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Redwood
History Basic Data |
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X. THE LUMBER INDUSTRY—1850-1953
A. THE LUMBER INDUSTRY in HUMBOLDT COUNTY—1850-1860
1. The First Sawmills
In Humboldt County the redwood zone extended in 1850 in an irregular belt 108 miles in length, varying in width from two to 20 miles, and embracing an estimated 500,000 acres. This territory included level river bottoms, plateaus, rolling land, and steep hillsides. Foresters in 1902 calculated that an average of 50,000 merchantable feet of lumber could be harvested from an acre, in addition to railroad ties, fence posts, shingle bolts, refuse, etc. [1]
Lumbering commenced in Humboldt County in 1850, but five years were to pass before any attention was paid the redwoods. The pioneer lumbermen were easterners from Maine and the Maritime Provinces of Canada, who were accustomed to the pine, spruce, and fir of their homes. They were familiar with these, and their kindred species, and their adaptability to the manufacture of lumber for use in the building trades, but because of the "in capacity" of the mills to handle the huge redwood logs and their ignorance of its adaptability for lumber, no redwood was shipped from Humboldt Bay until 1855. [2]
The first sawmill on Humboldt Bay, the Papoose, was built and put into operation in the summer of 1850 by Martin White and James Eddy. Their mill failed within the year, as did several others, including the Luffelholz. The first cargo of lumber shipped from Humboldt Bay was sawed at the Papoose and loaded aboard James H. Whiting. [3] On February 24, 1852, the first "really successful mill in the county was established by James T. Ryan and James Duff."
Ryan was an interesting character. Born in Ireland he had emigrated to the United States and settled in Massachusetts where he became a successful contractor. The lure of gold drew him to California, and in 1850 he reached Humboldt Bay. In 1852 Ryan bought the steamer Santa Clara and entered into partnership with Duff. The inexhaustible timber resources of the Humboldt Coast had made a lasting impression on Ryan. The little steamer was loaded with sawmill machinery at San Francisco, and she headed out the Golden Gate and up the coast. As she was crossing the bar at the entrance to Humboldt Bay, some of the machinery was washed overboard by the breakers. Undaunted, Ryan had Santa Clara anchored, while a crew was turned to digging a slip. A full head of steam was then raised, and the ship driven aground—bows on—in the slip. The ship's engines would be used to power the sawmill that Ryan & Duff constructed on the beach.
Within a short time, Ryan & Duff were sawing several thousand feet of spruce, fir, and pine a day. In June, Ryan & Duff loaded their first shipment on the brig, John Clifford. Beating her way across the bar, the brig grounded and was pounded to pieces. Several days later, Ryan & Duff sent off the brig Cornwallis, only to see her meet a similar fate. Ryan then got Hans H. Buhne to take out a third shipment in the bark Home. On July 4, 1852, Home hoisted anchor and made sail, but she was doomed not to reach San Francisco and was driven ashore on the south spit. Despite these blows and the destruction of their mill by fire, Ryan & Duff continued in business. [4]
One of those who went to work for Ryan & Duff was William Carson, a Canadian who brought the first ox team to Humboldt County. He was employed to oversee woods activity near Freshwater. In 1854 Carson left Ryan & Duff and purchased the Hula Mill. Within a year, by selecting the smaller logs, and not handling anything that exceeded five feet in diameter, he shipped 20,000 board feet of redwood lumber to San Francisco aboard the brig Tigress. In San Francisco the redwood was almost an instantaneous success. Because of its rot-resistance it soon commanded premium prices. Carson's Hula Mill was small, capable of producing only 5,000 feet of lumber a day, and operated by three or four men using a slash saw in place of the gang saw. [5]
2. The Humboldt Lumber & Manufacturing Co.
By 1854 there were nine mills operating on Humboldt Bay. As early as 1852 a commission had been named consisting of Ryan and W. H. Kingsbury on the part of management, and Carson to represent the loggers, to adopt a standard of measurement for scaling logs. The commission determined that all logs 12-foot long and up to 30 inches in diameter were to be measured by the Spaulding Scale, while those in excess of that size were to be measured by the Scribner scale. These guidelines for measurement applied to spruce, pine, and fir, but no standards were adopted for measuring redwood, because of its great size, shape, and peculiarities of its timber. Until after the turn of the century, redwood was scaled by a method drawing upon both the Spaulding and Scribner rules, combined with the judgment of the scaler. [6]
It was soon apparent to management that the local market and that at San Francisco were too limited to consume the entire out put of the growing Humboldt Bay lumber industry. To foster trade with Atlantic Coast ports and to secure other markets abroad, the operators determined to pool their resources. After a series of meetings, a number of mill owners united to form the Humboldt Lumber & Manufacturing Co., with a capitalization of $380,000. James T. Ryan was elected president and Martin White vice president. [7]
At the outset prospects were excellent. In 1854 the company exported 20,567,000 feet of lumber. Unfortunately, the operators were better production experts than businessmen. There was a financial crisis, when a number of customers failed to meet their obligations. In December 1854 the blow fell; many mills were compelled to suspend operations. Notices of sheriff's sales soon appeared in the Humboldt Times, and in April 1855 the mills of the association were turned over to their creditors. A new policy was instituted, which permitted only cash transactions, and limited operations were resumed. Recovery was slow, however. [8]
After considerable litigation, the California Supreme Court awarded Duff the ownership of Ryan & Duff in 1859. He put the mill back in production at a cost of $11,000 and ran it until October 7, 1862, when the mill was destroyed by fire. [9]
3. Other Mills—1852-1860
Another mill established soon after Ryan & Duff's was Martin White's Bay Mill on Front Street, between L and M Streets, at the fringe of Eureka. White joined the Humboldt Lumber & Manufacturing Co., and after the association went bankrupt, his plant was sold in 1856 to John Dolbeer and his three partners, Daniel Pickard, Isaac Upton, and C. W. Long. Charles McLean of San Francisco bought out Dolbeer's partners in 1859 and continued the business in partnership with Dolbeer. Disaster struck on September 1, 1860, when the mill was destroyed by fire. Dolbeer rebuilt the mill (known as Bay Mill No. 2), but as he was short of capital he signed a partnership agreement with William Carson on April 17, 1863. McLean had died by this time. [10]
In 1852 the second largest mill on Humboldt Bay was owned by Ridgeway and Flanders. Their plant was at the foot of G Street and employed 31 men. The next year, John Vance and Garwood purchased the operation for $65,000. In 1854 Vance refused to join the Humboldt Lumber & Manufacturing Co. His mill therefore was not involved in the litigation that affected most of the early plants. When Garwood was drowned in the capsizing of Merrimac at the entrance to the harbor, Vance was left without a partner. Vance died in 1892 and left his estate, including his mill, to his sons. [11]
In 1853 the Pine & Bean Mill was situated near the foot of H Street, James C. Smiley became a partner, and the plant became known as the Smiley-Bean Mill. The same year it was gutted by fire, and Smiley and Bean sold their interest in what remained to S. L. Mastick, who rebuilt and operated the mill until 1860. At that time it was purchased by John Kentfield and D. R. Jones. Jones in 1861 introduced the carriage, a device still used in mills to pull the log past the saw. This enabled Jones to expand greatly the plant's production. The operators soon were handicapped by a shortage of space, and they searched for a more favorable site. It was found on Gunther's Island, and construction of the new facilities was started on September 1, 1866. []12
4. Status of the Industry in 1860.
When the enumerator for the Eighth Census visited the Humboldt Bay area in June 1860, four sawmills were in operation. They were: Dolbeer & Co., John Vance, Titlow & Price, and Lyman Fish & Son. Dolbeer told the enumerator that he had invested $8,000 in his company, which in 1859 had turned out 2,050,000 feet of lumber, 450,000 laths, and 100,000 pickets, valued at $24,275. At his mill he employed nine men and operated four steam saws. John Vance valued his mill at $20,000. In 1859 his plant, employing 18 men and 36 steam saws, had cut 4,336,700 feet of lumber, worth $52,041. The two other mills reporting, Titlow & Price and Lyman Fish & Son, were smaller operations and located in Union Township. [13]
By 1860 Humboldt was the second ranking California county in production of lumber, sawing 30,000,000 feet per year. In Humboldt the principal lumber sawed was redwood, spruce, and fir, and small quantities of cedar. Most of the Humboldt lumber was shipped to the San Francisco market. Most of the mills were on the shore of Humboldt Bay, which was bounded by flats about five to six miles across. Through these flats meandered tidal sloughs, into which fed rivers and streams coming down out of the hills. The land had been in Federal ownership and, subject to preemption, could be bought. Lumbermen, owning claims along the sloughs, dragged their logs to the water and tumbled them in.
Those owning claims along the ravines at the head of the sloughs built wooden tramways (pole roads), consisting of small logs laid crossways on a roadbed to serve as ties. Then 6-inch trees were pegged together, and placed on the ties to serve as rails. On these tramways, they ran four-wheel wagons, each wheel of solid wood, eight inches wide, and from two to three feet in diameter, made of a traverse section of a tree. These wheels were hollowed in the center. The "cars," the weight of which was often nearly as much as the weight of the load, were pulled by eight- or six-horse teams. On these "cars" one or two logs were placed, and the team hauled the load down the grade to a slough. After the logs had been dumped into the water, the "cars" returned for another load. The tramways and cars were easy to build and did not require many materials shipped in from the outside. By 1854 there were 20 miles of tramways in the Humboldt Bay area. [14]
The thickness of the logs hauled varied from 16 inches to nine feet, with the average diameter four and one-half feet. Seven feet was the most common diameter of redwood to be sawed. The greater the diameter, the shorter the log was cut. The ordinary lengths of saw logs were 14, 16, 18, 20, 24, and 32 feet. Redwood was rarely sawn into more than 20-foot lengths. A good lumberjack could fell a tree of three-foot diameter in an hour; a tree five feet in diameter in three and one-half hours. Ordinarily two choppers worked together, one on each side of the tree. They used the American axe and axe-handle; the handle being about a foot longer than that used in Michigan and Maine. After the tree was down, it was cut into saw-logs with a cross cut saw, managed by one man. It had been found that one man could make a longer stroke than two, and as the length of the stroke was a matter of much importance to "clear the saw," or throw out the saw-dust, one of the handles was knocked off, and the saw held like a handsaw. [15]
After the logs had been rolled into the slough, they were made into rafts of from 50 to 100 feet in length, and from ten to 40 feet wide. The outer logs of the raft were fastened to each other at the ends, by small chains with a dog at each end, and a dog driven into each log. Ropes were used to keep the raft from spreading in the middle. When the tide ebbed, the raft was floated to the mill. If the tide turned before the raft had reached Humboldt Bay, it was made fast to a stump or tree on the shore, and the loggers waited the next flood tide. [16]
Every mill had a boom for logs. This boom consisted of large, long logs chained together and floating on the surface of a slough or cove. When the raft arrived, the boom was opened, the raft pulled in, and surveyed. This was done by a bonded estimator, who received ten cents per 1,000 feet of lumber, one-half to be paid by the loggers and one-half by the mill. The thickness of the log was taken at the small end, and one-fourth was thrown out as waste. [17]
On several of the smaller streams flowing into Humboldt Bay, dams were built, so that a combination of the water stored in the pool and spring flooding could be employed to push the huge logs into the bay, where they could be rafted. When cutting commenced on Mad River, a narrow canal, eight feet wide, was cut from the river into the north arm of the bay. A boom was thrown across the mouth of Mad River to arrest the logs as they came down, after which they were shunted through the canal. [18]
There was no place in the United States where the average thickness of the logs sawn in the mills was as great as in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, and the mills were built with reference to this situation. The frames were large and strong, and the saws of proportionate length. Four types of saws were used: the single-gate, the gang-saws in a gate, the muley, and the circular. The single-gate was secured in a frame, which played up and down. This saw was used for sawing small logs. The gang-saws were a set of saws fastened in a frame parallel to each other. In some gangs there were 24 saws side by side, and they cut a log into boards at one movement. Gang-saws moved slowly and produced smooth lumber. Boards, planks, joists, rafters, and studding were cut with gang saws. A three and one half-foot log was the largest that could be cut with gang-saws in the 1850s. The muley-saw was an upright saw, fastened at the lower end to a shaft connecting with a steam engine or waterpower, while the upper end was loose, playing in a groove to keep it straight. The muley was employed to cut the largest logs into bolts and to take off slabs, so as to reduce logs to a size suitable for gang-saws. The muley made 300 strokes a minute, whereas the gate-saw made about 100. The circular saw was used to cut all the thin siding, pickets, and laths. The largest circular saws in 1860 were 52 inches in diameter, leaving about 24 inches on each side of the axle. When large logs were to be cut with circular saws, one saw was put above the other, and one cut into the log from above, and the other from below, and in this fashion they could cope with logs up to four feet in diameter. [19]
B. THE LUMBER INDUSTRY in DEL NORTE COUNTY—1853-1881
1. The First Sawmills
The first sawmill in today's Del Norte County was established in 1853, soon after Crescent City was platted. Machinery for the mill was landed from Pomona in May of that year, and F. E. Watson built and operated this first mill for R. F. Knox & Co. of San Francisco. This mill was located in the gulch near the intersection of today's Third and C Streets. Many of the logs cut into lumber at the mill were hauled over Howland Hill from Mill Creek. To transport the logs, the loggers employed "two large wheels about twelve feet in diameter, with an axle between and a long tongue, on which the logs were loaded, and partly dragged and wheeled by oxen." [20]
Watson's Mill was enlarged and relocated in 1855 at the corner of today's G and 7th Streets, opposite W. A. Hamilton's residence. This mill was destroyed by fire in 1856, and some of the equipment salvaged by a Mr. Kingsland was used to build a small mill on Elk Creek. [21]
W. Bayse built and operated a water-powered mill on Mill Creek, six miles from Crescent City. The road over Howland Hill opened by Watson and his loggers was improved, for the purpose of hauling logs into town. The cost of transportation was too high and Bayse soon went bankrupt. [22]
A horse-powered mill operated briefly near where the Elk Valley Mill subsequently stood. It was reported that the carpenter, who was building the City Hotel, was able to pack the lumber from the mill to the hotel and work it up as fast as it was sawed. Consequently, the mill was not considered a good investment and soon shut down. [23]
Another man, A. M. Smith, built a mill on Smith River, near where it was later spanned by the bridge erected by the Crescent City & Smith River Railroad. The Fairbanks Brothers opened a small mill near Smith River Corners. N. O. Armington became interested in this undertaking and a grist mill was added. [24]
There was a small sawmill at the Waukell Agency on the Klamath in the late 1850s, but its production was reserved for the government. [25]
In 1860, when the enumerator for the Eighth Census compiled the Fourth Schedule for Del Norte County, he reported there were two mills—the Crescent City and Del Norte. Both were equipped to handle lumber, as well as flour. The Crescent City Mill, employing seven men, was steam-powered and in 1859 had produced 1,200 barrels of flour, 60 tons of bran, and 150,000 feet of lumber. [26] The Del Norte Mill, employing six men, was water-powered, and its output in 1859 was: 2,000 barrels of flour, 80 tons of bran, and 130,000 feet of lumber. [27]
2. Crescent City Mill & Transportation Co.
With the decline in freighting and packing trade, following the completion of the Oregon & California Railroad to Redding and Roseburg in 1865, Crescent City business leaders became concerned. At the instigation of J. Wenger, Sr., a public meeting was held in 1869 and steps taken to shore up the county's sagging economy. It was determined to organize a corporation for the construction of a sawmill to utilize "the immense stand of redwood and spruce so providently accessible." This would be a community venture with some members paying for their certificates in money, others with labor. [28]
The company thus organized was designated the Crescent City Mill & Transportation Co., and steps were taken to build a large steam sawmill to cut lumber for export. Work was begun immediately, with John H. Chaplin and J. Wenger, Sr., in charge. The plant, called the Lake Earl Mill, was located two miles north of Crescent City, on the lake of that name. Until 1880 the mill was plagued by shallow water in Lake Earl. A dam was then constructed across the outlet of the lake, about one-fourth mile below the mill, with gates so constructed that during the rainy season the surplus water could be let out. Behind the dam there was always sufficient water to float the biggest logs. The pond would hold 3,500,000 feet of timber, sufficient to keep the mill running for an entire year. The mill was linked with the Crescent City Wharf by railroad.
The capacity of the mill in 1881 was 32,000 feet per day. Most of the lumber sawed was spruce. Double circular saws were used, as well as edgers, slab saws, and planers. The circular saws had diameters of 64 and 60 inches, each. Thirty men were employed in the mill, and an equal number in the logging camp. Wages varied from $26 to $75 per month and board, depending on the degree of skill of the employee. [29]
Until 1869 little thought had been given to exporting lumber, and no wharf had been built. Freight had been unloaded onto a lighter at a cost of three dollars a ton, and another dollar added for drayage to a warehouse. If the lumber industry were to prosper, a wharf would have to be built. Justus Welles and J. K. Johnson were given the contract. Until the wharf was completed, lumber was hauled by oxen from the mill on Lake Earl to the waterfront, where it was stacked above high-water mark. A number of rollers were fashioned to reach about 200 yards, then placed about three feet apart, and the lumber run on to lighters. [30]
The first cargo of lumber shipped from the Lake Earl Mill left Crescent City aboard the schooner Fanny Jane, Peter Caughell commanding. Several more shipments were loaded from the beach, before the wharf was extended a sufficient distance from the shore to permit the lighters to be loaded directly from the wharf. [31]
The manager of the Crescent City Mill & Transportation Co., informed the enumerator for the Ninth Census, in 1870, that his plant represented a capital investment of $45,000; it was steam-powered with three saws and one planer; there were 26 men currently employed in the mill; and last year's payroll had totaled $12,500. [32] The value of the company's capital equipment had increased to $75,000 in 1880. The greatest number of hands employed at the mill during the past 12 months had been 25, while the least for any month had been eight. Skilled hands were paid $2.50 per day, while day labor drew $1.25 for an 11-hour day. The mill had operated in 1879 at full capacity for five months, three-quarters capacity for three months, one-half capacity for one month, and had been closed down for three months. In 1879 the mill had turned out 3,500,000 feet of lumber and 30,000 laths valued at $33,000. [33]
3. Hobbs, Wall & Co.*
The shipments of lumber from Del Norte County by the Crescent City Mill & Transportation Co. drew the attention of the Hobbs, Gilmore & Co. of San Francisco to northwest California. Caleb Hobbs and David Pomeroy of that firm visited Del Norte and liked the economic opportunities. In 1871 they incorporated as Hobbs, Pomeroy & Co., and built on Elk Creek, a short distance upstream from its mouth, a mill and box factory. The mill was two stories, the upper being occupied by the sawmill, the lower by the box factory. There was an engine room on one side of the main building.
*See National Register Forms, pp. 353-363.
Elk Creek was used to bring logs down from the woods, three miles away. The creek had a depth of about five feet, and logs nine feet in diameter could be rafted to the mill; those larger than that were split beforehand. Arriving at the mill, the logs were hauled up an inclined plane by steam power, the entire operation being controlled by one man. They were then in charge of the sawyer, who, by means of levers and pulleys, turned them on to the carriages. While being sawed, the logs were moved on the carriage by jackscrews, manipulated by one man. The mill ran triple circular saws, the first a 74-inch saw, the second a 60-inch, and the third a 50-inch. There was also a 21-inch horizontal saw. On the mill floor could be found a 50-inch pony, one edger, one slab saw, two trimmers, one picket saw, one lathe saw, and one planer. The planer could plane anything from a 10-inch timber to a small moulding. Its capacity was: surfacing from 15,000 to 18,000 feet per day, tongue and groove 13,000, and rustic 12,000. [34]
The capacity of the Hobbs, Pomeroy Co. mill was from 45,000 to 50,000 feet per day. The greater part of the sawed lumber in 1880 was spruce and redwood, with only small quantities of fir, for local use, being sawed. In calendar year 1880, the mill sawed 6,000,000 feet of lumber, while the box factory worked up 1,250,000 feet into boxes. Value of the lumber sawed was placed at $60,000. The number of men employed in the mill and box factory was 70, with another 30 in the logging camp. Wages ranged from a low of $20 to a high of $75 per month, with board included. [35]
Most of the boxes made in the box factory were destined for bread and sugar, and for the Cutting & Co. packing house of San Francisco. From 1,500 to 2,000 boxes were turned out daily. Spruce was used principally in the manufacture of boxes, though a few redwood boxes were fashioned. One million feet of lumber from the yard was yearly worked up into boxes. In addition, 250,000 feet of slabs and waste lumber from the mill were annually worked up into sugar and small bread boxes. Machinery found in the box factory consisted of: three large splitting saws, one self-feeding re-splitting machine, two small saws for general use, two cut-off saws, one horizontal 43-inch header, two planers (one double-surface and the other a single-surface), and one edger. [36]
A railroad spur, the first in Del Norte County, had been built from the Elk Valley Mill to the Crescent City Wharf. The lion's share of lumber sawed by Hobbs, Pomeroy was shipped to the San Francisco box factory of Hobbs, Gilmore & Co. In addition, the company owned 1,600 acres of timberland. [37]
David Pomeroy was drowned in 1879, when Mary D. Pomeroy foundered with all hands, while bound from Crescent City for San Francisco, with a cargo of lumber. J. G. Wall took Pomeroy's place, and the firm became known as Hobbs, Wall & Co. [38]
4. Other Lumber Companies 1860-1880
In the late 1860s and early 1870s Anthony and Thomas Van Pelt operated a small steam sawmill, with a capitalization of $3,000 near Pebble Beach. With a small labor force, usually about four men, they employed a circular saw to turn redwood into lumber, which they shipped to San Francisco. [39]
The Smith River Mill, 12 miles from Crescent City on Smith River, continued to be operated by waterpower. In 1870 Robert Foster was the owner-operator. He and his 11 hands were able to turn out 5,000 feet of redwood lumber per day. [40]
In 1880 there was a mill at Growler Gulch, owned by the Big Flat Gold Mining Co. Lumber sawed by this water-powered mill was used in the Big Flat mines, the logs being hauled down the gulch and up a skid road to the mill. [41]
5. Economic Condition of the Del Norte County Lumber Industry in 1880
By 1880 the lumber industry in Del Norte was beginning to boom. Local historian and booster, A. J. Bledsoe forecast that
in the near future Del Norte will export more redwood, spruce, and fir than any country in the State. Other lumber counties in California are fast losing their forests and will soon have no lumber to ship. The lumber business here is just in its infancy. The lumber now sawed is but a trifling amount to what will be cut in a few years to come. Its future value to the county cannot be overestimated. The capital now lying use less in city banks will in a few years find a safe investment here. For it is certain that as the production in other parts of the State decreases, more attention will be directed to the forests of this county. [42]
It was estimated in 1881 that timber acreage in Del Norte available for ready exploitation totaled 238,700 acres. Taking the low estimate of 250,000 feet of timber to the acre, the 238,700 acres would provide not less than 59,675,000,000 feet. Calculating the number of working days in a sawmill at 300 per year, and limiting their capacity to 25,000 feet per day, Bledsoe estimated, the Del Norte forests would provide timber for one sawmill for 8,525 years; to five sawmills for 1,705 years; to ten sawmills for 853 years; and to 20 sawmills for 426 years. [43]
C. THE LUMBER INDUSTRY in DEL NORTE—1881-1939
1. Hobbs, Wall & Co.
Hobbs, Wall & Co. expanded the capacity of its Elk Valley Mill in the period 1880 to 1893 from 6,000,000 feet of lumber per year to 8,500,000, or 45,000 feet per day. The company continued active in the box manufacturing trade, which called for large quantities of spruce and hemlock. Its payroll, including those working in the plant and logging camps, averaged $8,000 per month. [44]
At this time, Hobbs, Wall owned about 8,700 acres of timber land in the county, most of which was between Crescent City and Smith River. In 1890 Hobbs, Wall lumberjacks had logged from a 480-acre tract, 110 acres of which produced 20,174,329 feet of logs. [45]
In 1903 the lumber industry of Del Norte was tied-up by its first major strike by loggers and mill hands. They had walked out in protest against the wage scale established by Hobbs, Wall, the principal producer. In May the strike was settled at both the Lake Earl and Elk Valley mills, and in the logging camps. The strike, although of short duration, had hit the community's economy hard. According to terms of the settlement, a minimum wage of $40 per month was set for unskilled labor. Skilled blacksmiths and carpenters would be paid $80 per month for a ten-hour day. Head choppers got $60 per month, with board, while the head sawyer was the best paid man on the job, $125 per month. [46]
Before May 1903 was over Hobbs, Wall had secured control of J. Wenger & Co. (J. Wenger & Co., besides the Lake Earl Mill, owned considerable timber acreage and several coastal freighters.) [47]
In 1919 Hobbs, Wall & Co. was operating both the Elk Valley and Lake Earl Mills, three logging camps, a big company store in Crescent City, and smaller ones at each of the camps. Twelve miles of railroad, extending from the logging camps on Smith River, led to the two mills, with a spur continuing on to the wharf. This railroad, a common carrier, was designated the Crescent City & Smith River Railroad. It had been built in the period 1890-1894. Although the corporation owned vast tracts of timber in Del Norte County, the only portion that had been logged was that "lying on and in the direction of Smith River" and Lake Earl. Between 300 and 400 men found employment in the three logging camps, and so great was their production that logging trains passed up and down the track every few hours. [48]
The Lake Earl Mill could turn out 40,000 feet of lumber in a ten-hour day, while the larger and more modern Elk Valley Mill was able to saw in excess of 100,000 feet the same period. From Crescent City the forestry products were shipped to San Francisco and San Pedro in the company steamers, Del Norte, Mandalay, and Westport. These vessels could make the round trip in a week to ten days. On their return run, the ships brought in freight and merchandise for the public, as well as passengers. [49]
Boarding houses were operated and manned by Hobbs, Wall at the camps and mills. These were supplied from the company store. In fact, Hobbs, Wall was "termed the main business artery of the county." In 1908 the company had shipped 19,193,800 feet of lumber from the Crescent City wharf. [50]
In 1908 Hobbs, Wall began construction of the Del Norte & Southern Railroad to enable their people to begin timbering the western slope of Howland Hill and the portion of the Mill Creek watershed in Section 25. Camps 10 and 11 were established. To reach the latter, a spur of the railroad was carried over Howland Hill, via the famous switchbacks of the seven and nine percent grades. The only trainmen authorized to take an engine over the nine percent grade were Roy and Leo Ward. [51]
Smaller spool donkeys were used to bunch the logs. The logs were then loaded aboard the cars and shipped to the Elk Valley Mill. As the company was running a number of camps, its policy was to convert as much of the cutover land as possible to pasture to raise beef cattle for slaughter to feed the hands. This involved extensive slash burning. [52]
During World War I there was a demand for Sitka spruce for airplane construction. Hobbs, Wall took advantage of this situation to extend the Del Norte & Southern Railroad into the area between Sections 1 and 2, Township 16 North, Range 1 West, where their foresters had pinpointed a heavy growth of Sitka spruce. Camp No. 12 was established near today's parking lot of the Rellim Lodge, serving the Demonstration Forest. Under the direction of the woods boss, Alex Moseley, the logs were yarded on the main skid roads with huge Humboldt bull donkeys (steam engines). These roads could be as much as 3,000 feet in length.
In 1920 Hobbs, Wall establish Camp 12-2 (the loggers were a superstitious group so there could be no Camp 13) on Mill Creek, near the present site of Rellim Redwood Company's Mill Creek Nurssery. This was a big camp and quartered up to 150 men. The right-of-way of the Del Norte & Southern was extended down the east slope of Howland Hill and up Mill Creek two and one-half miles. Loggers were soon hard at work cutting timber on the upper Mill Creek watershed. To facilitate the task of getting logs down off the steep slopes, three inclined railways, varying in length from 3,600 to 1,800 feet, were built. [53]
On February 22, 1939, the Hobbs, Wall employees were told that the company was shutting down its Elk Valley Mill temporarily so that the equipment could be modernized. The loggers and railroaders were also laid off. The company did not resume operations, however, and in April boards were nailed across the windows and doors of the company store on 2d street.
2. J. Wenger & Co.
After J. Wenger gained controlling interest in the Lake Earl Mill, the Crescent City Mill & Transportation Co. became known as J. Wenger & Co. In 1890 the sawmill was destroyed by fire, but it was rebuilt in 1894. [54] The new mill had a capacity of 50,000 feet of lumber per day. To compete with Hobbs, Wall & Co. in the carrying trade, J. Wenger & Co. operated two intercoastal steamers—Albion and Scotia. [55]
In 1890 the company had owned 1,708 acres of timberland. On a 160-acre tract, east of the railroad leading from the Lake Earl Mill to Crescent City, loggers from J. Wenger & Co. in 1890 had cut from 16-1/4 acres 5,098,608 feet of lumber. The lumber jacks on a second tract of 500 acres had logged a quarter section which had yielded 27,802,121 feet of lumber, or an average of 173,763 feet per acre. [56]
Hobbs, Wall acquired the Lake Earl Mill and Timberlands of J. Wenger & Co. in 1903. The mill on Lake Earl was now designated Hobbs, Wall No. 2, while their other mill in Elk Valley became Hobbs, Wall No. 1. In 1912, in the face of rising labor costs, Hobbs, Wall closed the Lake Earl Mill. [57]
3. Hume, Westbrook & Bomhoff
A large mill was erected near the mouth of Smith River in 1882-1883 by R. D. Hume, Henry Westbrook, and John Bomhoff. The lumber had to be shipped out Smith River, but as the channel was constantly shifting this plagued the operators, and they sold their interests to the Del Norte Commercial Co. The mill was then closed, but it was reopened in 1894 on completion of the Crescent City & Smith River Railroad to Smith River. This provided only a temporary respite, and by 1909 the mill had closed for good, permitting Hobbs, Wall & Co. to monopolize the Del Norte County lumber industry. [58]
4. Sawmills on the Klamath
The first commercial sawmill on the Klamath was one of the ventures undertaken by the Klamath Commercial Co., which had been incorporated by R. D. Hume for the "purpose of lumbering and fishing at or near the mouth of the Klamath River." Martin Van Buren Jones was named general superintendent. On August 27, 1881, it was reported in the Del Norte Record that Jones had been on the ground for several weeks with a crew of workers, and "has the mill and building sites all ready and timber cut for the frames." Jones planned to saw cedar, laurel, and oak, which would be shipped to Crescent City on small schooners and then sent to the San Francisco market on steamers. [59]
The sawmill was not successful, however. In 1890 Edward and Henry Schnaubelt built a mill on Hunter Creek. With its engine and boiler brought in by a schooner from Crescent City, the Schnaubelt Brothers' mill was "a model of ingenuity and good convenience to the farmers" of the area who had been accustomed for "years to split out all the materials for buildings, fences, etc. etc." Subsequently, Ed Hughes acquired and operated the mill. [60]
5. Logging on the Klamath
About the close of World War I, Bull & Dunn began logging the Klamath Bluff area. To get their logs out, it was necessary to float them down the Klamath to its mouth, where they would be made into rafts. G. G. Davis had rafted logs during World War I in Alaska and Canada. An ingenious plan for putting together ocean-going rafts had been developed by Davis. These rafts, called swifters, on which Davis and his sons held 32 patents, were held together by cables laced in a fashion designed to hold the raft together and keep it from breaking up when towed to sea. So efficient were the Davis patents that one of their rafts which was en route down from Alaska, when cut loose during a storm, drifted across the Pacific and ended up aground on the coast of Japan. A huge swifter raft would hold up to several million feet of timber.
The Davis rafts were towed out to sea and down the coast from the Klamath to Eureka. There they were broken up, and the cedar exported to Japan. [61]
One of the problems encountered by the Davises, in rafting logs out of the Klamath, was shallow water found over the Klamath Bar, during prolonged droughts. On September 25, 1926, it was reported that Bull & Dunn Cedar Co. had experienced difficulty in getting out their rafts, because of "unseasonably low water and the deplorable condition of the mouth of the river." Never-the-less, three rafts, after being assembled by Davis' crew in the slough below the Douglas Bridge, were one after the other towed downstream. Near the bar, lines were sent aboard the rafts from the Golden West anchored outside the bar. At flood tide the rafts were floated across. The little freighter then headed down the coast to Eureka, with the three cedar rafts in tow. [62]
It was known that enough additional logs were coming down the Klamath for Davis and his boys to build two more rafts. To get the logs over shoals Jackson Ames and Frank Ryvison were out with their motorboats. [63]
Superintendent Davis and his crew were called on during the second week of October to assist Captain Olsen of the gasoline schooner Martha. Captain Olsen, scoffing at the fears of the others, attempted to cross the bar. He hugged the north shore too closely and stranded his vessel, Davis and his people quit work on the rafts and rushed to Olsen's assistance. A channel was cut around Martha, lines run out, deadmen positioned, and the craft winched off the bar. She floated free, but before she could get steerageway, she was caught by a powerful eddy. The lines parted, and she was again driven hard aground, but this time on the south beach. She was freed a second time. Once again, she was buffeted by the current and driven ashore. A final effort succeeded in freeing Martha, and she beat her way up the coast. [64]
While Martha was aground, the channel through which the Klamath discharged into the Pacific was obstructed, and the river began to back up. It continued to do so, until it covered the flat on the south side of the Klamath, where cars drove onto the ferry. A number of motorists turned their vehicles around, drove back down the road, and turned into the new road, leading down Richardson Creek to the Douglas Bridge. Although the road crews tried to flag them down, they drove across the bridge. Though dedicated in May, the structure was not yet officially opened to traffic.
As soon as Martha was freed, the water rushed out through the channel. The pool that had been backed up quickly drained and the south approach to the ferry was again open to traffic. [65]
On October 18, Golden West crossed the bar, using the channel opened by Davis' men in freeing Martha. She lashed onto a raft of cedar logs. As she headed out into the Pacific, the little freighter grounded on the south beach, and "the raft floated out, made a circle, and struck on the south beach near the boat, causing the raft to go to pieces with every breaker pounding floating logs endwise against the sides of Golden West." The freighter was re-floated at flood tide, and most of the logs salvaged. These incidents, however, were indicative of the difficulties experienced in rafting logs out of the Klamath during the 1920s and 1930s. [66]
D. THE LUMBER INDUSTRY IN DEL NORTE COUNTY—1939-1953
Immediately following the end of World War II, the lumber industry of Del Norte County, which had died prematurely when Hobbs, Wall Co. shut down in 1939, received "a most effective shot in the arm." Operators from Washington and Oregon were looking toward a rapid expansion of the industry. To whet the operators' interest, the Del Norte Chamber of Commerce had circulated promotional literature, calling attention to the bountiful supply of timber in the region. When they came the northern operators brought with them "know-how and skills" that quickly changed Crescent City "from a slow-moving, relaxed resort town into a busy, small town metropolis with visions of a promising future."
With the companies came experienced loggers, mill hands, truckers, and shippers. Between 1940 and 1952 the population of the county doubled. Gone were the colorful days of the logging camps, donkeys, skid roads, and railroads. The operators of the late 1940s and early 1950s used power saws, bulldozers, trucks, and trailers. Instead of living in camps, the loggers were family men, who commuted to and from work. [67]
The lumbering industry, as before the closing of Hobbs, Wall, again became the county's major industry. By 1954, of the county's aggregate labor force of nearly 4,500 there were 2,800 engaged in lumbering and related industries. Nine of the 40 logging, lumber, and plywood operations in Del Norte owned standing timber. According to the county assessor, there were on the books, 140,000 acres of privately owned commercial timberlands. This acreage held 5,725,000,000 board feet, of which 75 percent was owned by five companies—Simpson Logging, M & M Woodworking Co., S. A. Agnew, Howard Mill, and Arrow Mill.
The annual timber harvest zoomed from 53,000,000 feet in 1946 to 300,000,000 in 1953. As another index of the importance of the lumbering industry, it was pointed out that in 1953 the six largest operators had paid over 40 per cent of the taxes needed to keep the county in business. [68]
In 1953 there were in the county about 400,000 acres of public land administered by the United States Forest Service, on which there was an estimated 5,800,000,000 board feet of marketable timber. Jurisdiction over this timber was divided between the Siskiyou and Six Rivers National Forests. Most of this timber was Douglas fir. Guidelines established by Department of Agriculture foresters permitted this timber to be cut at a rate of 50-60,000,000 feet per year on a sustained yield basis. Currently, cuttings had fallen short of the sustained yield capacity, because of the inaccessibility of much of the timber. Roads would have to be opened to get at much of the federally owned stumpage. [69]
The two state parks, Jed Smith and Del Norte, in 1953 embraced 15,000 acres, containing 1,800,000,000 board feet of virgin timber. [70]
News that 300,000,000 feet of timber had been harvested in 1953 caused concern to conservationists. Checking this figure against reserves, they found that this figure greatly exceeded the sustained yield of the county. It was urged that the cut figure be reduced to 150-200 million feet per year.
Another pressing problem was to provide for "an orderly removal of the over-mature and decadent portions of the stands, using wisely with as little waste as possible." Fire must be controlled, and the logged areas left in good condition for rejuvenation. [71]
E. LOGGING CAMPS in the 1870s-1920s
1. Shanties
The logging camps were similar in appearance to the settlements of the 1840s made in the oak, beech, and maple forests of western New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. The camp consisted of a number of shanties, 12 feet square, in which the men slept on bunks ranged upon the side opposite the entrance. [72]
2. Cookhouse
There was a cookhouse, 50 to 60 feet in length, and 30 feet in width, wide enough to accommodate two tables when positioned lengthwise. The stove and cooking utensils were separated from the dining hall by a partition of boards, or cheap cotton cloth tacked to upright posts.
A good cook was the "oracle of the camp." He was appealed to by his boarders to settle disputes, "whether concerning questions of law, love, or labor." He was usually musically inclined, called at stag dances, and whistled an accompaniment. It was not unusual to find that the cook was a college graduate, "who has banished himself from the populous town or city to break up convivial habits." He acted as merchant, buying and selling tobacco and cigars by the box, socks, woolen shirts, jumpers, and overalls by the dozen. Where the "boss" was not too strict, a thrifty cook could provide a tired man with a tumbler of whiskey, "the bottom of the glass coming up in the center halfway to the brim." As a rule, however, hard liquor was forbidden in camp, unless the "boss" kept the keys to where it was stored. [73]
3. Storehouse
The storehouse was well supplied with barrels of corned pork and beef, kits of salt fish, sides of bacon, sacks of beans and potatoes. Indeed, the loggers were more liberally provided with provisions than any other class of laborers. The larder was never short of flour, butter, coffee, tea, dried fruits, and canned goods. Fresh beef by the quarter or half, and sheep by the carcass were forwarded to the camps from the Company Store. [74]
4. Repair Shop
The repair shop, consisting of a blacksmithy and "jack of all trades" department, was looked upon as a "sort of manufacturing center." Here the oxen and horses were shod, chains, "dogs," jack-screws, picks, shovels, wedges, and trucks repaired, axe helves fitted, mauls fashioned, saws filed, and tools ground. [75]
5. Barn
There was a long barn in which the oxen and horses were fed, and the hay, cornmeal, and ground barley stored. In the center was the feed; on each side were the stalls for the stock. By the mid-1880s technological advances had reduced the need for oxen. Among these advances were the use of standard gauge railroads, extending into the logging areas, to haul out logs; a greater use of rivers in Humboldt County in getting the timber to mills; and the introduction of donkey engines, which were capable of snaking huge logs from deep gulches or hillsides to convenient points, where they would be picked up by ox teams. With the advent of the bull donkey in the 1890s, ox teams became obsolete and were dispensed with at most of the logging camps. [76]
F. LOGGING OPERATIONS, 1870s-1930s
1. The Season
Logging in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties usually began for the season in the '80s and '90s soon after the Christmas and New Year's holidays, providing the season had not been unusually wet. A crew of a dozen men or more was sent to each logging camp. This crew usually consisted of a cook, several choppers, a few sawyers, and others to peel and ring the trees after they were felled. [77]
2. Choppers
The employment of 1st class choppers was vital, because an error in felling a single tree, whereby it was smashed, "takes away the profit of the lumberman to the amount of the chopper's wages for a month." Great skill in felling redwoods was mandatory, where the trees would more than cover the ground solidly, if it were attempted to make a clean cutting. In heavily timbered districts, an attempt to remove all the standing redwood, at the same cutting, would result in a loss of "timber to owners that would appear ridiculously great to lumbermen of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Canada." Where the redwood grew the thickest, three cuttings over the same ground was the practice. [78]
Most of the timber was felled with saws, but an undercut (kerf) first had to be made with the axe, and the choppers had to be skilled with both axe and saw. The favored saw was a 12-foot saw, worked by two men. It had ears at each end, secured by bolts, which could be removed at the operator's pleasure. [79]
The head chopper first determined which way the redwood was to fall, marking out a path where it would least injure itself and other timber. On steep hills it was usually made to fall uphill, but if the countryside was broken or eroded, the chopper had to be extremely careful, as the tremendous weight of the tree made it subject to injury in falling. An unskilled hand could shatter several thousand feet of lumber. He also had to look out for the safety of the score or more trees that might be in reach of the first to be felled, as all of them would have to be felled before any were removed.
After the bed had been selected, a staging would be erected to bring "the choppers on a common level and elevate them sufficiently to cut the bole of the tree above the irregularities produced" by the huge roots. The tree was usually cut six to ten feet above the ground. When the staging had been completed, an undercut (kerf) was made on the side of the tree toward which it was to fall. In making this cut both the head chopper and his assistant worked together, one being a right-handed chopper and the other left-handed. [80]
Double-biting axes, weighing from three to four pounds, were favored. The helves, strong and flexible, were fashioned of the best second-growth hickory. These helves were mostly manufactured in Pennsylvania, cost from 75¢ to $1 each, and were from 38 to 42 inches in length. A man who swung over three pounds of steel all day at the end of a 42-inch handle developed powerful arm and shoulder muscles. Eastern lumberjacks frequently questioned the use of such long helves. The reason, they were told, was that the woodman must be able to reach the center of the tree from his position on the platform, and in many of the redwoods that center was four to six feet from the outer edge. [81]
Before going into the woods in the morning, the double-headed axes were ground to a razor's edge. The chopper was thus certain of a keen edge throughout the day, without returning to camp to use the grindstone, should his edge be blunted by accident. [82]
In making the undercut, care was exercised to insure that the kerf extended on either side an equal distance from the point toward which the tree was to fall. For this purpose a "gun" or "pointer" was used to indicate the distance the forest giant was to fall. The undercut finished, the choppers were about ready to take up the felling saw. To facilitate starting the saw properly, two holes were bored horizontally into the tree, about two inches in depth. Wooden pins were then driven into these holes, on which the saw rested until the kerf was deep enough to steady it. Steel wedges were driven into the cut opened by the saw. As it bit deeper into the tree more wedges were added, "until the tree is forced bodily over by the mechanical power of the driven wedges." [83]
Choppers in the 1880s were paid up to $125 per month, many less, depending on their experience and ability to save timber from breakage, when it was felled. [84]
3. The Peelers
Before the tree was cut into logs, it was studied by the sawyer "to determine how it will cut to the best advantage." The logs were cut in lengths of even feet from 12 up to 20. Where a cut was to be made, a "ring" was cut into the bark. Next, the "peelers" were turned to. With an axe they cut through the thick bark at the points indicated by the sawyer. Then with long steel bars, flattened at one end, they jointly drove them through the bark, and alternately pried the bark from the redwood, preparing the way for the men with the cross-cut saws. At certain seasons of the year, the bark came off easily. Peelers in the last quarter of the 19th century were paid from $50 to $60 per month and provided their board. [85]
4. Sawyers and Road Building
In cutting the tree into logs, an eight-foot saw was favored. It could be handled by one man. Since 1880 in camps where a number of sawyers were employed, a man was hired to file the saws and keep them in cutting trim.
With the approach of spring and with the days getting longer, the crew was beefed up from 40 to 60 men, and several million feet of logs were soon ready for hauling. The most difficult and expensive part of the work connected with logging in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties now began. This was the construction of roads. Road building in this rugged region was expensive. Sometimes several thousand dollars had to be spent on a road before a single log was reached.
In reference to road building, many buyers of redwood land, unfamiliar with logging the giants, were known to make serious mistakes in their estimates. On a tract of 160 acres there might be 6,000,000 feet of standing timber, while the same amount of timber may be found on another tract of half that acreage. The uninformed would suppose that the 160-acre tract was the more valuable, because it contained more acreage. If he did the logging himself, and spent $5,000 or more in cutting roads over the 160 acres to get out six million feet of timber, while on the 80-acre tract he could harvest the same quantity of timber by an expenditure of $2,500 for roads, he would be poorer but wiser.
5. The Swampers
Early in the spring, a crew of "swampers" began opening logging roads. The underbrush was cut away, and along with the bark stripped off by the peelers, was stacked and burned. They had to be careful to see that if a wind came up, the fire did not spread and destroy a valuable log. In case of emergency, the swampers could call on the water packer for assistance. [86]
6. Skid Roads
Skid roads were built. These roads were built of compactly laid, small round timber, 12 feet in length. The skids were cut from young timber, one third to one-half greater in diameter, and placed six feet apart. The skids were barked smooth, as were the logs, thus the drag was comparatively light. [87]
7. The Ox Team and Teamster
When the number of choppers was increased, the teamsters and teams, and "chain tenders" reported for duty. The camp might now number anywhere from 30 to 100 men, according to the quantity of timber to be got out. The team was usually eight to 12 powerful oxen, or in some cases six, eight, or ten heavy draft horses. The team, whether composed of oxen or horses, was driven by one man, who next to the cook was the most important individual in camp, and received by far the highest wages. The teamster (bull-puncher) was paid from $150 to $200 per month and bunking accommodations thrown in. His calling was quite as professional as that of the engineer, head sawyer, accountant, or lawyer. If he had a family, he was permitted to live apart from the crew, drawing rations from the storehouse, while his wife did the cooking.
A good bull-puncher was born—not made. He knew his beasts, their strengths and weaknesses, by heart. For the "well-disposed, obedient animal," he had a pet name. For the savage-eyed, with unruly predilections, he had his "christening of a sterner sort." He saw that they were fed morning, noon, and night, and groomed with curry comb and brush. His working day was accordingly longer, and he had little time to chat with the choppers and chain tenders, who gathered after supper to smoke their pipes. [88]
In the long run, the production of the camp was dependent on the teamster. With poor help, the best teamster was handicapped, but experienced men were generally hired for all key positions.
In driving oxen, the teamster used words of command, supplemented by a "goad stick." This was a piece of hardwood, about four-foot long, with a brad in the end. On occasions the brad was driven into the thick hide of a lagging ox. His main reliance, however, was on a powerful set of lungs. The ease with which an ox team worked, depended on the leaders. "With a pair of leaders that will supplement the driver's lungs everything is possible." Oxen could be driven from any point, and the driver might be found on the "off" side as often as on the "nigh." [89]
8. The Water Packer
When the team started with a load for the landing, the work of the teams and "water packer" began. The water packer for a brief period became the "arbiter of the life and fortunes of the team, teamster, and load." It was his duty to accompany the team and keep the "road generously sprinkled with water in front of the load." If he were careless, the load could be precipitated down a steep grade onto the team, or he could "hang the load up" in the most difficult place.
Water barrels were positioned along the logging roadway at key points, and five-gallon coal oil cans provided with stout wooden hand-pieces scattered along the way. These were filled with water on the way up the grade, for on the trip down "everything is done with a rush and there is no time to dabble in water."
The water packer stayed with the team to supply sufficient water to make the "logs glide smoothly with the least strain on the team. Woe to the 'water packer' who stumbles, or inadvertently spills a can of water at time brink of a steep grade." If this occurred, the logs would shoot forward and overwhelm the team before the teamster could bellow a command. He would likewise be in trouble if the water gave out on a hard pull and the load hung up. Then men with jackscrews would have to be called in to get the logs moving again. A false step could throw the water packer in front of the logs, and by poor judgment he could drive the logs down onto the team and pull-puncher. The water packer and head "chain-tender" worked closely with the teamster, as it was necessary that the latter have full control as to the weight of the load. [90]
9. Other Members of the Logging Crew
To round out the logging crew, there was an engineer at the donkey, the block-shifters, gypsy-tender, the chain-tenders, and hand-skidders. The engineer also doubled as stoker. The chain-tender or hook-tender had to be an alert individual. The dogs, or hooks, made of steel one and one-half or two inches square, pointed at one end, with an eye and ring at the other to which chains could be attached, were driven into the log at points required for utilizing power to the maximum. The chain-tender would then signal the engineer. When the donkey-winch started, something had to give. If the chain broke, under the strain, the tender could be injured or killed by the whiplash. The slipping of a dog was equally dangerous.
The hand-skidder with his iron-handled maul drove the dogs into the logs and pried them loose at the landing with the iron handle, tossing the chains over the yokes of oxen for the return trip.
The block-shifter also had to be careful. The block, or pulley which he was responsible for was in almost continual use. For example, the log might have to be started at right angles from the direct line between it and the donkey, or a giant stump might necessitate a movement of the log to the left or right. A block would be used by the tender to secure the desired angle of stress. If the heavy rope that worked upon the gypsy of the donkey, and was attached to the log chain, moving through his block, separated, he must be in position to escape the rebound. Block tenders and chainmen were paid from $30 to $50 per month and their board in the 1880s and 1890s. The gypsy-tender took in and paid out rope. As he was posted at the donkey, he helped the engineer gather fuel for the steam engine. [91]
10. The Introduction of the Steam Donkey
One day early in the 1880s an unusually high tide floated logs from the William Carson mill pond into Humboldt Bay. H. N. Mercer at this time was operating a piledriver near the edge of the mill pond. Carson suggested that Mercer hitch a line from his steam donkey to the logs and pull them back into the pond. Seeing how well this operated, Carson began speculating as to how this system of employing donkey engines might be used on land. The Dolbeer Logging Engine resulted, built by Carson's partner, John Dolbeer. It consisted of an upright boiler and engine and was used to snake logs to the roads and for coupling them together in preparation for the ox teams. The Dolbeer Donkey was introduced at Salmon Creek in 1882. [92]
While useful, the first donkeys were unable to pull logs along the skid roads. Within the year, Dolbeer's geared donkey, which besides pulling a train of logs could be used for loading, made its appearance. One set of driving wheels was in front, turned by a cogged driving gear meshed with the inner rim of the wheels. At the engine's tip in front, and several feet from the driving wheels, was an axle turned by a small cog, also meshed with the driving gear. At each end of the axle were spools on which cable could be wound. By detaching the driving wheels and meshing in the winch, the cable could be used to haul logs a short distance from the woods and onto cars. [93]
By 1888 over 100 of Dolbeer's improved donkeys were in use in Humboldt County and they had been introduced into Del Norte. Fixed on a heavy bed or sled, the engine by use of tackle and blocks attached to stumps and trees could pull itself up steep grades, and it was taken into all the back country logging camps and roads. The engine was used to clear the way of old stumps and logs, but its principal use was to snake logs into the road for the ox team.
By the time the spring rains were over and the roads ready for hauling, a large number of logs were ready. In "swamping out" these logs and attaching them with "dogs" and chains, they were "sniped," i.e., the sharp corner or right angle of the forward end was rounded off, so that in hauling it would not dig into the ground, or catch on any obstructions. [94]
11. Blasting
Logs in excess of ten-foot in diameter were usually split, while logs of 16- to 20-foot diameter were quartered by blasting. To accomplish this, a long auger was employed. A hole was bored past the center, a cartridge inserted, and the log split into sections that could be easily handled. [95]
12. The Landing
The landing onto which the logs were hauled by the teams was built of "skids" or poles of fir or pine, laid in the same fashion as a corduroy road, except the poles were much larger, being ten to 20 inches or more in diameter, and capable of supporting the heaviest redwood. Usually there was enough room on the landing to hold several loads, or 20 to 30 logs. The landing was built in the form of a buttress, facing the tramway, railroad, or waterway. Trees, in the rough, 50 to 60 feet long, were hauled to the site, either by donkey or ox-team, and framed in abutment form. The upper, or surface, timbers were hewn and leveled to correspond with the car-bunks, upon which the logs were rolled or slid by the donkey, or the gypsy. [96]
13. Marking the Logs
At the landing the logs were marked. Among the reasons advanced for marking were: (a) frequently there were several camps putting logs into the same stream or onto the same rail road—although the men in the different camps were working for the same company, it was wise to keep tab on the production of each; (b) the logs were frequently taken from different claims owned by different people, to whom the lumber company paid stumpage. Logs therefore needed two marks—one to designate the land from which they came and another to identify the logging camp. In addition, some logs were "sinkers," and would get lost in the pond, and might be several seasons in reaching the mill. This necessitated a third mark to indicate the year they were put in the pond. [97]
14. Transporting the Logs to the Mill Ponds
It was inevitable, as the logging sites moved farther away from the mill, that railroads should enter the picture. In Del Norte County two railroads were built by Hobbs, Wall & Co. These railroads were of standard gauge and were engineered to carry the heavy weights imposed in transporting the giant logs. A logging train generally had a four-man crew, excluding the engineer and fireman, who served as brakemen and general utility men under the supervision of the "boss logger." They were able to load from 50,000 to 60,000 feet of logs in an hour.
To load the cars, they were spotted alongside the landing, and the men posted there, aided by the brakemen and general utility men, rolled the logs onto the car with a jackscrew operated by a crank. First, however, "chocks" were placed on the bunks on the opposite side of the car to prevent the log rolling too far. As soon as the log was secured, the engineer eased the train forward and a second car was spotted in front of the landing, while the manipulator of the jackscrew got another log ready to load. As soon as all the cars had been loaded, the locomotive chuffed away from the landing, en route to the mill. A train carrying logs traveled at a speed of about 15 miles per hour. [98]
15. Mill Ponds
A deep tidewater slough, the arm of a bay or a lake, was the usual railroad terminus. Here a landing was built of heavy logs, with an incline toward the water, the inner line of the landing close to the track. Over this landing, with the aid of jack-screws, the logs were rolled into the water, where they were made up into rafts, and towed to the mills, where they were stored behind booms.
From these ponds, the logs were snaked up an incline into the mill by a huge chain attached to a low iron car. This car had first been lowered into the water, the log floated onto it, and made fast. The sawyer being ready for the log, he lifted or rolled it into place upon the carriage by means of a derrick. The log was secured, the lever thrown over, and the log moved up against the double, or triple, circular saws, which cut their way through the wood. [99]
16. Technological Advances
In 1892 David Evans built the first bull donkey, designed to haul large numbers of logs along the skid roads. It was very successful, and a number were soon introduced into Del Norte County. By the 1920s, the bull donkeys had replaced the teams of oxen. With the bull donkey, logs were pulled from all over the logged area by means of cables into a string or train ready for the trip down a skid road to the landing. A bull donkey engine was able to pull a train of ten logs down the hill. Crude oil was splashed on the skids to reduce friction, but the bull donkey yanked the logs down by brute strength until a groove was worn in the skids. The bull donkey engine was large and had tremendous power, its cable would often be five miles long. The cable was wound around an enormous drum as it was pulled in, while a smaller cable was played out, so that the longer cable might return to the logging area. [100]
The high line, powered by a bull donkey, was introduced in the 1900s. Instead of snaking the logs along the ground, it lifted them to the landing at the railroad. [101]
By 1912 Hobbs, Wall had abandoned the use of jackscrews in unloading their cars into the pond. They now employed capstans to pull the logs off. The company likewise discontinued the use of truck cars, switching to "Bobby" and "Kimble" cars. [102]
Caterpillars were first used for logging in the area in 1925 at Klamath Bluff. By the following year, Superintendent Davis and his team were using caterpillars to assemble their rafts at the mouth of the Klamath. Power saws appeared in the early 1930s, and by 1936 their use was general. After World War II, with the rapid expansion of the lumber industry in Del Norte County, bulldozers were used to build roads into the logging areas, and trucks and trailers to speed the logs to the mills. [103]
G. COMMENTS and RECOMMENDATIONS
The logging story is vital and will have great interest to the Visitor. Here the Service will interpret the history of logging on the Humboldt Coast, from its beginning in 1851 until today. In the beginning, the logs and mills were small, the trees handled were small and comparatively light, while they were either floated to the mill or moved by oxen or bobsleds. Soon, heavy trucks pulled along wooden tramways by ox- or horse-teams, replaced the bobsleds. Logging railroads made their appearance in the 1870s, while in 1882 the Dolbeer donkey was introduced. Ten years later, the bull donkey appeared, to be followed in the 1920s and 40s by caterpillars, trucks, and trailers. Life in the logging camps during the 19th and early 20th centuries, along with logging practices and techniques of that period, will have tremendous appeal to the millions of visitors to the area.
Certain key sites and structures associated with the logging industry of 50 years ago are located within the proposed boundary of Redwood National Park, and these should be designated Class VI Land. These are: the sites of Hobbs, Wall Camps 11 and 12-1; the roadbed and inclines of the Del Norte & Southern Railroad; and the skid roads on upper Mill Creek and Howland Hill. The trestles of the Del Norte & Southern will be entered on the list of Classified Structures.
Because of the excellent existing remains (the roadbed and trestles) the Service should retain possession of the land in Section 1 Township 15 North, Range 1 West, surrounding the Rellim Redwood Company's Demonstration Forest.
Experience has demonstrated that Living History is popular and educational. Thought should be given to the possibility of instituting such a program near Redwood National Park. Perhaps the Service, in cooperation with local lumber interests, railroad and logging buffs, and the counties of Del Norte and Humboldt, on a limited scale, might conduct logging operations of the period, circa 1890. Such a program would have to be subsidized, but its visitor interest would be tremendous.
In connection with this proposal, to avoid congestion on the Park roads, it might be feasible to rebuild the Del Norte & Southern Railroad. Trains could then be used to shuttle visitors from Crescent City into the Mill Creek watershed.
The Service in its interpretive program should concentrate on the story of logging on the Humboldt Coast from 1851 to 1939. This will make it possible to avoid competition with the interpretive programs of the Federal, State, County, and Forestry Industries at the same time avoiding costly duplications that tax the visitor's patience and interest.
Because of the time factor, it was not possible to make a study in depth of Hobbs, Wall operations. As this company dominated the Del Norte logging industry from 1871 to 1939, its role deserves additional study. It is therefore recommended that, in the near future, a Historical Resource Study be undertaken, by the Division of History, of Hobbs, Wall & Co.
ENDNOTES
1. Souvenir of Humboldt County, Being a Frank, Fair, and Accurate Exposition, Pictorially and Otherwise, of the Resources, Industries and Possibilities of this Magnificent Section of California (Eureka, 1902), pp. 45-46.
3. Elliott, History of Humboldt County, p. 141.
4. Stuart Nixon, Redwood Empire (Forge Village, 1966), p. 172; Ralph W. Andrews, Redwood Classic (Seattle, 1958), p. 124; The Titans: Story of the West's Oldest Redwood Lumber Mill (Eureka, undated), p. 1.
5. Nixon, Redwood Empire, p. 178; Andrews, Redwood Classic, p. 123; The Titans, p. 2; Souvenir of Humboldt County, p. 48.
6. Souvenir of Humboldt County, p. 48.
7. Humboldt Times, Sept. 23, 1854.
8. Hyman Palais, "History of the Lumber Industry in Humboldt County," Pacific Historical Review, Feb. 1950, pp. 3-4.
9. Humboldt Times, Oct. 8, 1862.
10. The Titans, p. 1; Palais, "History of the Lumber Industry in Humboldt County," Pacific Historical Quarterly, February 1950, p. 5. In 1857 Peter Hinkle and Carson had formed a partnership which required Carson to provide the capital and Hinkle the mill, and provided for an equal division of profits at the end of the year. The agreement was not renewed, and in 1863 Carson joined Dolbeer.
11. Palais, "History of the Lumber Industry in Humboldt County, " Pacific Historical Review, Feb. 1950, p. 8.
13. Eighth Census for Humboldt County (Eureka and Union Townships), Schedule 4: Manufacturing, California State Library, California Section.
14. John S. Hittell, The Resources of California: Comprising Agriculture, Mining, Geography, Climate, Commerce, etc. . . . (San Francisco, 1866), pp. 306-307; The Titans, p. 5. The "cars" were built in the mill's shop.
15. Hittell, Resources of California, p. 307. Logs in the 1850s were never felled at greater distances from the tramways than 100 yards.
19. Hittell, Resources of California, pp.309-310; The Titans, pp. 3-4.
20. Leona Hammond, "Lumbering Epitomizes Centennial's 'One Hundred Years of Progress,'" Del Norte Triplicate, Centennial Edition, (1954), p. 2-AA; Ernie Coan, "Hobbs-Wall Empire," found in ibid., p. 3-D; Smith, History of Del Norte County, p. 12.
21. Hammond, "Lumbering Epitomizes Centennial's 'One Hundred Years of Progress,'" p. 2-AA; Coan, "Hobbs-Wall Empire," p. 3-D.
24. Coan "Hobbs-Wall Empire," Del Norte Triplicate, Centennial Edition (1954), p. 3-D.
25. McBeth, Lower Klamath Country, p. 51.
26. Eighth Census for Del Norte County; Schedule 4: Manufacturing, California State Library, California Section. The estimated valuation of the products was: flour $10,800, bran $1,200, and lumber $4,500.
27. Ibid. The stated value of these products was: flour $16,000, bran $2,400, and lumber $3,250.
28. Hammond, "Lumbering Epitomizes Centennial's 'One Hundred Years of Progress,'", Del Norte Triplicate, Centennial Edition (1954), p. 2-AA.
29. Bledsoe, History of Del Norte County, pp. 123-124; Smith, History of Del Norte County, p. 12. After about a year, Wenger and A. M. Simpson bought out the other stockholders.
30. Hammond, "Lumbering Epitomizes Centennial's 'One Hundred Years of Progress,'" Del Norte Triplicate, Centennial Edition (1954), p. 2-AA; Smith, History of Del Norte County, p. 12.
32. Ninth Census for Del Norte County, Schedule 4: Manufacturing, California State Library, California Section.
33. Tenth Census for Del Norte County, Schedule 4: Manufacturing, California State Library, California Section. In 1880 the management of the Crescent City Mill reported that they did not manufacture any timber products, that they logged on Lake Earl, and that they owned their own logging operations. At the mill they had four boilers and one steam engine of 100 horsepower.
34. Bledsoe, History of Del Norte County, pp. 125-126.
35. Ibid., pp. 126-127, 128; Tenth Census for Del Norte County, Schedule 4: Manufacturing, California State Library, California Section.
36. Bledsoe, History of Del Norte County, pp. 127-128.
38. Smith, History of Del Norte County, pp. 13,14; Hammond, "Lumbering Epitomizes Centennial's 'One Hundred Years of Progress,'" Del Norte Triplicate, Centennial Edition (1954), p. 2-AA.
39. Coan, "Hobbs-Wall Empire," Del Norte Triplicate, Centennial Edition(1954), p. 3-D: Ninth Census for Del Norte County, Schedule 4: Manufacturing, California State Library, California Section.
40. Ibid.; Bledsoe, History of Del Norte County, p. 130.
41. Bledsoe, History of Del Norte County, p. 130; Tenth Census for Del Norte County, Schedule 4: Manufacturing, California State Library, California Section.
42. Bledsoe, History of Del Norte County, p. 121.
44. Jenkins, Del Norte County As It Is, p. 99.
46. Coan, "Hobbs-Wall Empire," Del Norte Triplicate, Centennial Edition (1954), p. 3-D.
48. Steve W. Scotten, Del Norte County California, Its Industries, Resources, and Capabilities (Crescent City, 1909), pp. 11-15.
51. Personal Interview, Richard Childs with Bearss, April 23, 1969. Mr. Childs has an encyclopedic knowledge of lumbering and railroading in Del Norte County in the 20th century. Mr. Childs generously shared his knowledge and outstanding collection of historic photographs of Del Norte County with me. Roy Ward, an employee of Hobbs, Wall, recalled in 1954 his days on the Del Norte & Southern:
One day, as the locomotive of which he was engineer approached the old trestle, still standing in 1954 adjacent to the Humboldt road behind the Bertch tract, the fireman on the other locomotive lay in wait for the slow-moving train. When it reached the spot where he was concealed, he flung a hornet's nest into the cab. "The unlucky fireman really 'fired up' the boiler at that point, and Ward and he, both severely stung, made a record run back to town, much to the amusement of the man back in the brush."
52. Ibid.; Rellim Redwood Co., Demonstration Forest (Crescent City, 969), p. 3.
53. Personal Interview, Childs with Bearss, April 23, 1969.
54. Jenkins, Del Norte County As It Is, p. 28.
57. Personal Interview, Childs with Bearss, April 23, 1969.
58. Jenkins, Del Norte County As It Is, pp. 49-50; Coan, "Hobbs-Wall Empire," Del Norte Triplicate, Centennial Edition (1954), P. 3-D.
59. Del Norte Record, Aug. 27, 1881.
60. Ibid. June 21, 1890; Jenkins, Del Norte County As It Is, p. 116.
61. Personal Interview, Matthew Davis with Bearss, April 23, 1969. Davis is the son of G. G. Davis, and during the 1920s and 30s he assisted his father in assembling rafts at the mouth of the Klamath.
62. Del Norte Triplicate, Sept. 25, 1926.
64. Ibid., Oct. 15, 1926; Personal Interview, Davis with Bearss, April 23, 1969.
65. Del Norte Triplicate, Oct. 22, 1926.
67. Hammond, "Lumber Epitomizes Centennial's 'One Hundred Years of Progress,'" Del Norte Triplicate, Centennial Edition (1954), p. 2-AA.
68. Henry Trobitz, "Del Norte County Logging Industry Has Good Future,"; Nancy Kelty, "Lumber Industry Major Factor in D. N. Economy," Del Norte Triplicate, Centennial Edition (1954), p. 4-AA, p. 8-E.
70. Kelty, "Lumber Industry Major Factor in D. N. Economy," found in ibid., 4 AA.
71. Troblitz, "Del Norte County Logging Industry Has Good Future," Del Norte Triplicate, Centennial Edition (1954), 8-E.
72. Redwood and Lumbering in California Forests (San Francisco 1884), p. 35. Hobbs, Wall Co., before 1900 named their camps for the boss—after 1900 the camps were numbered. Personal Interview, Childs with Bearss, April 23, 1969.
77. Pacific Coast Wood & Iron (1888).
78. Redwood and Lumbering in California, pp. 45-47.
79. Ibid., p. 44; Pacific Coast Wood & Iron (1888).
80. Pacific Coast Wood & Iron (1888).
82. Redwood and Lumbering in California, p. 44.
83. Ibid.; Pacific Coast Wood & Iron (1888).
84. Redwood and Lumbering in California, p. 45.
85. Ibid., p. 46; Pacific Coast Wood & Iron (1888).
86. Redwood and Lumbering in California, p. 47; Pacific Coast Wood & Iron (1888).
87. Redwood and Lumbering in California, p. 39.
89. Pacific Coast Wood & Iron (1888).
90. Ibid.; Redwood and Lumbering in California, p. 47. The water was packed in canvas fastened to a wooden frame, which resembled a pair of saddlebags, only larger. From 30 to 40 gallons of water were carried by each pack animal. From two to six horses or mules, attended by laborers, were kept at work on a single logging claim, filling barrels along the skid roads and snaking trails. One man usually handled two animals. Some water packers used "dope," a mixture of cheap tallow and tar instead of water. Redwood and Lumbering in California, p. 39.
91. Redwood and Lumbering in California, pp. 48-49. The gypsy was patented in 1882. By the use of snatch blocks and the gypsy, logs could be pulled in any direction. If the logs refused to start, the donkey was made fast to a stump, and it could exert sufficient power to break a five-inch manila line. Ibid., p. 43.
94. Pacific Coast Wood & Iron (1888).
95. Redwood and Lumbering in California, p. 50.
96. Ibid., p. 51; Pacific Coast Wood & Iron (1888).
97. Pacific Coast Wood & Iron (1888).
98. Ibid.; Redwood and Lumbering in California, pp. 52-54. The cars had a capacity of one large log, two medium sized ones, or three small ones.
99. Redwood and Lumbering in California, p. 55.
100. The Titans, p. 6; Thornbury, California Redwoods, pp. 40-41; Personal Interview, Childs with Bearss, April 23, 1969.
102. and 103. Personal Interview, Childs with Bearss, April 23 1969.
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