Historic Hood River
Stanley Smith Camp 3
8-25-2025
Notes
Here’s a fine wide angle view of the operations at Stanley Smith Lumber Company Camp #3. You can see the steam donkey, a cluster of structures including sleeping quarters, and a junction in the log flume works. I’m guessing the big tent between the three large buildings is the mess tent. There are a couple of logs working their way down toward the Green Point Mill.
And if you’re wondering why the “b” in lumber is backwards, the caption on this image was written on the negative backwards in ink. That’s why these captions frequently look a little awkward and include letters which are mirrored backwards. Writing on negatives is a special talent.
Thorn
The flume structure is pretty amazing, but the whole scene is hard to look it from an environmental perspective…all the stumps, lost wildlife, and I can’t even tell where the river or creek is flowing from. What’s the purpose of that long angled walll?
Dale Nicol
Arthur, so nice to see these excellent photo’s documenting the early lumber day’s in the valley.
Regarding writing/printing backwards is a skill I needed to acquire 65 years ago as a US Navy radarman. We had a 6′ square plexiglass status board mimicking a radar PPI scope display, where we displayed aircraft locations, real time using a grease pencil. You were behind the board, marking the targets so the “Radar Aircraft Control Officer” could look up and see exactly where the targets were as they often lost them. Since the RACO’s were low skilled in tracking targets, the experienced radarmen provided the details needed so he could do his job of vectoring the good guy to intercept the bad guy……long before computers were around to ease the task.
kmb
Fascinating photo! Regarding the right angle tee in the flume, it is hard to understand how you would get a log coming down the flume to take a sharp left turn and go down the tee branch. Maybe they put some kind baffle or barrier in the flume at the tee to get the logs to turn the corner? Or some guy had to stand there with a pike and try to push the logs around the corner?
BethH
An organized mess!?
Pat A
So much to see.
A busy steam donkey pulling the load with its cable.
The multiple flumes are instrumental in easing the process of logs and I’m sure are well maintained.
A warm day? as most are under that crude roof.
The angled boards appear to be holding back the water for the mill pond.
A chaotic scene from afar.
L. E.
I agree with Pat A….so much to see!
I think Arthur should bicycle up to where this photo was taken and provide us with a “today” view.
The horizontal flume in the center of the photo…was that for lumber?
Peter
I’m so curious exactly where this Camp 3 was – would this have been in Section 30 along Gate Creek, east of Rainy Lake? Are there any remnants of this camp still out there?
Arthur Babitz
Peter, you can see where the flumes join in this map: https://www.hoodriverhistorymuseum.org/historic-photo-resources/image-swipe-master/lower_valley.html
The area has been studied by archeologists and very few traces remain. Despite the mess we see here, they were very good at salvaging every scrap of wood or metal when they moved camp to a new site.