FBR Members Present Historic Log to State Park

While searching for kayaks, canoes and other items washed away in the September 2010 flood, a group from the Friends of the Black River discovered some logs lodged in the mud. The logs were branded with marks used by loggers during the area’s logging heyday.
The group decided to retrieve one of the 16-foot, four-inch white pine log and donate it to the Black River State Forest. Staff from Castle Mound State Park accepted the artifact Dec. 5 when Jeff Polzin, Steve Rake, Jerry Schmidt and Rollie Lee presented their find.
It was thought the tree may have been as tall as 80 feet before being felled and harvested. One end of the log had a capital “E” and some zeros or “Os” stamped on it and a capital “E” and a diamond etched into the side of the log. The lumber companies of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used the stamps to brand the logs. The brands then helped the companies reclaim the logs when they reached the saw mills after being floated down the river. The stamps were registered with the governing authority of the territory or the state.