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Le Draveur | The Log Driver 

A draveur, or log driver, was a person who ran convoys of cut trees and facilitated the floating of logs in rivers.

When the very first sawmills were established in Canada, they were usually water-powered and small in size, and located near the forests where trees were being cut down. Later, when bigger sawmills were established downriver, log drivers would float the logs to them. When the river stretch was wide, the logs could be bundled up together like timber rafts. However, when the river was narrow, winding or contained lots of obstacles like boulders, the log drivers would need to separate the timber rafts into smaller sections to get them downriver.

The log driving process typically started in the fall, when men would set up their logging camp and wait for winter. Then, a larger crew of men moved into the camp and started cutting down trees. Logs were hauled away to the river by oxen or horses, where they were piled up.

In the spring, the log drive started. The log driver’s job was to ensure that the logs floated freely along the river. There were typically two groups of men per crew. The more experienced and nimble were in the jam or beat crew. When they spotted a jam, they tried to get to it quickly and dislodge the problem logs before a pileup or dam happened. The men on the jam crew needed to understand physics, be strong, and extreme agile. Needless to say, it was a very dangerous occupation.

The second, or rear crew was comprised of less experienced men that brought up the rear. They were responsible for spotting and pushing along any straggler logs that the first crew hadn’t collected. Other men worked from the river bank, pushing any stray logs into the river with pike poles.

The occupation of log driving eventually died out with the advent of railroads and the use of trucks on logging roads. 

The below video from the NFB is ingrained in many Canadian children’s memories.

Click here to read an excellent historical vignette about the log drive on the Ottawa River, including several photos. To know more about the history of Pointe-Gatineau, an important center of log driving, click here.

Sources:

• Claude Lemay, "Fonctions et métiers délaissés", l'Ancêtre, number 281, volume 34, winter 2008, and number 280, volume 34, winter 2007; electronic edition, Société généalogique de Québec (www.sgq.qc.ca/images/_SGQ/R_LAncetre_plus_libre/ENT-FONCTIONS-METIERS-DELAISSES.pdf).

• “Le sport extrême des anciens : la drave !”, Histoire forestière de l’Outaouais, http://www.histoireforestiereoutaouais.ca/c3/.