Photographer John Collier traveled to the timber holdings of the Brown Company in western Maine near the New Hampshire border in May 1943. He camped with the woodsmen whose job was to guide thousands of heavy slippery logs on the spring pulpwood drive down the Kennebago River and Mooselookmeguntic Lake toward distant pulp and paper mills.
He documented the job of woodsmen, how they deftly used pikes to maneuver the pulpwood, even riding the logs themselves to usher them through treacherous waters toward their destination.
They wouldn’t have called themselves woodsmen. “Riverjacks” or “Log Drivers” were hazardous workers. In addition to standing on floating logs and jumping around, they would use dynamite to clear log jams! Wonderful pictures!
They seemed like classy guys
They are beautiful. Does anyone else notice the tobacco juice coming out of the mouths of a few guys?
Those are great photos. I wish their names were included.