Section III: Timeline

The Hudson's Bay Company builds the first sawmill in the Pacific Northwest at Fort Vancouver.

John Wilkes and his expedition explore the Pacific Northwest for the United States. Wilkes is impressed by the region's timber resources and by the quality of Puget Sound harbors.

The Oregon Boundary Settlement sets the border between the U.S. and Great Britain at the 49th parallel, making the Pacific Northwest a part of the U.S.

The California Gold Rush begins, precipitating a logging boom on Puget Sound.

William Renton establishes a sawmill at Alki Point and later moves it to Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island. Pope & Talbot's Puget Mill Company begins operations at Port Gamble.

Over two dozen mills, most owned by San Francisco-based investors, are operating on Puget Sound.

The federal government agrees to subsidize the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The railroad receives a 40-mile-wide strip of land (on alternate sections in a checkerboard pattern) for each mile of track it builds in Washington Territory.

Hazard Stevens, an attorney for the Northern Pacific, leads a fight against the widespread illegal cutting of timber on public and railroad land. Stevens resigns after being accused of taking bribes from sawmill companies.

Congress passes the Timber and Stone Act. This legislation allows residents of West Coast states to purchase 160 acres of forestland for $2.50 per acre. Mill companies abuse the law and use it to acquire millions of acres of timberlands.

About 160 million board feet of timber are harvested in Washington Territory. The territory is not among the leading lumber-producing regions of the nation.

John Dolbeer patents the donkey engine, a small steam engine used to power a winch. The donkey engine revolutionizes logging by replacing animal power and allowing companies to reach stands of trees that were previously inaccessible.

The Northern Pacific completes a transcontinental line to its terminus in Tacoma. The railroad owns 7.7 million acres in Washington Territory.

The Knights of Labor pressure several lumber companies into firing their Chinese employees.

The Northern Pacific completes a rail line through Stampede Pass, reducing freight rates between Puget Sound and Eastern markets. Washington's lumber industry enters a phase of rapid growth.

The St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company is established, marking the beginning of the migration of Midwestern lumbermen to Washington.

Washington achieves statehood.

The state's companies harvest over one billion board feet of timber.

The Forest Reserve Act allows the President to create forest reserves (later called national forests) on public lands.

The Great Northern Railroad completes its transcontinental line to Seattle.

President Grover Cleveland creates a 1.5 million-acre forest reserve on the Olympic Peninsula.

Congress establishes Mount Rainier National Park.

Washington companies harvest 1.9 billion board feet of timber.

Weyerhauser Timber Company purchases 900,000 acres of timberlands in western Washington from the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Lumber companies develop high-lead logging, a method of using donkey engines to haul logs through the air. High-lead logging increases efficiency but makes logging more dangerous.

Washington becomes the leading lumber-producing state in the nation.

Congress transfers the national forests from the Department of the Interior to the Forest Service, headed by Gifford Pinchot.

President Theodore Roosevelt creates the Colville National Forest. Congress takes away the President's power to create national forests in six Western states.

The Industrial Workers of the World arrive in the Pacific Northwest.

Theodore Roosevelt withdraws 600,000 acres from the Olympic National Forest in order to create the Mount Olympus National Monument.

Washington companies harvest 4.1 billion board feet of timber.

Washington enacts the nation's first compulsory workers' compensation law. Lumber executives played a leading role in drafting this legislation.

The I.W.W. leads a major strike in the Grays Harbor region. After a bitter struggle, the strike is broken.

The First World War begins. The U.S. remains neutral.

President Woodrow Wilson halves the size of the Mount Olympus National Monument to free up spruce stands needed for the construction of airplanes.

The I.W.W. supports striking shingleweavers in Everett. A confrontation with employers leads to the Everett Massacre.

The U.S. enters World War I.

The I.W.W., demanding the eight-hour day, leads a wave of lumber strikes throughout the Pacific Northwest. The federal government creates the Spruce Production Division and the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen to end the strikes. These agencies crush the I.W.W. but force timber companies to adopt the eight-hour day.

The I.W.W. launches another unsuccessful round of strikes. Six Wobblies are killed in the Centralia Massacre. The I.W.W. ceases to be a powerful force in the Northwest's lumber camps.

Washington companies harvest 5.5 billion board feet of timber.

The state's timber harvest reaches its all-time peak, 7.6 billion board feet.

The stock market crash starts the Great Depression. Lumber prices plummet.

Timber harvests fall to 2.3 billion board feet. More than half of Washington's loggers and millworkers are unemployed.

President Franklin Roosevelt creates the National Recovery Administration. Under its provisions, lumber executives draft a code regulating production and encouraging conservation measures.

The Supreme Court declares the NRA unconstitutional, voiding the lumber code.

Local unions form the Northwest Council of Sawmill and Timber Workers. Most millworkers and loggers are unionized during the 1930s.

Oregon passes Washington as the nation's leading timber producer.

Congress creates a 650,000-acre Olympic National Park.

President Roosevelt adds nearly 200,000 acres to Olympic National Park.

Washington companies harvest 4.5 billion board feet of timber.

Joseph Cox patents a revolutionary new chainsaw design. The chainsaw dramatically increases the efficiency of logging operations, as does the use of caterpillar tractors and logging trucks.

Washington companies harvest 4.5 billion board feet of timber.

Conservationists successfully fight against salvage logging in Olympic National Park.

Washington companies harvest 4.6 billion board feet of timber.

Congress passes the Wilderness Act, allowing the Forest Service and other federal agencies to create wilderness areas where logging and roadbuilding are forbidden. The passage of this legislation demonstrates the growing power of the environmental movement.

Environmentalists help create North Cascades National Park.

Washington companies harvest 6.4 billion board feet of timber.

Environmental groups push the Endangered Species Act through Congress.

Washington companies harvest 5.7 billion board feet of timber.

Over the objections of environmentalists, Congress begins ordering the Forest Service to increase the sale of timber on public lands.

Environmental groups launch a series of lawsuits alleging that federal timber sales in the Northwest violate the Endangered Species Act by harming the northern spotted owl.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists the spotted owl as endangered.

Washington companies harvest 5.8 billion board feet of timber.

U.S. District Court Judge William Dwyer places an injunction on federal timber sales and restricts logging on most national forests and some private timberlands in the Northwest.

In an attempt to resolve the spotted owl controversy, President Clinton holds a forest summit in Portland. His administration later devises the Northwest Forest Plan. The plan sets aside habitat for owls, substantially reduces timber harvests on public lands, and increases economic aid to lumber workers and timber-dependent communities.

Congress and Judge Dwyer approve the Northwest Forest Plan. The injunctions on timber sales are lifted.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists several Washington State salmon runs as endangered. This decision leads to new limitations on logging near rivers and streams.

Washington companies harvest 4.1 billion board feet of timber. The reduced logging during the 1990s bankrupts many of the state's small mills.

President Clinton substantially increases the amount of federal lands where logging and roadbuilding are prohibited. President George W. Bush reverses this policy a few months later.

Back to Main Page

Back to Section II (essay)

Forward to Section IV (activities)