Fred Morin, founder and president of the company, was born in Benson, Minnesota, on February 13, 1880. He worked for a time at a lumberyard in Halleck, Minnesota, before becoming manager of the Robertson Lumber Company yard in Crookston, Minnesota. He arrived in Missoula, Montana, in 1910 and joined with Ed Ribardy in forming the Ribardy Lumber Company. In 1911 Morin became sole owner and changed the name to the Morin Lumber Company in 1916. The company operated a sawmill in upper Miller Creek, southeast of Missoula, from the late 1920s through 1936. In 1947 the Morin Lumber Company began operating a sawmill at Tupper Lake, near Seeley Lake, Montana, and continued production at the site until 1956. Fred Morin sold the planing mill and lumberyard in 1961. He died June 6, 1962.
This collection includes financial and legal records detailing the daily operations of a small-scale western Montana lumber mill, with particularly detailed records between 1944 and 1957. Most of the records are handwritten journals or logs recording aspects of mill operations such as log scale measurements submitted to the Montana State Forester for timber sale review, payroll hours and rates, and daily product and administrative transactions. Also included are typed records of quarterly production reports, timber sale agreements, and union relationships. The union contract records include correspondence regarding initial union representation for Morin Lumber Company employees.
The collection is divided into two series:
Series I: Financial, 2.9 linear feet, 1929-1957
Series II: Legal, 0.1 linear feet, 1941-1955
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana.
[Name of document], Morin Lumber Company Records, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.
This collection remained in the possession of the Morin family until donation to the K. Ross Toole Archives.
Gift of Vincent Morin, 1980.
The actions of the original processors are unknown. In 2003, the collection was re-described.
This series includes a general equipment inventory, bound log scale books, small bound payroll logs, unbound production reports, small bound transaction journals, an unbound yard ledger, and five large bound ledgers of outgoing lumber sales. All records are handwritten except production reports, timber sale contracts, and union contracts. All bound transaction journals exhibit accounting shorthand practices. Log scale books record timber measurements submitted to the Montana State Forester as part of the timber sale review process. Payroll records detail compensation by individual per pay period, including per diem totals. Production reports detail lumber production totals, equipment purchases, outgoing shipments, existing stock arranged by tree species, and production lost to injury. General Accounts Journals record daily transactions, credits, debts, and deposits. The yard ledger is an alphabetized record of account activities from the Miller Creek mill operation. Cash Books record sales of lumber leaving the processing yard.
This series includes records detailing timber sale agreements and union relationships. All timber contract records detail locations, total board feet, and compensation. Most contracts in this collection were between Morin Lumber Company and the State of Montana. Union contracts materials primarily record personnel allocation agreements but also include official correspondence between employees, union representatives, and mill ownership regarding the initiation of union representation. All records are typed and in good condition.