Historic Hood River
Logging at Greenpoint, 1890s
4-17-2014
Notes
Here’s a nice view of logging at Greenpoint (Kingsley) in the 1890s. It looks like a selective thinning operation to me.
Not sure if Dad couldn’t get a sitter or if it was “bring your kid to work” day in Hood River, but at least he has a firm hand on the bridle.
spinsur
"Selective" in the sense, only take the biggest and best, or at lest don’t take the small damaged trees!
Funny, I saw the vertical fold down the middle of the photograph, and had to wonder if this meant something to somebody’s dad or son that it was carried in a pocket; then saw the tyke on the draft horse, and had to wonder again…
Charlott
They probably were not taking those logs too far, as there were those saw mills up there in the hills.
Sadly there is apparently no names on the photo. Reminder if you have old photos and know who they are, get those names, dates and any information you have on them…..now…………
Buzz
Where is Greenpoint? Must have had a fire went through here 30 or so years before to only have timber this big.
l.e.
I agree buzz. For 1890, those stumps aren’t very big and lots of small stuff.
Maybe mom is taking the photo.
Longshot
You can see bigger stumps mixed in, but it looks like they may have been logged out at an earlier time.
Jill
I like the skid mark down the hill – follow it to the log that got skidded by those beautiful horses.
ralph
Does anyone see bigfoot in the distance?
Buzz
Picture reminds me of the old story about hiring loggers. If you need two good men, make sure they are wearing suspenders. If they are wearing belts, hire 4 or 5 of them and fire 2 or 3 right away.
Arthur
I believe the Greenpoint mill was up by Kingsley reservoir. I don’t have any more precise location.
nels
Does the team to the left look to have appaloosa markings? The smaller of the team that the boy is sitting on is either a pony or a young thing, hardly a draft horse for pulling logs.
OrMtnMaid
Green Point Reservoir was built on the site of the Green Point Mill. Lower reservoir was built in 1936, upper 1937. Here’s a view of the mill pond. https://oregondigital.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2Fgwilliams&CISOPTR=454&DMSCALE=6.25000&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=600&DMMODE=viewer&DMFULL=0&DMOLDSCALE=2.49460&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=&DMTHUMB=1&REC=1&DMROTATE=0&x=31&y=43 Hope the link works.
l.e.
I don’t see any saws. Just axes.
Like Longshot says, those bigger stumps look like older cuts and some of them look like they may have been burned.
Have you ever heard of Green Point being called Burghertown? The obituary for Charlie Bell mentions that.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=24171496
There is a HHR photo of the mill near Greenpoint
https://www.hoodriverhistorymuseum.org?showimage=175
There was so much that went on in this area they might not even be logging per se. They might be building a dam, or a flume or clearing ground.
Buzz, it is probably raining where you are today so here is some good history reading about early HR watershed areas. Greenpoint and Kinglsey are mentioned quite often.
https://nrimp.dfw.state.or.us/web%20stores/data%20libraries/files/Watershed%20Councils/Watershed%20Councils_300_DOC_HoodR_WSassess_1999.pdf
l.e.
Your post just showed up OrMtnMaid.
Yes, the link works.
Much larger operation than I expected.
I think the planned railroad from Portland connecting to the Mt Hood RR was suppose to go through this area.
Arthur
Thanks for the location of the mill, @OrMtnMaid. We have several nice images of that operation which are queued up for future posts. It’s great to know where it is. Do you have any detail on where the flume was, or whether any signs of it remain? I know Scott Cook has searched for it unsuccessfully.
Longshot
The boy is in school learning a trade. Might not be able to do trig and algebra when I got out, but probably knew how to earn a living.
Norma Jubitz Simpson
Greenpoint is the location of Camp Yallani. (Hope I spelled that right)
Buzz
Oh, I know Camp Yallani. That is where the Wy’east girls used to be counselors in the summer. They used to sneak across the dike on Saturday night and we would meet up and dance in the moonlight. Nice girls. Good fun.
Jill
That horse on the left is a dapple grey – grey horses start out with well defined dapples that fade as they grow older. I agree it’s a pretty smallish horse but it may be "in training".
Charlott
Hey Buzz were you on the night time Yallani frolic with Jones, Paddock and Wilcox. Send me your e-mail address and I shall share the details.
Buzz
Not on that one Charlott. Never knew those outlaws used to sneak up there too.
TreeDawg
Have yet to see a photo of Camp Yallani. Definately some fire that burned part of the area, although not sure of the timing relative to the Greenpoint mill. One of the other photo’s showing the Stanley Smith flume certainly shows burned trees.