Digital Exhibits

Belt-driven threshing machine and crew

Sepia-toned image of men loading grain into a belt-driven threshing machine. One man at the right of the image monitors the tractor whose engine is running the machine; the other of the long belt a man stands on top of a rick full of wheat, ready to toss it into the separator. Another man stands on a cart of wheat, waiting to be separated as well. The name 'Case' can be seen on pipe leading away from the thresher. J. I. Case invented the first successful threshers, which were originally horse-powered. Farmers rarely owned their own machinery; instead, large crews of itinerant laborers travelled up and down the Columbia River Basin during harvest season, following a machine owner to the various farms and working for several days to harvest and thresh the farmers' crops. Museum records do not identify a location for this image, which is part of the Herbert McMullen bequest. McMullen was a local photographer who also collected photographs and images from around the area.

circa 1900s-1910s

Agriculture

Tractors

Farm mechanization

Farm equipment

Wheat--Threshing--Machinery

Economic History

Scientific History

photographic prints

WCMpic_013526

Online access to this image is for research and educational purposes only. To inquire about permissions, order a reproduction, or for more information, please contact the Five Oaks Museum at Research@FiveOaksMuseum.org.

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Robert L. Benson Research Library, Five Oaks Museum

Still Image