The Intermountain Lumber Company, at one time considered one of the largest lumber companies in Montana, was incorporated in June of 1947 by company founders Lanning Macfarland, D.M. Warren and Dr. Horace H. Koessler. Koessler was a medical doctor and was also involved in the livestock business in the 1930s and owned the Gordon Ranch, and Wine Glass Ranch, Inc., near Helmville, Montana. Macfarland was a local banker, and Warren a veterinarian. In 1946, using credit from the Wine Glass Company, Koessler and his business partners began construction of a sawmill on the Gordon Ranch in order to process the timber on the property. About a year later they established the Intermountain Lumber Company in order to sort, kiln dry, surface, and sell the lumber produced by the Wine Glass sawmill.
Intermountain soon expanded into marketing lumber from other local mills as well as expanding their own logging operations. The company remained under the same directorship until 1953 when D.M. Warren died leaving his holdings to his wife and son. In 1954 Ira C. Keller, a paper manufacturing executive from Oregon, became a stockholder and director. In order to expand the company's business interests Keller encouraged Waldorf Paper Company of Minnesota to establish a pulp mill near Missoula. In 1956 Intermountain purchased Thornton Lumber Company, and Western Montana Lumber Company, both in Missoula, in order to consolidate local log barking and wood chipping facilities which are necessary for preparing sawmill waste for pulp production. With this purchase the original Thornton company acquired 40% of Intermountain stock as well as other interests of the original Wine Glass Ranch, Inc., and the Waldorf Paper Products Company became holder of an Intermountain mortgage and some stock shares. The mills in Missoula eventually grew to include Missoula Pres-to-Logs and Tree Farmers, Inc. In 1963 Intermountain added yet another mill to the company by purchasing the Idaho Forest Products Company in Salmon, Idaho. The company also established S. and W. Sawmill, Inc. (Formerly Edens Division) in Darby, another mill in Conner, and for a short time, from 1969-1971, owned and operated a mill at Clayton, Idaho. In 1973 the company merged with Hoerner Waldorf Corporation which operated a paper and pulp mill in Missoula, and Intermountain became a division of the paper company.
The photographs were collected by the Intermountain Lumber Company, which was incorporated in Montana in 1947. The collection includes photographs of important company executives and mainly depicts the development and expansion of the lumber company. It contains views of lumber mills, logging activities and daily sawmill operations. It shows interesting photographs of sawmill workers on strike and a campaign visit by vice presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon, Republican, to Missoula, Montana, September 24, 1952. The dates of the photograph collection range circa 1947-1962.
Many of the photographs in this collection are attributed to specific photographers or photographic studios and lists of these photographers and/or studios follow. However, numerous photographs are unattributed and are not listed.
Photographs in the collection that are identified as the work of Montana photographers:
Robert M. Catlin (1 photograph)
R.H. McKay (9 photographs)
Photographs in the collection that are identified as the work of non-Montana photographers:
A.E. Allen for Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria, Illinois (5 photographs)
Pat Goggins for Western Livestock Reporter (2 photographs)
Chas. A Libby and Son, Spokane, Washington (7 photographs)
The photographs were arranged chronologically and organized into two subject-based series: Series I. Lumber Industry, and Series II. Political Elections.
Collection is open for research.
The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Photograph Archives collections and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Photograph Archives before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in its collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
Intermountain Lumber Company photograph collection. Lot 021. [Box and folder number.] Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, Helena, Montana
Acquisition information available upon request.
This collection was transferred from the Archives, AC 97-6, to the Photograph Archives and accessioned as PAc 98-92.
1 film was transferred to the film collection and 1 color postcard was transferred to the postcard collection.
See the Intermountain Lumber Company collection, SC 2186, for related manuscript materials.
This collection is indexed under the following headings. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.