Columbia Northwest Classics

Gyppo Logger

Margaret Elley Felt

Margaret Elley Felt�s autobiographical Gyppo Logger, originally published in 1963, tells a story almost universally overlooked in the history of the logging industry: the emergence of family-based, independent contract or «gyppo» loggers in the post-World War II timber economy, and the crucial role of women within that economy. For seven years Margaret Felt was her husband�s partner in their logging business � driving truck, keeping the wage rolls, and jawboning her way into more credit at the supply stores.Margaret Elley Felt is the author of thirteen books in addition to Gyppo Logger. She has contributed to popular magazines including National Wildlife and Parents Magazine, and was an editor and public information officer for several Washington State agencies.

Mexican Labor and World War II

Erasmo Gamboa

�Although Mexican migrant workers have toiled in the fields of the Pacific Northwest since the turn of the century, and although they comprise the largest work force in the region�s agriculture today, they have been virtually invisible in the region�s written labor history. Erasmo Gamboa�s study of the bracero program during World War II is an important beginning, describing and documenting the labor history of Mexican and Chicano workers in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and contributing to our knowledge of farm labor.��Oregon Historical Quarterly