Document Type
Thesis
Date of Degree Completion
Summer 2017
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Cultural and Environmental Resource Management
Committee Chair
Patrick M. Lubinski
Second Committee Member
Steven Hackenberger
Third Committee Member
Stephen Moore
Abstract
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.
Recommended Citation
Bass, Kayley, "The Hidden History of Western Washington Logging Camps: St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company’s Camp #5 ca. 1934-1947" (2017). All Master's Theses. 737.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/737
Language
English