More interconnectedness revealed tonight. Referencing my last post, you'll learn that E. A. Persson and Kinsey Brothers Photography had a grande 100 year reunion. Most interestingly it continues, as I've established yet another clear link between them. Going through this collection is like putting together a monster puzzle; slowly making connections and feeding the engagement level.

My inclination that Kinsey(s) and E. A. Persson were at some point touring the W. L. & T Co. grounds together has come into better focus. In these photos you will see rows of bunk houses, which lodged unmarried W. L. & T. Co. workers. It is known that E. A. Persson shot the first two photographs, one near ground level and another from higher up on a hill. They depict two separate camps, as I cannot identify coinciding geographical points of reference along the camps parameters in each photo.

The last photograph was shot by a Kinsey brother and is part of the brother's archive at University Libraries Digital Collections at University of Washington. The Kinsey(s) photo is of the same W. L. & T. Co. camp taken by Persson from the hill looking down, as there is a railroad track cutting along the far side of the longest row of bunk houses. One can also see the lieutenant headquarters in each photograph (middle right) and adjacent water tank. Although there are differences in either camps layout, there is a definitive correlation between the two. Persson's photograph was obviously taken a season or two prior to Kinsey's, there are many more felled trees and brush yet to be cleared along the camp parameters.

These discoveries are wonderful for me and my family. Any rewards are appreciated in research and these completely exceed what I've expected to find. With more than 1500 photographs and as many postcards yet to comb through, I'm confident this temporal reunion won't be the last.

Photo by E. A. Persson of W. L. & T. Co. camp, near Oak Point, WA. Two girls playing far right. (1906-10) — Photo by E. A. Persson of W. L. & T. Co. camp, near Oak Point, WA. Two girls playing far right. (1906-10)

Photo by E. A. Persson of W. L. & T. Co. near Oak Point, WA. Lieutenant headquarters middle right. (1906-10)

Photograph by Kinsey Brothers (courtesy University Libraries Digital Collections). Lieutenant headquarters far middle right. — Photograph by Kinsey Brothers (courtesy University Libraries Digital Collections). Lieutenant headquarters far middle right.

railroads, logging

Timber Railroads

Garric Simonsen · November 24, 2014

As the railroad carved deeper into the ancient Cascadian forest, logging camps proliferated. Most dwellings were made so to be picked and transported via locomotive to the next location. Erik Andreas was making a name for himself as a carpenter and crew member building trestles. He later became superintendent of the Basin Lumber Company owned and managed by J. S. O’Gorman out of Portland, OR. All in all it is said this outfit raked in nearly 120 million board feet of lumber. The company would establish for it’s time, the longest and highest known stretch of railroad in the upper Columbia (Cascade region).

A junction of converging tracks snakes through this larger sized logging community. I used this image to inform a drawing of my own. — A junction of converging tracks snakes through this larger sized logging community. I used this image to inform a drawing of my own.

Yards like this housed tools/equipment and provided shelter from long periods of PNW rain.

A dog stands on the tracks next to a line worker, somewhere deep in the Cascade Mountains.

First of two photos depicting a trestle construction in progress, taken around 1910.

Another perspective from the latter, this time from topside..

logging, railroads

Building of Railroads

Garric Simonsen · November 21, 2014

Erik Andreas Persson (upper left) posing for a photograph on a newly finished railroad bridge. (1903-4) — Erik Andreas Persson (upper left) posing for a photograph on a newly finished railroad bridge. (1903-4)

Soon after Erik Andreas Persson landed in the Northwest he became employed with the building and maintenance of railroads, transporting timber and lumber to nearby mills. This post begins with a photograph of him perched high on a massive bridge construction made of old growth Douglas Fir logs. Resourceful and perhaps practical for it's time, this engineering monstrosity is linked together with enough board feet to make a modern lumber tycoon big money.

Below, features snapshots of an everyday working mans life in the Northwest timber industry. In the latter photograph we see Erik Andreas as a person of seemingly unstoppable power, while in another we see him cuddling two small kittens in front of his home. It was an extraordinary time for manual labor, looking closely at the Heisler locomotive climbing the grade (pictured below), one can pick out dozens of white shirts catching a lift up the hill to work a long day.

railroads

Another Reunion

Timber Railroads

Building of Railroads