Thanks for the video. My great grandfather was one of the lumber barons in Manistee. Two generations later the money was gone from our side of the family and my dad worked for the civilian conservation corps planting trees in Michigan. How ironic. What grew back on these lands was not the same as the majestic old growth white pines that were logged off.
The lumber barons will return as fossil fuels decline and humans seek out new energy sources. We just had a wood stove installed as other fuel sources are too expensive.
@@paul1862it's all too funny that the biggest uranium mine is under a sense forest. Well, I guess the forest has to go. If humans want to survive the next 300y .
Hey Alexis, I Grew up in Flint , Michigan . I love you point of view on the total decimation of our old growth forest that are irreplaceable. You have a wonderful attitude, you work hard at your channel, and provide a positive insite . Michigan is great and it should be recognized. Thanks!
Awesome video! I did a year long research project for my undergrad on this and I loved to see someone talk about it! An interesting consequence from the lumber industry is when the logging boom eneded, a lot of towns in Northern Michigan that were built on clearing timber were suddenly out of their main source of income. Many small communties across the state were abandoned. With the recent increase in travel speed via railroad, tourism became a new viable way for towns to survive. The more logging companies moved on, the more you see pamplets and flyers advertising Northern Michigan as a pristine wilderness and tourist hotspot. I find it somewhat ironic that people associate the UP and northern lower penninsula with wilderness when the very reason theres a tourist industry at all is because the people there ran out of trees to cut.
Whoa, cool! What an interesting undergrad project. Also, you make such an interesting observation here! I hadn't quite thought about it that way, but that's a fascinating point.
This was not special to Michigan. Wisconsin and Minnesota experienced the same thing. I logged for years in Minnesota. Pulp wood that grew very quickly, and select cutting hardwood. They really are a crop and benefit from responsible management. And in most places, those 3 states are again very much covered in lush forests.
I live in western PA and almost every single state park/forest has a sign that talks about how none of the trees are older than ~100 years because the lumber industry also razed most of our state. After they moved on, the state bought back huge pieces of land at bargain basement prices and eventually turned them into protected areas.
Alexis, great story! As a devout resource lover, I view the logging of Michigan as a tragedy. However, I am from Hastings, and it was part of a furniture production center that included Ionia and Grand Rapids. Much of the old furniture you see around Michigan, from the 1880's to the 1940's were made in the factories from these cities. The wood came from the clear-cutting of the state. I have watched many of your videos, and plan to watch them all. I also plan to visit your neck of the woods in the future.
My favorite preserve was Hartwick Pines. Grew up here too. Used to work at Methodist Archives for Western Michigan- the Bishop's reports noted the damage logging did to Michigan. Wisconsin followed shortly. Besides auto, the furniture industry in Grand Rapids was created from this too.
People concerned about clear-cutting in the Amazon can use Michigan as a good historical learning example of what not to do. Even today, trying to get people to take seriously leaving sections of forest untouched, or re-establishing forest on abandoned farmland, is hard to do. I think some of it is that people simply don't realize that Michigan is still a forest biome, despite all the clear-cut farmland and suburbs as far as the eye can see - at least, in SE Michigan.
Can somewhat relate. I live across from the original city park. Was donated by the farmer who originally owned it. For nearly 50 years I have lived here, since getting out of the service. My kids played soccer there, swam in the pool, played baseball and went down the slides. But it started about two months ago cutting down 85-90 years old Oak & other trees. None of which were dying. People come just to sit under the trees and also to watch events. But this summer when it gets to 100* there will be about 40% fewer trees. Seems I heard trees were good for climate control, but Clear Cutting, like your lumber barren did, is still not understood by the younger generation here! Totally disappointed at the city!!!! It's not like they grow that big overnight.
You might want to investigate California's attitude on cutting trees. I understand that it routinely takes two years after you file a request to cut a tree in your back yard, before the permit is acted on. EPA,etc needs to get involved. I understand they lose thousands of acres of trees annually due to fires, supposedly due to mismanagement and lightning strikes. Ironically.
Great video Alexis! I loved it. I'm a Metro Detroiter myself (Taylor specifically) and predictably I'm a UAW Autoworker for Ford Motor Company. Third generation in fact, so all of this history played a huge factor in my life. I also wanted to say my Dad's family has some acreage in Newberry and while I haven't confirmed it, I was told the property was once owned by Henry Ford with intent to use the lumber for vehicle production. And in one last tangent, I'm new to the channel and haven't seen everything but a place that nay be worth covering the history of is Ford's Iron Mountain Plant which I believe was in Kingsford, MI in the UP. It operated from 1920 to 1951 and produced wooden station wagon bodies until in 1952 where Ford wagons recieved "simulated wood"/plastic body moldings. Anyway, excellent video and keep up the great work!
Henry Ford used the wood scraps from the car bodies to make charcoal. I understand that some of the car sales included a charcoal grill and a bag of Kingsford Charcoal. The charcoal plant is still producing the blue bagged product under different ownership.
A nice video about michigan forests before European migration. One aspect of forest harvesting that was absent from your video was Ford motor company's harvesting hardwood trees from Michigan's Upper Peninsula to build the car bodies of the early Ford automobiles. Research and a video about this activity would be very interesting and informative ❤😂.
My dad worked for Fisher Body (a division of GM) and I worked at the Utica Ford plant while I attended Oakland University in Rochester, so we benefited generations later from the logging, too! Thanks for your Michigan focused YT's.
Kingsford charcoal is also another indirect benefit because it came from the excess scrap wood used in Model T's. They even sold it as Ford briquettes at the time before it eventually became Kingsford. Heck, while the city no longer is used for producing wood parts for Ford vehicles, the city itself still stands to this day and didn't succumb to becoming a ghost town when the logging moved on.
@@randalosgood Correct to a point. It was originally known as Ford Charcoal Briquettes and it was due to Henry Ford looking at all the small pieces of wood as waste of money so they would take the scrap wood and sawdust and turn them into the briquettes. Edward Kingsford comes into the picture after Thomas Edison designed the building that would make the briquettes. Edward's wife Mary was a cousin of Henry Ford so when it was decided who would run the plant, that's who they chose.
I enjoyed this so much! We live in Flat Rock. Right across the road is a shady, hilly cemetery and we always say I'll bet that's what this area looked like before we destroyed it, bulldozed it flat. I have heard that a few cemeteries are that way.
The last of Ford forest is for sale in the big bay area. I have asked the governor to consider buying them. More people should email and request. It's on the east and west side of Huron mountain club. She was interested in the idea of making it a park.
Indirectly related, the Dodge brothers (of Dodge Motor Company) thought of as peasants to Ford et.all. They purchased a large parcel of land in Oakland County Michigan to build a golf course on because they weren't allowed to patronize with the elites at the country clubs in Detroit. Both brothers died of the Spanish Flu. Matilda Dodge a widow to one of the men, then married a lumbar baron Alfred Wilson who built Meadow Brook Hall. 1500 acres of the land which was donated to Michigan State University-Oakland. In the 1970's it became simply Oakland University. The golf course, estate, and grounds are all still preserved.
Great video! And I've always heard of the problems with the fires caused by logging. One of the most famous in the thumb north of me was the 1881 fire near Brown city. Been to the Oscoda area many times (and again this June!) to see Lumberman's Monument and the sand dunes left over from the logs being delivered to the river. So much history in Michigan that people still aren't aware of!
Thanks so much! I learned a little about the '81 fire specifically while researching this, and goodness, it was wild. It's true, though! I keep being surprised at how much I don't know about the history of the place I've lived my whole life.
Absolutely! That Thumb fire was huge! There was also the great fires that spread around michigan in 1871. The same winds that fanned the great Chicago fires swept through Michigan. Especially the east side of the State from Alpena all the way south. For instance if one treks through the fields in Gladwin County there are still burnt stumps underneath the overgrowth from those era's.
My husband and I watched the Pine Barrens change from justi but stumps qnd sterilized soil to lichen and reindeer moss. Then weedy trees, Jack pines and alderberry. Then, after about 3p years, someone planted white pines. You can't really tl there was a huge fire there now. But, it was interesting to watch the recovery.
Ford Center and Forest in Alberta, MI was where all of the lumber used in the interior of the Ford's Model Ts came from. It was transported via rail car to L'Anse area for shipment to Detroit.
An interesting side note that many people don't know, indeed! In 1910 my Granma was a school teacher and she bought one of the first lots of Model T's to come off the line. She had been saving specifically for one after Ford announced that they would be available some months before production commenced.
Good work! You're probably into this already, but if not check out the history of Alberta and Pequaming near L'Anse. Both part of Ford's use of wood products.
Another great presentation! Thanks for bringing the little known and largely forgotten history of logging in Michigan. Nice touch linking logging to the auto industry. Ever looked into Ford's logging and Wood processing operations near Baraga? He was looking for a chemical way to power a car based on wood scrap.
I got within a mile or so of Estivant near Copper Harbor but no go. So interesting to actually see those trees. There’s a spot in the Pictured Rocks park where they basically dumped the logs off the cliffs of a sand dune into Lake Superior. Crazy. I’ve seen a few of your videos. Pretty interesting especially since I was in that area last summer.
My maternal grandmother's brother was a logger here in MI in the early 20th century. Nearly my entire family works, or has worked for General Motors in the Flint area for 3 generations. My dad, his dad, and 2 of my brothers worked for Fisher Body, which started out making carriages out of, you guessed it, wood.
Thank you for all of your hard work and sound reasoning when it comes to benefit vs detriment and you are right that we can't change the past but we can change the future if we start in the present. Thanks again.
The Michigan History Center in Lansing has some of the equipment that was used to conduct logging, as well as a wealth of information on the past of michigan. Pretty interesting to spend a day there.
Yes this is a sad story, most of the US was clear cut (by hand too). I’ve been to the UP many times to visit my son in Calumet so I’ve seen a lot of the industrial past that’s there. It’s has turned into a beautiful place though, incredible shore line too.
Aggree can't dwell on the past but must learn from it. When I first learned about this decades ago it felt as if someone cut off my arms before I was born. I am a carpenter and auto mechanic so I definitely benefit from it lol I believe that we can sustainably log and build cars just not over night. Thanks for your videos!!!
I live in Oxford, Michigan and we had three rail lines going through our little town at one time. One of which (Pontiac, Oxford and Northern) was built to take advantage of the lumber in the thumb. It started in Pontiac and turned toward Oxford to access the gravel since Oxford was known as the gravel capital of the world at the time. Past Oxford it curved toward the center of the thumb and was supposed to end in Port Austin at the Northern tip of the thumb. However, before it was finished, giant fires decimated the lumber industry in the thumb. So, the line was turned toward Caseville instead and it never reached the potential it was intended for.
I'm sure you've heard about the redwood forests in California (or the redwood forests that used to be) these forests are (were) amazing! These trees were massive until they were clear cut leaving massive stumps. The town I live in, at least the "older" part of town, the downtown area in Santa Rosa ca,most of the homes and older buildings are built from redwood from the local forests. And still standing because termites don't like redwood. There's a lot of history about the redwood forests in the area I live in, and there's only a few old growth redwoods left that are alive in Cali and the whereabouts is secret due to preservation reasons but they're huge and beautiful and it's really sad thinking about what it would be like if these gigantic trees were still around, life would be different somehow. Who knows. But there's videos on UA-cam about the redwood logging industry you might wanna check out if you've got time. I'm very interested in the history of the logging industry, not because I'm a fan of logging but the techniques used and what the loggers went through. It's really sad that the forests we're destroyed, but the lessons in history and info on what life was like back then is interesting.
I like your view point and ability to look deeper then just the logging. The world is complicated and we continually grow as a nation. I hope we can continue to look at an experiment with a more renewable way of life. As a person in the automotive industry, I try to keep an open mind.
I think of stuff like this a lot. I worked in Detroit and sometimes look at the rocks laying around, which are normal rocks you would see in our woods. The eco system of down river is vary dead. Only little fragments left of a MI non of us have ever seen. I wish we where kinder to our lakes, and forests.
Great video as usual! We’ve been to Estivant pines many times in our trips to Houghton ,it’s a gorgeous area that everyone should see. Looking forward to your next video!
Kind of a misleading title but overall a good video. I worked for a summer at the Hartwick Pines Logging Museum as a guide, so I could definitely say the logging era benefitted me.😀 Some info that may or may not be of interest to you and other commenters: The Green Gold rush in Michigan made more money than the 1849 CA gold rush. When the white pine forests of MI were first explored. It was estimated that it would take 500 years to log all of it. However, due to technology advances like the two man saw, short gauge rail and the logging wheels developed by Silas Overpack in 1875, it only took around 50 years. Michigan lumber was vital to the rebuilding of Chicago after the Great Fire of 1871. One of the comments here asked how far our MI lumber was sold. Some made it as far as Great Britain but was mainly used locally and back east. The situation you mentioned about not respecting property lines was referred to as "cutting a round 40". The camps usually worked 40 acre plots so the less scrupulous loggers would cut in and around the 40 acre boundaries. The fires you mentioned were possible because the loggers were only interested in the tree trunks. Anything else was abandoned on site to dry out and become a hazard. People did try to farm the logged over areas, but in a lot of areas the soils were not suitable for crops and were thus left to revert back to forest. This was especially true the farther north you went.
If you enjoy your back yard BBQ grill you can thank Ford and the lumber industry. Henry was a strong proponent of the “reduce reuse recycle” theory and he took the waste from his lumber mill and invented the charcoal briquette as a fuel source for his many camping trips. Edward Kingsford was his real estate agent and was married to Ford’s cousin, he help acquire the UP property that Ford needed for the cars. When Ford set up the charcoal plant next to the lumber mill he let Kingsford run it. When a group of investors bought the charcoal company they changed the name from Ford Charcoal to Kingsford Charcoal to pay homage to the heritage of the company.
If you ever go outside of Michigan to do stories... I highly recommend that you do a little research on the Lost Forty in MN. Very cool story about what happens when you miss clear cutting 40 acres of land
At 6.28, in a way Henry Ford benefited from two forests, the Michigan forests of the 1800s and the way older carboniferous forests through the link with coal. (Bit late to the party, but I've only just discovered your fascinating channel. Keep up the great work! 👍)
Ford has a mansion on the shore of Lake superior near Skane and also the Alberta lumber mill now owned by Michigan tech. I'd love to see a video on that.
Thanks for the suggestion! I'm happy to add it to my list. 🙂 I've driven past that place on my trips in and out of the Keweenaw and definitely have questions about it!
The UP has been log four times over. Trees on public land are a crop and managed correctly by the Michigan DNR. So, cutting down a tree is not a bad thing as many liberals will tell you. It is a good thing.
I'm a Yooper. Our family has had land the abuts "The Ford Farm Field" the FoMoCo once owned. There were plots of land once held by my Great Grandmother, who turned them over to the City (though not in the city limits) under the condition they never be logged or cut down. She did this because the highway to Marquette was changed and as the original road bisected the plot, the new curve ate the northeast corner as the Right-of-way was widened and made a greater radius to allow higher speed travel and greater safety, drainage, snow clearing room, etc. I grew up playing in those woods, particularly climbing a huge White Pine, that was 4 or possibly 5 feet in diameter at the hugging height but had branches that low. Great Gran passed before I was born (I'm 56) but I'm sure she's spinning in her grave as10 or so years ago, somehow the City decided to forgo the agreement, clear cut the whole plot, and leveled it and there is a garage on the Northern portion for some reason. They've done some legal dance and got some rulings to allow it to be done, and a lawyer fighting it was unable to stop it. I get quite angry every time I drive past my old house, now exposed to the North Winds. There really is no reason to have done it. It is now a grass field with just that box of a garage on it.
Would love to go on a hike with y'all and explore some of the Yoop with y'all. The clearcutting of this state and learning about what the land used to be like are what tie me to this land and I just want to keep learning.
Nice vidja, young lady, A similar logging senario took place here in Wisconsin around the same time. Some of the white pine lumber stayed in the state to build cities and towns, but alot went down the Mississippi River and then west to build prarie towns. I am a "Modern Day Logger" who has been taught, thru older generations, to selectively log and promote sustainable forestry to pass on to future generations, Amen.
It's not in Michigan but are you aware of the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin? I always find it incredible how despite bordering a national forest their woodlands are so much more robust you can clearly tell the difference from space, their conservation of the northern hardwood forests which make up their lands is amazing considering it was significantly impacted by outside logging during their period of termination and continues to be harvested as their most valuable natural resource.
Reminds me of Hartwick Pines, N. of Grayling, before the biggest trees were topped by lightning, and Dewitt, Michigan ghost town NW of Grayling(you won't believe the stumps still visible).
Humans have altered the environment to fit their needs since time immemorial. The great cities of Europe were also wild at one point. Roman colonization and subsequent urban development profoundly impacted the European landscape. This is also true in parts of Asia, Africa, and pre-Columbian Americas.😢 Americans suffer from a myopic perspective of the past where they think what happened here is somehow unique in history and it just isn’t.
Michigan was known as the Great Swamp. It was one of the last states to be settled,in the continental US, due to the trees, swamps, marsh & water levels. Clearing the forests allowed for draining of the land ,which lead to farming & opening up the state for settlement. Other unknown facts..Michigan white pine rebuilt Chicago after the famous fire. When my brother was in the army, stationed in Kansas, he visited a prairie museum. The guide was talking of settlement, western forts,etc. This guide made the remark that most of the wood required for the forts, commissioned by the military, was delivered by Michigan( white pine). Also, when I lived in the UP we had a hugh pine near us whose base was way larger than those featured here. It took 3-5 men to circle it!! Don't forget the start of the American Red Cross disaster relief with the forest fires of the " Thumb" region. Henry Ford & his wood factories in the UP producing the wood for car bodies!! So much Michigan/ wood history.
One other thing: clear-cutting patches of forest is necessary today. It makes what is called 'early successional' growth. Expanses of old forest are pretty empty places. I've been in them: dead leaves and bark with a canopy WAY up there. Not much to eat. NO places to live or hide. Not many animals or different types. As the Ruffed Grouse Society says: "Little trees need hugs too"
The role of lumber in America's boom times gets underplayed. I learned a LOT from a youtube documentary on the role of lumber on the origins of Maine and the White Pine. I mean, battles were fought over quality lumber. What else to build the ships of the day with? Like oil today.
How did you miss the large tracts of Michigan that Ford, Dodge (and others) purchased for making wooden parts for cars? Pequaming (near L'Ance) was one of those places.
It was mainly a matter of scope! There are always more details I could include that would make a video longer or take it into different/more in-depth territory. I decided to keep things on the broader side for this video, so mainly focused on the relationship between logging and auto industry funding, instead of going into a complete, detailed history there. 🙂
Oh, bummer! It looks like they might've moved the page since I used that link as a reference. According to my notes, I mainly used that document for early Michigan logging history. (In my scripts, I keep all of the relevant quotes from the sources I use.) I wasn't able to find that document online anywhere else, but I've updated the video description with a Wayback Machine link that shows the webpage as it was when I used it.
The ford motor company held large tracts of land in upper Michigan to supply wood for parts for their early cars. Yes, most of early automobiles were framed with wood. Henry didn’t just get funding from lumber barons, he was a lumber baron… in a way.
Check out Matt Cremona in Minnesota and lumber capital log yard in Pennsylvania. The forest we have east of the Mississippi is important to the planet. Just like the great lakes. Love one another we all love trees 🌳
Another great Michigan video.... Very interesting. Even though it's not Michigan, Should do a video on lithium batteries and what they do to the earth just to get enough material for a cell phone. Let alone a car....
Those from Michigan who fought in the civil war were in many cases paid with 40 acres of land. It's worth noting however that the going rate at that time was about $1 an acre!
Old growth forest of eastern white pines at Hartwick Pines State Park in Grayling. I read somewhere after the Chicago fire of 1879 vast forests of Michigan rebuilt all of Chicago.
Two things. One, many of the early automobiles had components made of wood, which is one of the reasons that Fisher Body was brought into General Motors. They had been carriage builder, and brought their skills to build wooden car body parts. Two, forest grow back. I can still remember how upset and sad I was when a part of the Pigeon River Country was logged off back in the late 1960's. But, a few years later, there was more wildlife in that area than there ever had been before. Then just a few years ago, it was logged again. Yes, I was sad again to see that. But not I know, that very little wildlife lives in old growth forests, and that same area will be a forest again for future generations to enjoy.
This is the story of Gibbs city and in the end all the buildings where still standing when the US forest services took ownership of the town they removed the remaining people and one night they set fire to the whole town. Gibbs city was set up as a saw mill today you can still find some cement foundations and fire hydrants. On my property I have one white pine that is 3-4 feet across and is my pride and joy
I'm REALLY curious to find out about an old story of how smart / controlling / devious Henry Ford was in a story I heard, IIRC, as part of an old engineering / packaging textbook my father had from the 50's. Story went that once Henry Ford became well established, he made VERY detailed demands of his parts suppliers, being notorious for micromanaging the materials, the casting process, AND eventually, specifying the types and dimension of the packing crates which parts were sent in- as in specifying shipments be made in boxes of twenty 1"x4"x48" boards per box, affixed with screws, not nails, and being of a specific grade of wood without knots... This wasn't obsessive compulsive, it was frugal genius- BECAUSE Henry Ford had just directed his parts suppliers to send him wooden crates with boards that were cut JUST RIGHT to be taken and used as wooden floorboards for the Model T / Model A...
Praise the Lord that a handful of people were forward thinking enough to set aside a few museum pieces like Hartwick and Estivant Pines and Interlochen State Park. There are several other old growth forests that can be found by driving only a few hundred miles. Lumber Barons: Scourge to all future generations (admittedly just one man’s opinion)
Good presentation, you did cover both sides. Yes, I feel the same way when lumber men were cutting down redwoods that were 3200 years old. Did they not see that tree for what it was? Lets concentrate on plastic pollution, turning that waste into 2x4s, Eh!
Think I will go hug a tree, dad worked for Hydramatic and grandpa Cadillac you forgot the charcoal industry with the leftover wood from building Fords.
Thanks for the video. My great grandfather was one of the lumber barons in Manistee. Two generations later the money was gone from our side of the family and my dad worked for the civilian conservation corps planting trees in Michigan. How ironic. What grew back on these lands was not the same as the majestic old growth white pines that were logged off.
Whoa, that's fascinating. Thanks for sharing, James! That is a bit of beautiful irony. 🙂
The lumber barons will return as fossil fuels decline and humans seek out new energy sources. We just had a wood stove installed as other fuel sources are too expensive.
@@paul1862it's all too funny that the biggest uranium mine is under a sense forest. Well, I guess the forest has to go.
If humans want to survive the next 300y .
I logged for 20 years the forest is a garden and needs to be respected as such.Treated the right way the rewards will be great!
Hey Alexis, I Grew up in Flint , Michigan . I love you point of view on the total decimation of our old growth forest that are irreplaceable. You have a wonderful attitude, you work hard at your channel, and provide a positive insite . Michigan is great and it should be recognized. Thanks!
Awesome video! I did a year long research project for my undergrad on this and I loved to see someone talk about it! An interesting consequence from the lumber industry is when the logging boom eneded, a lot of towns in Northern Michigan that were built on clearing timber were suddenly out of their main source of income. Many small communties across the state were abandoned. With the recent increase in travel speed via railroad, tourism became a new viable way for towns to survive. The more logging companies moved on, the more you see pamplets and flyers advertising Northern Michigan as a pristine wilderness and tourist hotspot. I find it somewhat ironic that people associate the UP and northern lower penninsula with wilderness when the very reason theres a tourist industry at all is because the people there ran out of trees to cut.
Whoa, cool! What an interesting undergrad project. Also, you make such an interesting observation here! I hadn't quite thought about it that way, but that's a fascinating point.
This was not special to Michigan. Wisconsin and Minnesota experienced the same thing. I logged for years in Minnesota. Pulp wood that grew very quickly, and select cutting hardwood. They really are a crop and benefit from responsible management. And in most places, those 3 states are again very much covered in lush forests.
I live in western PA and almost every single state park/forest has a sign that talks about how none of the trees are older than ~100 years because the lumber industry also razed most of our state. After they moved on, the state bought back huge pieces of land at bargain basement prices and eventually turned them into protected areas.
Alexis, great story! As a devout resource lover, I view the logging of Michigan as a tragedy. However, I am from Hastings, and it was part of a furniture production center that included Ionia and Grand Rapids. Much of the old furniture you see around Michigan, from the 1880's to the 1940's were made in the factories from these cities. The wood came from the clear-cutting of the state. I have watched many of your videos, and plan to watch them all. I also plan to visit your neck of the woods in the future.
You’re a Yooper in your heart!
My favorite preserve was Hartwick Pines. Grew up here too. Used to work at Methodist Archives for Western Michigan- the Bishop's reports noted the damage logging did to Michigan. Wisconsin followed shortly. Besides auto, the furniture industry in Grand Rapids was created from this too.
Thank's what you do for us with Michigan roots.
People concerned about clear-cutting in the Amazon can use Michigan as a good historical learning example of what not to do. Even today, trying to get people to take seriously leaving sections of forest untouched, or re-establishing forest on abandoned farmland, is hard to do. I think some of it is that people simply don't realize that Michigan is still a forest biome, despite all the clear-cut farmland and suburbs as far as the eye can see - at least, in SE Michigan.
Can somewhat relate. I live across from the original city park. Was donated by the farmer who originally owned it. For nearly 50 years I have lived here, since getting out of the service. My kids played soccer there, swam in the pool, played baseball and went down the slides. But it started about two months ago cutting down 85-90 years old Oak & other trees. None of which were dying. People come just to sit under the trees and also to watch events. But this summer when it gets to 100* there will be about 40% fewer trees. Seems I heard trees were good for climate control, but Clear Cutting, like your lumber barren did, is still not understood by the younger generation here! Totally disappointed at the city!!!! It's not like they grow that big overnight.
You might want to investigate California's attitude on cutting trees. I understand that it routinely takes two years after you file a request to cut a tree in your back yard, before the permit is acted on. EPA,etc needs to get involved. I understand they lose thousands of acres of trees annually due to fires, supposedly due to mismanagement and lightning strikes. Ironically.
Great video Alexis! I loved it. I'm a Metro Detroiter myself (Taylor specifically) and predictably I'm a UAW Autoworker for Ford Motor Company. Third generation in fact, so all of this history played a huge factor in my life. I also wanted to say my Dad's family has some acreage in Newberry and while I haven't confirmed it, I was told the property was once owned by Henry Ford with intent to use the lumber for vehicle production.
And in one last tangent, I'm new to the channel and haven't seen everything but a place that nay be worth covering the history of is Ford's Iron Mountain Plant which I believe was in Kingsford, MI in the UP. It operated from 1920 to 1951 and produced wooden station wagon bodies until in 1952 where Ford wagons recieved "simulated wood"/plastic body moldings. Anyway, excellent video and keep up the great work!
Henry Ford used the wood scraps from the car bodies to make charcoal. I understand that some of the car sales included a charcoal grill and a bag of Kingsford Charcoal. The charcoal plant is still producing the blue bagged product under different ownership.
A nice video about michigan forests before European migration. One aspect of forest harvesting that was absent from your video was Ford motor company's harvesting hardwood trees from Michigan's Upper Peninsula to build the car bodies of the early Ford automobiles. Research and a video about this activity would be very interesting and informative ❤😂.
This lumber mostly went to chicago to be distributed throughout the country (and world) so this lumbers benefit reached far beyond michigan
Great video! I'd never realized just how much forest was clear-cut, and how quickly.
Thanks, Gabe! I appreciate that. And I hadn't realized that, either! It's one of the reasons I decided to look more into this story for a video.
My dad worked for Fisher Body (a division of GM) and I worked at the Utica Ford plant while I attended Oakland University in Rochester, so we benefited generations later from the logging, too!
Thanks for your Michigan focused YT's.
...lol....7:39...waving bye 👋 to the trees...did u know, you can hug- a- tree ??
Kingsford charcoal is also another indirect benefit because it came from the excess scrap wood used in Model T's. They even sold it as Ford briquettes at the time before it eventually became Kingsford. Heck, while the city no longer is used for producing wood parts for Ford vehicles, the city itself still stands to this day and didn't succumb to becoming a ghost town when the logging moved on.
Kingsford worked for Ford and came up with the idea on how to make use of the scrap wood from making cars(thinks wheel spokes).
@@randalosgood Correct to a point. It was originally known as Ford Charcoal Briquettes and it was due to Henry Ford looking at all the small pieces of wood as waste of money so they would take the scrap wood and sawdust and turn them into the briquettes. Edward Kingsford comes into the picture after Thomas Edison designed the building that would make the briquettes. Edward's wife Mary was a cousin of Henry Ford so when it was decided who would run the plant, that's who they chose.
I enjoyed this so much! We live in Flat Rock. Right across the road is a shady, hilly cemetery and we always say I'll bet that's what this area looked like before we destroyed it, bulldozed it flat. I have heard that a few cemeteries are that way.
Thanks, Lisa! Also, that totally makes sense. Having developed space can be great, but there are definitely trade-offs!
I live in southgate and this all used to be swampland I was told before it was a airport then a city
@@Michorida Hi neighbor! I’m in Southgate too. ✋🏼
The last of Ford forest is for sale in the big bay area. I have asked the governor to consider buying them. More people should email and request. It's on the east and west side of Huron mountain club. She was interested in the idea of making it a park.
Indirectly related, the Dodge brothers (of Dodge Motor Company) thought of as peasants to Ford et.all. They purchased a large parcel of land in Oakland County Michigan to build a golf course on because they weren't allowed to patronize with the elites at the country clubs in Detroit. Both brothers died of the Spanish Flu. Matilda Dodge a widow to one of the men, then married a lumbar baron Alfred Wilson who built Meadow Brook Hall. 1500 acres of the land which was donated to Michigan State University-Oakland. In the 1970's it became simply Oakland University. The golf course, estate, and grounds are all still preserved.
If not for the auto industry building WWII weapons, Would we have won the war ? Had to shed a positive light on the auto industry
I am a Michigander from Holland, now live in Mass, ,studied Forestry at U,M,, learning lots from you, keep on the great work, am sharing
Wonderful work! The best one of these I've seen (yet)!
Boy, she is a ball of fire. Just love the enthusiasm of her telling a story. She is a cutie to. Keep the videos coming, love them.
too* - & I'm sure she likes guys who can spell .
Great video! And I've always heard of the problems with the fires caused by logging. One of the most famous in the thumb north of me was the 1881 fire near Brown city. Been to the Oscoda area many times (and again this June!) to see Lumberman's Monument and the sand dunes left over from the logs being delivered to the river. So much history in Michigan that people still aren't aware of!
Thanks so much! I learned a little about the '81 fire specifically while researching this, and goodness, it was wild. It's true, though! I keep being surprised at how much I don't know about the history of the place I've lived my whole life.
Absolutely! That Thumb fire was huge! There was also the great fires that spread around michigan in 1871. The same winds that fanned the great Chicago fires swept through Michigan. Especially the east side of the State from Alpena all the way south. For instance if one treks through the fields in Gladwin County there are still burnt stumps underneath the overgrowth from those era's.
My husband and I watched the Pine Barrens change from justi but stumps qnd sterilized soil to lichen and reindeer moss. Then weedy trees, Jack pines and alderberry. Then, after about 3p years, someone planted white pines. You can't really tl there was a huge fire there now. But, it was interesting to watch the recovery.
Ford Center and Forest in Alberta, MI was where all of the lumber used in the interior of the Ford's Model Ts came from. It was transported via rail car to L'Anse area for shipment to Detroit.
An interesting side note that many people don't know, indeed! In 1910 my Granma was a school teacher and she bought one of the first lots of Model T's to come off the line. She had been saving specifically for one after Ford announced that they would be available some months before production commenced.
Good work! You're probably into this already, but if not check out the history of Alberta and Pequaming near L'Anse. Both part of Ford's use of wood products.
Thanks, Jim! And yes, definitely: I'd love to learn more there.
Another great presentation! Thanks for bringing the little known and largely forgotten history of logging in Michigan. Nice touch linking logging to the auto industry. Ever looked into Ford's logging and Wood processing operations near Baraga? He was looking for a chemical way to power a car based on wood scrap.
I got within a mile or so of Estivant near Copper Harbor but no go. So interesting to actually see those trees. There’s a spot in the Pictured Rocks park where they basically dumped the logs off the cliffs of a sand dune into Lake Superior. Crazy. I’ve seen a few of your videos. Pretty interesting especially since I was in that area last summer.
Yes the log slide in Grand Marais. It's massive in person.
Great video and EXCELLENT thoughts on both environmental impact and the automotive industry. Thank you!🙂
My maternal grandmother's brother was a logger here in MI in the early 20th century. Nearly my entire family works, or has worked for General Motors in the Flint area for 3 generations. My dad, his dad, and 2 of my brothers worked for Fisher Body, which started out making carriages out of, you guessed it, wood.
Thank you for all of your hard work and sound reasoning when it comes to benefit vs detriment and you are right that we can't change the past but we can change the future if we start in the present. Thanks again.
The Michigan History Center in Lansing has some of the equipment that was used to conduct logging, as well as a wealth of information on the past of michigan. Pretty interesting to spend a day there.
Yes this is a sad story, most of the US was clear cut (by hand too). I’ve been to the UP many times to visit my son in Calumet so I’ve seen a lot of the industrial past that’s there. It’s has turned into a beautiful place though, incredible shore line too.
Aggree can't dwell on the past but must learn from it. When I first learned about this decades ago it felt as if someone cut off my arms before I was born.
I am a carpenter and auto mechanic so I definitely benefit from it lol I believe that we can sustainably log and build cars just not over night. Thanks for your videos!!!
Wonderful, thoughtful video. Hopefully we can strike a good balance between development and forestation in the future.
Thanks, Rae! I appreciate that.
You can't keep a balance between two things when one destroys the other!! That's insane.
I live in Oxford, Michigan and we had three rail lines going through our little town at one time. One of which (Pontiac, Oxford and Northern) was built to take advantage of the lumber in the thumb. It started in Pontiac and turned toward Oxford to access the gravel since Oxford was known as the gravel capital of the world at the time. Past Oxford it curved toward the center of the thumb and was supposed to end in Port Austin at the Northern tip of the thumb. However, before it was finished, giant fires decimated the lumber industry in the thumb. So, the line was turned toward Caseville instead and it never reached the potential it was intended for.
You do a good job on your videos.
Thanks for posting.
Green is gold! Alexis is gold! Great video!
I'm sure you've heard about the redwood forests in California (or the redwood forests that used to be) these forests are (were) amazing! These trees were massive until they were clear cut leaving massive stumps. The town I live in, at least the "older" part of town, the downtown area in Santa Rosa ca,most of the homes and older buildings are built from redwood from the local forests. And still standing because termites don't like redwood. There's a lot of history about the redwood forests in the area I live in, and there's only a few old growth redwoods left that are alive in Cali and the whereabouts is secret due to preservation reasons but they're huge and beautiful and it's really sad thinking about what it would be like if these gigantic trees were still around, life would be different somehow. Who knows. But there's videos on UA-cam about the redwood logging industry you might wanna check out if you've got time. I'm very interested in the history of the logging industry, not because I'm a fan of logging but the techniques used and what the loggers went through. It's really sad that the forests we're destroyed, but the lessons in history and info on what life was like back then is interesting.
I visited Redwood State and National Park for spring break when I was studying Forestry at Colorado State. But I’m a Michigan native
I like how the video is about Detroit and the auto industry but your first B-roll shot is of downtown Grand Rapids 😂
Was just going to comment that
I like your view point and ability to look deeper then just the logging. The world is complicated and we continually grow as a nation.
I hope we can continue to look at an experiment with a more renewable way of life.
As a person in the automotive industry, I try to keep an open mind.
I think of stuff like this a lot. I worked in Detroit and sometimes look at the rocks laying around, which are normal rocks you would see in our woods. The eco system of down river is vary dead. Only little fragments left of a MI non of us have ever seen. I wish we where kinder to our lakes, and forests.
Girl....you are absolutely BRILLIANT!
Great video as usual! We’ve been to Estivant pines many times in our trips to Houghton ,it’s a gorgeous area that everyone should see. Looking forward to your next video!
@@placidodonatello4366 She truly rocks and has the BEST videos!
Thanks, both of you! You're too kind. 🙂
Kind of a misleading title but overall a good video.
I worked for a summer at the Hartwick Pines Logging Museum as a guide, so I could definitely say the logging era benefitted me.😀
Some info that may or may not be of interest to you and other commenters:
The Green Gold rush in Michigan made more money than the 1849 CA gold rush.
When the white pine forests of MI were first explored. It was estimated that it would take 500 years to log all of it. However, due to technology advances like the two man saw, short gauge rail and the logging wheels developed by Silas Overpack in 1875, it only took around 50 years.
Michigan lumber was vital to the rebuilding of Chicago after the Great Fire of 1871.
One of the comments here asked how far our MI lumber was sold. Some made it as far as Great Britain but was mainly used locally and back east.
The situation you mentioned about not respecting property lines was referred to as "cutting a round 40". The camps usually worked 40 acre plots so the less scrupulous loggers would cut in and around the 40 acre boundaries.
The fires you mentioned were possible because the loggers were only interested in the tree trunks. Anything else was abandoned on site to dry out and become a hazard.
People did try to farm the logged over areas, but in a lot of areas the soils were not suitable for crops and were thus left to revert back to forest. This was especially true the farther north you went.
Thanks for the bonus information, Robert! 🙂
If you enjoy your back yard BBQ grill you can thank Ford and the lumber industry. Henry was a strong proponent of the “reduce reuse recycle” theory and he took the waste from his lumber mill and invented the charcoal briquette as a fuel source for his many camping trips. Edward Kingsford was his real estate agent and was married to Ford’s cousin, he help acquire the UP property that Ford needed for the cars. When Ford set up the charcoal plant next to the lumber mill he let Kingsford run it. When a group of investors bought the charcoal company they changed the name from Ford Charcoal to Kingsford Charcoal to pay homage to the heritage of the company.
If you ever go outside of Michigan to do stories... I highly recommend that you do a little research on the Lost Forty in MN. Very cool story about what happens when you miss clear cutting 40 acres of land
At 6.28, in a way Henry Ford benefited from two forests, the Michigan forests of the 1800s and the way older carboniferous forests through the link with coal.
(Bit late to the party, but I've only just discovered your fascinating channel. Keep up the great work! 👍)
Ford has a mansion on the shore of Lake superior near Skane and also the Alberta lumber mill now owned by Michigan tech. I'd love to see a video on that.
Thanks for the suggestion! I'm happy to add it to my list. 🙂 I've driven past that place on my trips in and out of the Keweenaw and definitely have questions about it!
Ooo, that would be awesome!
The UP has been log four times over. Trees on public land are a crop and managed correctly by the Michigan DNR. So, cutting down a tree is not a bad thing as many liberals will tell you. It is a good thing.
I'm a Yooper. Our family has had land the abuts "The Ford Farm Field" the FoMoCo once owned.
There were plots of land once held by my Great Grandmother, who turned them over to the City (though not in the city limits) under the condition they never be logged or cut down. She did this because the highway to Marquette was changed and as the original road bisected the plot, the new curve ate the northeast corner as the Right-of-way was widened and made a greater radius to allow higher speed travel and greater safety, drainage, snow clearing room, etc.
I grew up playing in those woods, particularly climbing a huge White Pine, that was 4 or possibly 5 feet in diameter at the hugging height but had branches that low. Great Gran passed before I was born (I'm 56) but I'm sure she's spinning in her grave as10 or so years ago, somehow the City decided to forgo the agreement, clear cut the whole plot, and leveled it and there is a garage on the Northern portion for some reason. They've done some legal dance and got some rulings to allow it to be done, and a lawyer fighting it was unable to stop it. I get quite angry every time I drive past my old house, now exposed to the North Winds. There really is no reason to have done it. It is now a grass field with just that box of a garage on it.
Bill Gates..😎..Who.wanna bet??.
Would love to go on a hike with y'all and explore some of the Yoop with y'all. The clearcutting of this state and learning about what the land used to be like are what tie me to this land and I just want to keep learning.
That rampant cutting were called ROUND FORTIES !
Nice vidja, young lady, A similar logging senario took place here in Wisconsin around the same time. Some of the white pine lumber stayed in the state to build cities and towns, but alot went down the Mississippi River and then west to build prarie towns. I am a "Modern Day Logger" who has been taught, thru older generations, to selectively log and promote sustainable forestry to pass on to future generations, Amen.
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing some of your local history, and for the thoughtful work you're doing in forestry! 🙂
Most of the first cars and trucks not only had wood spoked wheels but also wood frames. Such as the Ford Model T which they sold over 20 million.
It's not in Michigan but are you aware of the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin? I always find it incredible how despite bordering a national forest their woodlands are so much more robust you can clearly tell the difference from space, their conservation of the northern hardwood forests which make up their lands is amazing considering it was significantly impacted by outside logging during their period of termination and continues to be harvested as their most valuable natural resource.
Reminds me of Hartwick Pines, N. of Grayling, before the biggest trees were topped by lightning, and Dewitt, Michigan ghost town NW of Grayling(you won't believe the stumps still visible).
Deward, not DeWitt.
Humans have altered the environment to fit their needs since time immemorial.
The great cities of Europe were also wild at one point. Roman colonization and subsequent urban development profoundly impacted the European landscape. This is also true in parts of Asia, Africa, and pre-Columbian Americas.😢
Americans suffer from a myopic perspective of the past where they think what happened here is somehow unique in history and it just isn’t.
Also don’t forget Quinnesec MI. A ford saw mill and wood car body parts factory. The high school team name is the Flivers, as in the Ford Fliver.
You should touch on the connection between Henry Ford and Kingsford charcoal company.
We have to get you out to the Redwood Forests. Thanks for another great video.
Thanks so much! And oh, man, that would be a joy. There are also some wild, multi-layered ecosystems in those trees I'd love to learn more about!
Michigan was known as the Great Swamp. It was one of the last states to be settled,in the continental US, due to the trees, swamps, marsh & water levels. Clearing the forests allowed for draining of the land ,which lead to farming & opening up the state for settlement. Other unknown facts..Michigan white pine rebuilt Chicago after the famous fire. When my brother was in the army, stationed in Kansas, he visited a prairie museum. The guide was talking of settlement, western forts,etc. This guide made the remark that most of the wood required for the forts, commissioned by the military, was delivered by Michigan( white pine). Also, when I lived in the UP we had a hugh pine near us whose base was way larger than those featured here. It took 3-5 men to circle it!! Don't forget the start of the American Red Cross disaster relief with the forest fires of the " Thumb" region. Henry Ford & his wood factories in the UP producing the wood for car bodies!! So much Michigan/ wood history.
One other thing: clear-cutting patches of forest is necessary today. It makes what is called 'early successional' growth. Expanses of old forest are pretty empty places. I've been in them: dead leaves and bark with a canopy WAY up there. Not much to eat. NO places to live or hide. Not many animals or different types. As the Ruffed Grouse Society says: "Little trees need hugs too"
The stumps in my area were used for property line fences.
Have you been to Redridge Dam yet? More amazing history there. I have a primer on my website you can check out if you'd like.
Only briefly! I have done much exploring/learning there yet. I'll look forward to checking out the primer - thanks! 🙂
The role of lumber in America's boom times gets underplayed. I learned a LOT from a youtube documentary on the role of lumber on the origins of Maine and the White Pine. I mean, battles were fought over quality lumber. What else to build the ships of the day with? Like oil today.
How did you miss the large tracts of Michigan that Ford, Dodge (and others) purchased for making wooden parts for cars? Pequaming (near L'Ance) was one of those places.
It was mainly a matter of scope! There are always more details I could include that would make a video longer or take it into different/more in-depth territory. I decided to keep things on the broader side for this video, so mainly focused on the relationship between logging and auto industry funding, instead of going into a complete, detailed history there. 🙂
Same story in Eastern Ontario. There's very little left of old growth white pine.
Michigan Forest History: Link 2. Sadly doesn’t work. What was link referring to? Can the contents still be used?
Oh, bummer! It looks like they might've moved the page since I used that link as a reference. According to my notes, I mainly used that document for early Michigan logging history. (In my scripts, I keep all of the relevant quotes from the sources I use.) I wasn't able to find that document online anywhere else, but I've updated the video description with a Wayback Machine link that shows the webpage as it was when I used it.
@@AlexisDahl Sweet! Thank you for informing and replying!
You should do a deep dive into how the deer were hunted back then.
Great history lesson 👏
The ford motor company held large tracts of land in upper Michigan to supply wood for parts for their early cars. Yes, most of early automobiles were framed with wood. Henry didn’t just get funding from lumber barons, he was a lumber baron… in a way.
Yes! TY FOR CONTENT!
I have several huge White Pines near my home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. One is 14 foot in circumference.
This was interesting!
Check out Matt Cremona in Minnesota and lumber capital log yard in Pennsylvania. The forest we have east of the Mississippi is important to the planet. Just like the great lakes. Love one another we all love trees 🌳
Another great Michigan video....
Very interesting.
Even though it's not Michigan,
Should do a video on lithium batteries and what they do to the earth just to get enough material for a cell phone. Let alone a car....
Those from Michigan who fought in the civil war were in many cases paid with 40 acres of land. It's worth noting however that the going rate at that time was about $1 an acre!
- can't see the forests for the cars.
Old growth forest of eastern white pines at Hartwick Pines State Park in Grayling. I read somewhere after the Chicago fire of 1879 vast forests of Michigan rebuilt all of Chicago.
Two things.
One, many of the early automobiles had components made of wood, which is one of the reasons that Fisher Body was brought into General Motors. They had been carriage builder, and brought their skills to build wooden car body parts.
Two, forest grow back. I can still remember how upset and sad I was when a part of the Pigeon River Country was logged off back in the late 1960's. But, a few years later, there was more wildlife in that area than there ever had been before. Then just a few years ago, it was logged again. Yes, I was sad again to see that. But not I know, that very little wildlife lives in old growth forests, and that same area will be a forest again for future generations to enjoy.
You should do a video on the Great Michigan Fires of 1871... not a good year to be a tree.
Sadly enough, I've only been to the Estivant pines once, and that was probably 25-30 years ago. I guess I need to correct that next summer.
Thomas Sowell says everything is trade-offs hopefully we learn to make more intelligent trade-offs going forward!
This is the story of Gibbs city and in the end all the buildings where still standing when the US forest services took ownership of the town they removed the remaining people and one night they set fire to the whole town. Gibbs city was set up as a saw mill today you can still find some cement foundations and fire hydrants. On my property I have one white pine that is 3-4 feet across and is my pride and joy
YOU RULE
Shucks, thanks!
Check out the book The Bark Covered House by William Nowlin. Home looking back as a child and growing up in SE MI in the 1830s-1840s.
Oh, fascinating. I'll add it to my reading list - thank you!
I'm REALLY curious to find out about an old story of how smart / controlling / devious Henry Ford was in a story I heard, IIRC, as part of an old engineering / packaging textbook my father had from the 50's.
Story went that once Henry Ford became well established, he made VERY detailed demands of his parts suppliers, being notorious for micromanaging the materials, the casting process, AND eventually, specifying the types and dimension of the packing crates which parts were sent in- as in specifying shipments be made in boxes of twenty 1"x4"x48" boards per box, affixed with screws, not nails, and being of a specific grade of wood without knots...
This wasn't obsessive compulsive, it was frugal genius- BECAUSE Henry Ford had just directed his parts suppliers to send him wooden crates with boards that were cut JUST RIGHT to be taken and used as wooden floorboards for the Model T / Model A...
Liked, shared and commented 🥃🍻
My pawpaws family owned a logging company and mill
Praise the Lord that a handful of people were forward thinking enough to set aside a few museum pieces like Hartwick and Estivant Pines and Interlochen State Park. There are several other old growth forests that can be found by driving only a few hundred miles. Lumber Barons: Scourge to all future generations (admittedly just one man’s opinion)
But this show doesn't show where much if not most of the great white pine wood went......To the king of England for their ships.
White pine was especially valued for tall ship masts.
Copper Harbor MI❤
Keep in mind, in 1812 Detroit was a fort.
Good presentation, you did cover both sides. Yes, I feel the same way when lumber men were cutting down redwoods that were 3200 years old. Did they not see that tree for what it was? Lets concentrate on plastic pollution, turning that waste into 2x4s, Eh!
Does this dense tree thing refers to Ann Arbor?
What timestamp are you thinking of?
@@AlexisDahl oh! It was just a general thought. Seeing how Michigan had lots of trees and Ann Arbor has Arbor in the name.
Think I will go hug a tree, dad worked for Hydramatic and grandpa Cadillac you forgot the charcoal industry with the leftover wood from building Fords.