Logging in Oregon in the 1850s

When the pioneers reached Oregon, they found abundant old-growth forests with timber that had never been cut.

But logging has always been a part of Oregon’s history. In 1805, Lewis and Clark built their winter shelter, Fort Clatsop, out of logs they cut. Hudson Bay Company built a water-powered sawmill at Fort Vancouver in 1827. Oregon timber was exported to China as early as 1833. And after the California Gold Rush, demand for lumber from the Pacific Northwest escalated.

As one article said:

“There is over 150 years of history in the wood products industry in Oregon, beginning with the first known sawmill built west of the Mississippi River in 1827 near Fort Vancouver. Settlers in the area saw the forests as a hindrance at first, wishing to clear-cut the land for agriculture and having little use for timber. However, in 1849 wealthy farmers began to build homes of sawed lumber instead of residing in log cabins, and the lumber industry took off.”

Logging produced 17 million board feet in 1840. A decade later, that number had more than doubled to 41 million board feet. And the lumber industry grew exponentially through the mid-20th century.

However, early mills were primitive and poorly located. Transporting logs to the mills was difficult. Douglas fir trees can grow up to 300 feet tall, yet loggers felled these trees with single-bit axes. Two-man felling saws were known, but were not used much for felling trees until the late 19th century. And double-bit axes weren’t made until around 1850 and didn’t become popular until after 1860.

The early loggers of Oregon used waterways whenever possible to float the logs to mills. But they often had to use ox-drawn wagons to pull the logs. In the earliest years, there weren’t even good roads. Later, the logs were moved on corduroy roads to water or directly to the mill.

For these reasons, it was easier to build a new mill than to expand older ones. So small mill towns in Oregon near forests proliferated.

For a detailed history of early logging on the West Coast, see Mills and Markets: A History of the Pacific Coast Lumber Industry to 1900, by Thomas R. Cox (1975).

Timber cutting plays a big part in the novel I’m working on now. I am struggling with how to describe some of the logging practices of the early pioneers. Some things I’ve learned from research, but others I have to guess at.

My novel takes place in 1850-51 in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. One of my protagonists is a farmer. His homestead claim has acres that he has cleared to farm and other acres still in timber, which he harvests on occasion for cash. Another character has returned from the Gold Rush and is building a big house on a bluff above Oregon City.

Claiming acres both for farming and for logging was a typical practice in Oregon’s early history. The first land laws permitted claims of 640 acres, but the acres did not have to be contiguous. A man could claim some good land for farming and other acres in a different location covered in trees for logging, and many emigrants did just that.

One thing has always been true—logging was, and still is, a rough occupation. The early settlements of Puget Sound in Washington Territory were full of men who reportedly came to town to “gamble, drink, fight and carouse with prostitutes.” Oregon, which had more of a farming culture, saw less of this activity, but as logging expanded beyond the farming communities, Oregon also saw its share of roughness.

As my novel currently is drafted, my protagonist faces some rough characters. He is trying to build a home and a farm, but other men work against him. Does he face gamblers, drinkers, fighters, or carousers? You’ll have to wait for the book to find out.

Have you ever walked in old-growth forests? I find the experience both peaceful and humbling.