95-17AP
Pacific Spruce on the Siletz, Art Print
In 1918, Mr. Clarence D. Johnson began looking for timberlands in the west. His search ended in 1920 with the purchase from the United States Government of the U.S. Spruce Production Corporation mill and timberlands. The government manufactured aircraft parts from the Sitka Spruce output from this mill. The name became Pacific Spruce Company with the C.D. Johnson Lumber Company operating as its sales company. Later, all operations were known as the C.D. Johnson Lumber Co.
This scene shows one small crib of tied-up Sitka Spruce logs waiting for more logs to be towed in from Pacific Spruce's up-river logging site. A smaller tug, named the Sea Foam, worked from the logging site to this spot. A larger tug, the Go-Getter (shown here), would tow the rafts into the mill at Toledo, Oregon.
In the early days, this mill cut 250,000 board feet per day. Production increased to become the largest rated capacity (for its day) of any combination rail and cargo mill in the state of Oregon (according to the Portland Oregonian, dated May 3, 1940). In 1920, the company operated 27 donkey engines in the woods, employed 800 people, and used company railroads and waterways to bring Spruce, Fir and Hemlock logs to the mill.
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