Newspaper Article: Knapp, Stout & Co. Lumbering Ends, 15 Aug. 1901, Dunn Co., Wisconsin ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, or the legal representative of the contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Nance Sampson 23 February 1999 ==================================================================== 1901 Paper Recorded End of Lumber Business Discovery of a copy of the Maiden Rock News of Aug. 15, 1901, which reported the closing of lumbering operations at Knapp, Stout & Co., provides a contemporary view of the biggest news event in western Wisconsin just 70 years ago. Her is an abbreviated summary of that story: Within two weeks the last pine log belonging to Knapp, Stout & Co. in Wisconsin will be sawed, and the operations in this state of one of the largest lumbering corporations in the world will be ended. This great concern has gradually evolved from the firm of Knapp & Black which on June 1, 1843, began the operation of a small saw mill on Wilson Creek. This was built in 1831 by Judge Lockwood of Prairie du Chein and is doubtless the oldest mill in Wisconsin, having been run for over 70 years. In 1850 Capt. Andrew Tainter came to Menomonie and was taken into the firm. In 1853 H. L. Stout entered the partnership. Unlike most lumbering firms, the firm has done practically all its work with its own men. Crews were sent to the woods during the winter to get out the logs and drive them down the river in the spring. The logs were taken from the company's own land by men in its employ. After the logs were sawed the lumber was rafted down the river, and after reaching the Chippewa was towed by steamboat down the Mississippi to company distributing points. Until within the last few years the firm has maintained its own line of steamboats for the purpose of towing its rafts. (Now) all boats have been sold with the exception of the Lady of the Lake, used for towing logs on Rice Lake. From June 1, 1846, until the close of last season, the company cut in its mills at Cedar Falls, Menomonie, Downsville and Waubeek a total of 2,776,997,136 feet of lumber. This season's cut on the Red Cedar River is estimated at 19,000,000 feet, making a total of about 2,786,000,000 feet of lumber cut on this river during the 55 years of operation here. For many years this company employed an average of 3,000 men. From the beginning the men in its employ have been kindly treated. About 15 years ago one of the boys working in the shingle mill attempted to organize the packers and induced them to strike for more wages, but the movement fell through and there was no strike. The example of the universal kindness with which this company has always treated the men in its employ is a record of which any corporation may be proud. If a laborer became sick or was injured in any way, he was promptly cared for, and if necessary his family was provided for until he should be able to resume his work. The closing of the lumber mills within the next two weeks will mark the passing of a great industry, one to which the city owes its birth and, for a number of years, its existence. Other industries will come and the city of Menomonie will continue to grow but no matter what is developed, the city will always look back with pride to the time it was known as a "lumbering town". --Taken from the St. Paul Sunday Pioneer Press, 19 December 1971