Eastern White Pine

Start of another epic research project

As I begin my research on the Great Northern Pine Forest, I’m looking at background material and “googling” generic search terms. One search led me to the Wikipedia page for the Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus), which included a map of the tree’s range in North America. A couple of things jumped out at me, as I looked at the map.  

First, I probably need to extend my research both farther eastward and farther back in time. I had already planned on talking about the early history of cutting pines in the colonial period. The King’s Arrow and all that. And I was aware that the ancestors of many Midwesterners had experience in eastern forests. My wife’s family apparently cut wood out east before moving to Minnesota. The Ranney family of western New York and Michigan (subjects of the first part of my recent book, Peppermint Kings) went into the Michigan wilderness in the early 1830s to do winter work in lumber camps. But there may be more continuity than I had originally imagined between the early timber industry in eastern forests and the age of midwestern mills.  

Second, I probably need to extend my research north of the border into Canada. I’ve just messaged a Canadian Env. Hist. friend to find out what work may have been done north of the border that I might not be aware of yet. A search on “Canadian lumber industry history” yielded a big, interesting list of sites as well as a 1907 book, History of the Lumber Industry of America, which looks like it will be very interesting.  

This is the phase of the search process I really like. I need to be very careful about documenting my findings, recording links, and creating a bibliography right from the start in Zotero. I’ll show that visually in Tinderbox too. Doesn’t look like much yet, but it will as it grows...