The Lumber industry was largely an unregulated and locally managed activity up until the late 19th century when the first forest management program was established. By 1900, much of the timber supplies in the upper Midwest were already dwindling, and the old-growth forests of the East had been heavily logged. American loggers looked further west to the Pacific Northwest where the industry shift west suddenly. By 1920, the Pacific Northwest was producing 30 percent of the nation’s lumber.

Whereas previously individuals or families were managing single sawmills and selling the lumber to wholesalers, towards the end of the nineteenth century this industry structure began to give way to large industrialists who owned multiple mills and purchased their own timberlands.

These were wild, and sometimes deadly times in the industry as special interests, and mother nature came together for what you’ll see was a wild ride.

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