Sprinkler sled at the Jauquet brothers' logging camp

Jauquet Brothers’ Logging Crew, Near Sagola, ca. 1903-1911: Sprinkler sleighs like this one at Jauquet Brothers’ Logging Camp in the Sagola area were used to make ice roads to facilitate hauling loads of logs. A barrel of water from the Sturgeon River was being dumped into the sprinkler sleigh. Iced roads enabled a team of horses to pull enormous loads of logs. At times two or three teams were used to “break” the load, meaning to get the load moving, and were then quickly unhitched, leaving the hauling team to complete the trip to the rollways. When roads were iced, a gouger was used to cut the width of the sleigh runner into the ice to prevent the sleigh from leaving the road. Note the teams of horses in the background in this photograph, dating between 1900 and 1910. [James Jauquet]