I ran across this wonderful description of how a huge tree was cut down by hand. This forest was in Washington state and described in the ◄ 1894 NP railroad guide, but the method was the same no matter where the tree was.
Take the time to read thru these pages. You can almost feel the joy of being in the woods, swinging an axe. Two men were dwarfed by the tree, but two men could cut it down.The wood they harvested would become homes and buildings and businesses for our ancestors and their contemporaries. Plus, the money they made doing the work helped pay for their own families' living....
Besides, logging was sort of a default industry--you needed some extra money? Go work in the woods-- like dad, grandpa, our great uncles and great-great uncles did. It wasn't easy work, and it wasn't a cushy life, but I think it gave men a sense of conquering the wilderness and of doing their part, you know? They were clearing land for farms and homes and towns. They couldn't imagine EVER running out of trees, either. They were creating a good future for US.
It was a hard life, and dangerous, but at the end of the day, it must have been really, really satisfying....
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