S.
B. Clinard arrived in Washington State in 1917. Born in Ohio, he was
about 35 years old. Finishing his enlistment in the Army as a Major
serving in the US Army Spruce Division, his first recorded adventures as
a timber merchant officially began shortly thereafter, when on March
25, 1920 he and two Army buddies, N. C. P. Sisk and D. Ozbun (of
Bennignan’s Creek fame) “ …. voluntarily associated ourselves together
for the purpose of forming a corporation under the laws of the State of
Washington …”.
What
the three ex-soldiers had voluntarily founded was the Olympic Peninsula
Lumber and Mercantile Company, an outfit organized “ to carry on a
general saw milling business at Montesano in Gray's Harbor county, to
buy, sell and manufacture all kinds of finished and rough lumber; to
manufacture and generally to sell and deal in all kids of finished mill
work, doors, windows, sash and all classes of manufactured wood ware; to
make buy and sell and generally deal in shingles; to own, deal in, buy
and sell all kinds and manners of goods, wares and merchandise; to keep,
own and operate retail and other stores in connection therewith; and to
buy, own, sell and deal in logs, timber and generally do a milling and
mercantile business .“. Together they divided their $36,000 capital into
7200 shares with a par value of $50 per share. Where three ex-soldiers
got the money no one rightly knows but old timers suggested that S.B won
his stake in a poker game, while Messrs Sisk and Ozbun provided their
stakes thru shady legal deals and saloon-keeping, respectively.
For nearly a decade this company grew and prospered, not one of the giant lumber companies of Grays Harbor County but certainly one that was a preferred employer by returning soldiers. The business bubble burst with the onset of the Great Depression. In 1929 the county produced nearly as many board feet as the heady year of 1925. In 1930 however, this number dropped precipitously – to about 790 million board feet. In 1931 it fell again, this time to about 420 million board feet. In 1932 it dropped for the third straight year, to about 220 million board feet. Looking for an opportunity to maintain employment of the men during this difficult time, the company explored and found workable gravel deposits along the railroad right of way. The company developed an ambitious plan to develop the seemingly endless natural resources and looked for partners to assist in that development.
In 1932 the company partnered with the Northwest Portland Cement Company to develop the limestone deposits located in the area for construction of the Grand Coulee dam in southern Washington. A long spur from Headquarters was built to the quarry location, and lumbermen were spending their days building gondolas to haul the stone to market.
A
result of this significant increase in non-logging business was
management’s realization that the logging line as organized could no
longer support the increase in traffic. OPLC management split the
railroad operation in two – wood operations remained with the OPLC and a
new railroad – the Western Washington Short Line - was established as a
common carrier service over the line from Headquarters to Montesano.
In 1933, the company partnered with the Civilian Conservation Corps to give work to men between the ages of 15 and 24. The company clothed, fed and housed by the men, the CCC paid them $30 per month, and the men worked for the Forest Service clearing old cutting areas, slash burning, and reseeding.
World War II brought increased demand for lumber to build houses, military camps, and other facilities for soldiers, and Potlatch, benefiting from booming lumber orders, gained badly needed profits. From 1940 to 1945 the company’s profits was placed in a reserve fund for future upgrading of its mills and machinery.Railroad Operations Woods Operations Milling Operations
No comments:
Post a Comment