The Potlatch Lumber Company was organized as a corporation in 1904 and in September 1905 began erecting its mill in Potlatch, Idaho.
The Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway, although not part of the Potlatch Company, also had its headquarters in Potlatch. The railway was completed in 1907, and spanned the 47 miles from Palouse, Washington to Bovill, Idaho which was the main point of logging activity and the railroad switching point for logs which were then routed to the mill. The town of Bovill depended almost entirely on this timber, and was established by the Potlatch Company because of its proximity to a stand of the best white pine in North Idaho. Logging in the region north and west of Bovill was begun even before the railway line was completed.
Potlatch Company's Camp 6 was located on the railway line northwest of Helmer, Idaho, which was a small, unincorporated town southwest of Bovill. It was laid out in 1910 and was named after a Potlatch Forest timber cruiser, William Helmer. Camp 6, the headquarters camp and one of the company's largest, was built around 1917. Each bunk house contained beds for sixty men. Unlike most camps, this one had good laundry facilities; hot water was obtained via a system of coils directly from water heated on the wood stove.
In spite of this, body lice and bed bugs were common. As in most of the camps the meals served to the loggers by the camp cook were also a source of complaint. Two unions were active in the camps, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) and the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen (4-L). They caused no serious problems and were successful in improving conditions.
The logging activity tended to taper off a little in the 1920's with the depletion of the prime stands of timber. When the depression began to be felt in 1930 operations slowed considerably. This was the end of the boom for the area. Logging operations eventually ceased, leaving nothing but the logging litter, broken trees, rusted machinery, etc., as a reminder of the past.
The papers relating to logging camp six of the Potlatch Company are contained in two file boxes. The types of material include time books, time sheets, employment tickets, payroll check stubs, payroll ledgers, scale cards, inventory books, invoices, and requisitions. All material is from the years 1927 to 1930 with the exception of the payroll ledgers which have entries for camps 2 and 3 which date back to 1914.
The material in this group does not in any way complement the material in the other two archival groups which concern the Potlatch Corporation (Potlatch Forests, Inc., MG 96, or the George Frederick Jewett Papers in MG 43) but is simply a miscellaneous collection of financial records for one of the many logging camps of the company.
A more detailed description of this material is contained in the following Description of Series.
The material in this group was separated by type. The first series includes the miscellaneous material which relates to the employees, the scale cards, and inventory books. The second series contains the invoices and requisitions.
Culp, Perry. "Village of Janeville Preceded Helmer Nearly Twenty Years." Moscow, News-Review, August 24, 1934.
Lawrence, Floyd. "Oral History Interview With Floyd Lawrence and Nona Wilkins Lawrence." Moscow, Idaho, 1977.
Miller, John B. "Oral History Interview With John B. Miller." Moscow, Idaho, 1973.
Miller, John B.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The items in this series consist of various types of ledgers and printed forms which have been sorted by type, then arranged chronologically. Unless otherwise indicated, all material refers to camp six.
Files are arranged in alphabetical order.
Each sheet gives the worker's name, the time worked, the deductions for board and wanagan, and the balance due. Time sheets exist for the following months:
1927. - July - September, December
1928. - March - September, November, December
1929. - January, May, June, September, December
1930. - January, March - June
This book is unused.
These 51/2" x 4" printed slips were used in making applications for work. Some in November 1929 are from the Featherstone Labor Agency in Spokane, the rest were used when the applicant appeared in persons Forms exist for the following months:
1927. September, November
1928. February, April - December
1929. January, March - September, November, December
The information on the stubs includes the employee's name, hours worked, hourly rate, deductions, and amount due. Payroll records for the following dates are included in this series:
1927. July - December
1928. January - December
1929. January - March, June, September - November
1930. February - June 7
For each name on the page there is a column for occupation, days worked, rate of pay, amount earned, amount of deductions, and balance due. The contents of each book are as follows:
Book 1. Camp 3. July - September 1914
Camp 2. November, December 1914; January - May, September - October 1915
Book 2. Camp 2. May - December 1922; May - September 1923
Book 3. Camp 6. July - December 1929; January - March 1930
The book is unused with the exception of receipt number 5 dated July 22, 1941.
These were requests sent by the camp to the main office; the requisitions sent by the main office to the suppliers are in series two. The following books are contained in this box:
Book 1. - July - October 1927
Book 2. - July - September 1928
Book 3. - September - October 1928
Book 4. - October - December 1928
There are 43 printed cards measuring 41/2" x 8" for the months of March and April 1929.
Daily Totals for January 1930
Totals for each of 18 saws, January 1-4, 1930
Totals for each of 17 teams, January 1-4, 1930
Logging Costs per Month, January - March 1930
Saw Scale & Gyppo Scale Monthly Totals, January - May 1930
These include both the Cookhouse and Wanagan (Commissary)
Book 1. - July December 1927
Book 2. - May October 1928
Book 3. - November 1928 - March 1929
Book 4. - March - August 1929
Book 5. - August 1929 - June 1930
Monthly report forms include employee's name, time worked (by day), total hours worked, and board and wanagan costs. These forms were sent from camp six to the other logging camps and several other employers such as a construction company and the Washington, Idaho & Montana Railway.
Book 1. October 1928 - June 1929
Book 2. July - December 1929
These forms were sent to camp six by the following camps:
Camp 1. 1930. April
Camp 2. 1930. May
Camp 4. 1929. August - December; 1930. January, April, May
Camp 5. 1929. December; 1930. January
Camp 7. 1929. August - December; 1930. January
Camp 12. 1929. January, December. 1930. January, March
Book 1. January - June 1926 (Camp 11)
October 1928 (Camp 7)
November - December 1928 (Camp 6)
January - June 1929 (Camp 6)
Book 2. April 1927 - January 1930 (Camp 3)
February - April 1930 Wanagan charges (Camps 8 & 9)
Some of these payroll checks are marked "void" or "canceled," others have the authorizing signature torn off. There are four checks for 1927, twenty-three in 1928, and nineteen in 1929.
This lists the purchases of each man in the camp and whether the purchase was a cash transaction or charged to payroll. It includes the dates July 17, 1927 to May 30, 1929. (See Commissary Day Book for subsequent entries)
Under each type of wood there are columns for the number of logs and the number of board feet. The months for which there are reports include:
1929. January - September, November, December
1930. January - June
In addition to the invoices from suppliers, this series also includes bills of lading from several railroads and invoices for supplies sent from the main office of the Potlatch Lumber Company.
The carbon copies of the requisitions for supplies which were sent from the Logging Department of the Potlatch Company to the various suppliers are the final items in this series. They begin with number 3714 (September 23, 1929) and end with number 6969 (July 22, 1930). Many numbers are missing, but it is quite possible that these were not requisitions for camp six and that most of the camp six requisitions for these dates are included in the folders.
Material has been arranged first by year, then alphabetically by company. Where more than one invoice exists from the same company within a particular year, these invoices are arranged chronologically. An alphabetical list of suppliers, including the years for which invoices are present, follows.