This was a very short-lived timber company that had lots of potential, but the timing was not quite right.With the arrival of the Fernley & Lassen Railroad provided many opportunities as it provided a transportation conduit that had not been in existence.
The Western Timber Treating was a Sacramento based operation. It was their intention to harvest lodgepole pine and treat it with creosote (a tar based oil), as it made for a superior pole. Cedar had been pole of choice, but the supply of it became more difficult to obtain due to depletion from harvesting. The firm figured that with modernization taking place, i.e., electrical and telephone services, there would be a great demand for its probuct.
The company negotiated a ten year lease with the Lassen National Forest for two million board feet of lodgepole pine. The company would pay the Forest Service half a cent per lineal foot. This timber was located eighteen miles west of Susanville, and adjacent to the Fernely & Lassen Railroad.
In 1913, the company went to the residents of Susanville for support in their venture-first with stock options. As an incentive to the sale of stock locally, it offered to create Board of Director seats to be filled by Susanville residents. But the sale of stock was minimal, and no plant was constructed. No one from Susanville was appointed to the Board.
In October 1913, the company established a logging camp approximately eighteen miles west of Susanville. This camp employed 25 people. It was the firm’s intention to operate six additional camps in 1914. The company continued with logging operations through the 1915 season.
There were problems on horizon. The first it encountered was the shortage of creosote. At the time, the majority of of the supply of creosote came from Europe, which was now engaged in war. There were financial difficulties as well. By 1916, court judgements against the company had been rendered. The final outcome resulted with the take over by the Burton-Cotton Lumber Company of Salt Lake City. One of the principals in that company was C.E. Cotton, an important figure of the formation of the Lassen Lumber & Box Company.
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