The Pioneer Woodsman as He Is Related to Lumbering in the Northwest

by George Henry Warren

"He camps by the roadside on the shore of a lake." (Page [180].)

As a result of these forest fires, one of the worst pests that the frontiersman meets is the black fly, which flourishes in a burnt country. This little insect is apparently always hungry, is never tired, and wages a relentless fight upon every inch of the white man's epidermis that is exposed to its reach, even penetrating the hair and beard of a man, and leaving the effects of its poisonous bite. So terrible were these little pests, and so numerous were they on two days of the excursion, that one eye of each of three of the white men in the party was so badly swollen by the bites of the insects, that it was closed. No remedy has ever been offered that effectually protects the woodsman from injuries inflicted by this insect.

While our party was on that expedition that summer, reestimating the timber in the burnt district, Mr. Patrick came close to a large bull moose standing in some thick woods. The animal had not yet discovered Mr. Patrick's presence, consequently he was able to carefully examine and study this great beast of our northern woods. Below the animal's hips, on either side, at a point where he could in no wise protect himself from the ravages of this insect pest, the poor beast's flesh was raw and was bleeding. The Indians claim that their dogs frequently go mad and have to be killed as a result of the bites inflicted by these insects.

In proof of the wide range of their activities I will briefly relate one experience with them in Wisconsin. Joseph McEwen and I left Wausau one morning, riding out behind a livery team twenty miles to the Big Eau Plaine River, in search of desirable cranberry marsh lands. The country we traveled over was flat. Fires had recently killed the timber, and black flies formed one vast colony over this territory.

Our driver had trouble controlling the horses, so fierce was the attack of the black flies upon them. We arrived at the nearest point of our work that could be reached by team about ten o'clock in the forenoon, and dismissed our driver. We then proceeded on foot into this burnt, marshy country, attacked continuously by swarms of flies. They penetrated our ears, our noses, and our mouths if we opened them. They worked themselves into our hair, up our sleeves, under our collar bands, over the tops of our socks and down into them until they found the end of our drawers where, next, was our naked skin.

We camped at night in the marsh. The next morning the attack was renewed as vigorously as it had been waged on the previous day. At eleven o'clock we stopped for our dinner. McEwen wore a heavy beard all over his face; my face was bare. He looked at me as we were eating our dinner, then dryly remarked, "I don't know how I look, but you look like the devil; the black flies have bitten you everywhere; your face is a fright." We went out to the main road, and secured a conveyance by which we reached Wausau about five o'clock that afternoon.

I went immediately to my accustomed hotel, owned and managed by Charles Winkley. He had known me well for years, and I had left him less than forty-eight hours previous to my entering on that afternoon. Mr. Winkley was behind his desk. I greeted him and asked him how business was. He answered me quite independently that his house was full, and that he had not a vacant room. I then asked him if there was any mail for me, giving him my full name. He looked at me in astonishment, then exclaimed, "My God! What is the matter of you?" I said, "Black flies." Then he continued, "I mistook you for some man with the small-pox and was planning to notify the authorities and have you cared for. Go right to your room and stay there. Mrs. Winkley will care for you and have your meals brought to you. I will go to the postoffice every day for your mail." My face was one blotch of raw sores. My eyes were nearly closed because of the poison from the black flies.

The best remedy or preventive we have ever found against all insect pests of the northern woods, is smoked bacon rubbed onto the bare skin in generous quantities. Its presence is not essentially disagreeable. Objection to its use is prejudice, since it is no less pleasant than is the oil of cedar or pennyroyal which are often prescribed by druggists for the same purpose, and which are not half as continuous in their efficacy, because a little perspiration will neutralize all of the good effects of the latter named remedies. Soap and water will remove the bacon grease when protection from flying insects is no longer desired.

There are other and more interesting living things in the northern woods than black flies, to which statement I am willing to testify. I had been running some lines one summer, for the purpose of locating a tote road to some camps where work was to be prosecuted the following fall. It was known among the homesteaders, as well as trappers, that a large bear lived in that vicinity. On one occasion he had been caught in a "dead-fall" that had been set for him, and he had gotten out of it, leaving only some tufts of his hair.