Labor Day usually signals that the fall of the year is approaching.It also means that boat traffic on the Blind River will not be as heavy.

"Bayou des Acadienes" takes on a different atmosphere after Labor Day. On September 1, the trappers begin to harvest alligators. They are allowed to catch one alligator for every 250 acres of land that they trap. Squirrel season is not too far off and the hunting season will begin. Water skiers will soon put their equipment away.

Alligators are no longer an endangered species. They are very easy to spot throughout the Blind River swamp area. The swamps have been very dry, so the alligators are in the bayous and sloughs throughout the area.

It is difficult to imagine a fire raging in the swamp. However, a huge fire did alot of damage to the area in 1924.

Records show that a drought in 1924 was very severe. Only 38.34 inches of rain fell that year compared to an average of 54 inches. Because of the drought ,the swamps dried out. Just how the fire started, no one knows.

The lumber companies took great precautions to prevent fires and lived in constant fear of fires breaking out. Workers were assigned to follow the trains that ran from the mill to the swamps to check for sparks that could start a fire. Old-timers used to refer to a man by the name of Ford as "the last man out". He followed the last train that left the swamp at the end of the day. He used a hand car to come "up front" and made sure there were no fires along the way.

In 1924, both Lutcher and Moore and Lyon Lumber Co. of Garyville had to send crews into the swamp to fight the fires. The Reserve Canal goes through an area that burned out completely and is still called "the burn" or "the Prairie". Old timers said that "even the ground burned" and smouldered for many weeks. It was so dry that herds of deer made their way to Lake Maurepas to drink.

The lumber companies mounted huge water tanks on floaters to supply water to fight the fires. The mills were shut down and all available men were sent to the swamps to help control the fires.

In 1926, Lyon Lumber Co. of Garyville lost twelve million feet of lumber when the lumber company burned. The fire was set off by a spark from one of the company "dummies". In 1928, a huge shed stacked with dressed pine lumber burned.

There are not too many old sawmill workers around anymore. Time has taken its toll. It was always a pleasure to sit and talk to them. They learned through trail and error ,and if you think of what they accomplished, it is mind boggling. They were able to cut and haul millions of feet of logs out of the swamp with very inferior equipment. There were no power saws or electric winches. Trees were cut with axes and hand saws. Winches were run by steam with inferior cable. Danger was everywhere and many men were killed when cables broke.

Those of us who have always taken the cypress houses in which we live for granted, will do well to give some thought to the "old swampers". Harvesting those huge cypress trees was a way for them to make a living. It was a very hard way of life and done at great risk to their lives and their health. The result of their work brought comfort to many.

Those crews were made up first of the native Louisiana "Cajuns" and second, of all sorts of men of adventure. They came here by train and boat, "Bummers" who were looking for work and adventure. I have heard all sorts of stories about the "Finlanders of Lutcher".

The old sawmill workers and swampers were, indeed, very special, and most of all, very tough.

from Stories From the River Road by Leonce Haydel