I did his lawn though...45 years ago. :)
Just awesome history Mike! Thanks a million for sharing this with us- as you well know by now there are many of us out here who can't get enough timber history!
ReplyDeleteEric C./The Rusty Grapple
Thanks for the comment. The content of course comes from other sources. I want to make that clear. I'll try to rustle up some more content from the locals who might have photographs stashed away, and get them digitized.
ReplyDeleteMakes me wish that I was paying more attention to all this stuff when it was happening....never occurred to me at the time that logging was photo worthy.
Awesome read. My father and myself are very close to Pete and his family. I remember being a kid and Pete showing me his photo albums, and Scotty taking me for rides in his madill loader. Love the timber history.
ReplyDeleteThanks from the newtons, Dave and james.
lots of great history
ReplyDeleteBrad Butler
Hi Mike. I did some timber cruising and engineering work on the claim from the mid 70's until around 1990 when Interfor bought the cut. I learned a lot from Mike, Pete, Art, and Al Hempstreet. It was the last of an era. Thank you for documenting. I have some pictures of Art falling with the jack, when he was clearing the property at Wilson Creek for Mike's new house.
ReplyDeleteChris Ortner
My grandfather was mike jackson, im very proud to find this blog. Thank you
ReplyDeleteHi Chris, Mike Jackson ( Mr Jackson to me ) was a pretty interesting guy...way ahead of his time on environmental issues around logging. He also worked really hard to keep the crew fully employed as much as possible.
DeleteI remember him sending operators back up the hill to re-park machines on the level...so that they could be properly pre-tripped in the morning.
I'm still a little pissy about getting a Jackson Bros cheque for two dollars a week after I did his lawn though...45 years ago. :)