Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1904-01-20
NEW MEXICO
LUMBER MILLS
The White Pine of This Territory
Declared to Equal That of
Michigan.
MILL|0NS.ARE INVESTED
Many Miles of Timber RaiIroads..Bi1
Plant at Alamogordo and at
Albuquerque.

i Although large forests in New Mex.
leo have been cut down for timber. es-
pecially in the Catskill region, ColfaS
County, on the TERRA Amarillo grant
in Rio Arriba County, and at other
points, and many millions of acres Of
merchantable timber are included in
forest reserves, yet there are still vast
] tracts OF good timber in Rio Arriba,
| valencia, Mckinley Otero and other
counties. The lumber industry in
| New Mexico is an important one, EN-.
ploying many men and representing an
investment of several million dollars,
not only in mills, machinery and tim.
Der lands but also in railroads. such
as the Sacramento Mountain Railway,
the Catskill branch of the Colorado &
Southern, the TERRA Amarillo Rail-
road, the New Mexico & Southwestern
Railroad, now under construction, and
the timber line from Thoreau into the
Mitchell tract. just being completed.
The New Mexico pine is declared by
expert lumbermen to be as nearly the
equal of the Michigan white pine as
any timber in America, and in view
Of the rapid disappearance of the white
pine forests of the Great Lake regions,
the industry in this Territory is found
to grow in Importance with every year.
The Territory is the owner of vast
tracts of heavily timbered lands, the
value of which has increased rapidly
during the past year. The growth of
the lumber industry threatens no dan
ger of the wiping out of the forests.
since the finest timber lands in the
Territory are protected within the gov.
ernment forest reserves.
A writer in one of the Denver Sun
day papers says: "At Alamogordo, in
eastern New Mexico, the Sacramento
Mountain Lumber Company is employ
ing several hundred men in it's two big
saw mills and box factory. To reach
the pine forests which cover the peaks
of the Sacramento Mountains the
company has built the Sacramento
Mountain Railroad conrtecting with
the Ell Paso & Northeastern al Ala
mogordo This eighteen miles of rail
road is one Of the most picturesque and
difficult feats of railroad engineering
in the west. With an average grade
of four and one-half per cent it is still
necessary to use two switchbacks to
reach the summit of the range. The
forests in the Sacramentos are practi-
cally as limitless as are those in west
ern New Mexico.
"The American Lumber Company is
of Cbiao oo opd notroif ooy,i
talists and lumber manufacturers and
has capital of $8,000,0OO It's mills
in Albuquerque are turning out the
finished product at the rate of 100000
feet for every "a hours run. The mill.
which made the first run in October
last, is said by experts to be the most
modern and complete plant of its kind
in the United States. The company
controls more than 100000 acres of
land in Valencia and Mckinley Coun
ties in the western part of the Terri
tory, on which stands timber estimat-
ed at 2,O000O0 900 feet. A box fac
tory will soon be built to use the waste
product of the mill. The company
has built eighteen miles of standard
gauge railroad into its forests. con-
Meeting with the Santa Fe Pacific at
Thoreau go miles west Of Albuquer-
lue, and two trains of 80 cars OF logs
each are hauled into Albuquerque ev-
,ry "a hours to keep the big plant go
ng.
'In addition to these two big cor
,orations numerous smaller compan-
es are now working in New Mexico.
small plants are being established
long the Denver & Rio Grande in the
lorthern counties. and several small
Mills are running along the Santa Fe
Pacific line, while everything now
'oints to further increase in the in
ustry during the present year"