Book 2 - Nathan, Amy, Madison and Ethan Berga

ties. Then they would use an ox team to pull the logs;
Albert would take grease and go along and grease them.
They would pull those logs out of the woods, easy on
those grease skids you see. They had a main skid row…
they would roll them onto them skids and hook a big ox
team on, I don’t remember how many teams there were,
probably six to eight ox teams. They would drag the
logs out then, they’d run a railroad in and roll the logs
onto that. They’d take ‘em down to Kamilche and dump
them in the bay. There was a saw mill up in Tacoma
then - ‘course Buckley had a saw mill up in Tacoma -
they’d hall, raft ‘em and tow them up to Tacoma to cut
‘em up.” 70
STATE VS. JEROME FRY
Jerome gives his testimony
Jerome Fry, being first duly sworn on his
own behalf, testified as follows:
Q. You are the Defendant, Mr. Fry
A. Yes Sir.
Q. You may begin at the beginning and state
how this matter occurred
Oxen dragging fallen logs on the skid row
Logging was not without its’ dangers. While using his
ax, James Ellison was killed, when a piece of metal flew
off the handle and pierced his lung. He was 25. Many
such stories can be told throughout Washington.
Early life in Kamilche required discipline and hard work,
women were scarce, and logging camps dominated the
landscape. A traveling circuit-preacher made a stop in
Kamilche. During his infrequent visits, services would
be held, and marriages would be preformed. One visit
to Kamilche, the preacher encountered a woman who
wanted to get married, but was not yet engaged. The
64
A. Well, I went down to
the saloon on the 26 th , in
the afternoon, to see Mr.
Johnson...He had been
boarding with me...I took
it [a check] down and
gave it to him and I said,
‘There is the check that
I got for you and I want
you to endorse it,’ and he
took it and looked at it
and put it in his pocket...
I said, ‘Give me back my
check.’ ...And I struck at
him with the axe handle. He grabbed a bottle
and a glass and struck at me...I gave up trying
to get my checks then; he was too much
for me and I thought I would let my checks
go...he went after me and he struck me and
I picked up a piece of board he had for kindling
and I struck at him two or three times
with that... 90
Continued on page 72 Read the entire trial on page 102