From Arthur Bennett and Global Old History

The real machines of the logging era, up close.

The Timber Age Field Files gathers the period photographs, drawings and records behind our logging videos, with my notes on what to look for in each one.

A printable PDF guide. 103 pages. 8 field files, a timeline and a map.

Timber Age Field Files cover with Arthur Bennett$19one time, no subscription
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"Amazing history. Amazing men that built it."Viewer comment on "How America Built Wooden Bridges Across Canyons"
Cover of Timber Age Field Files, Volume 1, with Arthur Bennett in his study
Arthur Bennett, presenter of Global Old History, at his desk
Arthur Bennett, your guide on Global Old History

Why I made this

Arthur Bennett

When you watch one of our logging videos on a television, the pictures move on before you have really looked at them. A video tells the story at the speed of speech.

The old records do not work that way. A photograph of a steam donkey rewards ten minutes of looking. A drawing in a 1913 logging textbook shows exactly where the cable ran.

Many of you asked to see the actual machines: the stump puller, the Howe truss, a map of the flumes. One of you put it plainly: "This would benefit greatly by illustration of the narrative." So I gathered the real photographs and drawings in one place, with the old records beside them.

Arthur Bennett

You asked for it. It's in the book.

Real requests left under our logging videos, quoted word for word, and where each one is answered.

"And not one picture of the "stump puller."!!!! Why?????"

Field File 7, page 72: the 1896 patent drawing of a capstan stump puller, every part numbered, plus a real tripod puller photographed in Washington.

"I wish the early part of this included a picture of a Howe Truss instead of just pictures of bridges."

Field File 8, page 82: the Historic American Engineering Record drawing of a Howe truss, with the chords, braces, counterbraces and iron rods pointed out one by one.

"Anyone got a map of these flumes?"

Page 11 and Field File 5: the Kings River flume traced from the mountains to Sanger, about 54 miles and almost 4,200 feet of drop, with an 1889 photograph of it being built.

"Why no picture of unit, no diagrams."

Every field file: one real photograph or drawing with a numbered "What to look for" key, so you can find each part yourself.

What you can explore

  • See the actual machines: donkey engines, the Lombard log hauler, the big wheels, the flumes.
  • Follow numbered "what to look for" notes around each main photograph.
  • Read what the men who wrote about the work at the time actually said.
  • Keep the hard numbers in one table per file, each tied to a source.
  • Find the museums and sites where you can still see these things.
  • Put names and places to the old photos in your own family's albums.

How the files were made

  1. Built from public-domain sources, chiefly Ralph Clement Bryant's Logging (1913), a forestry textbook written while this work was still being done.
  2. Only real period photographs and drawings. No AI pictures, no colorized or staged images.
  3. Every picture is captioned with what it shows, where and when, and the archive it came from.
  4. Facts, my own interpretation, and camp stories are kept apart and labelled.

What's inside

  1. Two fallers on springboards beside a finished undercut, axes resting in the notch and a crosscut saw stood against the stump. Snohomish County, Washington, about 1913.
    Field File 1
    Felling the Giants by Hand

    Springboards, double-bitted axes, crosscut saws, undercuts and wedges in the Pacific Northwest and the redwoods, from about 1900 to the 1920s

  2. A two-horse team with a pair of big logging wheels, a load of short logs slung beneath the axle, Michigan, 1915. Hendrick family photos, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (PD-US).
    Field File 2
    Skid Roads, Ox Teams and Big Wheels

    The greased log road of the Pacific Northwest and the high-wheeled log cart of Michigan, about 1850 to 1920

  3. Patent drawing, sheet 1, of Alvin O. Lombard's "Logging Engine," US Patent No. 674,737, application filed November 9, 1900, patented May 21, 1901.
    Field File 3
    The Winter Haul

    The iced sleigh road, the water-tank sprinkler and the steam log hauler in the Maine woods and the Lake States, about 1885 to 1917

  4. A donkey engine at the head of a skid road, with its crew, 1894. Photographed by Carpenter.
    Field File 4
    The Steam Donkey and the High Lead

    The donkey engine, the spar tree and the whistle punk in the Pacific Coast woods, 1881 to the 1930s

  5. A log chute of long logs laid side by side, with a smoothed timber down the middle and a man standing at the far end, built by Dan Little near Kelso, Washington, about 1898. The handwritten caption on the original reads
    Field File 5
    Flumes and Log Chutes

    Lumber flumes, log sluices and timber chutes in the American West and beyond, 1850s to 1920s

  6. A timber splash dam on Chenois Creek in western Grays Harbor County, Washington, about 1905, seen from below, with its gated opening at the center and logs lying in the creek bed in front.
    Field File 6
    River Drives and Log Jams

    Spring drives, splash dams, peaveys, pike poles, bateaux, wanigans, booms and log marks on the rivers of the North, from the 1850s to the 1910s, with the St. Croix jam of 1886

  7. Patent drawing for a capstan stump puller, U.S. Patent No. 557,630, granted to Louis J. Widmer of Waco, Texas, April 7, 1896. Fig. 1 shows the machine at work between two stumps; Figs. 2 and 3 show a section and a plan v
    Field File 7
    Stump Pullers and the Cutover

    Capstan and tripod stump pullers, stump blasting and the cutover farms of the Great Lakes States, about 1880 to 1930

  8. HAER measured drawing of the Howe truss in the Knights Ferry covered bridge over the Stanislaus River, Knights Ferry, California, drawn in 2011, with chords, diagonal braces, iron tension rods and wedges labeled.
    Field File 8
    Timber Trestles and the Howe Truss

    Timber trestles and the Howe truss on America's logging and main-line railroads, 1840 to the 1920s

Plus: a timeline, a map of where it happened, a glossary, places to visit, keeping your family's logging photographs, and a viewing guide to the videos.

See the full table of contents
  1. A Note from Arthur, page 3
  2. How to Use These Files, page 4
  3. The Timber Age at a Glance, page 5
  4. Where It Happened, page 9
  5. Field File 1: Felling the Giants by Hand, page 12
  6. Field File 2: Skid Roads, Ox Teams and Big Wheels, page 21
  7. Field File 3: The Winter Haul, page 30
  8. Field File 4: The Steam Donkey and the High Lead, page 41
  9. Field File 5: Flumes and Log Chutes, page 51
  10. Field File 6: River Drives and Log Jams, page 61
  11. Field File 7: Stump Pullers and the Cutover, page 70
  12. Field File 8: Timber Trestles and the Howe Truss, page 80
  13. Words from the Woods, page 90
  14. Places to Visit Today, page 95
  15. Keeping Your Family's Logging Photographs, page 98
  16. Watching with the Files, page 100
  17. A Last Word from Arthur, page 102
  18. About This Book, page 103

Look inside

Sample page from the book
The opening page of Field File 4: The Steam Donkey and the High Lead
Sample page from the book
Inside Field File 4: a period photograph from the file
Sample page from the book
The map of where it happened

Read a free sample: the cover, the contents, my note and one complete field file.

Download the free sample (PDF)

For you if

  • you enjoy our logging videos and want to see the machines properly;
  • you like old photo books and the details in them;
  • someone in your family worked in the woods.

Probably not for you if

  • you want modern forestry or tree-felling instruction;
  • you want a printed hardcover (this is a PDF you can print);
  • you are looking for never-before-seen archive discoveries. These are public records, carefully chosen and explained.

What viewers say about the logging videos

Real comments left on Global Old History videos, quoted word for word. They are about the videos, not reviews of this book.

"This should be in every elementary school in the United States. I would've loved to see this in a history class."

on "How America Built Wooden Bridges Across Canyons"

"Well researched and presented! This info is priceless for future generations. Thank you for putting it all together."

on "How America Built Wooden Bridges Across Canyons"

"I enjoy history and the untold stories of history because if we don't talk about it, it's gone forever."

on "How America Built 50-Mile Wooden Flumes Through Mountains"

"My great grandfather and grandfather logged and fished in the PNW. My grandmother cooked at a logging camp."

on "How America Built 50-Mile Wooden Flumes Through Mountains"

"Great old-school storytelling. It still holds up."

on "The Wooden Highways That Moved Logs Faster Than Trains"

"Amazing history. Amazing men that built it."

on "How America Built Wooden Bridges Across Canyons"

Everything arrives the minute you pay. Read it on a phone, a tablet or a computer, or print it if you would rather hold paper.

Arthur Bennett's Timber Age Field Files

The wall map poster from the optional Print Pack Timber Age Field Files, Volume 1, cover with Arthur Bennett A photo plate from the optional Print Pack: a steam donkey engine, 1894
  • Timber Age Field Files, Volume 1

    103 pages. 8 field files of real period photographs, drawings and records, with Arthur's notes on what to look for.

    $19
  • Timeline, map and places to visit

    Where it all happened, when, and the museums where you can still see the machines.

    INCLUDED
  • 31-day money-back guarantee

    Not what you hoped? Email us within 31 days for a full refund.

    INCLUDED
  • Print Pack (optional)

    The wall map and timeline as two 18 by 24 inch posters, plus 12 framable photo plates. Tick the box at checkout if you want it.

    +$12
Today's price $19
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Printable, made to keep

Large, easy-to-read type with every photograph captioned and sourced. Yours to keep, on any device or on paper.

Questions

What do I get, exactly?

One PDF file of 103 pages: 8 field files, a timeline, a map, a glossary, places to visit, a page on family photographs, a viewing guide and full sources.

How do I receive it?

Right after checkout you get a link to download the PDF.

Can I print it?

Yes. It is laid out for ordinary letter paper.

Will it work on my tablet or phone?

Yes. It opens in any PDF reader, including the ones built into phones, tablets and computers.

Aren't these photographs free online?

Yes. They are in the public domain, and the book says where each one lives. What you pay for is the finding, checking, dating, captioning and explaining, gathered in one place.

Who is Arthur Bennett?

Arthur Bennett is the digital presenter of Global Old History. The facts in the files come from the public records cited on every page, not from personal experience.

Will you try to sell me anything else?

At checkout you can tick one optional extra, the Wall Map and Timeline Posters for $7. After you pay, the next page has your download and one optional offer, the Photo Plate Collection. You can skip both, and your download is never held back.

What if I don't like it?

Email us within 31 days of buying and you get a full refund. No questions, no forms.

Is it the same as the videos?

No. The videos tell the stories. The files hold the pictures, drawings, records and numbers still, so you can study them.

The real machines of the logging era, up close.

Timber Age Field Files, Volume 1. Printable PDF, $19. 31-day money-back guarantee.

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