USA > Michigan > Saginaw County > History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, Volume I > Part 40
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" The lumber market of the Valley during 1870, while not as satisfactory as desired, was not characterized by the fluctuations to the extent of the previous year and the movement was more uni- form. The short crop of logs put in the previous winter, was the primary cause of a more healthy condition of the market both in volume of business and prices. The season opened weak and rather unsettled at $5.50, $11 and $33, and during the summer, selling down as low as $5, $10, $30 to 32. The market, however, rallied in the fall and closed strong at $6, $12 and $35, with the good stock nearly all picked up.
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
"The market opened in 1871 with a doubt as to the actual quantity of logs which had been put in during the winter, and under the influence of the uncertainty, prices stood at $6, $12 and $35, until, as conviction became a certainty, a gradual advance re- sulted until $7, $14 and $38 became the ruling quotations, while $8, $16 and $40 were obtained for some lots. With a firm and rising market, lumber was held firm, the log market kept pace with lumber, and at the close of the season, logs sold as high as $16 per M. The short crop of logs and an unusually active demand for the lumber product were the chief factors in producing this satisfactory condition of the market.
" The season of 1871 closed favorable, with a comparatively small stock of lumber on hand, available for the market of 1872. The great fire at Chicago had swept away 60,000,000 feet of stock, a large number of mills had been destroyed, and there was an in- creased demand everywhere for lumber. As one of the incentives for lumbering, large tracts of pine had burned over during the fall of 1871, and to save the timber, it was necessary to cut it. Conse- quently an unusually large stock of logs was put in during the winter of 1871-'2, but it did not all come out ; many of the logs were banked on small streams wherc, under most favorable cir- cumstances, water was scarce. The dry weather of the previous season, and light snow and rainfall during the fall and winter left the swamps dry, and in consequence the 'spring freshet ' did not pan out as well as expected. The first lot of logs down was but a fraction of the quantity banked, and notwithstanding men were kept in the woods half the season in expectation of a second ' freshet,' a large number of the logs were left back with the pros- pect of ' hopelessly hung up' written on the log account of manu- facturers. Prices opened during the year at $7, $14 and $35, for the grades of culls, common and uppers, and closed at about $7.50, $15 and $37. A large number of sales were reported during the season at $8, $16 and $40, and a strong effort was made to hold these prices, but the high rate of freights during the latter part of the scason tended to crowd prices down. Among the circumstances calculated to operate unfavorably upon the market was the necessity of putting in stock that had been burned, the high price of labor in consequence of an unusual demand therefor, and the extra expense of getting the logs out by reason of low water. A strike of mill employes which came about the middle of the season, lasting three weeks, and causing a partial suspension of operations was alike detrimental to the manufacturer as well as the employe. But for the unusual demand for lumber, the panic of '73 would undoubtedly have been inaugurated to some extent among the lumbermen of the valley a year carlier.
" The history of the lumber market of the Saginaws during 1873 is one that causes no pleasurable emotions on the part of the reviewer to refer to. For 10 previous years the trade had in the main been pros- perous, each year recording an increased production and a fairly main- tained range of values, which to the commencement of the winter
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
of 1872-'3 liad stimulated lumbermen to their utmost exertions. The winter named was no exception to its predecessors, althoughi a feeling was general that the production was in excess of the de- mand of trade. The opening of navigation in 1873, found the mill docks stocked with 191,173,665 feet of unsold lumber which had been wintered over, with a light demand, and it soon became apparent that a season of unusual dullness was to be experienced. Few sales were made in the spring, however, at less than $6, $12 and $35. The failure of Jay Cooke & Co., in September, precipi- tated the panic, and a general breaking down of values in all classes of products. As a consequence, lumber sympathized and prices went down to $5, $10, and $30 for choice, and sales were made of ordinary run of stock at $4, $8, and $28 to $30. The panic also caused a practical suspension in the demand, so far as activity could be regarded. The depression had one good effect, and that was to crowd a large number of operators out of the woods during the winter of 1873-'4, and naturally checking the produc- tion, and ultimately paving the way for the ' better times.'
" The season of 1874 affords no feature for the reviewer not in- cluded in the remarks relative to the season of 1873. Prices ruled as low as during the previous year, and in many instances manu- facture was carried on at a loss.
"The season of 1875 opened with a stock of 190,017,663 feet of unsold lumber on dock, with large accumulations at the principal distributing points. As a result the continued depression fell in all circles of business, causing but little demand for lumber pro- ducts, coupled with the strenuous efforts to get out a large stock of logs, tended to cause thic home market to open dull, and a stagna- tion was a marked feature of the year's business. Despite earnest efforts to maintain the prices of the previous year, it early became apparent that the holders would be obliged to submit to a reduc- tion, if they would realize on their stocks. The demand from abroad was so nearly filled by the heavy shipments of the pre- vious fall, made possible by the extremely low rates offreight then prevailing, that the early scason was marked by an almost universal reversing of the laws which had governed the trade, and when it was found that buyers did not freely seck the producers, the holders of stock were fain by theinselves or their traveling agents to seek out the consumers. This state of facts brought with it another evil. Consumers, or rather distributors, who had heretofore been compelled to make their purchases upon a cash basis, now be- came dictators of terms to the sellers, and as a result, while every other branch of industry was rapidly assuming a strictly cash basis, the lumber trade was forced into the channels of credit, and pur- chases on time became the rule to such an extent that sales on six, nine, and even 12 months were not unusual. Meantime one con- cession leading to another, prices drooped until from the prevail- ing prices of $6, $12 and $35 of the early spring and previous fall, a decline of at least two dollars per thousand, and in some cases more, became a fixed fact, some sales being made at $4.50, $9 and
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
$30, with a few sales of small dimension stuff as low as $7 and. $8, the market quotations being fairly, at from $5, $10 and $30 to $5.50, $12 and $33, although extra niee lots were occasionally as high as the old figures of $6, $12 and $35. This state of things continued to the close of navigation, to the dis- eouragement of the producers, of whom it is safe to say that on this average the debit side of the profit and loss aeeount was the largest for the season's business.
" The evils of the eredit system which had been inaugurated were not slow to manifest themselves in the shape of dishonored paper, of which it is estimated that fully a quarter of a million dollars were thrown back upon the hands of those, in the Saginaw Valley alone, who had looked upon promises to pay as better than stoek on hand. Notwithstanding all the diseouragements of trade, whieli marked the entire season, few failures were noted among operators, and those in the main have been eaused by misfortunes outside of the usual channels of trade, such as the erippling effects of heavy losses by fire, in the destruction of mill property, in several eases eausing disaster, which, combined with the depressed state of trade, could not be overeome. As a elass the mill men stood up under the disastrous condition of trade ineident to the panie and following years of stagnation in a manner entitling them to the appellation of ' solid' to a degree exceeded by no class of men in any branch of industry.
" The stagnation ineident to the hard times was felt through the season of 1876. The prices of lumber ranged from $4.50, $9 and $28, to $6, $12 and $30. An average through the season was $5.25, $11.50 and $30. A large quantity was sold during the season, the shipments aggregating over 500,000,000 feet. Despite the hard times the season made a better showing as regards lumber moved than any previous one.
" The evils eliaraeteristie of an extended eredit system of two or three previous dull years were in a measure remedied during 1877, and there were no finaneial reverses of magnitude; the produet showed an inerease over the previous year, and the season in ship- ments was an active one. The market showed very little fluetua- tion during the season, the range being $5, $9 and $25, to $6, $12 and $28. For exceptional lots in some instances an advance on these figures was obtained.
"The lumber market in the spring of 1878, stimulated by an open winter and a consequent shortage in the log crop, opened strong at $6, $12 and $28, and $6.50, $13 and $28 to $30, while for exceptional lots higher priees were realized. These conditions were maintained and priees ruled firm until about the first of Sep- tember, when quite unexpectedly the demand for lumber stoeks dropped off, priees deelined, and the market ruled weak to the elose. Priees elosed from $1 to $1.50 per M lower than the open- ing of the season, the nominal quotations being $5 to $5.50 for eulls, $10 to $11 for common, and $26 to $27 for uppers. The cause of
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
this decline was attributed to summer logging which was carried on upon a hitherto unprecedented scale.
"At the opening of the shipping season of 1879, quotations were $5 to $5.50, $10 to $10.50, and $25 to $27. The market was sluggish until June, when the 'boom' struck the Valley, followed by more activity than before during any of the years following the panic. The closing quotations were $6.50, $13 and $28, with $7, $14 and $30 for selected stocks.
" A notable season in the history of the lumber trade, consider- ing the amount of business done and the steadiness of prices and the demand for stock, is that of 1880. The figures on the books of the custom house show that more lumber has left the Saginaw river by vessels than during any other year in the history of the trade in this district. The tabulated statement elsewhere shows also a larger product of lumber and logs than ever before recorded in the history of the trade. The season of 1880 opened with uncertainty and doubt, clouding the minds of dealers in nearly every locality except the Saginaw district. Here the wide-awake and intelligent manufacturers seem to have grasped the situation with a clearness of comprehension which gave them confidence, and resulted in a firmness and uniformity of views that proved of great benefit. While dealers, east and west, looked for a break in prices, the man- ufacturers of Eastern Michigan held steadily to their faith that an increased demand would maintain and even increase rates, and they have had the satisfaction of having their judgment vindicated by the logic of events. The demand for lumber stocks at the East has been unprecedentedly large, so much so that not only have the resources of the Saginaw Valley and the various Canadian sources of supply been taxed to their utmost capacity to meet it, but the Northwest has been drawn upon to quite an extent.
" There werc, it is true, some casual causes for the extra de- mands of the eastern market upon the west. There was a falling off in the supply from the chief producing districts of the East, the streams in Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Pennsylvania failing to bring down the logs put into them. The supply of spruce from the St. Lawrence was also somewhat limited. Nevertheless, it was undeniable that the demands of the eastern market have been unusually large. It is gratifying to know that it has not been a speculative one, but that the lumber which has gone thither has been required to meet the wants of con- sumers. It has been a season of general prosperity in the trade, and if thic profits of the dealers have not been as large as to per- centage, the difference has been more than made up by the amount of business done. The manufacturers have made money, and therc is no denyingit. Their profits have been good, and the Saginaw producers have probably done better than those of any other sec- tion, because they have held their stock firmly and resisted every effort of the bears to depress prices.
" The shipping season opened in March, and up to May 1st, over 80,000,000 feet of lumber had gone forward by water. The
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
market ruled firm the entire season at $6, $12 and $30 for ordinary stock, while good stock sold readily at $7, $14 and $30 to $32. Choice grades sold at $7.50, $15 and $35, and in some instances $8, $16 and $36 were realized.
" The season was noted for a scarcity of the best grades of lum- ber, and toward the close dealers were unable to fill orders for that class of stock. The stock on dock of coarse lumber is larger than usual, but it is now in better demand, and there will be com- paratively a small quantity of marketable lumber on the dock at the opening of navigation, unsold.
"Since the close there has been an active request, and from 50,000,000 to 75,000,000 has been sold for shipment next season, while some choice lumber has been purchased for next season's de- livery yet in the woods."
The operations in the lumber market during 1881 give promise of a magnitude never reached hitherto. During the winter the woods were alive with lumbermen, the river, for a distance of 20 miles, is one vast lumber city, and the prospects of trade as good as at any period in the history of the Saginaw lumber market.
THE REGION OF ILLIMITABLE POSSIBILITIES.
For many years past the pine forests of Michigan have afforded much material for the mathematician as well as lumberman. A score of years ago and wise men said the timber region would dis- appear within 15 summers; a few more ycars passed, and the speculative philosopher stated the supply almost exhausted; but still the pine woods survive as if to prove that their resources are incalculable. About 12 years ago Hon. John F. Driggs prepared a paper on the timber and minerals of the State. There was no reason whatever to suppose that his conclusions on the tiniber question were narrow or confined; on the contrary, the great inajor- ity of those who read that paper were inclined to believe that the pine would give out much sooner than the time which he stated it would last. He said: "It has been ascertained that in the year 1868 there was cut in the entire State, 1,600,000,000 feet, Saginaw Valley and the Bay Shore producing about one-third of the whole amount. Making what I suppose to be a low estimate, that the annual production in the whole State in the past 18 years has been 400,- 000,000 feet, the entire product within that period lias been 7,200,- 000,000 feet. Placing tlie average yield at 3, 750 feet to the acre, and at 300,000 feet to the SO-acre lot, we find the enormous number of 1,920,000 acres from which the pine has been removed in this State. Estimating the entire amount yet standing in Northern Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula, at double the amount, say 4,000,000 acres, the future yield will be 15,000,000,000 feet, and at the present price of $15 PM, will be worth in market $225,000,000. The timber, shingles, etc., will bring at least $75,000,000 more, making the pine in the forests of Northern Michigan produce the vast sum of $300,000,000. This 4,000,000 acres of standing pine, at the pres-
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
ent rate of exhaustion, will all be cleared in 12 or 14 years. But as heretofore the pine has been mostly cut on streams accessible for running logs, and as much of the remaining timber, both in the Lower and Upper Peninsula, is found in sections too distantfrom the water-courses to make them available for that purpose, the supply from such localities must depend upon future railroad and other facilities for transportation to market. Until such means are af- forded, the annual yield must soon be diminished, and this may prolong the entire exhaustion of white pine in the State for a period of 18 or 20 years; but beyond that it is hardly possible. "
Three years ago (1878) another gentleman, thoroughly convers- ant with the pine region, made the subscribed estimate of the amount of timber yet standing:
Eastern shore from Sebewaing to Algonac, including Flint, Lapeer, and Cass rivers. .. 1,500,000,000
Rifle river. 3,500,000,000
Au Sable. 3,000,000,000
Thunder Bay and Shore. 3,000,000,000
Cheboygan. 1,000,000,000
Manistee. 6,000,000,000
From Manistee to White river, including Pere Marquette river 4,000,000,000
Muskegon.
3,000,000,000
Grand river. 1,000,000,000
Saginaw and tributaries. excepting Cass and Flint rivers .. 6,000,000,000
Upper Peninsula, which includes the Monistique, Escanaba, Stur- geon. White Fish and intermediate points. 10,000,000,000
Smaller districts not included. 2,000,000,000
Total
.43,000,000,000
These figures must be purely speculative; yet they come nearer the reality than any hitherto furnished. He who said, "There is no means of knowing how much timber is yet standing," is secure in his assertion. One might as well endeavor to sink a shaft to China as try to compile a statement of the probable amount of tim- ber now standing that lumbermen who are acquainted with the for- ests of Michigan would believe. In 1868 it was estimated that there was standing 4,000,000 acres in the State, which at the rate of ex- haustion, then 400,000 feet annually, would exhaust the product in 12 to 14 years, and 18 years was placed as the utmost limit. Twelve of the 18 years have passed since these figures were made, during which the product has exceeded 1,000,000,000 feet yearly, and during the past three years more than doubling these figures, yet lumberinen still look alread for 10 or 12 years, cnt fully as large as at present. The pine region is now opened up to the explorer; railroads enter its very heart, and as it becomes better known, it would not be subject for surprise to learn that timber exists in such quantities as to insure a continuance of supply until the beginning of the 20th century.
The timber districts of the Peninsula are known as the Saginaw Valley, Saginaw Bay, Au Sable, Thunder Bay, Cheboygan, Grand Traverse, Upper and Lower Manistee, Pere Marquette, Muskegon and Grand river. The Saginaw Valley district embraces the
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
counties of Tuseola, Lapeer, Genesee, Saginaw, Gratiot, Isabella, Gladwin, Clare and Midland, drained by the following tributaries to the Saginaw river: Flint, Bad, Cass, Pine, Chippewa, Tobacco and Tittabawassee. Of these streams, the Flint and Cass, onee extensively lumbered, are now rapidly deelining and eease to be reckoned as important contributors to the stoek of logs required for the eut of the Saginaw river mills. The Chippewa and Pine have also been largely lumbered and the principal timber is well up on the headwaters and on small tributaries. There is yet a ridge of timber running northeast from the headwaters of Flat river, in Montcalm county, and eovering the headwaters of the Pine, the Chippewa, the Tobacco, the Tittabawassee, and continuing across to the headwaters of the Au Sable and along the headwaters of Thunder Bay river as far as Cheboygan.
The Saginaw Valley receives the great bulk of the stock furnished by this territory, although the shore and Muskegon river receive a portion, the latter going to Muskegon mills. The Flint & Pere Marquette railroad passes through the heart of the hunber regions west and northwest of East Saginaw, and numerous mills have sprung up, while Flint, Midland and Ludington are eenters of manufacture to quite an extent.
The Jackson division of the Michigan Central also passes throughi this territory, along the line of which manufacturing is carried on to some extent; both these arteries of commerce furnishing outlets for logs, lumber and shingles, and also modes of communication with the lumbering regions for supplies, ete.
The Saginaw Bay district is drained by the Pine, Rifle and Au Gres and other smaller streams bordering the Saginaw Bay, em- bracing the counties of Bay, Ogeinaw, Ioseo, and has for some years been a source of timber supply for the Saginaw river mills and mills at Tawas. The extent of lumbering in this district has drained from it the large proportion of the best timber, especially on the lower waters of the streams.
The River Au Sable has a large manufacturing eenter at its mouth on Lake Huron. The counties of Aleona, Ioseo, Oseoda, Crawford, Roscommon, Otsego and Montmorency, are drained in part by this stream and its tributaries, and also competing for the timber on the headwaters of the Muskegon, Manistee and Thun- der Bay rivers. The pine of this district is of good quantity. The Mackinaw division of the Michigan Central also taps this distriet, and a fair portion of its produet in the future will find an outlet via this thoroughfare.
Thunder Bay river embraces Alpena, and portions of Aleona, Oscoda, Montmorency and Presque Isle counties. This distriet embraees a very large territory, mostly tributary to Alpena at the mouth of Thunder Bay river, where extensive manufacturing has been carried on for many years.
The Cheboygan district ineludes the lake shore counties in the vicinity of the Straits of Mackinaw, drained by the Cheboygan river and tributaries. Lumbering at Cheboygan, Dunean City,
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.
and other points in the vicinity, is carried on quite extensively. The Mackinaw division of the Michigan Central is now being ex- tended to the straits, and another year will open up that territory within easy and rapid communication with the Saginaw river cities.
The foregoing territory embraces principally the product in- cluded in this annual review, excepting a portion of the Flint & Pere Marquette railroad mills and mills at Ludington, at the mouth of Pere Marquette river. A brief glance at the other pine-produc- ing districts in the Lower Peninsula, the product of the principal points being given in this report, may not be inappropriate.
The Grand Traverse region extends practically from Mackinaw to Manistee, covering a large area, with a good quality of pine. Lumbering has been carried on for years at Traverse City, Elk Rapids, Cadillac, Frankfort and other points, the timber coming from the Boardman, Platte and other smaller streams. The Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad taps this territory, and numerous mills have been erected along the line of the road.
The Upper Manistee river district lies upon the Manistee, from its source in Otsego county to the north timber ridge in Wexford county, which divides it from the Lower Manistee, embracing an extensive tract of pine. The Grand Rapids & Indiana road crosses the lower portion of this body.
The Lower Manistee, Little Au Sable and Pere Marquette in- cludes the pine timber region lying west of the Muskegon waters and along the Lake Michigan shore from Manistee to Pentwater, and drained by the streams named and their tributaries. The principal manufacturing points are Manistee, Ludington and Pent- water. The product of Ludington appears in the table of the Flint & Pere Marquette mills, being at the terminus of the road, a thoroughfare which traverses a large area of this timber tract.
The Muskegon river district is one of the largest in the State. The river is large, and with its numerous large tributaries, the Little Muskegon, the Tamarack, Middle Branch, Clam river and other streams, affords lumbering facilities to a greater extent than any other stream in the State. From Higgins and Houghton lakes, the main river flows through Roscommon, Missaukee, Osceola, Clare, Mecosta, Newaygo and Muskegon counties, while the trib- utaries reach the counties of Wexford and Montcalm, penetrating tlic dividing ridge, and reaching timber tracts which divide their products between the eastern and western slope of the peninsula. From the same district the logs arc cut for the Saginaw and for the Muskegon waters, and at Houghton lake the same township sup- plies timber for the Muskegon and the Au Sable of Lake Huron, and on the west, the Manistee, the Pere Marquette and the White river, divide timber with the waters of the Muskegon, and still further, the latter takes timber from the same territory which sup- plies the niills of Grand river. The Michigan Lake Shore, Grand Rapids & Indiana, Flint & Pere Marquette and other roads pass through this district in different directions, and the Mackinaw
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