January 5, 2001 The J. B. Smith Lumber Co. at Frank's Bay

The John B. Smith Lumber Co. was Callander’s largest, and Lake Nipissing’s longest standing sawmill when it closed in 1967 after 77 years on Callander Bay’s north shore.  The history of the huge operation is lost in the new development in the area, including the Osprey Links Golf Course.

The original Smith mill in Callander was built in 1890 and was replaced three times, including a couple of times because of fires (1894 and 1934).

The company actually started in the area in the 1880s on Frank’s Bay 1.5 kilometers east of the mouth of the French River in Patterson Township on Lake Nipissing’s south shore.  When the new mill was established in Callander the  Frank’s Bay operation continued as its main source of sawlogs for years.  This week I will look at the Frank’s Bay operation.

Archaeologists have found native artifacts on Frank’s Bay going back thousands of years.  Fur traders, explorers and early travelers also stopped there.  Today the west side of the bay is privately owned.  An old cemetery, some foundations and dock footings are all that remain of the Smith operation today.

John B. Smith was a Scotsman who came to Toronto and started a lumber business in 1851.  His original lumber came from a mill at Angus near Camp Borden.  By the 1880s he moved to better limits on Frank’s Bay and  established a new sawmill and small village there specilizing in timbers for boats, bridges and railway construction and supplied the railway being built from Toronto to North Bay.

The key to his choice of Frank’s Bay was the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway along the north shore of Lake Nipissing.  Smith’s squared timbers and lumber were taken to the Canadian Pacific Railway by steamer in the good weather and by sleigh across the ice in winter.  Supplies were brought back on return trips.
 

This early and only known photo of the early Frank’s Bay village shows the sawmill and some houses. Note the barrels of water on the roof which were there in case of fire.

Before the mill left, Frank’s Bay had developed into a small village with several houses, a school, a cemetery, and the usual bunkhouse and cookery for the single workers.  The company office housing the manager, scaler, clerk and company store was front and center. When the Northern and Pacific Junction Railway, which later became the Grand Trunk and the CNR, came through to North Bay from the south, Callander developed as a lumber center.  Smith relocated, and kept Frank’s Bay as the depot for his logging operation.  The 1951, 100th anniversary publication of the company states that they cut logs there for close to 50 years and were back cutting timber there again briefly in 1951.

A 1912 report on Smith's Frank’s Bay operation by two University of Toronto forestry students provides a fascinating insight into the Smith logging operation.  The report indicates that the company had a 36 square mile limit fronting on Lake Nipissing and the French River.

By 1912 the trees around Frank’s Bay and points south into Patterson Township had been depleted.  The company was now cutting again around Long Lake (now Satchell’s Lake) 10 kilometers to the south west of Frank’s Bay. Instead of hauling directly by road to Frank’s Bay, a circular water route from Long Lake to Satchell’s Bay up the French River and across Lake Nipissing was taken.  Tom Darling’s steam tug “Callander” was mentioned as one of the tow boats.

There were 3 Smith logging camps operating in 1912, one by the company and two by jobbers on contract.  The central company camp was on Long Lake. A contractor was located at Satchell’s Bay (see map).

Fifty percent of the lumbermen were French and about 15 percent were native. The wage was $30-35 per month for sunrise to sunset work, six days a week.  The men were divided into crews of two sawyers, one notcher, one teamster (with team), two swampers, and two skidders. The company rotated men from job to job, so no one would ask for more pay. 
 

The Smith Company’s main camp in 1912.

The 1912 company camp was located in a 4 acre clearing where a previous Smith camp had been located. Some of the old buildings were adapted for 1912 use.  The stable held the  teams of horses and some cattle being held for slaughter.  The cookhouse fed up to 80 people and the cook and his helpers slept in the cookhouse.  The bunkhouse housed some 60 men and was heated by one stove.  Each man had a hay filled “mattress” and three blankets.

The creek to Satchell’s Bay had been cleared in previous Smith operations but required a complex system of seven new dams and various chutes and slides to move the logs in the spring of 1913. Men lined the banks to keep the logs from jamming.
 

This drawing shows the location of the 1912 Smith logging operation mentioned above.

When the logs entered Satchell’s Bay they were held by booms going from the large central island to shore. The logs were then carefully moved out of the bay into booms and towed directly to the mill in Callander for sawing.
 
Next week I will look at the Callander sawmill operation.