Log driving

In a location with snowy winters, the yearly process typically began in autumn when a small team of men hauled tools upstream into the timbered area, chopped out a clearing, and constructed crude buildings for a logging camp.

In spring when snow thawed and water levels rose, the logs were rolled into the river, and the drive commenced.

If they didn't, the river would keep piling on more logs, forming a partial dam which could raise the water level.

[7] Millions of board feet of lumber could back up for miles upriver, requiring weeks to break up, with some timber lost if it was shoved far enough into the shallows.

The jam crew was an exceedingly dangerous occupation, with the drivers standing on the moving logs and running from one to another.

[7] Each crew was accompanied by an experienced boss often selected for his fighting skills to control the strong and reckless men of his team.

[9] A larger group of less experienced men brought up the rear, pushing along the straggler logs that were stuck on the banks and in trees.

[7] A commissary wagon carrying clothing, plug tobacco and patent medicines for purchase by the log drivers was also called a wangan.

[12] For log drives, the ideal river would have been straight and uniform, with sharp banks and a predictable flow of water.

Wild rivers were not that, so men cut away the fallen trees that would snag logs, dynamited troublesome rocks, and built up the banks in places.