Issaquah History Museums

From an early age, Archie Howatson wanted to grow up to be a logger—mostly because they looked sharp. He admired their hickory shirts, denims, and suspenders. He did become a logger, but in his oral history, the clothing wasn’t what stayed with him about his logging days.

Instead, Archie recalled what it was like before chainsaws, when loggers relied entirely on saws and axes and the old-growth timber averaged six feet across at the stump. A tree that size, he said, would take about an hour and a half to cut through. Using axes, a team of two chopped the undercut: one person working on each side, and one of them had to be lefthanded. Archie was righthanded, but he learned to chop either way.

Loggers also had to chop board holes into each side of the tree’s base for what they called the springboards. Once the boards were set in place, the cutters stood on them to make the back cut using a two-person saw.

After a day like that, Archie remembered being hungry. When asked how much he earned per day, “Oh gee, some twenty dollars. It’s not only the hardest work, but it was the highest paying job in the industry. So yes, we made a lot of money.”

As for the dangers when cutting timber, Archie thought the most dangerous thing was the widow-maker—a loose limb hanging in a tree. He’d seen many come down and had even been hit. Once, a falling limb broke his shoulder. Remembering the incident, he added that he was lucky he’d been wearing a hard hat, “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”

[Alfred Kerola and John Barlow, on springboards while wielding a two-man saw c.1905 / IHM: 95.016.001]

Did you know... that in 1930 Sena Wold won a trophy in an egg laying contest? Sena wasn't the one laying the eggs but she was raising those prize-winning hens on her poultry farm. It was a big year for Sena and that very trophy is on display at the Issaquah Community Center!

This latest exhibit also highlights the photography skills of J.W. Wilfong through his portraits of historic Issaquah residents. Paired with the portraits are personal objects of his subjects, along with military and Washington State's Golden Jubilee artifacts.

Stop by and check it out through July 2026.