TIMBERLAND TREASURES: Voices of the Mill Camp Kids and Friends. Compiled and edited by Karen Branscomb Milam

Benjamin Franklin Branscomb brought his family into the ancient forests of Mendocino County in 1880 and settled in Jackson Valley. The town of Branscomb was established within that area in 1894 near his sawmill, the first of many such mills that operated in that region in the decades to follow. Ben’s great-great-granddaughter, a former mill camp kid, has gathered 78 stories told by local mill camp families from the early 1900s to mid-century. Some people grew up among the giant trees, while others moved to nearby small towns where life was easier. Eventually, most moved to larger cities. This is a huge book—that reveals a historic and deeply human story of life in the timberland.

648 pp. 100s of illustrations; paperback, $39.50