Lumbering In the Mountains
It list'd to be a dangerous, thrilling and
strenuous operation, particularly «luring
the days of poor highway and rail transpor¬
tation, but conditions in recent years have
changed.
By WILLIAM A. ALLHANDS
BECAUSE of the vast forest
areas in western North Caro¬
lina. lumbering has, for many
years, played a colorful role in the
development of this region. Quaint
water-powered saw mills; crude
logging operations; and modern
and efficient methods have all had
a part in the drama of manufac¬
turing and marketing the forest
resources of these mountains.
When the earliest pioneers set¬
tled along the streams and in the
coves of this section, their building
needs were supplied from the
trees that grew within a "stone’s
throw” of their home-sites. Dwell¬
ings and other buildings were
constructed of logs, and furniture
was made from hand-hewn lum¬
ber. Later, as the demand for
lumber increased, water
power was harnessed to run
the early saw mills. Saws
used in those days were
called whip saws and ran up
and down, much like a big
cross-cut saw. The daily out¬
put of such a mill was only
a few hundred feet, but this
method of turning out lum¬
ber was used effectively for
many years, until more ad¬
vanced equipment was intro¬
duced.
Logging Operations
Logging operations consti¬
tuted, perhaps, the most
interesting phase in the early
development of lumbering in
the Carolina mountains.
With the increase of greater
markets for forest products,
many methods were devised
for getting the logs out from
the mountain wilds and
transporting them to the saw
mills. Pioneer loggers skid¬
ded the tree trunks down
the mountainsides to the
nearest stream, where they
were then floated to the
mills. There they were
sawed into various lengths
When the mountain heights were
unusually steep, as was often the
case, it was only necessary to give
the tree trunks a big shove and
let them roll down the mountain¬
sides. Throughout the Southern
Highlands, this method was usually
referred to as “ball-hooting.”
The "Jay-Grab”
The practice of dragging one
log at a time was slow and cumber¬
some, and when a device came into
use, known as a “jay-grab,” it in¬
creased the speed and efficiency
of logging operations in this area.
The “jay-hook” was driven into
a lead-log, to which a chain of logs
were attached. By the use of this
device a team could pull several
logs down a very steep grade.
When the logs got to travel¬
ling faster than the team,
the horses learned to step
aside into cleared spots,
which came to be known as
“jay holes.” The curve in
the "jay-grab” caused the
hitch to release, and the logs
would continue their course
down the grade until they
finally came to a stop. The
team was then hitched on
again and the trip was re¬
sumed down the mountain¬
side.
In later years, when big
lumber companies began
large-scale operations in this
area, the old practices be¬
came almost obsolete. Log¬
ging railroads soon scaled
some of the steepest peaks,
and reached far back into the
more inaccessible sections
of the mountains; and many
remarkable feats of engineer¬
ing were performed in the
building and locating of
these roads.
The crews who operated
the logging trains were a
hardy group of individuals,
who knew the "ups and
downs” of mountain rail-
of lumber and shipped out on the
early railroads.
Because of the rapids and shal¬
lows, found in practically all of
the mountain streams, it became
necessary to build splash dams at
various points, in order to create
a sufficient amount of water force
to carry the logs down to their
destination. Early dams were built
along the streams for this purpose,
and the remains of some of them
can still be seen in certain sections
of the mountains.
For many years, ox teams were
used to “snake” the logs down the
rugged mountain slopes. But, in
time, the ox gave way to the horse
and mule; and the horse and mule,
in turn, gave way to the big power
skidder.
THE STATE. NOVEMBER 20. 1047