Steam Donkeys revolutionized logging in the early 1900s. Using a steam engine, they replaced the need for horses and oxen on a logging site. The steam-powered gears turned drums and winches with a wire rope that lifted, dragged, and moved logs from stump to pile. The Montgomery Family used their steam donkey to log the hills north of the McKenzie River between Vida and Leaburg. The Montgomery Logging company expanded and thrived in Oregon for over forty years.