The loggers who cut down trees were called fallers. Using their axes, they cut notches in the trunk for springboards. They then stood on the springboards and felled the tree with a crosscut saw. Cutting above ground level was easier because the trunk was narrower, and there was less pitch to gum up the saws. Even so, it might take two days of hard work to cut down a large tree.

In this photo, two fallers rest on their springboards while cutting a spruce tree. Their crosscut saw and axes are nearby. This photo was taken around 1905 near Gettysburg, Washington. The post office closed in Gettysburg in 1920, and the town was abandoned by the 1970s.

Notes: Negative inscribed: " Falling timber, Hall/Bishop, Gettesburg, Clallam Co. Wn. No. 108."
The photographer is possibly Axtell, an Edmonds, Washington, photographer of logging scenes. Axtell's given name is unknown.
Webster & Stevens number: 3597B

Caption information source: https://www.ghosttowns.com/states/wa/gettysburg.html