Hungry Horse news., 1955-03-11

Lie EldIIledu ) expanding lum- /
Der industry reflects itself in Cor
am where Rex Brown during 1854
erected a brand new mill. 1t is |
the Flathead's newest and "show
place." The mill is far from the
Flathead's largest, but it is an
efficient operation boosting the
Flathead's economy.
Brown, SIS, is native of Nebras-
ka, and came to Montana in 1924
settling near Malta. Farming was
the big attraction for many new
Montanans in the 1920s, when
there were more men on the land.
Brown farmed for eight years, and
then came to the Flathead on his
honeymoon in 1882, and laugh
ingly remarked: eve never went
back" Mrs. Brown is the former
Margaret Pautz of Malta, and they
have a daughter Erna.
On coming to the Flathead,
Brown worked for the Great Nor
| thern for six years in the bridge
department, and lived in and near
Kalispell. Then he trucked for
three years.
In 1916, Mr.. and Mrs. Brown
and Erna moved again to start a
"gypo" mill on the site where two
years later General Morrison
erected its shops for construction
of Hungry Horse Dam.
Meanwhile the Browns purchas-
Led 35 acres just east of Coram, and
4 moved the small "gypo" mill there
in the fall of 1916.
The year 1949 saw the mill con-
verified to railroad tie production
and moved to Felix creek, where
! Brown along with a half dozer
other Flathead operators, sawed
ties, from logs removed from thu
Hungry Horse reservoir. Othel
logs were trucked to Flathead val.
ley mills.
Two years later Brown bough
the 100000 board feet Yakini
kak creek sale up the Flathead'
North Fork, and moved the small
mill to the site. His haul to rail
head at Coram was over go mile:
and at the time it was the longes
B haul in the Flathead National For
est.
4 Brown is an efficient operator
4 and his conduct OF the Yakinika
& sale brought pat on the bac
from the Forest Service. The tim
. Der was blowdown from a ba
. wind of the previous fall. Here i
i the bloWdoWn timber was tn
4 threat of insect infestation tia
y blossomed to become the spruc
= bark beetle plague that has viz
= tually destroyed some spruce bar
4 beetle forests to the west of tn
d Flathead.
W. Best control to the insect tire;
is was logging and removal of down
J. ed timber, just as most efficie1
20 and effective control of the spruC
Al bark beetle is removing infeste
) spruce logs.
u. Those years of blowdown tin
Der removal saw Flathead Natio1
- al Forest timber cut rise to the
] record 55,720,000 board feet
1s 1852.
Ia Brown worked and prospere
he and year ago, he had establish,
n credit and proven his ability,
;1a enlarge into a full-scale mill o.
10 Grafton. Product is the new mill
Coram that last Sept. Is turn
al out it's first lumber. Mrs. Brow
10 handles office work and sales.
~ Problem for Brown is the a
re sence of a bridge across the Fla
70 head rivers North Fork. Result
Ia logs from the North Fork ha
on to reach Coram by way of Colur
bia Falls increasing costs up to
no thousand board feet. Last Ju
I'd 6, one of Browns trucks was
the North Fork bridge when
d. collapsed. The county think
re- bridge was over 40 years old, h
,r- provided only direct access, fro
,rd the North Fork to Coram a
,as Martin City mills.
DR. Minimum pay at Rex Brow
nd mill is So an hour.
ant Coram well realizes VIII
.er. Browns mill and adjoining Mar
eat City Lumber Co. are doing for
local as well as Flathead econor
a.