Forest History Center provides a unique experience for fourth graders

On Monday May 20th, fourth grade students at West Elementary made a trip out to the Forest History center. Upon arriving, students were able to watch a short historical film of the 1928 forest fires of Moose Lake and Cloquet, Minnesota. This multimedia show uses video, lighting, and audio special effects to convey the story. The film followed different perspectives of people who lived through the fire. The people in the film described their town as unrecognizable after the devastating fires. Next, students watched another short film on the history of logging in Minnesota. Following the two films, students were able to view the hands-on museum. On the field trip, students journeyed through the woods on a tour to observe a logging camp. Students were asked to use their imagination to pretend as if it were December of 1900 when touring.

The tour consisted of viewing and walking through a wanigan: a replica of a floating cook shack and bunkhouse once used by river drivers when moving logs down river to the mills. On the rest of the tour, students viewed the bunks, blacksmith shop, the food corridors, and plenty more. Students were able to hear about the history of White pine logging and how it was done in a unique way, through hands-on learning. One of the most exciting aspects of the trip for the students, was being able to pet Belgian horses that are used for pulling sleighs of logs. Today they are used for horse carriage tours. The history of how horses are able to pull 40,000 pounds of weight when the logging camp was in use, was explained while students tried pulling one log across a dirt road.

The fourth graders had a blast while learning about the history of logging camps. The Forest history center provides multiple activities for the community to engage in. From tours, trails, historic films, and more, the Forest History center is fun for all. Visit the Forest History Centers website for more information. https://www.mnhs.org/foresthistory