Building Westwood

One of the nice features using this forum, instead of traditional print, some photographs will not print well. The above is a perfect example, yet it is an interesting photograph. This is at 501 Main Street, now Uptown Cinemas. This caravan of equipment is headed to Westwood while the first sawmill was under construction. Courtesy of Marcella Mathews Searles.
One of the nice features using this forum, instead of traditional print, some photographs will not print well. The above is a perfect example, yet it is an interesting photograph. This is at 501 Main Street, now Uptown Cinemas. This caravan of equipment is headed to Westwood while the first sawmill was under construction. Courtesy of Marcella Mathews Searles.

When the Red River Lumber Company finally decided, or actually more to the point Fletcher Walker demanded the Mountain Meadows location or otherwise he was going to quit, there were numerous hurdles to overcome.

During the initial construction phase of 1912-13, everything would have to be freighted in, while the railroad was under construction, and it would not be completed to Westwood until February 1914.

Highway 36 Fredonyer
The road over Fredonyer as it appeared in 1914.

The bulk of the machinery was shipped by rail on the Western Pacific to Doyle. Smaller shipments also went by the Western Pacific to Keddie. In either instance, that is still a long haul for all the machinery to build one of the largest electric sawmills. In addition, all the auxiliary items needed to build a company town. This is before paved highways no less, and the truck traffic certainly made its imprint on the roads, though not in a favorable way.

Hopefully, bringing you this information, it might give you a tiny incentive to part with five dollars a month to keep things running.

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