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66 w ere hand saws u s e d t o c u t t h e e n d s o f f th e lo g s o v e r l a p p i n g on t h e c o r n e r s and s m a l l a u g e r s f o r making dowel h o l e s i n t o w hich dow els o r wooden p e g s were d r i v e n i n o r d e r t o b e t t e r " t i e " th e lo g s to g e th e r. Such wooden pegs w ere o b s e rv e d i n Id a h o , and r e f e r e n c e s t o them o c c u r i n p i o n e e r l i t e r a t u r e , b u t most l o g s t r u c t u r e s were b u i l t w ith o u t them. Most re m a in in g l o g work d a t i n g from t h e i n i t i a l p hase s e t t l e m e n t i n d i c a t e s t h a t l o g s w ere o r d i n a r i l y l e f t unhewn ( i n t h e ro u n d ) b u t p e e l e d o f b a r k . Bark l e f t on t h e lo g s ( e s p e c i a l l y co ttonw ood) was n o t o n ly c o n s i d e r e d u n a t t r a c t i v e , i t a l s o p r o v id e d a n ic h e f o r h a r b o r i n g a n t s , t e r m i t e s , and o t h e r such v e rm in , th u s i n c r e a s i n g th e d e c a y r a t e (Mason, 17) and making l i f e i n t h e c a b i n m i s e r a b l e . B u i l d i n g w ith hewn l o g s r e q u i r e d more l a b o r b u t o f f e r e d t h e p i o n e e r many ad v an ­ t a g e s and p o s s i b l y a l i t t l e p r e s t i g e . Hewn lo g s e x h i b i t e d s k i l l e d a x m an sh ip , b u t more i m p o r t a n t l y , t h e y form ed a m oreo r - l e s s plumb w a l l s u r f a c e w ith t i g h t - f i t t i n g lo g s r e q u i r i n g o n ly a s m a l l amount o f c h i n k i n g . They e a s i l y l e n t th e m s e lv e s t o t h e s u b s e q u e n t a p p l i c a t i o n o f p l a s t e r o r w e a th e r b o a r d in g . Hewn lo g w a l l s were common on h o u s e s an d a few p u b l i c b u i l d ­ i n g s b u t r a r e l y o c c u r r e d i n th e farm y a rd . D u rin g t h e s e c o n d l o g b u i l d i n g p h a se a d d i t i o n a l t o o l s became a v a i l a b l e , e s p e c i a l l y w a t e r - o r steam -p o w ered saws and iro n n a i l s . Power saws a p p e a re d t y p i c a l l y w i t h i n f i v e o r t e n y e a r s o f i n i t i a l s e t t l e m e n t , b e g in n in g i n t h e 1850s i n t h e o l d e s t co m m u n itie s ( H u n te r, 3 5 5 ). They w ere e r e c t e d on r i v e r s o r c r e e k s i n t h e can y o n s a s c l o s e a s p o s s i b l e t o t h e c o n i f e r o u s Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.