Logs at a Landing Before the Spring Thaw

Logs at a Landing Before the Spring Thaw

Caption reads "Logs on Ice." Photo shows sawlogs piled on ice, probably on the Machias River; in the distance, a man with a dog are visible standing on the logs.This timber was cut in winter in stands near the river and skidded to the water's edge while the ground was frozen. The logs were piled at various riverside sites called landings; sometimes, as here, they used the ice itself as a landing. In spring, crews of log drivers, or "river pigs", showed up to oversee—using hand tools, physical strength, and mettle—the passage downstream to the sawmill.