540 
FOREST 
AND STREAM 
November, 1917 
THE BUILDING OF THE OPEN LOG CAMP 
IN THE MINDS OF MANY NO BUILDING MATERIAL EQUALS THE LOG, AND NO 
OTHER DWELLING FITS SO PICTURESQUELY INTO NATURAL SURROUNDINGS 
By WILLIAM S. WICKS 
The first of a series of articles on Log Cabins that Forest and Stream has secured from architects and outdoors men. Their plans will be illus¬ 
trated by prints and drawings and will interest those who desire to build a woodland home of a type that has a particular charm for all Americans. 
T 
HE modern representative of city life 
must not dream of going to the 
woods and living like a savage “in 
caves and dens of the earth.” As man has 
brought with him from bar¬ 
barism to civilization traces T 
of his original condition, so 
he must take back to the 
“forest primeval” some 
traces of his civilization. 
And the more he can ap¬ 
proximate the comfort of 
civilization and enjoy the 
freedom of past ages, in 
proportion will he gain what 
he is seeking—change, re¬ 
cuperation, pleasure, health. 
Health is imperative, and 
demands a dwelling in the 
woods in many points re¬ 
sembling a civilized one. 
Although the choice of 
material for a camp is 
largely a matter of taste, to 
the minds of many no ma¬ 
terial equals the log, and no 
camp or cabin looks so well 
and fits so picturesquely 
into the surroundings as 
one built of logs. One es¬ 
sential of a log camp and its furniture is, 
that as far as possible they should be made 
on the spot and with the material at hand. 
The location of a camp will be deter¬ 
mined by considerations of health, taste, 
pleasure and convenience. Health is 
paramount, and no one need be told 
to keep away from swampy ground 
and to locate near pure water, such 
as a spring or a small, swift-running 
brook. Be sure that in the near 
vicinity of your camp you have 
straight timber suitable for building 
purposes. Should your location be 
on a lake shore or river bank, how¬ 
ever, it may be possible for you to 
float your logs from a distance. Be 
careful how you cut down trees near 
\our camping ground. A tree once 
cut can not be replaced, however 
much you may desire its ornamental 
appearance or refreshing shade. 
The logs best suited for building 
should be straight, sound and uni¬ 
form in size; they may vary from 
six to ten inches in diameter. Spruce, 
pine, hemlock, tamarack and balsam 
ai.e the best. The hard woods are 
very heavy to handle, especially when 
green. Before starting to build it is 
\\ ell to make a list of logs needed 
and have them at hand, cut in proper 
lengths for their intended positions. 
A large and very pretentious 
structure may be made of logs 
with the help of architects and car¬ 
penters ; but the man who wishes to build 
his own camp, working with the ordinary 
carpenter tools will find it very easy and 
economical to build a log shelter such as 
shown by the accompanying illustrations. 
The shelter is an open camp facing south, 
provided with wide double mill doors to 
close up entirely when the shelter is not 
in use or to close the lower half if de¬ 
sired at night, or the upper half in driv¬ 
ing storms. The doors when fully swung 
out, open the entire front of the struc¬ 
ture letting in the sunlight and air. 
Sleeping in such a shelter 
is like camping in the open, 
and at the end of the out¬ 
ing, by closing and locking 
the doors and securing the 
window at the rear, all be- 
| longings may be safely 
closed in. 
Such a camp is suitable 
for the wilderness, estate, 
farm or seaside. It is as 
comfortable and health-giv¬ 
ing as the best hospital 
shacks, making the best 
kind of open air habitation. 
The design is provided 
with simple timber frames 
made of hewn square or 
round logs, about which the 
structure is built. The posts 
of the frames should ex¬ 
tend about three and one- 
half feet into the ground 
for stiffening, or for the 
same purpose, the posts 
may be framed into log 
“sleepers,” lying on the ground. Over 
the plates of the frames, log rafters are 
notched and placed about 3'-o" on centers. 
The rafters project about five feet in 
front, and one foot to the rear of the 
shelter; they are inclined from front 
to rear so that the sun may shine 
well into the shelter, to give views 
of the distant hills and stars, and 
to cause the rain or melting snow 
to run to the rear. 
T 
Plan 
SCAtt '/4 
= 1-0 
HE floor may be of graded and 
packed earth covered with 
leaves or fir needles. It may 
be paved of flat stone, or laid with 
flattened logs fitted close together, 
or of the usual floor boards on log 
sleepers. 
The roofing may be of bark placed 
on saplings; the saplings running 
crossways of, and fitted to the raf¬ 
ters are placed about one and one- 
half feet apart, or of roof board 
slats crossing the rafters, on which 
may be placed bark or waterproof 
paper roofing. 
The ends and backs of the camp 
are made of chinked logs or of 
round posts or studs crossed with 
slats and shingled or covered with 
bark as desired. 
There will need to be a little filling 
between the rafters over the frames 
and logs to make the shelter squirrel 
proof and weather tight. 
(continued on page 562) 
i 
