Lincoln artist illustrates the historical transformation of Maine logging

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 1, 2026

The Maine lumbermen’s story during a tumultuous time comes to life in artist and former logger Roger Ryder’s paintings, reflecting his days of living in the woods at Telos Camp near Chamberlain Lake in the early 1970s as a Great Northern Paper foreman. This recent donation to Patten Lumbermen's Museum, made by his grandson, Vance Tompkins, 11, not only portrays the end of Maine’s river driving era, but marks the museum’s first steps to expand into the history of mechanized logging. The vibrant paintings detail the new equipment, night logging and the devastating spruce budworm that threatened Maine’s timber economy.