This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student documentary initiative, called "Stories: Yes." The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.
Recorded by Buffalo Island Central High School, EAST Students, in conjunction with the Buffalo Island Museum, Arkansas.
Jerry McAfee shares about the work that his dad did as a saw filer cutting down huge cypress trees when the timber was being cleared in Buffalo Island, Arkansas. This story is part of Buffalo Island Central EAST's online story map From Swamp to Farmland and exhibits at the Buffalo Island Museum, which both trace the the history of agriculture in the area.
Jerry McAfee (00:04): Yeah, my dad told me about... He actually worked over on Blackwater. He was a saw filer, and they cut them large cypress trees. I mean, they were humongous. And they'd build a scaffold around the tree, eight-foot-high because they couldn't saw it down low. And they had to cut the trees down like that because they were so large.
Asset ID: 2018.20.17
