Nature Book Reader June 2020 - Flipbook - Page 50
A Nature Book Reader
JAMES FOX
Founder editor of the family/food/literary/vintage blog 10engines
http://10engines.blogspot.com
Tall Trees, Tough Men
by Robert E. Pike
I am not an academic on
this subject of logging, but
hopefully an enlightened
enthusiast and this a
favourite book. On one hand
it is a cracking historical
description of the axe
lore, river drives, logjams
(subsequent dynamiting),
and raucous spending habits
of the woodsmen of the
American Northeast, but
it also serves to explain the
temperament of the frugal,
dry-humored and hardy
Yankee.
Anyone who has every
chopped or stacked wood can
enjoy this book. If you have
every walked in the woods
or enjoy winter weather you
will love it. You like to wade
around in water up to your
waist, pushing rotten ice out
of the way don’t you? It really
boggles the mind to look at
50
the photos and read stories of
the logs clogging spring’s runoff and the “drivers” riding
along down the river with
them. There are recipes from
the camp cook for bread and
beans, as well as instruction
on how to cruise (measure
board feet) for timber. I
probably read this once a year.
Further Reading
Spiked Boots
by Robert E Pike
Woodsmen, Horses,
and Dynamite
by C. Max Hilton
