dlvldon ol The Charler Nelron Oo.) Yard, l)ochs and Planing Mill

1446 E. ANAHEI'|I STREET

$ll nrlngton, Calilornia

more prominent dams u'ere Johnson, Hell Gate, Valentrne, North Fork and the South lfork. Along the way, many of the heavy butt cuts ank and found resting places alc-rng the river bottom. These are the logs that are being recovered today.

Fred Ball and his crew are now recovering about 30 of these logs a day from the bottom of the river. On most, the sapwood and bark are gone, but the remaining wood is as solid as the day the tree was felled. A recent sample run through the saw mill showed a predominance of upper grades-lumber from logs, n any of which havc been submerged in the Big River for nearly 100 years !

1'o bring the logs from the river bottom to the shore a l'. .\' ll. slrovcl rigged rvith a boom is being used. A yarding line extencls from the boom to the other side of the ri...er. A set of tongs similar to those used on a trackloader are lowered into the water and guided to a hold on the log by the crew. The husky P. & H. shovel then makes short work of removing the log from its hibernation and bringtng it to shore. Parker Ball and John Fraser operate from a boat in the river, probing for the logs rvith pike poles. When they are over the 1og, tl-rey guide and fasten the tongs and Gail Hayter, operating the shovel, brings the log into position for Delbert Wade to set the choker. John trnglish u'ith his Cat and arch take them away. The logs rvill be cold decked and sawn at Fort Bragg this r',.inter. Perhaps some day a complete history can be assembled of this Big River country for it is gigantic in its background of early California logging. The Big River operation is a lever tripping the memory 'w'heels of many rvho have seen it. The logs and their brands start the conversations of other days and of the men rvho cut them, brought them to the river, tripped the dams, broke the jams and later towed them to the Mendocino mill behind the old sternrvheeler Maru. Some of the brands found have been identified as follows : "E:' Boyle i "J," Johnson; "V," Valentine; "N," North Fork; "M," Mallory. Then there are those that as yet remain unidentifiedi "JS," "OO," "OOO," "C5," and one that appears to be trvo rails over three ties.

It's pleasant to reminisce about the yesterdays and the thought seldom enters our minds that today we are assembling the history of tr,rmorrorv. Today, each time Parker Ball and John Fraser u'ade in water up to their rvaists fastening the tongs to another Big River 1og, it is just plain hard u,ork. In the years ahead it will have been an adventure.