Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/721

 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY 629 Through the bottoms passed the procession of rafts which ren- dered possible the conversion of the vast forests of the North into cheap lumber for the incredibly swift up-building of the Northwestern states. The lumbermen who swarmed upon the river merely considered the bottom lands a difficult place in which to seek the 8 to 20 per cent of their sunken, strayed and stolen logs, and a source of fuel supply for the steamboats which consumed all the most valuable and accessible timber. With the gradual depletion of the pine supply and dismantling of the river mills the timbermen moved on to devastate more distant virgin forests. Alone among all the men who had operated mills along 1^ie river. C. A. Betcher conceived the idea of utilizing the remnants of this despised bottom timber. Proposing the scheme to J. H. Rich (interested in finding a healthful out-of-door enterprise of some promise for his son. H. P. Rich) and W. T. Parrell, ex- perienced in all practical lumber operations, he met with in- credulity and suppressed derision. However, upon cruising the bottom lands all were surprised at the extent of land and timber and decided to saw all the valuable timber in the vicinity Avith a portable mill. Not content with the contemplated devastation of the banks of one of the most beautiful rivers in the world, and impressed with the wonderful productive capacity of this land, adapted to no purpose but raising timber, the plan was evolved of purchasing the land instead of the stumpage. Pro'f. Detweiler of the Minnesota Forestry School was consulted and upon in- vestigation showed his confidence in the ultimate success of the venture by identifying his future with that of the company and undertaking the enormous task of re-stocking (re-foresting) these abused lands and bringing them up to their normal yield. As soon as sufficient acreage was acquired to insure, when brought into a proper state of cultivation, a continuous cut for the. mill, the company was incorporated in October. 1908, with the fol- lowing officers: President. John H. Rich; vice president, ('. A. Betcher: treasurer, Nels Tufvesson : secretary. S. B. Detweiler. The directors were: S. H. Rich. C. A. Betcher, S. B. Detweiler. W. T. Parrell and H. P. Rich. The officers remain the same at the present time, with the exception that H. P. Rich is now secre- tary and general manager. On Carlson's channel, at the eastern end of Barn Bluff, was begun the construction of a modern saw- mill fitted to turn out high grade lumber and with a reserve of power and space to install machinery to work all the waste from logs and tree tops into the most economical by-products, which may suggest themselves as the business develops. In August the mill started on its first short season's run and is expected to produce from five to ten million feet of lumber in every succeeding year.