Field Program

The logging camp sprawled through the Greater Trego area of the Kootenai Forest.

Lime green larches littered a woodland carpeted in Douglas Fir and Lodgepole Pine, and the air was saturated with the smell of sap and bitter motor oil.

James Nelson is the lead supervisor of the camp, and the eldest of the logging men. His wife Joyce and two children, Joseph and Walter, live with him at the camp in the only cabin on the premises. While not a traditional practice, Walter is a newborn and Joseph is just 5, and James could not stand to leave them behind in Kalispell.

The Nelsons are a happy family, and none of them minded being away from their settled home. James was providing for the family, Joyce was able to care for the children without the external stresses of civilization, and the two boys had the largest playground of a forest that the other children of Kalispell surely couldn’t fathom.

One August morning, while James was lacing his boots to go work for the day, Joyce and the boys left the cabin before him to go for a walk. They set out down the dirt road eastward through the logging area before the crew was out to work. Joseph loved to see where the adults would work, imagining he too was a burly logging man. He toted his toy Model A car everywhere he went, letting the wheels of it guide his family's walk over fallen logs along the road.

No more than a half mile down the path, the family stopped by a slab pile that stood about 6 feet tall and stretched along the road for about 15 yards. Joyce found a smooth stump to sit on nearby to nurture Walter, while Joseph rushed to the pile to “play logger”. He’d find trees that stood greatly surrounding the pile, and mimic the motions he had seen his father do many times before. “TIMBERRR”, he squealed, as the tree in his mind toppled to the forest floor, spitting up pine needles and cones. An echo of the impact filled only his ears, bringing a wide smile to his face. After a half hour of the same, it was time for the family to head back, as the logging men would soon be out to work.

James had returned to their cabin just before an elk steak dinner that night, exhausted but content. The first face he saw upon walking through the door was Joseph’s. It was tear-stained and somber, with his nose pointed towards the floor. He had lost his toy car on their walk, and being without it all day had left him devastated. James assured him that he’d have the men look for it the next day, and this comforted the boy. He had great confidence in them, for they were whom Joseph looked up to.

Many weeks had passed since that day, and the toy hadn’t been found. Everyone had forgotten about it for the most part. Everyone besides Joseph.

The logging crew had packed up and left for the summer just a couple of days before, and it was just the Nelsons left in the camp to wrap things up. James packed the pickup truck with their final belongings, and soon, the family was driving down the logging road while Joseph gazed out of the back window at their cabin as it slowly shrank in size and disappeared around a corner. The pick up rolled by the slab pile, now much larger in size, and Joseph recounted the day he lost his favorite toy. Joyce had noticed the boy's sad stare and told him they’d search for another back in Kalispell. “Maybe someone will find it and love it as much as you did.” She followed. Joseph responded, “I hope so.”