Collection Timeline

1884 to 1969

1884
A view of Fort Coeur d'Alene (later Fort Sherman) and the mouth of the Coeur D'Alene River.

1890
Pictured is the Frederick Post's first water-powered sawmill and employees, Post Falls, Idaho. Courtesy Paul M. Elder.
A.W. Post mill and log pond, Rathdrum, Idaho. Group portrait of people standing on the edge of the log pond, sawmill in background. Courtesy of Mrs. John Post, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
A.W. Post and crew stand in the Company yard and sawmill, Rathdrum, Idaho. A.W. Post is in the back 3rd from left. John W. Post is in the front 4th from left. Courtesy of Mrs. John Post, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
A.W. Post and crew stand in the interior of the sawmill, Rathdrum, Idaho. A.W. Post is in the back 4th from left and John W. Post is in the front first on the left. Courtesy of Mrs. John Post, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Portrait of Frank J. Davies. Davies was the Secretary and First Manager of Edward Rutledge Timber Company at Coeur d'Alene. Courtesy of Potlatch Forests Incorporated.
Whipsaw mill in action during wintertime.Two unknown men working together. Credit to the Idaho Historical Society

1892
View of employees working at the lumber yard at Grant Lumber Company, St. Maries, Idaho (misidentified as C.W. Russell Sawmill in White Pine King of Many Waters). From Souvenir of St. Maries by Straffin and Day (1911).

1900
A view of Idaho Lumber and Manufacturing Company sawmill located in Post Falls, Idaho. Courtesy Curtis Whitaker, Post Falls, Idaho.
Charles W. Russell boarding house & sawmill located at Harrison, Idaho (misidentified as Grant Lumber Company Lumberyard in White Pine King of Many Waters). Courtesy of Bert Russell (grandson), Harrison, Idaho.
Portrait of Frederick Post. Post was the namesake of Post Falls and owner of a chain of sawmills in the area.
Edward Rutledge, from Minnesota, was the namesake and founder of the Edward Rutledge Timber Company Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Courtesy of Potlatch Forest, Incorporated.
Sam Avery was the old time shingle mill operator at Harrison, Idaho from the 1890's-1915. Courtesy of his grandson Sam Avery Kingston, Idaho.

1901
Employees walking at Cameron Lumber Company plant in Harrison, Idaho. Courtesy Bert Russell, Harrison, Idaho.

1903
St. Joe Lumber Company plant located in Harrison, Idaho. Courtesy Bert Russell.

1905
A view of the town of Sanders, Idaho. Courtesy of Mrs. Day of New Sanders, Idaho.
Joe Brown logging operation at Sanders, Idaho. Team of horses pulling a 'go-devil' or a sled. Courtesy of Mrs. Day of Sanders, ID.
Joe Brown logging operation at Sanders, Idaho. Woman and children sitting on sleigh load of logs, left to right: Mrs. Joe Brown, Esther Brown, and Roy Brown. (ALS Esther St. George to Clarence C. Strong on 8/15/1968.) Courtesy of his daughter (presumably Esther St. George), Sanders, Idaho.
Sleigh loaded with logs. Joe Brown logging operation at Sanders, Idaho. Two visible men are left to right: Joe Brown and John Jordan. Child is Roy Brown. (ALS Esther St. George to Clarence C. Strong on 8-15-68.)
A picture of the Coeur d'Alene Lumber Company sawmill.

1907
Joseph Brown (with lead team of oxen) and his logging crew pose for a picture at Old Sanders, Benewah County, Idaho. Courtesy of Mrs. Day of Sanders, Idaho and Mrs. St. George of Fernwood, Idaho; daughters of Joseph Brown. According to Mrs. St. George the crew includes, with oxen left to right: Joe Brown and Nick Smith; in back left to right: John Jordan, Luther Laws, Charlie Gregg, Cyrus Magers, Mr. Nichols, and Sanford (Sandy) Brown.

1908
Logs stored in slough along St. Joe River.
A picture of B.R. Lewis Lumber Company located in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
A collage of pictures showing logging operations at B.R. Lewis Lumber Company.
A picture of B.R. Lewis Lumber Company sawmill located in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

1909
Employees standing around at the Coeur d'Alene Lumber Company sawmill.

1910
Steamboat 'Georgie Oakes' and crew. Refueling near Harrison, Idaho. Presented by 'Trux' Truskowsky.
Pictured is an army sawmill at Fort Coeur d'Alene (Later Fort Sherman). Credit to the Quartermaster General photo number 92-F-63-19 in the National Archives.
A newspaper clipping displaying Bunker Hill sawmill in 1900 (from Bunker hill Company publication).
A portrait of Fred Herrick 1854-1953. Herrick was the owner of the Coeur d'Alene Mill Company (and the Red Collar Steamship Company) in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, the Export Lumber Company in Harrison, Idaho, and the Milwaukee and St. Maries Lumber Companies in St. Maries, Idaho. Courtesy of his daughter Mrs. Helen Herrick Malsed Seattle, Washington.
Sleigh loaded with logs with stacked logs in background.
Sleigh loaded with logs with stacked logs in background.

1911
Sleigh load of logs drawn by horses. Ray Rauch operation near Newport, Washington. Load is a total of 12,400 board feet log measure) Men are left to right: Walt Cooley, Sean Cooley, Seifers Golt, and Ray R. Rauch. The haul was 6 miles and was run twice a day. It cost $2.75 per mile to mill. Courtesy Lester M. Tarbet.
A picture of Athol Lumber Company mill located in Athol, Idaho. From a postcard.

1913
A picture of a train hauling lumber with workers standing around at the East Fork St. Joe-Big Creek drainage. Courtesy of the Superior Publishing Company in Seattle, Washington.
A tractor is ready to pull a load of logs to the river, specifically the Ray Rauch operation near Newport, Washington. Holt Caterpillar '60' Tractor pulling 'bummer', two wagons and three trailers loaded with a total 22,270 board feet of logs. Ray Rauch is the man wearing a vest. Courtesy Lester M. Tarbet.
A steam donkey trailing logs in a chute. Logging fire damaged timber in St. Joe-Big Creek area on a Fred Herrick operation. Courtesy of the St. Maries Gazette-Record.
Herman Laumeister Shingle Mill located at Harrison, Idaho. Courtesy of Mrs. Frank K. Hildebrand, Harrison, Idaho.

1914
Stine Lumber & Shingle Company located in St. Maries, Idaho. Side of boxcars reads: 'Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul'. Courtesy of Glen Miller, St. Maries, Idaho.

1915
Typical log chute with tread for horses used in trailing, near Big Creek in the St. Joe River area. Courtesy of St. Maries Gazette-Record.
Day crew posing for a picture at Stine Lumber & Shingle Company in St. Maries, Idaho.The company manufactured only shingles. James (Jim) D. Miller was the owner and manager, bareheaded in the back row. Courtesy of Glen Miller, his son.
Herman Laumeister was one of the principal shingle and lumber mill operators (shingle mills at Harrison and Coeur d'Alene and a sawmill near Murray, Idaho during the period 1893-1930. Courtesy of his daughter Mrs. Frank Hildebrand Harrison, Idaho.
Large pile of logs laying in lumber pond.

1920
Milwaukee Lumber Company log chute located in the St. Joe National Forest. A man looks on as fire damaged logs are chuted to the log pond. Credit to U.S.D.A. Forest Service.
An empolyee rolling logs into Leiberg Creek flume, Little North Fork Coeur d'Alene River, Coeur d'Alene National Forest. Credit to the U.S.D.A. Forest Service.
James D. Miller, 1869-1946, pictured with his two gransons ( potentially James and Jerry Miller). Miller was a Miller Shingle Mill operator of St. Maries Courtesy of Glen Miller, St. Maries, Idaho.

1921
Men working on a log drive on Coeur d'Alene River. Drivers working on a center. Photo credit to the U.S.D.A. Forest Service.
Pictured is the hand logging operation of the Hedlund Lumber Company, Big Grizzly Creek, Coeur d'Alene National Forest. Photo credit to the U.S.D.A. Forest Service.

1922
A picture of logging operations at Beaver Creek flume of Potlatch Forests, Incorporated.

1923
Two men using an 'A' frame to load railway cars, near Prichard, Idaho.
Edward Rutledge Timber Company incline railroad located along Marble Creek, near St. Joe National Forest. Photo is credited to the U.S.D.A. Forest Service.
John Connors hauling logging supplies to the Winton Lumber Company convoys by flatboat and team on Coeur d'Alene River. Courtesy Mrs. Miles Robbins.
Logging supplies being hauled by flatboat and team up the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River, half mile above Prichard, Idaho. All logging supplies, including camp equipment and machinery, are being transported in this way. Logging railroad being constructed will replace this method.
Logs located at the junction of Cranberry Creek and Marble Creek, St. Joe National Forest. Credit U.S.D.A. Forest Service.

1924
Rose Lake Lumber Company, Falls Creek Camp. According to Dick Reed this was a typical camp of that time: capacity about 40 men, double deck single bunks, five bunkhouses, wash house, office, _ shack, kitchen and mess house, barn blacksmith shop, barn wood shack, and filers shack. Courtesy of Tom Reed, Coeur d'Alene.
A picture of Brickle Creek flume operating as part of Panhandle Lumber Company in West of Spirit Lake, Idaho. This photo is from an old post card. Courtesy of Mrs. Richard E. Ferrell, Spokane, Washington.
Pictured is the Winton Lumber Company on Skookum Creek from the chute and rollway to flume. Credit to the U.S.D.A. Forest Service.

1925
Winston Lumber Company Falls Creek Chute and Flume. According to Dick Reed this was a running chute most of the time but a man and horse were kept near the junction in case the logs stopped before they got to the flume. Generally the logs entered the flume of their own momentum. Note the tow path to the left of the junction. The white spot is a plume of water thrown up when the log from the chute plunged into the water in the flume. You can also see another log in the chute about ready to hit the flume. Courtesy Tom Reed.
Crew separating logs at the Rose Lake Lumber Company flume, Falls Creek. Courtesy of Tom Reed.
Kirtly & Stone mule pack string loaded with hay, 20 miles NE of Prichard, Idaho. The pack train is headed to Rose Lake. According to Dick Reed this was either the Falls Creek camp 2 or 3 of the Winton Lumber Company. Men are left to right: Bobby Sears, Bob Conners (packer in the 10 gallon hat), and an unidentified man.
Marianne Hensley, Spirit Lake, helping on logging operations which she does regularly with her husband. Courtesy of Mrs. Hensley.
An inside view of the flume on Falls Creek.
Logs stacked on log deck and Brickle Creek flume of the Panhandle Lumber Company. Brickle Creek is west of Spirit Lake. Courtesy of Mrs. Richard E. Ferrell (widow of the noted North Idaho lumberjack preacher) Spokane, Washington.
An employee working at the Winton Lumber Company Falls Creek chute landing (chute left of log deck, out of picture). The employee tailing logs into flume. Credit Dick Reed.
An employee working at the Winton Lumber Company Falls Creek chute landing (chute left of log deck, out of picture). The employee tailing logs into flume. Credit Dick Reed.
Rearing a flume, Falls Creek. Feeder flume under construction on left. Credit Dick Reed.
Water flowing and logs being separated in the Falls Creek flume. Feeder flume under construction on left. Credit Dick Reed.
A picture of the Falls Creek chute landing which displays a tow path right, foreground, a path made of logs and puncheon smoothed with foot adze, a straight line in the center of the path is probably a decking line to enable the logs to be decked by a cross haul arrangement, and small 'cats' (tractors) used to tow logs. Note that the chute (last two logs on left) has been laid almost flat as was usual when logs were going to be decked at the landing. This made it easier for the peavey man to roll the logs onto the deck. Chute went to the last deck in the background on the left. Credit Dick Reed.
Winton Lumber Company running chute located at Falls Creek. 'Goose necks' were used on this chute to 'slow down' the running logs. Credit Dick Reed.

1926
Huntington Taylor was the builder and manager of the Edward Rutledge Timber Company, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, from 1916-1925. Courtesy of Potlatch Forests, Incorporated.

1927
A lumberjack named Callahan, who worked for Ohio Match Company, standing in a log chute. The photo was taken at Burnt Cabin Creek in the Coeur d'Alene National Forest. The man's name was mentioned in a letter from Strong to Webb on May 4th 1970.
Pictured is a stand of white pine timber near Cascade Creek in Coeur d'Alene National Forest. Operation of Winton Lumber Company, Gibbs, Idaho.

1928
Horses trailing logs in chute. Emerald Creek. Creek Camp #2.Credit to U.S.D.A. Forest Service.
A picture of the Diamond Match Company chute and flume located in Big Creek, Kaniksu National Forest.
Ohio Match Company sawmill located in Huetter, Idaho. Credit to the U.S.D.A. Forest Service.
A picture of Winton Lumber Company Pack string owned by Kirtley and Stone. Falls Creek. Credit Dick Reed. Heading to either camp #2 or #3.

1929
Log hits the pond from the Delaney Creek chute, Little North Fork Coeur d'Alene river. Winton Lumber Company operations. Credit to U.S.D.A. Forest Service.

1930
Picture of a freshly burned area in Slate Creek, near the Little North Fork of the St. Joe River. The same area had also burned in the 1910 fire and was salvage logged. Courtesy of W. G. Guernsey.
The log train is being pulled by a Heisler locomotive on a section of the Burnt Cabin Creek Railway. Photo is credited to the U.S.D.A. Forest Service.
A.C. Morbeck was the owner, manager, and secretary of several lumber manufacturing plants in the Coeur d'Alenes. His career lasted from 1902-1940. Courtesy of his son Donald (Don) Morbeck, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

1932
A tractor or 'cat' pulling a sleigh load of logs. Clearwater Timber Company, Headquarters, Idaho.

1933
A picture of the Flood in St. Maries, Idaho that was taken in December.
A photo of Milwaukee Lumber Company during flood, St. Maries, Idaho that was taken in December.

1934
Champion women sawyers, Ruth Turcotte (left) & June DeGraff (right), sawing a dead elm tree in Central Park, New York. Newspaper clipping. Courtesy Ruth Hoerschgen Turcotte, Rose Lake, ID.
Ruth Turcotte (left) standing with saw and June DeGraff (right) with axe, in Rose Lake, Idaho. A crowd of spectators are in the background. Courtesy of Ruth Hoerschger Turcotte.

1935
Logging truck loaded with white pine and crew. Winton Lumber Company, Gibbs, Idaho. Courtesy of Northern Idaho Junior College.
A picture of Reverend 'Dick' Richard E. Ferrell reading a book outdoors. Lumberjack missionary of the Coeur d'Alenes. Dick was also formerly a blacksmith and prize fighter. Courtesy of Mrs. Richard E. Ferrell.
Walter S. Rosenberry at his desk at the Winton Lumber Company of Coeur d'Alene in Gibbs, Idaho. He is the manager of Rose Lake Lumber Company, Winton-Rosenberry Lumber Company at St. Joe, and Winton Lumber Company at Gibbs. Courtesy of Robert (Bob) and Ralph Rosenberry.

1938
Pictured is a log jam above drawbridge along Milwaukee Railroad tracks, St. Maries, Idaho.
Picture is a log jam near drawbridge in St. Maries, Idaho.
Picture is a log jam near drawbridge in St. Maries, Idaho.
A photo of logs being unloaded into the St. Joe River at the Snooks Logging Camp.

1939
Neil Fullerton standing next to the Mica Creek trailing chute. This is where the chute landing met the Mica Creek trailing flume. Beginning of flume in background. St. Joe National Forest. Courtesy of Neil Fullerton.
A picture of Neil Fulleron sitting at the Mica Creek Trailing Chute. This is where the chute landing met up with the Mica Creek Flume. Beginning of Flume can be seen in the background. Saint Joe National Forest.
Tugboat towing brails of logs on St. Joe River, St. Maries, Idaho. Taken in Spring. Note log driver walking on logs.

1940
A picture of Rogers Lumber Company Yard at St. Maries after a plant fire displaying heat buckled rails.
White pine Log Decks at Potlatch Forests Incorporated Sale Homestead Creek. Neil Fullerton with scale stick on deck of white pine logs, St. Joe National Forest. Taken in July. This sale was strictly a White Pine Sale except for a few choice Spruce and Larch which were taken from the road right away. Courtesy Neil Fullerton.
George Frederick (Fritz) Jewett Sr. was the President of Potlatch Forests Incorporated. Courtesy of Potlatch Forests, Incorporated.
C. Lee Billings sitting at a desk. Billings was the general manager of Potlatch Forests, Incorporated (from newspaper). He also previously worked for the Forest Service and the Edward Rutledge Timber Company. Courtesy of Potlatch Forests, Incorporated.

1941
Tugboat towing logs on St. Joe River.
Tugboat towing logs on St. Joe River above St. Maries towards Coeur d'Alene.
Tugboat 'Coeur d'Alene' towing brails of logs on St. Joe River towards Coeur d'Alene Lake. Above St. Maries, Idaho.
Crane loading Potlatch Forests, Incorporated logs from Stony Creek onto truck at the Merry Creek Landing, Clarkia, Idaho.
Potlatch Forests, Incorporated logs being scaled before being loaded onto a truck. The scaler (man on left) is Ralph Todd. Merry Creek Landing, Clarkia, Idaho.
Potlatch Forests, Incorporated logs from Stony Creek, Merry Creek Landing, Clarkia, Idaho being transported.

1942
Brailed booms of logs being towed along narrow St. Maries River channel.
Tugboat 'Hercules' towing several brails of logs on St. Maries River. Picture taken from the old bridge, new bridge in background.
Tugboat 'Hercules' (a Lafferty Company tugboat) and it's driver towing a brail of logs on the St. Maries River. Note the new bridge in the background.
Tugboat 'Hercules' towing several brails of logs on the St. Maries River. Note the new bridge in the background.
Tugboat pulling logs from St. Maries River into St. Joe River.
Tugboat 'Hercules' towing logs down the St. Maries River under the new bridge, St. Maries, Idaho.
Log train loaded with yellow pine in St. Maries, Idaho. Building in background reads: 'George O'Dwyer feed' Mr. O'Dwyer was the founder of a feed, grain, and building material business in St. Maries, Idaho.

1944
Team of Percherons skidding corral poles driven by Kenneth Smith at the Tree Farm, Hayden Lake, Idaho.

1946
Ohio Match Company sawmill located in Huetter, Idaho. The Ohio Match Company is now known as Diamond International.
Post Falls Lumber Company sawmill located in Post Falls, Idaho.

1948
Men working at Jackson lumber harvester in Boundary County, Idaho.

1950
Horse skidding logs on Stony Creek, Kaniksu National Forest. Taken in August. Photo Credit to the U.S. Forest Service.

1952
St. Maries Lumber Company sawmill. Current owner at this time was Lawrence Pugh though previous owners are also listed on the back of the photo: Mike Bogle, W.W. Kroll -1913 (son Charles), Fred Herrick -1920, and G.A. Rogers. Courtesy Paul M. Elder.

1954
Portrait of Clyde Stephen Webb, co-author of the book 'White Pine: King of Many Waters'.

1955
Lafferty Transportation Company diesel tugboats traveling on Lake Coeur d'Alene.
Al B. Lafferty sitting at a desk. Lafferty was the longtime owner and manager of Lafferty Transportation Company.
Seven men dressed in suits pose for a picture together.The men are left to right: Emery Wilson, W alter B. Russell, Richard 'Dick' Ferrell, R.W. Edminster, Jim Evenden, Howard Drake, and A.B. Lafferty. Taken in April.
Brails of logs being towed on Coeur d'Alene River near Dudley, Idaho. Taken in August.

1957
Truck loaded with logs in the Kaniksu National Forest. Taken in August. U.S. Forest Service photo.

1963
Ab article about Arthur Perl Bailey from Match Tips titled 'Perl Bailey with Axe and...' August 1963 Article by Ed Rosenlund

1966
Pictured is the Milwaukee Lumber Co. flume on Benewah Creek 50 years after construction (built in 1916).
Aerial view of PFI's (Potlatch Forests Incorporated) Rutledge Unit yard, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Credit to Western Ways Incorporated. Roof of largest building reads: 'Coeur D'Alene'. Side of connected building reads: 'Safety everywhere all the time'. Courtesy of the Rutledge Unit.

1967
Corliss Steam Engine sign in Newport, Washington. Sign reads as follows: 'Corliss Steam Engine 'The Big Wheel'. Engine Data- 478 Horsepower, 22 inch cylinder-42 inch stroke, 120 pounds P.S.I. steam pressure, 63,000 pounds in weight. Wheel data- 16 feet in diameter, 100 R.P.M., 42 inch face, 20,000 pounds in weight. The Big Wheel was manufactured by Aliss Chalmers in 1909 and moved to Newport by the Fidelity Lumber Company. It was in continuous service for 55 years, cutting over 1 billion board feet of lumber. In 1964 the engine was donated to the Newport JC's by the Diamond National Corporation to preserve a part of a passing era. The Newport JC's then moved and erected the engine at this site. It was dedicated by Governor Daniel J. Evans June 14, 1965 and presented to the city of Newport.'
Corliss Steam Engine sign advertising 'The Big Wheel' in Newport, Washington.
Lake Steamers historical marker. On Highway 10, east of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Sign reads as follows: ' Lake Steamers. Built by the Army in 1880 to carry hay and supplies for Fort Coeur d'Alene, the 'Amelia Wheaton' was the first of a long list of steamers on this lake. Commercial steam boating began in 1884 with the mining rush. In later years, fleets of tall-funneled boats hauled freight, towed logs, and carried passengers and excursionists. Steamers served the lake and river communities until highways changed the transportation pattern.'

1968
Rutledge Unit of Potlatch Forests, Incorporated, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Pictured is a Dave Dollar Logging Company log branding hammer. Dave Dollar logging Company logged the Marble Creek and Coeur d'Alene river from 1910-1925.
Benewah Creek Flume. Built by Fred Herrick in 1915-16.

1969
Portrait of Clarence Charles Strong, co-author of the book 'White Pine: King of Many Waters'.