Cajun Copper Creations has a deep appreciation for the driftwood we find along the shores and marshes of Lake Pontchartrain. What were once majestic cypress trees are now reduced to fragments - a cypress knee, a bole, a limb - now scattered like so many jewels among the sand and grasses of the lake. Derick had long ago seen the beauty of these pieces of Louisiana, and he gathered them for their history, their story, their beauty. With the heart of the Cajun he is, he hoped to one day treat these pieces of his area's history with the respect and reverence they deserved and preserve them somehow. And that is why he features these beautiful works of art, crafted by nature, in his creations, and what makes what he does so special and unique. But where did all of this driftwood come from? How old are they? Why are some riddled so delicately with holes?
Today the shorelines of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas comprise one of the largest freshwater wetlands along the Gulf Coast of North America. Over a hundred years ago most of the swamps found in the Pontchartrain basin were covered with a vast forest of cypress and tupelo gum trees. A cousin to the huge redwood and giant sequoia, the bald cypress easily ranks as the largest and longest living tree east of the Mississippi. It is estimated that Louisiana once had more than 1.6 million acres of cypress forest with many 500 - 1000 year old first-growth trees attaining heights of over 120 feet high and a circumference of 25-40 feet.
Since cypress generates its own preservative oil called cyprosene, it is considered to be extremely durable and decay resistant, making it an ideal wood for areas with constant heat, humidity, and rainfall - perfect for the Gulf Coast and the city of New Orleans. Although valued and preferred for home construction in the coastal areas of the south, cypress proved to be very difficult to harvest due to the inaccessibility of the swamps. In the early 1700s it is known that cypress logging began. Since fresh-cut cypress does not float, it was initially removed during low water levels by oxen. Around 1725 loggers, or "swampers" as they were called, learned to cut the bark from a band around the base of the tree during the late summer and winter. This technique, called girdling, killed the tree and allowed the wood to dry enough so that it could be floated out through canals and bayous to Lake Pontchartrain during high water in the spring. This was difficult and dangerous work: two men on either side, felling giant cypress trees while balancing in pirogues.
Today the shorelines of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas comprise one of the largest freshwater wetlands along the Gulf Coast of North America. Over a hundred years ago most of the swamps found in the Pontchartrain basin were covered with a vast forest of cypress and tupelo gum trees. A cousin to the huge redwood and giant sequoia, the bald cypress easily ranks as the largest and longest living tree east of the Mississippi. It is estimated that Louisiana once had more than 1.6 million acres of cypress forest with many 500 - 1000 year old first-growth trees attaining heights of over 120 feet high and a circumference of 25-40 feet.
Since cypress generates its own preservative oil called cyprosene, it is considered to be extremely durable and decay resistant, making it an ideal wood for areas with constant heat, humidity, and rainfall - perfect for the Gulf Coast and the city of New Orleans. Although valued and preferred for home construction in the coastal areas of the south, cypress proved to be very difficult to harvest due to the inaccessibility of the swamps. In the early 1700s it is known that cypress logging began. Since fresh-cut cypress does not float, it was initially removed during low water levels by oxen. Around 1725 loggers, or "swampers" as they were called, learned to cut the bark from a band around the base of the tree during the late summer and winter. This technique, called girdling, killed the tree and allowed the wood to dry enough so that it could be floated out through canals and bayous to Lake Pontchartrain during high water in the spring. This was difficult and dangerous work: two men on either side, felling giant cypress trees while balancing in pirogues.
Because of the dangerous nature of logging cypress and the difficulty transporting the it out of the swamps, there was no large scale industrial lumbering of cypress up through the 1800s. However, all of that would change with a revolutionary technological device that was invented in 1891 known as the pullboat. Using steam powered winches and cables, pullboats could drag in fallen trees from as far away as 5,000 feet. According to Dr. P.A. Keddy, from the SLU Department of Biological Sciences, canals were excavated deep into swamps so the entire forest could be stripped systematically. "In some places the pullboat would move down the canal 150 feet or so at a time and set up a 'run' to pull in cut logs. Each run was cleared of trees and stumps, and served as a pathway for repeated dragging of logs, gradually scouring the ground into a mud-and-water-filled ditch." The canals dredged for the pullboats sometimes measured up to 40 feet wide and 10 feet deep. At last the riches of the Louisiana swamps could be harvested on a large scale. By 1914 Louisiana became the greatest producer of lumber in the nation.
The result of this Louisiana Lumber Boom of 1880-1925 was nothing short of catastrophic for the coastal wetlands of Louisiana. Within about forty years the massive virgin cypress forests of the Pontchartrain basin were gone. Large sections of the state became vast 'stumpscapes' of barren cutover land. Additionally, and perhaps even more tragically, pullboat logging not only removed the forest, but permanently changed the physical nature of the landscape. The ditches and canals dredged to accommodate the pullboats and skidders quite simply drained the swamps and even now today they act as conduits of saltwater, inundating the freshwater marsh. This saltwater intrusion kills young cypress trees and prevents any regeneration. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation cites a 2004 assessment of the state's coastal forests and their long-term sustainability and believes this SWG report confirms what has been long suspected: In many areas, the regeneration of cypress forests after logging is simply not possible. "Due to changes in elevation and water flow over the past century, many cypress forests are permanently flooded and can't regenerate." Some conservationists are trying to replant the bald cypress forests; however, once marshes are saline, they cannot be replanted to forest.
Today the remnants of this deforestation can be seen along the western swamps of Lake Pontchartrain. Marshes still have stumps, dead knees, and trunks with many showing axe marks made during that time over a hundred years ago. This is the origin of much of the driftwood Cajun Copper Creations finds. As the swampers trimmed the branches and topped the trees to make them ready for the mill, these remains of the cypress tree fell to the water to be tossed and carried through the years by the swamps and marshes along Lake Pontchartrain. Who knows how old the tree was when it was felled? Some of the giant cypress trees were known to be over 500 years old when harvested at the end of the 19th century. Who knows how long it has been worn by the water? Many of them could have possibly been cut over a hundred years ago.
Today the remnants of this deforestation can be seen along the western swamps of Lake Pontchartrain. Marshes still have stumps, dead knees, and trunks with many showing axe marks made during that time over a hundred years ago. This is the origin of much of the driftwood Cajun Copper Creations finds. As the swampers trimmed the branches and topped the trees to make them ready for the mill, these remains of the cypress tree fell to the water to be tossed and carried through the years by the swamps and marshes along Lake Pontchartrain. Who knows how old the tree was when it was felled? Some of the giant cypress trees were known to be over 500 years old when harvested at the end of the 19th century. Who knows how long it has been worn by the water? Many of them could have possibly been cut over a hundred years ago.
It is during this time spent in the water that our southern Louisiana driftwood is marked so uniquely. In addition to the smooth edges and worn places, many pieces of our driftwood have distinct, uniform holes riddled through it. There can be two causes for this phenomenon. Some can be caused by a fungus that attacks the heartwood of the cypress, and this wood is known as pecky cypress.
The other cause comes from a creature that has plagued sailors for centuries: the shipworm. Although the holes do look like worm holes, the shipworm is actually a saltwater bi-valve mollusk. This wood boring clam is what makes our southern Louisiana driftwood different from the rest. Because Lake Pontchartrain is both salt and fresh water, our cypress driftwood comes from fresh water then is marked by the salt water of the lake, creating an unusual and beautiful work of art directly from the hand of nature.
When you purchase a work of art from Cajun Copper Creations, you are buying a one of a kind piece of Louisiana history. Quite possibly the piece of driftwood in your hands could be over 600 years old - alive at the time Columbus first discovered America and at the time the swamps of Louisiana were filled with giant cypress trees.
When you purchase a work of art from Cajun Copper Creations, you are buying a one of a kind piece of Louisiana history. Quite possibly the piece of driftwood in your hands could be over 600 years old - alive at the time Columbus first discovered America and at the time the swamps of Louisiana were filled with giant cypress trees.
Sources:
Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF)
The Lakes of Pontchartrain: Their History and Environments by Robert W. Hastings
The Story of Cypress by P.A. Keddy
The Louisiana Lumber Boom, c. 1880-1925 by Donna Fricker
Sources:
Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF)
The Lakes of Pontchartrain: Their History and Environments by Robert W. Hastings
The Story of Cypress by P.A. Keddy
The Louisiana Lumber Boom, c. 1880-1925 by Donna Fricker