WILLAMETTE PULP & PAPER MILLS
Oregon City
February 1900: “The Willamette Pulp & Paper Company, of Oregon City, consume annually about 22,000,000 feet of spruce, white fir , hemlock, cottonwood and balm in the manufacture of paper. This company has been planting young trees for several years, and now has over 3000 acres of cottonwoods growing at various points along the Willamette river and tributaries. The young trees are obtained on the bars in the Clackamas, and are planted much as fruit trees would be. The land upon which the planted trees are growing is mostly near the water's edge, where the points will be protected from washouts by the saplings. The cottonwood, under favorable conditions, becomes a sturdy tree, 20 inches through at the butt, within 25 years. Last year this company distributed among the farmers above Oregon City, 100,000 cottonwood saplings to be planted along their banks.” (The Columbia River and Oregon Timberman)
April 5, 1902: "The Willamette Pulp and Paper Mills today readjusted the wage scale so that the $1.50 men receive $1.75, and the $1.75 men will receive $1.92 1/2 per day. This advance affects about 300 men. It is also understood that the Crown Paper Mills will advance wages." (The Evening Journal)
February 12, 1903: "William Rall, an employe of the Willamette Pulp & Paper Co., broke his leg in the mill last Saturday evening. The injured limb was set and the patient is recovering." (Clackamas County Record)
March 16, 1903: "The Willamette Pulp & Paper Company has installed a new safety elevator in its mill. It was placed in operation for the first time Saturday and the mill carpenters worked on it construction all last week under the direction of the patentee, Mr. Moon, of Portland. The old elevator which is replaced by this one, was considered unsafe and had dropped several times and was a source of danger. The shaft of the elevator runs through four floors. The machinery is equipped with safety appliances, controlled by a stiff steel spring, and if any part of its mechanism should give way, the spring acts upon a arrangement on the bottom of the elevator, whereby dogs are driven by the weight of the elevator into the guides. Greater weight only serves to tighten the hold." (Clackamas County Record)
August 28, 1903: “Because of the extreme low stage of the Willamette river, the management of the Willamette Pulp & Paper mills, at Oregon City, has found it necessary to close down station A, which is located on the east side of the river. It is in this mill that the pulp is prepared by which the paper is manufactured in the mills on the west side. The closing down of station A, however, will not interfere in any way with the operation of the main mills of the corporation since there is a sufficient supply of pulp on hand to keep the mills going for several weeks.” (The Glendale News)
June 7, 1906: "The Willamette Pulp & Paper company has announced an advance of 25 cents per day per man for every man employed at their mills in this city (Oregon City) who is now receiving $1.75 and $2 per day. This advance affects the wages of about 500 men and means an increase in the monthly payroll of about $3,750 per month, or about $45,000 per annum. This increase in the wage schedule at the Oregon City mills, it is alleged by a representative of the Willamette Pulp & Paper company, has been contemplated by the management for the last three months." (The Estacada News)
June 20, 1907: "Huge rafts of hemlock and spruce logs from the lower Columbia river are in the Willamette at this city (Oregon City), and hundreds of logs line the river below the entrance to the canal. There is about 275,000 feet in each raft, and it is probable that the Willamette Pulp & Paper company will have about 50 rafts brought to the mill this summer to be manufactured into pulp. Hemlock is worth $6 per thousand and spruce twice that amount, and the value of the logs will aggregate $150,000 before the season is past." (The Estacada News)
August 10, 1907: "Scarcity of water power has closed the grinders of the Willamette Pulp & Paper Company for the summer, and the 40 men who have been employed on the grinders will assist in the construction of an addition to mill A on Rock Island." (Morning Oregonian)
October 9, 1908: “Oregon City.---After a shutdown of six weeks, the four paper machines in Mill C of the Willamette Pulp and Paper company, have been started, providing employment to scores of men who have been idle. The machines were in need of extensive repairs and the water has been low, so that the power from the falls was insufficient.” (The Glendale News)