Piling Lumber At South Baker In the Early 1900's

This is an early view of the lumber drying yard at the Oregon Lumber Co. mill in South Baker, Oregon. The stacks appear to be intentionally sloped to shed water. Notice also that no mechanical stacker is in use to lift the lumber to the higher levels. There was an incredible level of manual labor involved from start to finish in the lumber business of this era. On the left side of the shot you can see what I presume are standard gauge box cars waiting to be loaded for shipment out of the area. They are rolling on the dual gauge track system of the narrow gauge Sumpter Valley Ry. The scan is from the SVRR Archive.