Name/Title
Venture Brook Logging Road, Edmunds, MaineDescription
These pictures capture scenes for the woods around Venture Brook in Edmunds. Teamsters with powerful draft horses were assisted by both horse drawn and mechanized equipment in hauling logs out of the woods in the winter of 1922-23.Context
Probably the most publicized event which ever occurred during a winter woods operation took place in the winter of 1922-23 in the form of a wood hauling contest between Venture Brook and railway siding at at Great Works, a distance of two and one half miles on a regular woods road. Special sleds were built to carry oversized loads of pealed spruce and fir four foot wood. The roads were plowed and iced for easy hauling. The winning load, scaled by Andrew Mattheson of the Higgins Brothers' crew and Larry Comber of S.D. Warren Paper Company, measured around 12 cords and three feet of pulpwood, which represented 170 trees. The load was 32 feet long between the stakes and piled twelve feet high from the bottom of the sled.. The spread of the stakes accounted for the extra three feet. James Lyons, with a 3400-pound team, Dick and jerry, landed the winning 18-ton load successfully at the siding. It is believed to be the biggest load of pulpwood ever hauled on one sled by one team of horses. The other load of similar size, with Willard Jones as Teamster, unfortunately upset within 20 yards of the goal.Collection
Dennys River Historic Photographs, Photos for Map
