Known as the Pine Tree State, Maine once led the world in lumber production. It was the first great lumber-producing region, with Bangor at its center. Today, the state has nearly eighteen million acres of timberland, and forest products still make up a major industry. Logging and Lumbering in Maine examines the history from its earliest roots in 1630 to the present, providing a pictorial record of land use and activity in Maine. The state's lumber industry went through several historical periods, beginning with the vast pine and spruce harvests, the organization of major corporate interests, the change from sawlogs to pulpwood, and then to sustained yields, intensive management, and mechanized harvesting. At the beginning, much of the region was inaccessible except by water, so harvesting activities were concentrated on the coast and along the principal rivers. Gradually, as the railroads expanded and roads were constructed into the woods, operations expanded with them and the river systems became vitally important for the transportation of timber out of the woods to the markets downstate. Logging and Lumbering in Maine traces these developments in the industry, taking a close look at the people, places, forests, and machines that made them possible.

In this robust, informal book, Robert E. Pike tells the colorful story of logging and log-driving in New England. The New England loggers and river drivers were a unique breed of men. Working with their axes and peaveys through Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, they contributed mightily to the development of the United States. The daily life of the loggers was hard — working in deep icy water fourteen hours a day, sleeping in wet blankets, eating coarse food, and constantly risking their lives. Their pay was very low, yet they were proud to call themselves loggers. When they came out of the woods after the spring drives, they ebulliently spent their pay carousing in the staid New England towns. Robert E. Pike, who as a youth worked in the woods and on the rivers, writes affectionately and knowingly, with humorous anecdotes, of every detail of lumbering. He describes the daily life of the logging camps, giving a picture of the different specialist jobs: the camp boss, the choppers, the sawyers and filers, the scaler, the teamsters, the river men, the railroaders, and the lumber kings. His descriptions bring the reader vividly into the woods, smelling the tangy, newly cut timber, hearing the boom of the falling trees. "The author's lively prose matches the temper of his subject. . . . This is basic history, geography, psychology, economics, and folklore all rolled into one top-quality volume." — R. S. Monahan, New York Times Book Review

"When one thinks of Maine, one usually thinks of trees, forests, lumber, saw, pulp and paper mills. In many ways to forest and its uses are central factors in Maine history. Professor David C. Smith has written in other places about that history, but this book puts much of that knowledge together in a detailed unfolding of logging from 1860 to 1960 and its influence on the state and its economy. The book ranges from a description of life in the woods for the logger, through driving the rivers with the product of forest, to the saw mill and its manufacture and finally the shipping and sale of the end product in its foreign and domestic destinations. Attention is paid to the economy and social structure of the state and the effects of the national economy on the logger. The shift in the Maine woods to pulpwood logging and the growth of the paper mill is discussed along with the long and bitter fights for control of the rivers between downriver loggers and upriver papermakers. The long fight for the establishment of a state forestry and conservation policy is outlined, along with the career of Austin Cary, a pioneer forester. Life in the Maine woods in the twentieth century is portrayed, and such factors as the depression, the CCC, and the Second World War are also discussed. A handsome portfolio of photographs illustrating the lumbering process from the woods to the users of the products demonstrates the ubiquity of the logging business. Maine has had its forests from the beginning, their utilization is the lifeblood of the state's history. This book discusses that lifeblood and illuminates the history of the Pine Tree State. Among David Smith's published works are... "- Publisher.

Beginning in the mid-1800s and lasting for more than a century, Maine boasted a large number of lodges and sporting camps that catered to the pursuit of outdoor activities. While the primary interests of guests were fishing and hunting, many of the larger, more expensive resorts offered a variety of opportunities, including golf, horseback riding, tennis, boating, archery, and hiking, and some boasted gourmet dining and elegant parties. While some of these establishments survive, many have been demolished, existing only in memory and in photographs. Maine Lodges and Sporting Camps tells the story of the most prominent destinations, featuring nearly two hundred historic images that depict the life that existed when Maine was a sportsman's paradise, abounding in trophy game and fish.