Special Collections & Archives
Manuscript Group 69
WHITE PINE: KING OF MANY WATERS
Material collected by Clarence Strong and Clyde Webb for White Pine: King Of Many Waters, 1964-1970
2 l.f.
The descriptive inventory of the material collected by Clarence Strong and Clyde Webb for White pine: King of Many Waters in the University of Idaho Library was prepared by Judith Nielsen, April 1982.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
White Pine: King of Many Waters, published by Mountain Press, Missoula, Montana, in 1970, is a history of logging, sawmilling, and shingle manufacturing in the Idaho counties of Kootenai, Benewah, and Shoshone, and is the culmination of a six year research project of two retired foresters, Clarence Strong and Clyde Webb. Some of their research was done at the University of Idaho library and the library was fortunate enough to become the recipient of their materials.
Included among these materials are 137 photographs, many of which were not used in the book, both holograph and typed notes, newspaper articles on the timber industry, correspondence with informants, often relatives of prominent lumbermen, and the correspondence between the two authors. This correspondence begins with Strong's letter to Webb on July 28, 1964 in which he sets out his ideas for the book and asks Webb if he would be willing to assist with the research, and continues throughout the many fact finding trips, the attempts to find a publisher, and the final publication and distribution of the book. The final items in this group are typescripts of two drafts of the text.
The contents of this archival group are related in more detail in the following Description of Series.
PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION
Materials in this group are arranged by type. The research material in the first series is in the order in which it was received from the authors, newspapers and newspaper clippings are arranged by the city where the newspaper was published, Coeur d'Alene, Harrison, or Spokane, and then arranged chronologically. Small clippings have been mounted, larger items, 1/2 sheet or larger, have not been mounted. Correspondence between the two authors forms part of the correspondence file; these letters are in chronological order. The remainder of the correspondence is in alphabetical order by correspondent.
Many of the photographs in this collection were numbered and cataloged when the collection was received in 1971. In 1980 more photographs were received, some duplicated what had been received earlier and were given the same number, the rest were numbered and cataloged when this inventory was prepared.
Note: Some of the material in this collection may be under copyright.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
I. Research Notes Box 1
II. Newspaper Clippings Box 1
III. Correspondence Box 1
IV. The Manuscripts Box 1
V. Photographs Box 2
DESCRIPTION OF SERIES
I. Research Notes
In compiling the data for White Pine: King of Many Waters the authors spent many tedious hours copying information on sawmill locations and output, mill and lumber yard fires, and other historical material from old newspapers and lumber trade journals. They also spend many interesting and enjoyable hours interviewing the old-timers who were present in the Coeur d'Alenes during the early days of lumbering.
The material compiled includes charts of incorporation records which list the name of the firm, the names of the incorporators, the date of incorporation, the capitalization, and the place of business for concerns in Benewah and Kootenai counties. There are also listings from the tax rolls of Kootenai, Benewah, and Shoshone counties. Then there is a folder listing lumber mills found in various editions of the Polk Directory, West Coast Lumbermans Directory, Handbook and Directory of the Forest Industry, and the Timberman and Lumbermans Directory of Lumber and Sawmills.
There are two typescripts of articles on mining in the Coeur d'Alenes, "First-hand accounts tell of the colorful beginning of mining in the Coeur d'Alenes," by Joel E. Ferris (23 p.), and Eugene V. Smalley's article which appeared in an 1884 Century magazine, "The Coeur d'Alene stampede; the Pritchard-Murray Gold Rush," (21 p.):
The manuscript notes include statistics on logging railroad mileage and flume mileage, a list of people interviewed, and notes from various printed sources. The notes are on loose sheets of paper, each one dated, identified as to the place where the notes were made, and the source of information. These include not only the notes made in libraries, but also contain the notes made during personal interviews. Another set of notes contains information on sawmill construction taken from trade journals or newspapers dating from 1894 to 1909.
The typed notes contain the same type of material found in the manuscript notes, and in some cases duplicate it.
II. Newspaper Clippings
The material in this series has been divided into several folders, Miscellaneous newspapers, The Harrison Searchlight, Coeur d'Alene Press, Spokane papers, and The Authors and the Book.
The items in the miscellaneous folder include several advertisements for forest products, obituaries of lumbermen, the log marks (brands) of the Coeur d'Alene Log Owners Association, the January-February 1959 issue of Western Conservation Journal, and the following articles: Oscar W. Blake, "Bull Punchers of the lumber camps," Old West, Summer 1965, Pp.32-35; "Company sawmill shut down; sixty-six year operation closed," Bunker Hill Reporter, July 1966, P.1; Charles Cook, "History of Blanchard, Idaho," (1959) 4 p.; and Ed. Rosenlund, "Perl Bailey: with axe and saw he helped to carve a western empire," Match Tips August 1963.
The Harrison Searchlight, which was published each July in time for the old-timers' picnic, contains articles of historical interest. The issues in this folder are for the years 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1972.
Each year the Coeur d'Alene Press published special supplements containing articles on the early history of north Idaho. The following supplements are available in this collection:
February 28, 1959, containing articles on the history of Coeur d'Alene City, Post Falls, the Cataldo Mission, steamboats, and lumbering. Centennial Edition, 1963, sections 2 and 4, with articles on the Mullan Road, General Sherman, Frederick Post, the Cataldo Mission and the Rutledge Mill. April 25, 1964, includes articles on the lumber industry and the Mullan road. April 30, 1966, with articles on Fort Sherman and the Cataldo Mission.
April 27, 1968, "Focus on North Idaho" in two sections, one entitled "Lumbering" the other "Historical".
April 26, 1969, "The Face of North Idaho" with "Lumbering" and "Historical" sections.
The articles clipped from the Spokane papers include articles on lumber companies, mill fires, an article and obituary notice on John Judson Pugh, two articles on the forest industries from the January 28, 1968 Spokesman Review Annual Progress Magazine, an article on tug boats, and one on the "Last free-running log drive in the West."
The final folder, entitled "The Authors and the Book" contains the following articles: "Lumbering history project is planned," unidentified, 12/9/66; "Webb will discuss early-day lumbering," Coeur d'Alene Press. 1/16/68; "Former foresters due here tonight," Coeur d'Alene Press, 3/20/70; "Old-timers relate saga of early-day lumbering," by Tom Burnett, Spokesman-Review, 11/16/70; and a portion of an unidentified newsletter describing an autograph party, "Clarence Strong and Clyde Webb sign."
III. Correspondence
In order to obtain first-hand information on, and photographs of, early logging in the Coeur d'Alenes the authors corresponded either with old-timers or their descendants. In addition to this correspondence there is a folder containing items pertaining to Rev. Dick Ferrell, a folder containing letters from Neil Fullerton, and another containing letters from Andy Porterfield. The most interesting correspondence, however, is the six year development of White Pine: King of Many Waters from a retirement project of two foresters into a published book, a development related in the correspondence between the authors.
Listed below are the contents of the various folders in this series.
Ferrell Material
Reverend Dick Ferrell, who early in his life was a prize fighter and a blacksmith, later became a minister and spent many years preaching in the lumber camps of northern Idaho. The items in this folder include a letter from Mrs. Ferrell to Clarence Strong dated June 24, 1967, portions of four circular letters telling of Ferrell's experiences in the camps, a mimeographed typescript of Rafe Gibbs' article "Fighting Parson of the Pines" which was published in Sunday Digest, April 6, 1953, Thorp McClusky's "Timberland Parish" reprinted from Presbyterian Life of September 17, 1949, and a portion of a letter from Neil Fullerton in which he tells of his acquaintance with Dick Ferrell.
Fullerton Correspondence
The letters from Neil Fullerton to Clarence Strong, written between 1966 and 1968, contain information on whip saws and sawing, goose necks (used to slow down logs in chutes), and information on early mills in the Coeur d'Alenes.
Porterfield Correspondence
This folder contains two letters from Andy Porterfield, one dated October 21, 1965 to Clyde Webb, and the other, March 23, 1968, to Neil Fullerton. Also included are two sets of notes on early mills in the Coeur d'Alene region written by Porterfield and several pages of comments by Webb on these notes.
Correspondence: A-Z
The following is an alphabetical list of correspondents with the years for which letters are present. The file cards maintained for this series give the exact dates and subjects of the letters.
-----, Bill. 1970
Avery, Mila. 1968
Broeder, Fred. 1968
Carlson, Roger. 1968
Cook, Fulton. 1968
Crawford, Robert T. 1965
Culp, J.R.M. 1965, 1970
Curtis, A.B. 1967
Davis, Kenneth P. 1970
Day, Henry L. 1965, 1966, 1968
Drake, Howard. 1970
Elder, Paul M. 1967
Farr, Sol. 1965
Ferrell. Leona (Mrs. Richard T.) 1969
Grant, R.W. 1972
Hammes, Robert. 1967
Hensley, Mrs. Howard. 1968
Hildebrand, Irma. 1968
Hutchinson, S. Blair. 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968
Keeney, Ken A. 1969
Kizer, Benjamin H. 1966
Kottkey, Henry S. 1966
Krueger, Carl G. 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969
Malsed, Helen Herrick. 1968, 1969, 1971
Maunder, Elwood R. 1964
May, Arthur S. 1970
Miller, Clyde J. 1969
Miller, Joseph A. 1964, 1965
Miller, Wilson C. 1965
Mollendorf, Helen (Mrs. A.R.) 1969
Morbeck, Don. 1968, 1969, 1970
Nelson, Neal D. 1966
Oregon State University Press. 1969
Pederson, Clem J. 1967
Poirier, Fielden L. 1967
Pugh, Lawrence. 1967, 1969
Robins, Agnes C. 1967
Rosenberry, Ralph M. 1968
Russell, Bert. 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969
Russell, Mrs. Howard, 1969
Spokesman Review "Answer Man". 1966, 1967
St. George, Esther (Mrs. Dallas) 1965, 1968, 1970
Superior Publishing Company, Seattle. 1970
Thomas, Mrs. Tillis. 1967
Turnbow, Gerald. 1966
Turner, Albert E. 1970
U.S. National Archives and Records Service. 1965
Van Laken, Mrs. P.J. 1967
Wohletz, Ernest. 1965, 1969
Correspondence Between the Authors
From Clarence Strong's letter to Clyde Webb on July 28, 1964 in which he outlines his ideas on compiling a history of sawmilling in the St. Joe and Coeur d'Alene river drainages and asks, "Would you be interested in collaborating with me on such an undertaking?" through Webb's letter to Strong on November 18, 1970, this series of letters traces the entire development of the book White Pine: King of Many Waters.
Other letters in 1964 deal with plans for research and the progress made. A letter on November 30 contains a five page "Partial list of milling companies operating or having operated in the area of the sawmill study." The following year, 1965, the authors continue to correspond about the progress each is making, offering suggestions on sources to consult and people to interview.
The 1966 letters contain notes on early mills around St. Maries. There is also a nine-page memorandum by Clyde Webb detailing his activities in the northwest between 1911 and 1952. Webb also completed "Chapter I", but this 11 page typescript does not correspond to the first chapter of the published work. Clarence Strong began to organize and type portions of the manuscript in 1967 and sent them to Clyde Webb for his comments. In May of 1968 Webb had major surgery and decided to terminate his connection with the project; as it turned out, this decision was only temporary. Then, in January 1969 Strong suffered a heart attack and the history project was set aside for several months. The letters throughout the remainder of 1969 deal with the revision, editing, and typing of the manuscript and the attempts to find a publisher; Mountain Press was first mentioned in June 1969. On January 24, 1970, Webb sent Strong a list of ten possible titles for their history, but "White Pine: King of Many Waters" was not among them; indeed, the penultimate manuscript has the title "Lumbering history of the Coeur d'Alenes." Other letters in this final year of correspondence deal with the choice of illustrations and the publishing and promoting of the book.
In addition to the business portions of the letters, this correspondence also reveals much of the personal lives of the two men and their families.
IV. The Manuscripts
There are two drafts of the manuscript contained in this archival group.
The first appears to be the one typed in late 1967 and early 1968 by a professional typist and contains some holograph corrections and substitution pages. The typescript itself is 318 pages. Also present are a foreword marked "Obsolete," a series of five graphs, and several lists of sawmills and shingle mills.
The second draft appears to be the penultimate draft. The original title page reads "Lumbering History of the Coeur d'Alenes, by Clarence Charles Strong, Clyde S. Webb, Research Consultant." The title is crossed out and "White Pine: King of Many Waters" is written in pencil above it; likewise the term "Research consultant" has been crossed through, thus making the two men joint authors. The typescript is 213 pages and contains many holograph revisions. Appendices B, D, and G, plus the negatives for two charts are also contained in this box.
V. Photographs
In an attempt to make their book more interesting the authors tried to locate photographs of early logging methods, early sawmills and shingle mills, and also photographs of the early lumbermen. Many people loaned them original photographs which were then copied, the original photograph and usually a new print were then returned to the owner. Clarence Strong also took some photographs.
This series contains 137 photographs, only 67 of which appear in the book. All photographs are numbered and cataloged. Below is a numerical listing of all photographs.
1. Clarence C. Strong
2. Clyde S. Webb
3. Milwaukee Lumber Company log train
4. Ohio Match Company log train
5. Edward Rutledge Timber Company "incline" railroad
6. Using an "A" frame to load railway cars
7. Logs being towed on St. Maries River
8. Tugboat pulling logs
9. Tugboat "Hercules" towing logs on St. Maries River
10. Tugboat "Hercules" towing logs on St. Maries River
11. Tugboat "Coeur d'Alene" towing logs on St. Joe River
12. Tugboat "Hercules" towing logs on the St. Maries River
13. Tugboat "Coeur d'Alene" towing logs on St. Joe River
14. Corliss Steam Engine sign in Newport, Washington
15. Corliss Steam Engine sign and "The Big Wheel" in Newport, Washington
16. Lake Steamers historical marker
17. One legged lumberjack who worked for Ohio Match Company
18. Ruth Turcotte & June DeGraff sawing dead tree in Central Park, New York
19. Ruth Turcotte & June DeGraff, champion women sawyers, in Rose Lake
20. Aerial view of Fort Coeur d'Alene (later Fort Sherman)
21. Fresh burn, North Fork St. Joe River, about 1930
22. Debris along Milwaukee tracks, St. Maries, after 1938 flood
23. Log jam above drawbridge, St. Maries, 1938
24. Rogers Lumber Company yard after 1940 fire
25. Flood in St. Maries, December 1933
26. Aerial view of Milwaukee Lumber Company during 1933 flood
27. Rose Lake Lumber Company, Falls Creek Camp.
28. Typical logging chute, St. Joe-Big Creek area
29. Horses trailing logs in chute
30. Diamond Match Company chute and flume
31. Team of Percherons skidding corral poles
32. Hauling logging supplies by flatboat and team
33. Hauling logging supplies by flatboat and team
34. Lafferty Transportation Company diesel tugboats on Lake Coeur d'Alene
35. Logging with oxen in Benewah County
36. Deck of white pine logs
37. Delaney Creek Chute, Winton Lumber Company
38. Milwaukee Lumber Company property, St. Joe National Forest
39. Falls Creek Flume
40. Tractor ready to pull a load of logs to the river
41. Sleigh load of logs drawn by horses
42. Rose Lake Lumber Company flume, Falls Creek
43. Kirtly & Stone pack string loaded with hay
44. Marianne Hensley helping on logging operations
45. Falls Creek flume
46. Neil Fullerton at Mica Creek trailing flume
47. Brickle Creek flume
48. Neil Fullerton at Mica Creek trailing flume
49. Brickle Creek flume
50. Benewah Creek flume
51. Winton Lumber Company flume on Skookum Creek
52. Leiberg flume, Coeur d'Alene National Forest
53. Log drive on Coeur d'Alene River, 1921.
54. Sanders, Idaho, ca.1905
55. Logs in Cranberry Creek, St. Joe National Forest
56. Joe Brown logging operation at Sanders
57. Joe Brown logging operation, sleigh load of logs
58. Logging truck loaded with white pine
59. Sleigh load of logs
60. Logs stored in slough along St. Joe River
61. A.B. Lafferty
62. Hand logging operation, Big Grizzly Creek, Coeur d'Alene National Forest
63. Sleigh load of logs pulled by tractor
64. Stand of white pine, Coeur d'Alene National Forest
65. Horse skidding logs, Kaniksu National Forest
66. Steamboat "Georgie Oakes"
67. Truck load of logs, Kaniksu National Forest
68. Logging fire damaged timber in St. Joe-Big Creek area
69. Bunker Hill sawmill, ca.1900
70. Jackson lumber harvester
71. Grant Lumber Company, St. Maries, ca.1892
72. Idaho Lumber & Manufacturing Company, Post Falls, ca.1900
73. Ohio Match Company sawmill, Huetter, Idaho, ca.1928
74. Athol Lumber Company, ca.1911
75. Cameron Lumber Company sawmill, ca.1901
76. Charles W. Russell boarding house & sawmill, Harrison, 1900
77. Rutledge Unit of Potlatch Forests, Inc.
78. St. Maries Lumber Company sawmill
79. B.R. Lewis Lumber Company
80. B.R. Lewis Lumber Company - composite of several pictures showing logging operations
81. B.R. Lewis Lumber Company sawmill
82. Ohio Match Co. sawmill, Huetter
83. Coeur d'Alene Lumber Company sawmill
84. Coeur d'Alene Lumber Company
85. Post Falls Lumber Company sawmill
86. Frederick Post Water-powered sawmill, Post Falls
87. A.W. Post mill and log pond
88. A.W. Post sawmill, Rathdrum
89. A.W. Post sawmill, interior
90. Aerial view of PFI's Rutledge Unit yard
91. Army sawmill, Fort Coeur d'Alene
92. St. Joe Lumber Company sawmill
93. Whip-sawing at Lake Bennett, 1890's
94. Frank J. Davies
95. Richard T. (Dick) Ferrell
96. Fred Herrick
97. George Frederick Jewett
98. A.C. Morbeck
99. Frederick Post
100. Walter S. Rosenberry
101. Group photo including W.B. Russell, Dick Ferrell, and A.B. Lafferty
102. Huntington Taylor
103. C. Lee Billings
104. Edward Rutledge
105. Arthur Perl Bailey
106. Log branding hammer
107. James D. Miller and 2 grandsons
108. Stine Lumber & Shingle Company, St. Maries
109. Herman Laumeister Shingle Mill, Harrison
110. Day crew at Stine Lumber & Shingle Company, ca.1915
111. Sam Avery
112. Herman Laumeister
113. Tugboat "Hercules" towing logs
114. Tugboat "Hercules" - view of deck
115. Logs being towed on Coeur d'Alene River
116. Tugboat towing logs on St. Joe River
117. Tugboat towing logs on St. Joe River
118. Log jam near drawbridge, St. Maries, 1938
119. Unloading logs into St. Joe River
120. Deck of logs
121. Beaver Creek flume
122. Crane loading logs onto truck
123. Scaling logs
124. Potlatch logs from Stony Creek
125. A.P. Bailey & Howard Drake on cars loaded with Ohio Match Company logs
126. Log train loaded with yellow pine
127. Sleigh loaded with logs
128. Sleigh loaded with logs
129. Pack string owned by Kirtley and Stone
130. Falls Creek chute
131. Falls Creek chute
132. "Rearing" a flume, Falls Creek
133. Falls Creek flume
134. Falls Creek chute landing
135. Falls Creek chute
136. A.B. Lafferty and Ross Hall
137. Richard T. Ferrell
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