A turn of the century, hulking piece of machinery that helped quicken the pace of logging in the Pacific Northwest was dedicated to a Amboy museum Saturday, concluding a project nearly two decades in the making to salvage the historical artifact.

“The knowledge of the people involved made it possible. A lot of what it took to complete the project could be seen as a lost art,” said Jim Malinowski, North Clark Historical Museum board of directors president.

The museum is now home to a steam donkey built in the early 1900s. Seattle-based Washington Ironwork Co. manufactured the Rashford Steam Donkey #582. The machinery was last used by the Nick Rashford Logging company.

582 is the second steam donkey on the museum grounds, and it is second only to the museum itself in terms of historical significance, said Malinowski. The museum was formerly a church, completed in 1910.

A steam donkey, or donkey engine, is a steam-powered winch, or logging engine, used during the steam era of logging. They moved — lifted and dragged — logs from stump to logpile, or to load the logs onto skid roads and train cars.