Centennial Series: Family ties at sawmill

When Lincoln County was formed in 1909, Libby’s transition into a logging community was just beginning.

Dawson Lumber Co., had opened three years earlier and was largely responsible for the community’s population swelling 112.8 percent between 1900 and 1910. Julius Neils arrived from Minnesota in 1911, bought out the Dawson operation and took the sawmill to a new level.

For decades, Libby’s primary industry was logging. Most families in one way or another owed their living to the sawmill. These hard-working folks of northwestern Montana had a special connection to the land.

Many families can share stories about those years working in the sawmill – whether it was J. Neils, St. Regis, Champion or Stimson. The perfect example could be found in the Lindsay family.

Earl, LaMar and Duane Lindsay combined worked at the sawmill in Libby for 111 years. Even a fourth generation in the family – Scott Lindsay – took a job at the mill but he only lasted nine days before accepting a higher-paying job with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Earl Edward Lindsay was in his early 20s when he started working in 1930 for J. Neils Lumber Co. He had a familiarization with Libby from living in the community on and off as a child. After getting married, he and his new bride headed for the community of roughly 1,750 to begin their life together. That same year, their son, LaMar, was born.

The country was in its infancy of the Great Depression and the sawmill certainly had its share of challenges. But the enterprise survived to keep locals employed.

Earl worked at the sawmill for 43 years by the time he retired in 1972.

“They brought the logs to the mill by rail in those days,” Duane Lindsay said. “In the early days, they floated some logs down the river but I don’t think they did that for very long.”

Earl’s son, LaMar, nearly equaled his father’s run with a 42-year career that spanned 1948 to 1991. He accepted early retirement at age 61. And Duane accepted a position with St. Regis in 1977 and stayed 26 years until the end when Stimson shut down on Dec. 27, 2002.

Duane graduated from high school in 1974 and married three years later. That same year, he started at the sawmill, working most of his years in the powerhouse.

“When I got hired, I was No. 1,160 on the seniority list,” said Duane, giving an example of the mill’s size at the time. “There were a lot of people there. That’s when they had their own woods department, sawmill, studmill and plywood plant.”

Duane remembers big mills existing in both Troy and Libby. Following the merger of St. Regis with Champion International in 1984, the sawmill’s size eventually began to dwindle. Champion eliminated the woods department to leave the sawmill, studmill and plywood plant.

He worked there when a major fire broke out in the 1990s not long after Stimson bought the plants. In fact, he served on the fire brigade – just like his father.

“I was one of the first one’s there,” he said. “The powerhouse was still running and the sawmill was shutdown. They were tearing it down and some of the sprinkler systems were shut off.”

The fire did spread to the powerhouse and destroyed it. Duane was involved with the construction of a new steam powerhouse in 1996.

Today, Duane, 53, lives and works in Darrington, Wash. He was in town over the weekend for his parents’ 60th wedding anniversary.

Duane visited his former worksite last year to take a quick look around and recollect his years there.

The Lindsay family’s 111 combined years at the sawmill serves as a reminder of how the logging industry impacted Lincoln County over its first century. Ironically – and sadly – as the county’s centennial is recognized, no major sawmills remain.

Like many others, Duane Lindsay has a hard time accepting the industry’s downfall.

 “I went out to the lake and drove around and there are a lot of trees out there,” he said.

A lot of trees … just like in 1909.