Colorado circa 1900. "A Pike's Peak prospector." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative by William Henry Jackson, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.

Harbor Springs, Michigan, circa 1906. "Excursion logging train." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

Michigan circa 1890s. "Logging a big load." Continuing our Michigan travelog. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

Circa 1900. "Victor, Colorado. Gold Coin Mine." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

Kingston, Pennsylvania, circa 1900. "Breaker boys, Woodward Coal Mines." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.

A timber slide was a device for moving timber past rapids and waterfalls. The image here is of the main timber slide at Ottawa looking toward Canada’s parliament buildings. The men are riding a timber crib, which would carry up to 50 logs tied together down the chute. The ride was very fast and hilariously wet, which often attracted visiting dignitaries. In 1850, it was reported that up to 500 cribs went through this slide in one day. The logs were on their way to Montreal for shipment overseas.

Studio of William James Topley (1845-1930), Ottawa portrait photographer. View full size.

After he moved to Oregon in the early 1890s, my grandfather bred and trained teams of Belgians and other draft horses for the logging industry. This was one of his six-horse teams, hauling logs on a skid road near Clatskanie, Oregon, circa 1905. That's him seated at the rear, controlling the reins of the lead team from the saddle. View full size.

November 1942. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (vicinity). Montour No. 4 mine of the Pittsburgh Coal Company. Coal miner at end of the day's work." Medium-format negative by Johh Collier for the Office of War Information. View full size.

November 1942. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (vicinity). Montour No. 4 mine of the Pittsburgh Coal Co. Mine car operating off a trolley cable." Medium-format nitrate negative by John Collier for the Office of War Information. View full size.

1917. "Mrs. Van H. Manning. U.S. Bureau of Mines. Mine rescue methods. There were 750,000 men employed in coal mining in 1915, and of this number 2,264 were killed -- 190 less than in 1914 and 521 less than in 1913. 'This is the most gratifying report the Bureau of Mines has been able to make since it was established,' says Van H. Manning, director of the bureau. 'It indicates very forcibly to me that "safety first" has come to stay in the coal-mining industry.' " Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

"Interior Department, Bureau of Mines." Another circa 1920 view of research activities at the bureau's Washington offices. Harris & Ewing. View full size.

Circa 1920. "Bureau of Mines, Department of Interior, Washington." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative, Library of Congress. View full size.

October 1908. Grafton, West Virginia. "Harry and Sallie. Driver in Maryland Coal Co. Mine near Sand Lick. Was afraid to be photo'd because we might make him go to school. Probably 12 years old." Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.

October 1908. "Drift Mouth, Sand Lick Mine, near Grafton, West Virginia. Bank boss in center, driver on his right, trapper boy outside. Alfred, about 14 years old. He trapped several years during vacation, said he is going to school this year. Asked if it were because school is more fun, he said: 'This year hain't no fun!'" Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.

August 1942. Stillwater County, Montana. "Development at the site of the mill for the Mouat Chromite mine. Mouat was recently constructed at the foot of one of the higher peaks in Stillwater County." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. Library of Congress. View full size.