How one of America’s most dangerous jobs disappeared

Summary

The log drivers of the 19th and early 20th centuries were hardy workers who transported timber down rivers during the peak of the American lumber trade, navigating treacherous conditions and risking their lives for higher wages. These "river pigs" would ride logs through freezing waters, facing constant dangers like illness, injury, and drowning while moving massive timber from remote forests to sawmills. By the early 1900s, technological advancements like railroads and dams rendered this perilous profession obsolete, marking the end of an era of extreme manual labor in the logging industry.