Seeley Swan Pathfinder -

By Colleen Kesterson
Pathfinder 

From Cross Cut Saws to Mechanized

Logging Stories

 
Series: Logging Stories | Story 3

Photo provided.

Young high school student Neil Meyer (right) drove this 1949 Chevy Log Truck. He transported logs to small mills in the Bigfork area and to the large mill in Columbia Falls. Logs positioned behind on the truck's side were used to hoist the logs onto the truck.

SWAN VALLEY - Neil Meyer, longtime Salmon Prairie resident, said that making a living as a logger in the early days was hard work in the Swan Valley. He shared stories about how logging was flourishing and was unhindered by regulations and big business as it is now. He said the pace was slower, many residents had their own small sawmills and the tools of the trade were less expensive and complicated.

Meyer grew up in Ferndale, Mont. He worked with his father farming and cutting firewood with cross-cut saws and skidding logs with horses. Meyer told the story of Sam the horse that, according...



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