Mississippi Harvest

Mississippi Harvest: Lumbering in the Longleaf Pine Belt 1840-1915by Nollie W. HickmanThe story of the mills the men and the methods that laid claim to one of Mississippi's major renewable resourcesIn this classic work of Mississippi history Nollie W. Hickman relates the felling of great forests of longleaf pine in a Southern state where lumbering became a mighty industry. Mississippi Harvest records the arduous transportation of logs to the mills at first by oxcart and water and later by rail. It details how the naval stores trade flourished through the production of turpentine pitch and rosin; and through the expansion of exports which furnished France with spars for sailing vessels. The book tracks the impact of the Civil War on Southern lumbering; the tragedy of denuded land; and finally the renewal of resources through reforestation.Born into a family of lumbermen Hickman acquired firsthand knowledge of forest industries. Later as a student of history he devoted years of painstaking work to gathering materials on lumbering. His information comes from many sources including interviews with loggers rafters sawmill and turpentine workers and company managers; and from company records land records diaries old newspapers lumber trade journals and government documents. While the author's purpose is to share the history of a natural resource he also gives the reader a broad backdrop against the panorama of Mississippi. Mississippi Harvest interprets the state's people agriculture industry government politics economy and culture through the lens of one of the state's earliest and most lasting economic engines.Nollie W. Hickman (1912-1987) taught at Perkinston Junior College (now Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College) and Northeast Louisiana State College (now University of Louisiana at Monroe).