By Neal Lemery
Those curious about Tillamook County’s logging industry, especially the use of railroads in the logging and transport of timber, will find this book of particular interest. This collection of writings by Mr. Strite, who was experienced in the logging industry and whose family was deeply involved in the workings of the Whitney Company, is a welcome addition to Oregon history.
The reader will be intrigued with the complexity and extent of early logging along the Kilchis River, and the old mill site which is now part of the Pioneer Museum’s Kilchis Point Reserve.
Most of the material was originally published in the Oregon Historical Society’s quarterly journal in the 1970s, with the addition of his delightful How to Become a Logger: A Complete Treatise in Six Lessons, a humorous look at a logger’s life.
Vince Bogard, who spent part of his childhood near the mill site, has brought these memoirs back to life, collecting these accounts and adding more photos. He adds an informative forward, putting these experiences into the context of a major economic force in local history to a book that offers lessons to all who are interested in our forests and the timber industry.
Strite begins his story with his arrival after World War I to a mill site where his relatives soon put him to work. His detailed and engaging storytelling brings to life a bygone era, the remnants which are still seen in old railroad beds, mill ponds, building foundations, and other forerunners of modern logging and lumbermill operations. There are great stories about the Whitney Mill in Garibaldi, and everyday life of hard-working loggers.
These entertaining stories have been republished by the Tillamook County Historical Society in a 123-page book filled with one of a kind photos, drawings and maps.
Bogard will read from Whitney Company at the Pioneer Museum, 2106 Second, Tillamook, on Saturday, August 5, 2023, at 4 p.m. and autographed copies will be available. Models of the mill site and equipment will be on display. The public is invited to attend.
The book is available at the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, the Forestry Center, 45500 Wilson River Highway, Tillamook), and by mail from the Tillamook County Historical Society, PO Box 123, Tillamook, Oregon 97141 ($20 plus $5 postage).
