The Hidden History of Western Washington Logging Camps: St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company’s Camp #5 ca. 1934-1947

Despite the importance of logging to Washington State’s heritage, there is little information on the life in the logging industry and the lumbermen who helped shape western Washington. The St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company (SPTLC) harvested the Kapowsin Timberlands from the early 1900s to the late 1950s. The logging camps located within these timberlands can provide information on the organization of these industry camps as well as on the daily lives of the men that would help build one of the most important industries in Washington. This thesis employed archaeological and historical approaches to understand this period of history. The archaeology approach focused on the documentation of a SPTLC Camp #5, an 80 by 71 m surface scatter dominated by broken glass, ceramics, and tin cans. Diagnostic artifacts were most likely all manufactured before 1947, which is consistent with SPTLC maps that state Camp #5 was in use from 1934 through 1947. The nature of these artifacts complements the historic record from company records, which includes an inventory of camp supplies and correspondence to and from camp employees.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Cultural and Environmental Resource Management

Year dc:date.available

2017

Author dc:creator

• Bass, Kayley

Contributors dc:contributor

• Patrick M. Lubinski
• Steven Hackenberger
• Stephen Moore

• Logging Camps
• Historic Logging Industry
• Western Washington Logging
• Archaeological Anthropology
• United States History

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/737

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-1734