40 YEARS AGO • AUGUST 9, 1979

HORSE LOGGING WORKS AT NOXON

Comparing the price of oats with the cost of diesel fuel led to a new way of life for a Western Montana family five years ago.

George W. Rigby, a rugged, 51 year-old logger from Noxon, Montana, has been operating a contract horse logging operation for Washington Water Power Company (WWP) on non-operating property of the utility near Noxon.

The Rigby logging activity is a family enterprise. Wife Joan, on the job daily with the menfolk cooks for her husband and two sons, Robert, 26, and Douglas, 21, who work as sawyer and utilityman. Mrs. Rigby also clears brush, piles slash and burns it. She can also fill in for her husband on the reins of their two beautiful Belgian draft horses, which pull huge logs from the woods to a nearby clearing.

Rigby logs 12 months a year and the only time he closes the project is when the snow gets too deep for the big horses.

“I decided five years ago that it would be far less expensive to log with horses than using expensive tractors and other equipment required for modern logging operations. We log about half the amount with horses than we could accomplish with mechanical equipment, but it is more enjoyable, and results in no harm to the environment,” he said.

Robert L. Strenge, a WWP officer, hired Rigby. “We decided years ago that something had to be done on our Montana properties to rid the forest of diseased, over-ripe and dying timber, and the Rigby horse logging team and crew have been accomplishing this goal.”

When one area is logged and thinned, the Rigby’s move to another parcel of land owned by WWP near Noxon and continue the operation.

A Sandpoint, Idaho native, Rigby grew up on a farm and was introduced to the logging business at the age of 12. “I learned the trade from my father, who was a tough task master and he logged with horses. I decided this was the way to go even before the nation’s energy crunch became so prominent in the news,” he said.

Prior to having open heart surgery five years ago, Rigby was employed by a large commercial logging company. Following his recovery from the heart problem, Rigby, his wife and two sons decided to return to the peace and quiet of 50 years ago, and engage in logging methods practiced by the pioneers.

“With my wife and sons on the job, we can produce up to 2,500 board feet of lumber a day, or about half the amount which could be logged with motorized equipment,” Rigby said. Although he relies greatly on his two big Belgians for horsepower, he owns a caterpillar and other modern logging equipment. He uses the diesel-powered equipment only when the undergrowth or other conditions are unsafe or too difficult for the horses.

The daily harvest of logged timber consists of diseased and dying lodgepole pine, white pine, cedar and larch, which is trucked to a nearby mill for processing into finished lumber.

Training the horses to work in the woods takes approximately three years. The two big Belgians are presently on the job for six hours a day, six days a week. Nan, a nine year old mare is the lead horse. She teams with 4 year-old John, a gelding. Nan will soon get time off for good behavior and will be spelled by a 3-year-old gelding that has been training by pulling cattle feed carts and extensive practice in the family corral.

“Both Nan and John are excellent horses, with Nan asserting herself as the ‘boss horse’ both on and off the job,” Rigby pointed out.

Rigby gives the horses exact commands, such as back-up, turn, whoa and a distinctive whistle that means pull. They obey their master’s commands instantly, but Nan will sometimes stop the action when Rigby yells too loudly.

It is obvious to anyone watching the Rigby logging operation that this happy and dedicated family is combining business with pleasure. “You can’t beat the quiet and beauty of the outdoors, even in the cold winter months. The fact we can spend every day in an environment we love is a dream come true,” said Joan Rigby.