Logging in Lafayette County, Missouri
Somewhere in Lafayette County, Missouri, worked stopped for a moment, and a photograph was taken.
Edwin Friederich Fiegenbaum, in a typical pose with his arms folded, and August Henry Begemann, atop the lead wagon, stop for a break while hauling sections of a cottonwood tree to the sawmill. The lumber was used to construct a shed and a granary on the farm that was owned by Martin Herman Fiegenbaum, then by John Henry Fiegenbaum and then by Henry Martin and Mary Ellen (Schmutz) Fiegenbaum.
The photo was taken in about 1935 on that farm on Douthit Road. According to my informant, the photographer would have been standing in the side yard of the old house that used to stand on that farm and was facing south. Judging by the shadows, the time must have been about mid-day. Perhaps the men had stopped for lunch.
No one has explained how the huge sections of log were loaded on to the wagons. Notice the mighty small ax driven into the top of the second log. It is the only cutting tool in sight. Perhaps the owner had a sense of humor, to display it so prominently.
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