“Log Dog, Mill, and Planer – Miniature Carving of an Upper Cumberland Plateau Historic Lumber Mill Operation.”

Prior to the establishment of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, logging camps and mills were ubiquitous across the Upper Cumberland Plateau region. Although logging no longer takes place within the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, the industry remains an integral part of the local economy. This model of a 1900s lumber mill operation, a hand-carved and painted sawmill, depicts four figures working with a log dog, a mill, and a planer. This piece, one of a collection of pieces of American folk art carved by William Monroe Burke (1948-1978) of Fentress County, Tennessee, was donated to the park in the early 1980s.