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Show 4AEmery County Pfogress Cas'JeDa'e Uah Lesda December 25, 2001 ' . "7T Looking Back i III ' I I I ,1 ,9; V rt jJ Jv.jiiL t Hi KV 'Ta ,i 11 ill : j-- , -- ,r o.f w ir I it--- 'Va '1 . !:. 1 . -- 1 r- ! I.V k v -- iLi. i h 1j id '. it A T r' TjT-- ! ,rt i , - : i; i; - V Jr 4 V u I jrv ijy4 rv n 4 TS fe;-:'-.' 'V '- - .r ' . ' ,' s M .. -- 1 -- : . ,rl .n , . r ff- - t ; i . el ,r i i . s; xi Henry Elias Davis at the Olsen Creek Sawmill. ii rt Ml 1 J HS J r-- i - rt Emery County's varied history included the creation of sawmills by early settlers determined to make the area their home . Once a flourishing industry ; sawmills in the area have all but disappeared Editors Note: This is the final in a three-paseries looking back on some on the people and industries w hich shaped Emery County. rt By PATSY STODDARD Staff, Emery County Progress County has a past where have come and gone. A onee flourishing industry, the sawmills have gone the way of many such endeavors with only two remaining in the county w here as many as 1 4 ha e thriv ed at various times and places in the Emery past. In the early 1900s lumber was needed for the many buildingprojects that were going on during this period of time. Many schools, churches, public buildings, homes and farm structures were constructed around the turn of the century. In Edward Geary's book, A History of Emery County , he said, Most of the lumber used in the county continued to be locally produced. With the establishment of the Manti National Forest regulation was brought to the lumber industry and saw mill operators were required to obtain permits to cut timber. A significant number of sawmills were regularly in operation during the summer months. The Huntington Lumber Company, incorporated in 1907 by John F. Monson, LeRoy Strong, George M. Miller and Joseph E, Johnson operated a sawmill in Huntington Canyon and a planing mill in Huntington for several ears Ferra Young and sons, Martin Jensen and sons, operated sawmills in Huntington Canyon. Carl Wilberg operated a mill near Seely Creek for several years then sold it to Gardner Jewkes, Frank Killian and Clyde and Arthur A. Van Canyon, and Henry Lord operated one near the Cap on Horn Mountain. George Petty and sons ran a sawmill in Ferron Canyon for many years in a canyon known as Mill Hollow, where there was plenty of water for the steam engine. In August, 1910, George Petty sold the sawmill to John Broderick and Jim Simonsen. On July 5, 1912, the sawmill caught fire and burned to the ground. There was no one at the mill at the time so nothing was saved. The fire was of unknown origin, but it was thought the mill A. On the road to Baconrind Sawmill. Buren. This sawmill operation continued in the Van Buren family until 1930. Claiborne Elder had a mill in Reeder could have been struck by lightning. It was soon replaced with another one which they put in at the head of Mill Fork. The original mill established in the Muddy Creek drainage by Rasmus Jacobsen, Ed Torgensen, and Chris Jensen in 1893 was acquired by Hans Jensen, G.M. Burr, and Joe Christiansen in 1912. This operation remained in the Jensen family until 1945. A sawmill also operated on Cedar Mountain for a time, harvesting the small stands of Ponderosa pine. There was a mill on ' Henningson Reservoir in the early days owned by Chris Henningson, the grandfather of LeGrand Beal. He dammed off the water and started the reservoir that is still there. It now belongs to the Muddy Creek Irrigation Company. All of the lumber sawed by the first mills had to be hauled out from the Pines Pasture area, down Box Canyon, along the Muddy Creek and into Emery until the great flood in 1912. The road through there was completely washed out and a new one had to be made. Instead of trying to fix the old route, a new one was made down Wild Cat Canyon. This was a much shorter distance, according to Geary. The roads and trails which exist in the Forest today are the hard work of men who came before and built those roads long before the time of road graders and other equipment available today. The roads were built with picks and shovels, horses and wagons and a lot of men working together to see the job through. These roads came into existence to bring the lumber from high atop the mountains to the valleys where the lumber was put to good use by the settlers. According to Geary, The mill owed by Hans Jensen, Joe Christiansen and Charles Worthington sold and delivered lumber in Sevier, Sanpete and Emery Counties. Many settlers came and picked up their own lumber. Sawdust from the mills was also put to good use in packing winter ice for summer use. Hans ran the machinery, Joe fed the hogs and Charles stacked the lumber. They hired Ashmun Miller to tend the locomotive that supplied the steam power. Three men were hired for logging and hauling the logs to the mill with teams and wagons. All trees had to be spotted and marked by Ranger David Henry Williams before any were cut. Scrap lumber was used for heating. Each man took his wife and family to live at the mill during the summer. They lived in frame houses with tent tops, used wood burning 6toves, Manti-LaS- al homemade tables, stools, benches and bimkbeds. These men ran a thriving business for years and created jobs for a number of men. In the book, Emery County r J'ji Above, the isj Olsen Creek. i Sawmill. Left? roads madeH through the.-forest to the i f Olsen Creek n sawmill, ( IF r! dll ii -- Ii Ji I Nn rr r!) 3 M-- i A Al H rd ml Thelma Mills, writes a history of the saw1880-198- 0, mills, she said, In 1928 Cyril McArthur, Vick Ungerman. Martin Leamaster and others bought a sawmill, located in cd Snyder Canyon, from Clear Creek Coal Company. They J,' sawed for the first two years aj that location sawing mainly1 rxPOO Continued on PAGE 5A, |
