Holy Old Mackinaw; A Natural History of the American Lumberjack (original 1938; edition 1938)

Holy Old Mackinaw is Stewart Holbrook's paean to "the pure logger strain", those hardy men who logged the northern pine forests across the country in the days before steam power and eventually the internal combustion engine mechanized the industry. In his early years, Holbrook worked in logging camps from Maine to the Pacific Northwest, and this book is based on the tales he collected from the last of those old timers. His love of the most extreme characters is obvious, as he bemoans the encroachment of civilization in all its forms. ( )