The Lewis River Hydroelectric Projects - PacifiCorp

Lewis River Interpretive & Education Plan
region sometimes had to cross the log chutes, which could be hazardous—horses
balked at the slippery, wet channels, and drivers had to listen carefully for the
whistle signals that warned of the deadly missiles.
Once or twice a year, log drives would herd the wayward timber down the river
on high flows. These drives were difficult and dangerous work, involving pike
poles, peaveys and explosives for loosening logjams, taut cables, and much
clambering over the unsteady timber. Log drive workers camped on shore or
stayed at local farmhouses, sometimes contracting with local farm wives for
home cooking—although cook shacks were also brought along on rafts. The logs
were prodded, levered, blasted and cajoled down the length of the Lewis to mills
at Woodland, or sometimes rafted from there to Portland.
Many different companies logged along the Lewis—companies had their own
distinctive log brands to identify which trees were their own in the chaos of
timber that sometimes piled up at the mills.
In 1881, the “steam donkey” or Dolbeer Logging Engine was invented. This
simple machine—consisting of a steam engine connected to a winch—could be
set up anywhere, hauling itself through the woods to a site by winching itself
from tree to tree. The first steam donkey is said to have arrived on the Lewis
River shortly after 1900, and donkeys slowly began to replace ox teams for
hauling power.
A devastating fire in 1902 helped spur the timber industry in the Lewis River
region. On September 12 of that year, a spark caught near the small town of
Stevenson. The fire approached the Lewis via Chelatchie Prairie and raged
across the valley, pushed by strong winds. In all, over a dozen people were killed,
some 30 homesteads were destroyed, and as many as 230,000 acres of land were
burned.
Where locals saw tragedy, logging operations saw opportunity to salvage the
huge amount of fire-killed timber. Weyerhaeuser set up operations in nearby
Yacolt, and soon modern logging railroads were snaking their way through the
hillsides, providing even easier access to the wealth of wood. Other companies
took advantage of the bounty of dead trees as well, and soon logging was the
major industry on the Lewis. Local homesteaders mostly benefited from the new
industry, selling produce and meat to the camps, boarding loggers, and working
for the logging companies themselves.
By the 1920s, logging technology had advanced considerably from the old
ox-team and skid road days. Perhaps the most significant advance was the
development of “high lead” logging. In a high lead operation, a tall central tree
(the spar tree) was de-limbed, topped, and rigged with a system of guy lines and
Sea Reach Ltd • 146 NE yamhill Street • Sheridan, OR draft 3 • November 2008 • page 65