Working with the crew was the teamster. He was usually a Scot from Glengarry County, Ontario, who, with his team of horses hooked up to a bobsleigh, brought in most of the supplies to the shanty in the fall. Each shanty tried to be self-sufficient; but when food, clothing, or equipment were in short supply, the teamsters drove to town to obtain the required goods. Once the cutting began in the fall, the teamsters brought the noon meal to the shantymen and cleared the cutting site of the finished sticks. They rose one hour earlier than the shantymen to feed, water, and harness their horses or their oxen before breakfast. Franz Johnstone (1888-1949), a Canadian painter and a member of the Group of Seven, painted this scene.
