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Tumult on the Mountains: Lumbering in West Virginia 1770-1920
A truly entertaining and historical book with educational merit that portrays the lumber industry from its inconspicuous beginnings through a century and a half of progress. The main emphasis throughout Tumult... is on the day to day work and lives of the men engaged in the felling, skidding, loading, hauling, and sowing of timber. This book includes 257 full-page photos and a map insert.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1964
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 10, 2012
If you want a flavor of an industry, a people, and a way of life
in a time gone forever, this short history of logging in West Virginia
delivers. The 256 photographs provide a real look into the logging days.
The first few chapters on the makeup of the forests, the development
of saws for milling, and transport of lumber are a bit text booky, a
lot of 'board feet' statistics.
The author has an obvious love of the forests and maintains
an historian's distance but eventually shows some grief on the loss
of the fantastic woodlands with:
"Who is to blame? -- The lumber barons who greedily grew richer
as the land was ravaged? The politicians who allowed them to
pillage the land? Or the people of the state who sat by and
ignored it all? Future generations will condemn all of them!"
The later chapters I found compelling reading, those on
'Life in the Woods', that is, the logger's life, a 'woodhick'.
There's a fascinating description of how a new man, a greenhorn
is treated in camp - don't hang your hat on the wrong nail!
Also fun is the chapter on "Blowing 'Er In", that is, what
a woodhick does in town after working six 11 hour days and getting
paid! As well as the chapter on the Boom towns.
In the summer of 2009 We visited the author Roy Clarkson, who
happens to be my wife's Great Uncle. She hadn't seen him in many
years. In the 1930s & 1940s Roy and my wife's mother grew up in
Cass, West Virgina, once one of the boom towns, now preserved as
an historical site.
After a drive across the state, Roy gave us a tour of the town.
One of the highlights is that the steam locomotive logging trains
have been kept operational and take tourists up the mountain side.
They are fascinating monsters and there's nothing like the haunting
wail of a steam whistle blowing through the countryside. Each type
of locomotive, Shay, Climax, Heisler, has their own distinctive sound.
A real glimpse, and I should add earful, into the past.
While visiting the town I learned that these locomotives have quite the
following, all kinds of folks come to see, ride, and study these engines.
There are fanatics on every aspect of these mechanical marvels. For them
this book has a chapter on the trains as well as a detailed Appendix on the
locomotives used in the logging in the state, and plenty of photographs.
Also fun to look through the Appendix of logger's phrases, most are of
the tools of the trade, but many are day in the life phrases- cat heads
are biscuits, frog eggs - tapioca, she boilers - women cooks.
Included is a fold out Map of the Band Saw Mills and Major Railroads
of the time period.
in a time gone forever, this short history of logging in West Virginia
delivers. The 256 photographs provide a real look into the logging days.
The first few chapters on the makeup of the forests, the development
of saws for milling, and transport of lumber are a bit text booky, a
lot of 'board feet' statistics.
The author has an obvious love of the forests and maintains
an historian's distance but eventually shows some grief on the loss
of the fantastic woodlands with:
"Who is to blame? -- The lumber barons who greedily grew richer
as the land was ravaged? The politicians who allowed them to
pillage the land? Or the people of the state who sat by and
ignored it all? Future generations will condemn all of them!"
The later chapters I found compelling reading, those on
'Life in the Woods', that is, the logger's life, a 'woodhick'.
There's a fascinating description of how a new man, a greenhorn
is treated in camp - don't hang your hat on the wrong nail!
Also fun is the chapter on "Blowing 'Er In", that is, what
a woodhick does in town after working six 11 hour days and getting
paid! As well as the chapter on the Boom towns.
In the summer of 2009 We visited the author Roy Clarkson, who
happens to be my wife's Great Uncle. She hadn't seen him in many
years. In the 1930s & 1940s Roy and my wife's mother grew up in
Cass, West Virgina, once one of the boom towns, now preserved as
an historical site.
After a drive across the state, Roy gave us a tour of the town.
One of the highlights is that the steam locomotive logging trains
have been kept operational and take tourists up the mountain side.
They are fascinating monsters and there's nothing like the haunting
wail of a steam whistle blowing through the countryside. Each type
of locomotive, Shay, Climax, Heisler, has their own distinctive sound.
A real glimpse, and I should add earful, into the past.
While visiting the town I learned that these locomotives have quite the
following, all kinds of folks come to see, ride, and study these engines.
There are fanatics on every aspect of these mechanical marvels. For them
this book has a chapter on the trains as well as a detailed Appendix on the
locomotives used in the logging in the state, and plenty of photographs.
Also fun to look through the Appendix of logger's phrases, most are of
the tools of the trade, but many are day in the life phrases- cat heads
are biscuits, frog eggs - tapioca, she boilers - women cooks.
Included is a fold out Map of the Band Saw Mills and Major Railroads
of the time period.
January 9, 2024
Excellent, thorough and quality all the way. The Professor is a wonderful historian of a subject he has captured in this memorable book....great collection of early photos and accurate reports of the activity of the various lumbering companies and sawmills.
October 2, 2022
mostly minutiae within the timber industry. not much plot lines concerning the industry or related societies. mostly pose and descriptions which were fun to read at times - especially life at the logging camps
January 9, 2012
If you want a flavor of an industry, a people, and a way of life
in a time gone forever, this short history of logging in West Virginia
delivers. The 256 photographs provide a real look into the logging days.
The first few chapters on the makeup of the forests, the development
of saws for milling, and transport of lumber are a bit text booky, a
lot of 'board feet' statistics.
The author has an obvious love of the forests and maintains
an historian's distance but eventually shows some grief on the loss
of the fantastic woodlands with:
"Who is to blame? -- The lumber barons who greedily grew richer
as the land was ravaged? The politicians who allowed them to
pillage the land? Or the people of the state who sat by and
ignored it all? Future generations will condemn all of them!"
The later chapters I found compelling reading, those on
'Life in the Woods', that is, the logger's life, a 'woodhick'.
There's a fascinating description of how a new man, a greenhorn
is treated in camp - don't hang your hat on the wrong nail!
Also fun is the chapter on "Blowing 'Er In", that is, what
a woodhick does in town after working six 11 hour days and getting
paid! As well as the chapter on the Boom towns.
In the summer of 2009 We visited the author Roy Clarkson, who
happens to be my wife's Great Uncle. She hadn't seen him in many
years. In the 1930s & 1940s Roy and my wife's mother grew up in
Cass, West Virgina, once one of the boom towns, now preserved as
an historical site.
After a drive across the state, Roy gave us a tour of the town.
One of the highlights is that the steam locomotive logging trains
have been kept operational and take tourists up the mountain side.
They are fascinating monsters and there's nothing like the haunting
wail of a steam whistle blowing through the countryside. Each type
of locomotive, Shay, Climax, Heisler, has their own distinctive sound.
A real glimpse, and I should add earful, into the past.
While visiting the town I learned that these locomotives have quite the
following, all kinds of folks come to see, ride, and study these engines.
There are fanatics on every aspect of these mechanical marvels. For them
this book has a chapter on the trains as well as a detailed Appendix on the
locomotives used in the logging in the state, and plenty of photographs.
Also fun to look through the Appendix of logger's phrases, most are of
the tools of the trade, but many are day in the life phrases- cat heads
are biscuits, frog eggs - tapioca, she boilers - women cooks.
Included is a fold out Map of the Band Saw Mills and Major Railroads
of the time period.
February 27, 2025
A personal note- The author's father was brother to my father's grandfather, although there is only about eight year's difference in the author's age and my father's age. (My father does not have any recollection of meeting that part of the family.) My grandfather was superintendent of a lumber mill in a now long-abandoned mill town near Swandale, WV until his sudden death in 1943. The author's books were a Christmas present for my father. Although he was nearly nine years old when his father died, my father worked in the mill after hours, cleaning the floors and bundling shims. He is excited about the books and currently enjoying the descriptions of the saw methods he recalls from spending time in the mill.
The author was born in Cass, West Virginia and his pride and love for the location and its lumber production history shows in his well-researched book. I was impressed by the beauty and size of the lost trees as well as by the descriptions of the difficult and risky way to earn a living. Mr. Clarkson included many photographs that help his book come to life.
I bought the books on ebay, but here is an additional shopping source for this book and other books about WV https://wvbookco.com/product/tumult-o...
The author was born in Cass, West Virginia and his pride and love for the location and its lumber production history shows in his well-researched book. I was impressed by the beauty and size of the lost trees as well as by the descriptions of the difficult and risky way to earn a living. Mr. Clarkson included many photographs that help his book come to life.
I bought the books on ebay, but here is an additional shopping source for this book and other books about WV https://wvbookco.com/product/tumult-o...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews