Along the Northern Pacific Ocean lives a race of people that have known the land for centuries

MILL WORK

MILL WORK:

When the log was in place, unless used for a mortuary pole or a house post, it would be split into planks. The builder started with a marker wedge pounded into the face of the log to make a grooved line. Then wedges would be driven deep into the log at the groove which caused the wood to split. Wedges would then be driven into each side, further opening the split and loosening the embedded wedges for removal. With a spreading stick they would drive the split along by striking concave tipped wedges. This would split the log even further. After the top was split off this process would be repeated to make planks of desired thickness. Another method was for men to lever off planks with a crossbar. They would also remove planks from a standing tree by either removing with wedges pulling on a rope attached to the top of the plank, or by just leaving a crosspiece in a semi-split plank. The wind and weather would complete the work of the splitting. The planks ranged in size as well. Sometimes the tree would be chiseled into sections and then be split into smaller planks for such uses as a retaining wall.