Donkey doo
by Berry Wijdeven
by Berry Wijdeven
![Haida Gwaii - Contemplative Pips](/uploads/1/2/6/9/126967338/img-0825_orig.jpg)
One of the great pleasures of living on Haida Gwaii is going for a walk through its fabulous forests. Away from the beaten track (though our tracks really don’t get a lot of beating), wandering around, marvelling at the scenery, feeling worries melt away and serenity envelop you. Seeing some of the old tree stands is rewarding, stumbling onto a picturesque creek or burbling waterfall adds dramatic effect. And with a little luck, there will be encounters with chattering squirrels, an indignant woodpecker, darting marten or a heart rate quickening black bear. Or a donkey. No, not the bleating, kicking kind. Our donkeys are steam donkeys, though I’m told that in their day they could be just as obstinate and obstreperous as their flesh and blood namesakes.
Steam donkeys changed the face of logging in the Pacific Northwest. Up to then, logs had to be hauled to water by horses or teams of oxen, but the steep slopes of the mountainous terrain made that often not feasible so logging was limited to the coastal areas. The new technology allowed loggers to venture further inland, opening up vast tracks of land. It also allowed for higher volumes.
![Haida Gwaii - Looking for scat](/uploads/1/2/6/9/126967338/published/img-3420.jpg?1569347651)
The steam donkey was invented in 1881 by John Dolbeer of Eureka, California. The name originated in sailing ships, where “donkey” engines were used to load and unload cargo and raise the large sails. At heart the contraption consists of a boiler, fueled by wood, and later oil, to produce steam. The steam powers pistons and gears which in turn control one or more drums containing wire rope. Initially the donkeys were very labour intensive, requiring a staff of four and a horse to handle the line from the spool to the felled trees, keep the fire fed and replenish the water in the boiler, ideally from a water source not too far removed. Over time, technology and efficiency improved and the steam donkey became the go-to to drag (skid), lift and load logs. The donkey was often placed on parallel sled logs, allowing the contraptions to pull themselves through the forest. New technology in the form of the internal combustion engine should have spelled the end of the traditional steam donkey by the late nineteen thirties, but rationing and the need to use industrial capacity for military production during World War II delayed the transition until after the war.
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/6/9/126967338/img-6430_orig.jpg)
Old logging truck, Louise Island.
Most of the steam donkeys we’ve encountered over the years on Haida Gwaii have been located on North Moresby Island. Logging was very active here during the Second World War as the allied war effort was in need of big spruce trees. Spruce was used to construct the deHavilland Mosquito fighter airplane. Unlike other planes from that era, the Mosquito was constructed largely out of wood, given it a distinct weight advantage, making it, for a while, the fastest war plane around. Engineers scoured forests all over Canada looking for big spruce and located large stands on the riparian spruce flats which flank Haida Gwaii rivers and streams. Steam donkeys were dragged into these stands to skid and load the massive trees onto trucks. One to a load.
![Haida Gwaii - Pips locates a scat](/uploads/1/2/6/9/126967338/published/img-0806.jpg?1569347420)
Cumshewa Inlet, Louise Island, Skidegate Lake, Mosquito Lake (which was not named after the pesky insect), these areas were heavily impacted during the war by donkey activity. As late as the mid-1950s donkeys still roamed the woods of Haida Gwaii. And then they were not, as the new technology finally caught up. Most of the donkeys were abandoned at their last work site. Left out to pasture, so to speak. Not worth the effort or the scrap metal to retrieve them. Some are in amazingly great shape, looking as if with a bit of grease and elbow grease they could be convinced to run again. Others are in bad shape, little more than heaps of rusted metal. Sometimes, it’s just a pile of wire and some metal bars. Remnants of where a donkey once operated. Donkey doo.