The Cordova daily times., 1922-11-14
VY0MDNG'S TIE INDUSTRY IS
 A HARD LIFE

naCKS are Ioudy uOhoih6 AoA S D.
 tie camps along the Du Noir creeks west of here and just south Of Yei- lowstone Park, prepared for winter of isolation and more or less hardshlp in the felling of trees for the millions of railroad ties that next spring they will drive" down the, rapid creek wat CTS into the Big Wind River to the terminus in Riverton, Wyo.
 The annual "tie drive" is pictur- esque event, and the cutting and talk ing to market of railroad ties has be- come an industry of tremendous pro- portions in Wyoming. a,4.
 From October to early June the hundreds of "tie hacks" mostly Of Scandinavian descent, work in the below-zero weather on the mountain country, felling the lodgepole pines and trimming them into railroad ties. !, Wade In Chilled Water
 Then, when the melting mountain snows have swelled the streams to almost freshet pitch, the "tie hacks work, often waistdeep in cold water, for many weeks driving" the ties downstream. +..zr
 The timber is cut far back in the mountains, east of the Continental Divide, and is fashioned into railroad ties during the late winter and early spring The making of ties is not only laborious work. but calls for very high degree of skill with the ax. The "tie hack" first fells the tree, making low stump to avoid waste, and trims off the limbs with double-bitted ak, scattering the limbs over the ground so that they will rot quickly. The log is then flattened on each side with broadax and later is sawed into lengths of eight feet. Then the bark is peeled off, and the ties are piled along roads through the woods lead ing down to the waters of the creeks.
 The men, in woolen shirts, cordu- roy trousers and ,heavily-spiked boots, work all through the zero weather of the mountain winter, much of the time in deep snow, making it necessary fre- quently to shovel their way to the trees before felling them.
 The process of hauling them to the banks of the creeks is highly interest ing, some of the "hacks" actually haul ing ties on their improvised sleds, galloping wildly down steep embank- ments ahead of their loads and in im- minent danger of being overtaken and crushed by the heavily loaded, speed ing sleds. ..
 Drives" In Spring
 The low waters of the creeks dur ing the winter season allow the ties to be piled across the' streams from bank to bank, and with the melting of the snows in the spring everything is in readiness for the "drive" down. stream.
 As soon as the water is deep enough the breaking" crews start with the pile of ties farthest downstream; the center piles go out with rush due to the backed-up water behind them, and the crews continue to work up- stream until all the ties have been started on the crests of the creeks for their 100-mile journey to Riverton.
 Fight Log Jams
 Jams occur constantly in the course of the long drive" but men, work ing in freezing water above their hips, straighten out the tangled masses, while others are stationed at sharp bends in the creeks and along deep canyons to keep the long line of ties moving to their destination. Occa- sionalfy however, Il is fecsssary- te use dynamite to take the kink out of "solid jam"
 While high water is essential in the mountain creeks for the smooth move ment of the tie drives, comparatively low and calm waters serve the same purpose when the mountains of logs reach Big Wind River, and great "booms'' are formed where the creeks converge into this river and the "gla- cier of wood" is held until the Big Wind is placid stream.
 Riverton, Wyoming, where the ties are taken from the water and shipped by rail to points throughout the coun- try, experiences an early summer "boom period" when the hundreds of "tie hacks" receive their winter wages and while they weary hours away until it is time for the numbering SWedes in their nicturesuua red and