Tag Archives: Red River Lumber Company

History

Red River Lumber Company’s Mill B

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Mill A, Westwood, 1914–Leona F. Byars

Truth be known in the beginning Red River Lumber Company had three sawmills at Westwood. The first was a portable circular sawmill powered by an old hay threshing machine engine. This mill was assembled  in September 1912 and sawed its first piece of lumber on October 1. This mill would provide lumber for construction of Mill B. Mill B would in turn supply lumber for Mill A, the permanent one.

Mill B had a 40,000 board feet daily capacity. The mill was pushed to its limits and it became around the clock operation. Of that output, common grade lumber was utilized to build the town and highest-grade lumber was stored awaiting shipment for when the railroad arrived.

There are discrepancies as to when Mill A was placed into operation. Some accounts have that the first board produced occurred as early as May 1, 1914 and others as August 1. Interestingly, both Mill B (temporary) and Mill A (permanent) were running at the same time. The record is not clear what Red River’s plans were for Mill B. Unfortunately, the issue was resolved when on September 8, 1914, it was destroyed by fire. The fire had originated when sparks ignited the nearby sawdust pile. The fire was fanned by strong winds, which quickly spread to the temporary mill and destroyed it. All efforts were made to contain the fire to the mill, which they succeeded thereby saving the nearby planing mill and lumberyard. While the mill was equipped with automatic sprinklers they malfunctioned during the fire. After the fire, it was discovered there was a piece of wood inside the pipe blocking the flow of water.

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History

Who to Blame?

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Red River’s lumberyard up in flames, September 17, 1917. Courtesy of Walter “Doug” Luff

For years corporations and politicians, too, during any major event play the unfounded  blame game to curry favor in public opinion, even what they relayed had no factual basis. At the same time, behind closed doors, their actions were the opposite.

An interesting case occurred on September 17, 1917 when the south lumberyard of Red River Lumber Company’s Westwood operation caught fire.The fire destroyed two million board feet of lumber valued at $800,000. Officials were quick to pass judgement that it was an arson set by the Industrial World of Workers (IWW) a union detested by lumber companies. While the charges would later be unfounded, Red River’s initial message of the dangers of unions was the major headlines and that was what the public believed.

The story does not end there. Red River filed a lawsuit against American Cast Iron Pipe Company for $91,305.31 for defective water pipes that hampered fire-fighting. As can be customary in civil litigation, the case dragged on and did not go to trial until June 1923. The court side with American Cast Iron Pipe  and Red River lost the case.

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History

Industrial Workers of the World

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Employee entrance at Red River Lumber Company’s mill, Westwood

Since it is Labor Day, it is only fitting to have a topic about the labor movement. With the events leading up to World War I, demand for lumber soared. It was in the Pacific Northwest that two labor organizations—the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the American Federation of Labor (AFL)—gained momentum in union organizing in the lumber industry.

The IWW had an image problem. It was considered radical in its
thinking for the time. Some considered it a communist organization. It gained notoriety for its strikes that were marred with violence. It
was from these and other factors, and with the emergence of the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumberman that hindered its movement.

After World War I the lumber market plummeted. This weakened labor’s leverage to organize unions. Yet, by the early 1920s, Fruit Growers Supply Company and the Lassen Lumber & Box Company established sawmills at Susanville. So these operations combined with Red River Lumber Company at Westwood, the IWW saw a lot of potential in Lassen County.  IWW members worked very hard to recruit there, but with little success. It could be perilous duty and arrests and convictions of suspected organizers occurred. Case in point is the story of Charles Griswold, alias Thomas B. Miller. A Red River employee, Griswold worked the green chain at the mill. He was arrested and charged with the violation of the Busick Injunction for recruiting members for the IWW—the Busick Injunction deemed the IWW was a part of a communist syndicate. On March 25, 1925 Griswold was taken to Susanville and a short jury trial was held. The jury deliberated for ten minutes before they came back with a guilty verdict. Griswold was sentenced to six months in the Lassen County Jail. He could consider himself fortunate for many who were charged with the same offense never had a trial and were automatically sent to prison.

The biggest problem IWW faced in Lassen County was that all three
lumber companies paid the prevailing wage, if not above, and provided better housing than found in other regions on the west coast. The employees had few grievances, so there was no incentive to be a part of the labor movement. It was because of these conditions that Lassen County sawmills remained union free during the 1920s.

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History

I am Stumped

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A P.J. Thompson late 1910s postcard

Today, I am suffering from some kind of mental block, as I am unable to pick a topic to write about. It happens from time to time. After all, this month, has witnessed a milestone of 3,000 posts since this website originated back in 2015. That is a lot material covered. So, I am taking a brief break today.

P.J. Thompson who was a professional photographer in Susanville from 1912-1920 did exceptional work. This postcard, today’s featured photograph, of an nine-foot sugar pine butt was not his best. We all have our moments. Hopefully, Labor Day Weekend will give me some inspiration.

Tim

 

 

History

A Made-To-Order Town

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The soda fountain in the Big Store. Westwood, circa 1917

Awhile back I wrote about Frona Colburn’s’ 1922 book The Kingship of Mount Lassen. As promised from her book, is her account of Westwood.

”Like a trip on the magic carpet is the transformation wrought at Westwood, a model town in Plumas County, set in the heart of a virgin pine forest skirting the southern base of Lassen Peak. All about one clean, sweet smell of newly cut pines, and the whole atmosphere is one of humming activity among an intelligent and contented populace. The five thousand inhabitants live in modern homes in a natural forest park. An eye for the beautiful has left the big white pines standing wherever possible, even along the graded streets, and the approach roadways leading into and out of town.

“It was the author’s good fortune to arrive at Westwood at noon, hot, thirsty and covered with volcanic dust. Imagine the surprise and joy of finding an up-to-the-minute department store—large, airy and cool—where a delicious crushed pineapple ice cream soda all but saved one’s life.  And the price, fifteen cents! This drink was served with all the daintiness of a metropolitan soda fountain, by a chap in white coat and apron spotlessly clean, and with manners to correspond.

Westwood has just ‘growed up’ in the heart of the woods, sixty miles from Nowhere, and is the last word in a logging camp. What gave it impetus? The constructive imagination of its founders.

Westwood, 1915. Courtesy of Leona F. Byars

“It is the pride and glory of the Walker family to have a nearly a perfect plant as it is possible to create and this desire includes evrything connected with the industry of lumbering. The whole atmosphere of Westwood is one of work. No loafers are permitted to stay long enough to breed dissensions. Every person bears his or her share of the work to be done, consequently there are no paupers and no destitution. Nor is there a shack in the town.

”Westwood baseball teams are not only natty in appearance but they can and play ball. Like the neatly-uniformed band they are an inspiration to all the surrounding countryside. Westwood musicians are in demand wherever good music has an appreciative hearing. The men at the head of the Red River Lumber Company not only know how to live themselves, but are willing that others may share in benefits derived from an intelligent, constructive attitude toward a big problem—that of pioneering in and out-of-the-way neck of the woods. The situation at Westwood would have delighted the soul of Peter Lassen, who was something of a sawmill man himself, and had a true woodsman’s love of trees.

“The Red River Lumber Company gives the following as their attitude toward the industry:

”It is our hope, by forestry practice, to so conserve the trees spite of our cutting (the largest of its kind) the actual amount of timber will never grow less but will remain forever a permanent thing of beauty, a field of labor and a source of supply.”

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History

The Climate Change Issue of the early 1900s

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Red River Lumber Company tree fallers
Red River Lumber Company, 1915

California did not know what to think of T.B. Walker and his Red River Lumber Company timber acquisitions in Northern California during the early 1900s. Walker at times was coy with the California newspapers about his intentions. This was due in part that the California operations would be run by his sons, and not by him.

Conservationists and farmers of the Sacramento Valley were concerned should Walker use the same timber practices as employed in Minnesota as it would be detrimental to the environment. They were concerned of the climate change effect when the mountains were denuded of trees, impacting snowmelt and erosion.

To calm the public fears, Walker stated:  “I will make my timber a perpetual resource. When I begin to manufacture lumber, my saws will cut timber only as fast as nature reproduces it.”  When questioned why he did not follow the same practice in Minnesota, Walker stated: “Conditions are far different there. Their excessive taxation forced me to cut the timber as fast as possible. Minnesota land is worth more for agricultural purposes after the timber has been cut off. In Shasta County, the timberland is not worth 50 cents an acre after the timber is cut off.” In conclusion, Walker stated he could do a better job conserving his vast timber holdings than the government.

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History

Michigan Big Wheels

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Red River Lumber Company, with Big Wheels and a McGiffert loader in the background. Courtesy of Hank Martinez
Red River Lumber Company, with Big Wheels and a McGiffert loader in the background. Courtesy of Hank Martinez

Logging operations of the early 1900s was extremely labor intensive. Motorized equipment was still in the experimental stages. One of the best advancements was the development of the Michigan Big Wheels, which everyone just called them big wheels. The wheels were a simple but efficient way to transport fallen logs to a landing, wherein they were then loaded onto railroad cars. The big wheels in time would become a key component in revolutionizing logging methods.

Horses provided the power to operate the big wheels. The name big wheels stems from their size ten to twelve feet in diameter. It was necessary for that size, in order to straddle a log and navigate moderate terrain. The logs were attached to a twelve foot tongue and with a lever, the driver could not only elevate a portion of a log in the front thereby making it easier to drag, but could loosen or tighten the cable, for braking purposes. One big drawback of big wheels was that it required a great deal of labor. Most big wheel logging camps employed as many as of 150 men. Two thirds of them worked as “swampers.” It was their job to remove brush, tree saplings, rocks and other debris that could injure a horse’s leg.

By the late 1920s, both Fruit Growers Supply Company and the Red River Lumber Company had replaced the big wheels with motorized “cats”.

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History

Another Forest Reserve Opinion

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A stand of ponderosa pine.

Susanville, was not alone in their opposition of the forest reserves. In November, 1902 T.B. Walker of the Red River Lumber Company had in a few years acquired some 200,000 acres of timberland in Northern California and addressed some of those concerns. Walker stated:  “These lands could be handled to better advantage for the general interest through the agency of private ownership than to have them tied up in the department at Washington. From a general knowledge of the case I am sure that the people of Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta and Siskiyou counties will regard this reservation move as extremely detrimental to their interests. Private ownership will better protect the timber against destruction by fire, will handle the timber cutting to better advantage to the commonwealth, will make a more continuous or perpetual timber supply, and protect equally as well the water supply and rainfall. There are a few townships and only a few along the Lassen range and in the mountains on the west side of the Sacramento Valley, running perhaps into the upper Trinity mountain country, that might reasonably be put into a forest reserve. Beyond that I think it would be unfortunate to carry out the forest reserve project.”

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History

Northern Counties Utility Company

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Birch Street, Westwood. Courtesy of Hank Martinez

In 1945, when Fruit Growers Supply Company took over the town of Westwood from the Red River Lumber Company it presented all kinds of problems. It should be noted for the record, Fruit Growers did not want Westwood or its mill, but it was packaged deal to obtain Burney Tract which contained a billion board feet of timber.

Westwood provided all kinds of challenges for Fruit Growers. What worked for Red River, did not for Fruit Growers. To provide water, telephone and electrical service to the community Fruit Growers formed the Northern Counties Utility Company. It was necessary for the company to avoid the involvement with its lumber and timber operations.  The residents were not happy with any change, and in the past their utility cost were included in the rent. Fruit Growers did not initially charge a separate utility bill. This, of course, was an accounting nightmare for Fruit Growers. In 1945, the utility company lost $35,549.65. Fruit Growers covered the loss from revenues from rental properties, but it was still a out-of-pocket loss for Fruit Growers. In 1956, when Fruit Growers sold Westwoof it was no longer their problem.

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History

Robert Stinson, Early Day Photographer

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Crystal Lake, Plumas County, 1914, is a Stinson photograph—-C.R. Caudle Collection

Robert Stinson was born in Quincy, Plumas County in 1882, and followed in his father’s footsteps as a commercial photographer. It was a tough trade to operate a business in a rural region. So like many others it became necessary to be itinerate traveling from community to community for business. In 1913, Red River hired Stinson as their company photographer, who at the time was located in Red Bluff. Stinson’s main job was to make a complete photographic inventory of all the buildings being constructed in the town, as well as the sawmill plant. A portion of this collection exists in the T.B. Walker papers housed with the Minnesota Historical Society. Stinson just happened to be at the right place at the right time, when Lassen Peak set off a series of volcanic eruptions beginning in 1914. Unfortunately, for Stinson and other photographers such as P.J. Thompson, were overshadowed by that B.F. Loomis, but that is another story, for another time. Stinson stay at Westwood was brief and left Red River in 1915 to be replaced Otto Kratzer. On a final note, Red River always had an in-house photographer, though they also hired others for commercial work.

Robert Stinson
Robert Stinson’s grave at the Westwood Cemetery.

For reasons not known when Stinson passed away in 1932, he was buried in the Westwood Cemetery.

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