The Broughton Lumber Company - and especially the Broughton Flume - was an attraction the world over from 1913 until July 1, 1986. It was the subject of a Walt Disney movie, "Charlie the Lonesome Cougar," and a Lassie movie.

The Broughton Lumber Company was composed of two mills: The Willard Mill (sawmill) and the Underwood Mill (remanufacturing plant) at Underwood, Washington on the Columbia River at the bottom of the flume. The crystal clear water used in the flume was drawn from the Little White Salmon River, a small but swift and turbulent stream, over 9 miles and 1,000 feet up the Cascade Mountain Range on the Washington side of the Columbia River.

Rough-sawn lumber took 55 minutes to reach the Underwood mill via the flume. A warning system composed of two electrically-charged wires running alongside the flume, indicated a flumebreak. When broken, water was immediately emptied from the flume at the mill, which stopped the flow of water - and in turn, stopped the movement of lumber. From time to time, people have tried riding the flume on all kinds of conveyances.

This scene was one of many spectacular views on the way to the Underwood Mill. On July 1, 1986 the Broughton Lumber Company closed its operation permanently. Only traces of the decaying flume can be seen today, scattered along the cliffs next to the Columbia River.

(Thanks to Mr. Gary Curtis, CEO, Columbia Log Scaling & Grading Bureau, for information and details in rendering this painting and composing the story.)