Sequoyah Falls Lumber Co.

For some time, I have been working on a track plan for an On30 diorama that features SWSM models that I have built and plan to build. I attached my latest track plan and a history of the Sequoyah Falls Lumber Co. (SFLC). Although the SFLC is fictitious, the need for sawmills along the Great Northern Railway line as well as the history of the Great Northern mentioned in the SFLC history are real.

History of Sequoyah Falls Lumber Co.

In early 1889, the same year Montana became a state, the Great Northern Railway (GNR) announced plans to build the Pacific Extension from Havre, Montana over Marias Pass (elevation 5,214 feet) to the Pacific Coast. Construction of the Pacific Extension created a large demand for manufactured wood products, including crossties (2,500 per mile), bridges, pilings, telegraph poles, snow fences, fuelwood for railroad camps, cribbing, tunnel timbers, fuel, corduroy roads, and railroad buildings. Most cross ties for the GNR line in northwest Montana were made of Douglas fir or western larch and either hewn in the woods adjacent to the rail line or manufactured by sawmills near the GNR line. In addition, the GNR used several million feet of dimension lumber to construct railroad bridges and tunnels. In the Summit and Bear Creek areas, over 100 wood buildings were constructed for the grading camps. Building the tote road paralleling the rail line required constructing 122 bridges and numerous corduroy roads.
In anticipation of GNR demand for wood products, the Sequoyah Falls Lumber Co. (SFLC) was established in 1888. SFLC’s sawmill and supporting facilities were completed in 1889, just prior to construction of the GNR line over Marias Pass. The mill was located immediately south of Sequoyah Falls on Essex Creek about one-half mile west of Essex, Montana, a small town along the GNR line located about 16 miles south of Marias Pass and 58 miles west of Kalispell. Advantages of this location were its proximity to heavily-forested areas, the GNR line, and Flathead Valley.
Initially, the sawmill manufactured crossties, timbers, and dimension lumber for the section of the GNR line through northwest Montana. During construction of the GNR line, wood products manufactured by the sawmill were made from logs cut along the right-of-way and tote road for the GNR line and forests surrounding the mill. Logs felled closer to the mill were skidded to the mill via horse-drawn wagons. Logs felled in areas farther away from the mill were skidded by horse to landings along a narrow gage line, loaded onto log disconnects, and transported to the mill. Crossties and dimension lumber purchased by GNR were transported to the right-of-way and other building sites between Essex and Marias Pass by horse-drawn wagons via the GNR tote road. After the GNR line was completed to Essex, wood products were transported to GNR construction sites via a spur.
After completion of the section of the GNR line between Marias Pass and Kalispell, the mill continued to manufacture wood products for GNR, but at a much reduced rate, and manufactured dimension lumber for buildings in the Flathead Valley. The mill site included a steam-powered, circular sawmill, rigging shed, tool shed, wood cutter’s shack, logging and wagon repair shed, office, bunk houses, and a cook house, not all of which are included in the diorama. Bunk houses were occupied by SFLC loggers and mill workers. The steam boiler for the sawmill burned wood waste from the mill.
SFLC locomotive power is provided by a T-boiler, 2-truck Shay. In addition, SFLC owned several log disconnects and several freight cars.