Logging in Holberg

This photo, taken in 1946, shows two loggers cutting down a large spruce tree in the Holberg area. At the time it was common for loggers to use a series of 'spring boards,' which were notched into the tree, to stand on while making their cuts. Ideally they cut the tree just above the thick butt area. Interestingly this photo was preserved by the BC Ministry of Travel in the BC Archives. Within the traditional territory of the Quatsino First Nation, the community of Holberg was first established in 1895 by a group of utopian Danish settlers, but eventually became a major centre for logging, and then home to a military base.