Potlatch Corp. The site for the Clearwater Timber Co. sawmill in Lewiston looked barren in this view in March 1926. The company became Potlatch Forests Inc. in 1931. Workers construct the dry kilns at the Lewiston mill site in September 1926.
Hindsight works that way.
But at the turn of the century, Weyerhaeuser had other options. The fact he chose to move his operations to the Northwest had as much influence on the shaping of Lewiston as any other decision made during this century. Weyerhaeuser, born in Germany, emigrated to the United States in 1852 at age 17, settling in Pennsylvania. At 21 he moved to Rock Island, Ill., and purchased a sawmill. By the time he died in 1914, he was one of the world's richest men, and arguably the most influential in shaping the Pacific Northwest.