From Retronaut, a photo series of lumberjacks in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Before the advent of modern chainsaws and logging machinery, the hard work of the lumber industry was done by men known as lumberjacks.

Working out of remote camps, lumberjacks developed a process and division of labor to transform a mighty tree into kindling by hand.

"Fallers" did the actual job of felling a tree with axes and saws. Once felled and delimbed, a tree was either cut into logs by a “bucker,” or skidded or hauled to a railroad or river for transportation. Sometimes chutes with flowing water called log flumes were built to transport logs down mountainous terrain.

Featured image: "Three lumberjacks pose by a large Douglas fir ready for felling in Oregon" in 1918. Copyright Corbis.