Paul Bunyan, a giant lumberjack of American and French- Canadian folklore, was renowned for his superhuman feats and colossal accomplishments in North American forests. What would be his reaction, if he and his blue ox, Babe, made their way to the lumber camps that surrounded Prince Albert in the early 1900’s? 

Well, he would not have been disappointed. Big Paul would have found the biggest sawmill between Ottawa and British Columbia as well as the largest ‘planing mill’ in all of Canada. 

On the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River, located near the site of present day River Street and 17th Avenue East, Paul Bunyan would have encountered The Prince Albert Lumber Company. That mill grew from the foundations established by predecessor mills, one of which existed in the area in 1876. The Company’s holdings formed a ‘town within a town.’ This suburb hosted two boarding houses, one of which accommodated 175 men. These facilities were surrounded by 50 rental houses, leased at $8.00 a month, available only to married men and their families. There was a pool room, library, a Super Market, and a barn containing 100 head of horses. It was one busy place. At the height of the summer production over 600 men were employed. 

And, if Paul and his big blue ox had chosen to stay in the area until the winter season, they would have seen the number of employed persons double - over 1200  lumberjacks, many of them farmers living south of the river, anxious to supplement their meager winter earnings, would be hard at work. The money earned spurred the growing economy of Prince Albert. However,  at times, especially on pay day, the young lumberjacks, full of pent up social need, created a good deal of havoc for the missionary - based settlement of Prince Albert.  

If Paul and his ox forded the river, they would have found even more activity to which they might have felt kinship, as well as conditions which would have been trying even to Paul’s enormous appetite for life. There were encampments in the northern woods housing  men who worked long, cold (at times -40 degree) days. These encampments were assigned the monstrous task of providing the massive number of felled trees needed to feed the Prince Albert mill.

Paul would have found log bunk houses capable of hosting 75 men set in the midst of the boreal forest. A night in one of these ‘fine establishments’ might not have attracted Paul. Double deck bunks with mattresses fashioned from hay were not uniform in the support they provided nor were they free of vermin. Oppressive heat, pouring from huge wood fired stoves, greeted the visitor. The smells were challenging to say the least - poorly bathed men added to the aroma of  drying  socks, underwear, and sweat filled Mackinaws hanging from the rafters. It would have been easy to stumble over the cast - aside work boots which barn style lanterns failed to illuminate. Once inside, there was no means of positive entertainment to divert one’s mind - no radio - no televison - no books - and above all no women (at least none wishing to have their names recorded). Hastily brewed whiskey and gambling filled the hours.  

If Paul and Babe decided to vacate the place, they would face the same difficulties of getting back to the Prince Albert town site as the loggers faced in getting the felled trees to the town’s mills. There were no roads, no stage coaches, no trains, or fine horses for hire. 

Over 700 million board feet came out of the Prince Albert mill between 1905 and 1920. Just how were the thousands and thousands of felled trees delivered to Prince Albert for finishing. 

The processes used to accomplish this daunting task would have challenged even what Big Paul could have provided.

But that is a story for next time.

The sources for the above WHALE OF A TALE may be found in the Archives of the Prince Albert Historical Museum. Visit the volunteer archivists who labour countless hours to keep the story alive. The pictures gathered to display the events are worth the trip alone.