By: Carmen Johnson
At the turn of the century A.J. Morley came from Saginaw , Michigan to the land of big timber, looking into business opportunities. In Aberdeen, Washington he teamed up with Willis 0. Hopkinsand organized the Saginaw Timber Company, which was incorporated on March 18, 1908. Morley oversaw the construction of a logging camp and shingLe mill on Delezene Creek, south of Elma. This was camp one.
Saginaw moved to Vesta in 1919 and purchased the Ed H. Lester L.ogging Company. Their first camp in the area was In the Vesta Creek area and had family camp houses and garages along the railroad tracks. This area has often been called “ the spur”. They also had a shingle mill on the McKinley-Wilson road, which closed in 1927.
In late 1927, Saginaw moved their logging operations to the Brooklyn area, establishing the headquarters for the various camps located in the surrounding hills.
The hub of the headquarters housed a large shop, bunk house, cook house, office, and rental bunk houses for families, and employed between 350-500 men.
The area in which roughly 60 camp families Lived was routinely referred to as Chinatown, though there were no Chinese laborers. They lived in the same portable houses as at Vesta. The buildings were cut in half, loaded on railroad flat cars, moved to Brooklynand put back together. These same bunk houses were later moved to Oregon.
Roughly 200 men were fed in the camp dining room, three meals a day. Saginaw was known for feeding their workers well. Many teenage girls were ‘ flunkies’, meaning they worked in the camp kitchen, washing dishes, setting tables, and helping prepare the food.
Saginaw used the North River branch of the Oregon-Washington Railroad, which went from Cosmopolis to Vesta, until 1929 when Saginaw bought the existing railroad and continued building their own. This eliminated the need for an outside railroad company. Trains hauled an average of 100 log cars loaded with logs each day to the Saginaw log boom at Preacher’s Slough, five miles east of Cosmopolis. Some railroad trestles were still standing as late as 1958.
In about 1941 Saginaw began closing down its Brooklyn operations, moving to Valsetz, Oregon. The closing took years and wasn’t completely done until 1947 when the last of the rails and the shop torn down.
Our appreciation goes to those who worked in this dangerous, rugged industry, doing things the hard way, even though the modern way, and to those who suffered from injuries they never fully recovered from. Also, to the families who waited for their husband/father to come home each night after getting the job done, only to go back and do it all again the next day.
Our respect goes to the local men who lost their lives doing what they loved:
George Bodmen, 1939; Lloyd Twidwell, 1932; Albert “Dutch” Smith,
1934; Ollen Baer, 1939; John Herbstritt, 1939.