Joseph Bowron came to the Valley in 1841. He was a strong advocate for the St. Croix boundary, and was a candidate for both Wisconsin constitutional conventions, but was defeated. He contested successfully the seat of William R. Marshall, a citizen of St. Croix Falls, Wis., who had received the certificate of election as representative to the first session of the Wisconsin legislature; but Bowron defeated Marshall by the legislature rejecting the vote west of the St. Croix lake and river.

At New Richmond, Wis., in 1857, D. C. Foster and Silas Staples built a mill which was operated by water power; cut, about 15,000,000 feet.

In 1884, William Johnson, James Johnson, John C. Glover, and Jacobson & Sons, built a mill on Willow river, at a cost of $75,000. The gross cut of this mill, up to 1899, has been 180,000,000 feet. William Johnson gave me much information about this and other mills. He has been a resident of the Valley for over forty years.

S. A. Jewett built a mill on the Willow river six miles above New Richmond, in 1862; cut, 15,000,000 feet.

The Glenwood mill, built in 1884 on the Wisconsin Central railroad, has cut 35,000,000 feet. The Boardman mill, on Willow river, has cut 5,000,000 feet.

In 1888, a mill was built at Amery, on the Apple river, by I. E. Schneider. It was burnt in 1893 at a loss of $10,000, and was rebuilt by the present owner, John E. Glover; cut, about 73,000,000 feet. A mill was built by Harriman & Staples on Apple river; cut, 6,000,000 feet. The Star Prairie mill has cut 5,000,000 feet; the Somerset mill, 5,000,000 feet; and the Little Falls mill, 3,000,000 feet.

Charles Buckhart, in 1874, built a mill at Black Brook, Wis., cut, 15,000,000 feet. He also built a mill at Marsh Lake station; cut, 25,000,000 feet.

Israel Graves, in 1875, built a mill at Clear Lake, which has changed hands many times, being rebuilt by John E. Glover in 1880; gross cut, 25,000,000 feet; loss by fire, $10,000.

The Jewett mill, three miles from Clear Lake, has cut 30,000,000 feet.

P. B. Lacy & Johnson built a mill at Pineville in 1880; cut, about 40,000,000 feet; loss by fire, on the mill and railroad timber, $10,000.

A letter from F. E. Catlin states that a mill was located at Clayton in 1875; and that it cut out in 1889, having cut about 110,000,000 feet. The mill was built and operated by Humbird & Co.

MILLS ON THE C., ST. P., M. AND O. RAILWAY.

The following mills were located on the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha railway:

The Turtle Lake mill, built in 1878 by S. Richardson, cut 40,000,000 feet; a mill built by John W. Perley in 1879 cut 65,000,000 feet; and the Sprague mill, built in 1883, cut 40,000,000 feet. R. Corbett built a mill at Comstock in 1884; cut, 4,000,000 feet. Three mills at Cumberland, in the 80's, cut 100,000,000 feet on the St. Croix waters; loss by fire, $130,000. The Barronett mill, built in 1880, was destroyed by fire in 1894 at a loss of $275,000; insurance, $135,000. The cut of this mill was 150,000,000 feet, its St. Croix cut being 125,000,000. Other mills on the Omaha railway cut 16,000,000 feet.

John W. Perley, of Maine birth, came to the Valley in 1854. By his kindness I have been able to gather much information about the mills on the Omaha railway.

The Shell Lake Lumber Company was organized in 1880, under Iowa laws, and was composed of C. Lamb and Daniel Joice, of Clinton, Iowa, David Norton & Co., of Winona, Minn., Weyerhaeuser & Co., of Rock Island, Ill., and others. They have a capital stock of $500,000; have sixty-three tenement houses; and employ two hundred and fifty men. This company's mill cut, up to 1899, is 450,000,000 feet; from land draining to the St. Croix, 225,000,000 feet. I am indebted to W. E. Bourne, the present manager of this mill and former manager of the Barronett mill, for the information concerning the Shell Lake and Barronett mills. These two mills cut their timber on the dividing ridge between the St. Croix and Chippewa rivers.

At Hayward, situated on the Namekagan river, in Sawyer county, Wis., the North Wisconsin Lumber Company was organized October 28th, 1881, with a capital of $450,000, in six equal interests, namely: W. H. Laird, M. G. Norton, and J. L. Norton, of Winona, Minn.; F. Weyerhaeuser, of St. Paul, Minn.; R. L. McCormack, of Waseca, Minn.; and A. J. Hay

ward, of Chippewa Falls, Wis. The mill began operations June 4th, 1883, and has continued for sixteen seasons; total cut, up to 1899, 540,000,000 feet. In a letter from R. L. McCormack, vice president of the Wisconsin Historical Society, he says: "If any other data are desired, I will be at your service; for I fully appreciate the fact that the vast wealth of the timber country will in a few years live only in the history you and others may write." Mr. McCormack was formerly a resident of Minnesota, being state senator from Waseca county in 1881. He is a man of quiet demeanor, attentive to duties, with good business qualifications.

PINE, CARLTON, AND KANABEC COUNTIES.

In the early 50's a mill was built by the Munch Brothers at Chengwatana. It was operated by water power, and much of the lumber was floated down the St. Croix river; gross cut, 4,000,000 feet.

James S. Ferson built the first mill at Pine City in 1871. It has passed through many hands, and has sustained two losses by fire, to the amount of $75,000. The gross cut of this mill has been about 33,000,000 feet. Hiram Brackett erected a mill in the 70's; cut, about 7,000,000 feet. Webber & Burger afterward built a mill, which cut about 5,000,000 feet. H. J. Rath also built a mill, which cut 2,000,000 feet. Several small mills in the vicinity of Pine City, not including portable mills, cut about 11,000,000 feet. These mills were all located in Pine county.

Two mills were built at Rush City; cut, about 5,000,000 feet; loss by fire, $3,000. The Martin mill, at Rushseba, cut about 3,000,000 feet. Lee's mill, at Rush lake, cut about 3,000,000 feet. The Sunrise City mill cut about 2,000,000 feet.

During the 70's and 80's five mills were erected at Rock Creek; their cut was about 41,000,000 feet; loss by fire, two mills, $9,500.

The Mission Creek mill, first operated by Hunter & Taylor, was burned twice, with losses of about $32,000. Its gross cut was about 170,000,000 feet. Its last proprietors were Capt. John Martin, Philip Riley, and Frank C. and John L. Laird.

D. C. Grant's mill, near Hinckley, built in 1873, cut about 2,000,000 feet.

The Hinckley mill, first owned by William H. Grant, cut 70,000,000 feet. It was rebuilt and cut, in five and a half years, 140,000,000 feet. Subsequently, in seven years, it cut 70,000,000 feet. It was burned in 1894, at a loss of $25,000.

William H. Grant, the founder of the Hinckley mill, is a man of worthy ambition, very alert, and a practical everyday

man.

The founders of these many manufacturing establishments, on the St. Paul & Duluth and Eastern railroads, are an indefatigable class of men. We have not space to give a

sketch of these many useful citizens.

To Fred A. Hodge I am greatly indebted for valuable data regarding the Mission Creek, Hinckley, and other mills. He gladly left his business to give me the information needed. Mr. Hodge came to the state early in the 70's, and has always been interested in the lumbering business. He is a genial man, worthy and public spirited, and has served four years in the state senate.

The Brown and Robie mill, at Miller station, cut about 2,000,000 feet; loss by fire, $3,000. D. M. Finlayson's mill cut about 75,000,000 feet. The Pine River mill, owned by Wyman X. Folsom, cut about 15,000,000 feet.

The Rutledge mill, located on Kettle river and owned by Weyerhaeuser, Sauntry & Rutledge, was built in 1886; gross cut in twelve years, 216,000,000 feet.

The two mills at Moose Lake have been owned by McArthur & Co., Fox & Wisdom, and others; cut, about 140,000,000 feet; loss by fire, $30,000.

Two mills at Barnum have cut about 180,000,000 feet; loss by fire, $5,000.

Three mills at Mattawa have cut about 80,000,000 feet.

Two mills at Groundhouse and Rice Lake have cut about 3,000,000 feet.

The Atwood Lumber Co., successors to Fox, Wisdom & Co., consisting of George H. Atwood, William Sauntry, and Weyerhaeuser & Dinkman, built a mill in 1894, on section 2, township 44, range 20. The gross cut of this mill, to 1899, has been 150,000,000 feet. Mr. Atwood is a genial, intelligent man. He is a native of Maine and came to the Valley in 1883. Mr. Sauntry is a native of New Brunswick; he came to the Valley in

1854. He has shown himself to be a practical lumberman. Weyerhaeuser and Dinkman are of German descent and are good substantial men.

The following mills are on the Eastern railway: The Sandstone mill has cut about 5,000,000 feet; and the Mora mill about 2,000,000 feet. The Partridge mills, three in number, owned by Kerrick & Co. and others, have cut 25,000,000 feet; and the Nickerson mill, 127,000,000 feet.

DULUTH AND THE ST. LOUIS RIVER.

Passing beyond the boundary of the St. Croix basin, I have gathered some information of the history of lumbering in northeastern Minnesota, at the west end of lake Superior and on the St. Louis river, which is here briefly stated, for the purpose of giving somewhat completely the records of this great industry throughout the east part of our state.

The sawmills of West Duluth, up to the year 1886, inclusive, had manufactured 160,000,000 feet of lumber; and their product to the present time is probably about 1,000,000,000 feet.

At Thomson, a mill was built in 1873 by A. M. Miller, and was operated many years; its gross cut was at least 10,000,000 feet. Another mill, six miles northwest of Thomson, owned by A. K. Lovejoy, cut 5,000,000 feet or more. Both these mills

are now dismantled.

Carlton has had four sawmills on the same site, the first being built in 1870. Their total product is estimated as 400,000,000 feet. The present mill is owned by J. M. Paine.

The first mill in Cloquet, at the head of the rapids and falls of the St. Louis river, was built in 1878 by Charles D. Harwood. It was rebuilt in 1883 by the Knife Falls Lumber Company. In 1880 two other steam sawmills were built here by C. N. Nelson & Co.; and a water power mill by James Paine, McNair & Co. Other mills have been built later. The aggregate lumber product of Cloquet to the present time is estimated to be at least 1,000,000,000 feet, equalling or exceeding that of Duluth.

Much lumber has been sawn also at various localities on the Mesabi and Vermilion iron ranges, including about 175,000,000 feet at Tower and Ely and in their vicinity.