Black Diamond NOW

A Whole Lot of Clay Pipe - Taylor Circa 1910

For the Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Company operations in Taylor, 1910 was a banner year.  The plant was being expanded and clay pipe can be seen stacked everywhere.

Photo courtesy Washington State Historical Society, 1943.42.19552, Asahel Curtis photographer, circa 1910

The plant and railroad cars can be seen in the background while a horse drawn wagon awaits being loaded.  What caught my attention was not only the size of the pipe stacks but the way they were stacked at the end of each row.  Seems to be a pretty neat way to store pipe but the process of loading and unloading would appear to be a nightmare.  How would you get to the top of these piles to begin unstacking?  I can just see pipe rolling everywhere.  No fork lifts back then either.  I'll try to find some pictures that show the stacking/unstacking process.

#1 Cause of Forest Fires Circa 1900 - Logging?

To my knowledge, there is no definitive data that points to the biggest cause of forest fires in the pacific northwest early in the 20th century.  But, in addition to lightning, railroads and logging are among the most commonly cited.   The photo that follows, shows a forest fire as it sweeps through a logging operation in Snohomish County in 1925.

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, PIC0294, Lee Pickett photographer, circa 1925

Note the high lead logging gear and spare tree visible in the foreground.

How could logging cause forest fires?  Certainly not the oxen or horses used to drag logs along skid rows for loading onto railcars or dumping into mill ponds.  Not the loggers using one man or two man hand saws for felling and bucking trees.  The likely culprit - steam engines used to power both logging locomotives and donkey engines.  With wood as their principle fuel, the potential for sparks and embers being emitted was quite high, despite the required use of spark arrestors. 

Photo courtesy Washington State Historical Society, 1943.42.15125, Asahel Curtis photographer, circa 1909

The above photo shows a small locomotive with a big spark arrestor and wood for fuel stacked everywhere.  Donkey engines also used wood for fuel and came equipped with spark arrestors.

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, CKK01472, Clark Kinsey photographer, circa 1916

But like most pieces of equipment, they must be maintained to work properly and therein lies the rub.  And since spark arrestor performance wasn't really production crucial, letting cleaning and maintenance slide was easy to do.

I previously posted a photo showing the aftermath of logging and a forest fire that swept through the Cedar River watershed in 1911.  Here's another one.  You can still see some of the charred remains smoking.

Photo courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives, #47739, March 17, 1911

I have since learned that the cause of this fire has been attributed to sparks coming from a locomotive near the sawmill at Barneston.  It also nearly burned down the mill and town of Barneston.  Must have been some pretty big embers to light a fire this big during winter months.

 

 

 

Wilkeson Skid Road Circa 1893 - Bring Your Glutt

Best known for its history of coal mining, Wilkeson also served as home to several logging operations - mostly for local use I assume.  The mining of coal required lots of timber for construction.  I found the following photo taken about 2 miles southeast of Wilkeson notable for a couple of reasons.  It's the first skid road I've seen with such a steep slope (more like a log chute) and it provides an opportunity to learn more about how skid roads were then constructed.  First the photo.

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, WAT020, Alvin Waite photographer, circa 1893

According to the notes on the back of the image: "The skid road was constructed of ten foot logs, 10 to 20 inches in diameter, and the logs were spaced 9 feet apart and partly buried in the ground to make them rigid.  The tip of the skids were adzed to form a trough for the logs to ride in and when they became worn down a hardwood block, called a "glutt", was mortised into the worn part."  Hmmmm - never heard of a glutt before used in this context.

Kelly Butte Night Shots

On my recent hike to Kelly Butte, I once again hauled two tripods and sets of camera gear up to the lookout.  This gave me the opportunity to capture meteor showers with one camera while the Milky Way performed elsewhere in the sky.  Once again, I was not disappointed by the magic of the night.  While shooting a time lapse video over Mt. Rainier, I managed to capture an Aquariid Fireball exploding over the mountain.  In total, I saw well over a dozen meteors.  Here's a photo of the Aquariid Fireball.

While focused south over Mt. Rainier with one camera, the views of cloud formations over Puget Sound and the Olympics were amazing. 

Judy named this one "Stairway to Heaven".

Here's my first image of the Milky Way's complete arch with the core at the south end on the right over Yakima/Tri-cities area and the north end to the left over Ellensburg/Vantage.

Eight images are stitched together to create this panorama.

Meanwhile, the Milky Way's Core was moving closer to Mt. Rainier.

About an hour before sunrise, we see the beginning of "blue hour".   The sky brightens and stars begin to fade from view.

Another fun night in the mountains.

I almost forgot, sunrises and sunsets from Kelly Butte are great too.  In this sunset, you can see Puget Sound and the Olympics.

I hit the trail home about 5 am and was greeted by this beautiful sunrise along the trail.

A road less traveled for sure, but it sure has it's rewards.

For more about Kelly Butte, follow this link to my earlier post Hiking to Kelly Butte.

 

 

King Shingle - Circa 1900

According to Eric Erickson's "Index of Lumber Businesses and Mills, King County WA", by 1900 there were more shingles produced in King County than anywhere else in the world.  Ballard was better known for it's shingle mills than as a port for fishermen.  "In 1898, the nine shingle mills in Ballard produced 322,000,000 shingles".  Many more shingles were produced throughout the county.  Shingle Weavers relied on their dexterity to survive the constant dangers of a shingle mill.  They caught the cedar boards in the air, flipped them from one hand to the other and “wove” them into finished bundles ready for shipment. A journeyman shingle weaver could handle 30,000 singles in a ten hour shift.  Following is a photo of the shop floor of a shingle mill.

Photo courtesy Washington State Historical Society, 1994.0.237, circa 1924

Logs bucked to shorter lengths in the woods were first quartered or halved and cut to length in the mill.  Written on the photo's back: "Shingle weaving floor. At extreme right--a jointer, reducing shingle to uniform width and square edges. Next to left, an upright shingle sawing or weaving" machine.

Given their unique skill and piece count pay, the Shingle Weavers union was at one time among the strongest in the State.  For more of my earlier posts about shingle weavers, follow these links to Milling Cedar Shingles and Timber Beasts, Shingle Weavers and Capitalist Pigs.

 

Hiking to Kelly Butte

I recently managed to make it up to Kelly Butte.  There was still some snow to navigate near the top (5,400 ft. elevation) but sun exposure is great and most has been melted.  Among the historic fire lookouts that we have been to, Kelly Butte ranks near the top.  For expansive 360 degree views, it's hard to beat.  Following is a view from the lookout facing south toward Mt. Rainier (note, I'm using a wide angle lens which makes the mountain look further away than it really is).

A view looking west.

Looking north toward the North Cascades.

The bottom of the valley and power line on the right is the City of Tacoma Green River watershed, railroad and Forest Service road over Stampede pass.  If you look closely, you can see the ghost town of Lester about middle upper right.

The trail up is not long (about 2 miles).  It is in three distinct sections - logging road in the lower third, steep switchbacks in the middle and gradually up through snow to the lookout.  Here's a view of sunrise from the trail.

The lookout is now staffed by Forest Service volunteers in the summer.  Same program as for Suntop.  To stay overnight, you are required to undergo training and participate in a lottery to get available dates.  Long list of volunteer candidates this year.  I think that we'll try to find an opening and stay at Kelly Butte - harder to get to and less demand.  Great views too.  One last pic.

It's a great spot for night photography too.  Will include some night shots of this trip in a future post.  To get there, proceed east on highway 410 past Greenwater.  Once you reach Fire station, begin looking for FS 70.  Turn left heading north.  This road is paved for the first 8 miles.  Turn left here at the sign marked 7030.  Follow 7030 for 6.4 miles and you will find the trailhead.  One note:  about a 1/4 mile from the trailhead, the road Y's with no sign.  Bear right staying on 7030.  One word of caution.  7030 is a pretty rough road.  Just take it slow and easy and you should be able to navigate it just fine.  AWD helps.

 

 

Sawing Shingle Bolts - A Mighty Chore

Western Red Cedar was perhaps the most valued of evergreen trees in northwest forests.  Native Americans used cedar for everything from canoes and paddles to longhouses, totem poles, mats, baskets, nets, clothing, medicines and religious items such as masks.  As settlers arrived, the aromatic scent, durability, light weight and freedom from pitch made it highly desirable, particularly for house siding made of shingles.  Because of it's resistance to decay and insect damage, the wood will remain sound for 100 years or more.  Cutting down a tree was taxing with loggers a slave to their "misery whip", but after the tree was down, now you had to cut it into short shingle bolts for transport and milling.

Photo courtesy Washington State Historical Society, 2014.0.401, n.d.

The cedar log shown above is 17 feet in diameter and had to be cut in sections as shown to make bolts.  These loggers are using single man crosscut saws.  Each man to himself.  If it took a day or more to fell a tree with two-man saws, how long would it take to buck this log into suitable bolt lengths?   Photo probably taken in the 1880's or 1890's.  More incredible "feats of our fathers".

Trending - Drones and Aerial Imaging

Judy and I were first introduced to Drones and Aerial Imaging last summer at a family gathering.  Our young techies were right in their element, demonstrating how easy it is to operate a drone.  Though we try to keep up with current technology, my jaw dropped as we could see the potential - and problems.  Looking through a recent B&H catalogue for camera toys, I was surprised to see a whole new section devoted to Drones and Aerial Imaging.  Lots of surveillance options too. 

Now I can be even more lazy.  No need to hike up over a ridge and down into a valley lake.  I can check it out with a drone and bring back great pictures from my tent or car.  Personal drones are also becoming more affordable.  Modest functionality will run you $500 - $1,500.  For $10k you can get up to 15lb of payload capacity, synapse intelligent flight controller, silent drive motors etc.

Want to check out all the noise from a neighbors party down the street, you're all set.  Send a video along with your 911 call.  Surveillance videos now available 24/7 for entire neighborhoods, which is likely the application with greatest economic potential.  But the recreational market is also heating up.  I'm beginning to see some landscape photos in various publications taken from drones.  Spying/invasion of privacy versus legal surveillance - will be an interesting matter for the courts in years to come.

Driving Logs - Bring Your Peavey & Pike

Before we had log trucks, we had log drivers "herding" felled timber downstream to waiting sawmills.  Instead of roads, they used natural thoroughfares provided by rivers and lakes.  No drivers license required - just lots of guts, strength and agility.

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, IND0649, John Fletcher Ford photographer, circa 1903

At the turn of the century, every sawmill was located near a body of water that provided both storage and an easy way to move logs to the mill head rig.  Where natural lakes were not large enough, just dig out a mill pond.  To move logs into and out of log booms like the one shown above required a long pole called a pike.  On placid waters with large logs contained within rafts, moving logs around was reasonably simple, but bring your Charles Atlas strength.  In open water - a whole nother story as shown in the illustration that follows.

Image courtesy Outaouais Forest History

You'd better be quick on your feet.  For moving logs around within a pond or to get them unstuck when jammed up, you needed something shorter and that could give you more leverage.

Image courtesy Outaouais Forest History

With peavey and pike in hand, there is still one more essential - calked boots.  With these, no worries about slippery logs.

Image courtesy Outaouais Forest History

Still looks like tough and dangerous work to me!

U.S. Coal Production - Falling off a Cliff

Despite recent rebounds in oil, energy markets remain in turmoil.  Growth in solar and wind power continue to confound markets for fossil fuels - none harder hit than coal.  The following chart shows just how much of a historic drop coal producers are seeing.

Where these drops in production bottom out remains to be seen but by any measure, these are huge.  Hardest hit - the coals mines of Wyoming which benefitted from their low Sulphur coal and low cost surface mining.  Now they face bankruptcies and unemployment.  Tough times.  This might also help explain why the coal industry continues to pursue west coast coal export terminals in the face of an increasing bleak U.S. coal markets outlook.

Ohanapecosh Hot Springs - Then & Now

Early in the 20th century, mineral hot springs were all the rage.  Mineral water carried what were thought to be natural therapeutic powers and good for what ails you.  However valid these claims may be, just soaking your tired body in this warm water, typically 115-120 degrees F, sure makes you feel good.  People suffering from chronic rheumatism and other maladies would flock to area hot springs to gain relief from their aches and pains. Some of the popular hot springs in our area included Diamond Mineral Springs Resort near Flaming Geyser State Park, Green River Hot Springs and Sanatorium near Lester and the Hot Springs at Longmire.  A lesser known Hot Springs also once operated at Ohanapecosh.

The hot springs at Ohanapecosh were first opened in 1912 with a tent camp.  By 1921, the springs popularity had grown and permits were issued for construction of a hotel and bathing facility.  By 1924, a small hotel and bath houses were built with 20 cabins added in the 1940's.  At the time of initial development, the Ohanapecosh site was owned by the Forest Service, not being absorbed into Mt. Rainier National Park until 1931.  Never keen on having a private resort in the park and viewing the existing facilities as "substandard and an embarrassment", administrators eventually refused to renew site operating permits.  Final closure drug out for a time but it eventually was shut down in 1960.  All buildings were removed in 1967 and the springs left to regain their natural state.  This is what we saw a couple of weeks ago.

Some pretty interesting growth in the clear spring waters.  It is warm.  Not a destination that merits a trip by itself, but fun to see along with all the other beauty that Ohanapecosh has to offer.  For more about Ohanapecosh, see my earlier post Exploring Silver Falls and Trails of Ohanapecosh.

Manley-Moore Lumber Co. Circa 1911

The Carbon River is best known for it's history of coal mining.  The small towns of Carbonado, Wilkeson and Burnett are still on the map while ghost towns further upstream such as Fairfax and Melmont are for artifact hunters only.  Another ghost town just east of Fairfax is Manley-Moore, home to one of the largest sawmills in the area. 

Photo courtesy Washington State Historical Society, 2014.45.1.39, circa 1911

As you can see, the railroad that served Fairfax also then served Manley-Moore, making for a very economical way to access timber far into the woods.    According to the note on the back of the photo, the timber we see loaded on the train represents just one day of logging production.  Big operation indeed.  For more about Manley-Moore, follow this link to an earlier post of mine Manley-Moore Lumber Co..  Next time you are heading to the Carbon River ranger station in Mt. Rainier National Park near Ipsut Creek, keep your eye open for a road named Manley-Moore just after you pass the Fairfax bridge.  It's on your left. 

Exploring Flaming Geyser State Park - The "Other Side"

Flaming Geyser State Park represents another of our area's crown jewels along the Green River.  Downstream of the gorge, the river begins to flatten out, making it one of the top "tubing" locations around and home to an area set aside for flying remote control model airplanes.  At 480 acres, it's also one of the largest State Parks.  Though I have visited the park innumerable times, I've never explored the area of the park located north on the "other side" of the river, which appears to be at least as large as the main park area.  Following is a map from King County's i-Map website.

This map shows that there is access to the other/north side via SE 354th street from Green Valley Road, so that is where I went.  The road dead ends just after winding down the hill but there is parking near the gate for about 10 vehicles.  From here, you have several hundred acres to explore, including several points of access to the river.  Just beyond the gate, you will find an old barn that still looks in surprisingly good shape.

The land is generally flat and looks to have been farmed not long ago.

River access but not much beach area.

There are signs of recent equipment activity on the site with some areas having been mowed apparently to take out black berry vines.  Old roads/trails will take you east, west and south from the barn and getting lost should not be a problem.  On the old road to the east, you will find some large wetlands that are home to birds and amphibians.  It also looks like beavers have made their presence felt with some trees now submerged and dying.

Walking further east will take you to a side stream of the Green River.  The stream is crossable and will take you to an island area located just across the river from the main park facilities.  Lacking time, I didn't make the crossing but will save it for another day.

Pretty fun.  Lot's of new places to explore and close to home too.

 

Northwest Native Americans - The Art and Science of Logging

Long before the arrival of white settlers here to exploit northwest timber resources, Native American coastal tribes relied heavily on the forest for their survival.  Western red cedar, in particular, was highly valued and played a big role in tribal economies.  Cedar was used for shelter, transportation, weapons, tools, clothing and art.  But before you could fashion a canoe, you had to fell the tree - without benefit of a "misery whip" or felling saw.  How did the tribes fell trees?

The most common solution - fire.

According to a posting on the website Northwest Indian:

One method was by burning the base of the trunk. The feller would set red-hot rocks inside a chiseled out cavity to burn the wood. Under direction, workers, often slaves, then chiseled and adzed out the charred pieces. A similar technique was to set the fire to the base of the tree and then use wet clay to prevent the rest of it from catching fire. 

Another method was to use scaffolding and a platform around the trunk and then chisel two parallel grooves 12" apart around the trunk. Then they used wedges and stone mauls to split out the wood from between the grooves. They would repeat this process again and again until the tree fell.

It could take up to 3 days to fell one of these monster trees.  Once a tree was felled, Native Americans faced the same problem as did 19th century loggers - how to cut it up and transport it.  More fire and logging close to water so that logs could be floated to the village.  No horses or oxen to help them.

Now this is amazing!

Exploring Silver Falls and the Trails of Ohanopecosh

With Cayuse Pass open, making the trek to Ohanopecosh in Mt. Rainier National Park is a breeze - just over a hour from Black Diamond.  Located at the southeast corner of the park, Ohanopecosh is home to perhaps the best campground the park has to offer and the most beautiful emerald green river you will find.  Continuing our exploration of area waterfalls, we headed out in search of Silver Falls.

Beautiful trail with little elevation gain and just over a mile to the falls, it makes for the perfect lazy day stroll while we wait for snowmelt to open up higher elevation trails (the trailhead to Shriners Peak is not far away).  As you can see, the river is flowing strong right now.  Downstream from where this photo was taken, the river's path narrows into a beautiful slot canyon and more emerald green water.

With lots of side-streams flowing by on the way up, there are plenty of places to explore as they flow into the main river.  And always, such clear and emerald green water.

Ohanopecosh is also site of a natural hot springs.  Not much to see now but definitely hot - 115 degrees +-.   How about a campsite in this setting?

To get to Ohanopecosh, take Hwy 410 east from Enumclaw, turning right (south) onto SR 123 (Cayuse Pass).  Continue on SR 123 past the Stevens Canyon park entrance and the entrance to Ohanopecosh will be on your right.  The trailhead for Silver Falls starts in the campground.  There are several other trailheads that also connect here including the Pacific Crest Trail and Grove of the Patriarchs.

Logger Talk

Loggers aren't generally known for their silver tongue and gift of tact.  A three word sentence might stretch the limits of casual conversation.  After all, that's all it takes to make your point.  In time, loggers had developed their own dictionary, some of which is pretty funny.  Courtesy of the Pacific Forest Foundation, following is an abbreviated Glossary of Logging Terms:

Brush Ape - A logger, usually a chokerman.  You'd better be smiling when you call a logger this name, or be a very good friend.

Camper's Blight - A gradual deterioration of the woods due to overuse by people.  Generally prevalent in areas accessible by car and characterized by compacted soil, scarred trees and litter.

Camp Inspector - An itinerant logger.  Also, "Timber Tramp"

Photo courtesy of Early 20th Century Sportsman

Cold Deck - A pile of stored logs which will be moved at a later date.

Crummy - A logger's bus.  Also an adjective meaning "no good" or "undesirable".

Flunky - A cook's assistant who waits tables.

Gut Robber - A camp cook, especially one of dubious ability.

Heathen - Loggers not particularly noted for social graces.

Lokie - Old-time steam locomotive.

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, CKK0019, Clark Kinsey photographer, n.d.

"Two truck" Shay locomotive.

Make Er Out - Make out the check.  I quit!

Misery Whip - The old-time falling saw, up to twelve feet in length and brutal task master.  Also called a "Swedish fiddle".

Photo courtesy University of Washington Libraries, PIC0111, Lee Pickett photographer, circa 1913

Monkey Blanket - A griddle cake.

Nosebag - A portable lunch bucket.  In today's Urban Dictionary, you will find nosebag now denoting a dose of cocaine.

Snoose - A logger's term for snuff.  No smoking allowed in the woods.

Swedish Steam - Hand power.

Talkie-Tooter - A belt-carried radio device which enables a chokerman to blow the yarder whistle in code and also talk to the operator.

Timber Beast - A rough crude logger.

Widow Maker - A loose limb, hanging precariously, just waiting for some unlucky logger to pass under it to fall.  This is a term our family still uses to this day as we scan the trees for dangerous limbs.

 

More Night Photography from High Hut

Although the snow is all but gone at High Hut, it remains one my favorite places for getting to see the sunrise, sunset, the Milky Way as it rises over Mt. Rainier and even an occasional glimpse of the northern lights.  Last Sunday night had it all.  I first had to get a little snow in a sunset pic.

I usually like to wait until about 10 pm before taking star shots.  At this time of year, we can see the Milky Way low and flat in the sky.

As the evening progresses, the Milky Way begins to rise and becomes more vertical.  The northern lights also began to show some color by about 1 am.

The above photos are all taken from the upper balcony.  Following is a photo also looking north but from behind the Hut.

I took two cameras and tripods with me in my backpack.  The extra weight was worth it.  If you look just to the right of the building you can see one of my cameras and tripods facing east taking some time lapse shots of the Milky Way as it arches to the south.  More intense colors at this end where we see the "core".

By about 3:15 am the moon began to rise to the northeast.

The moon is rising over the Sawtooth range while the Milky Way has moved further south.  You can see Mt. St. Helens silhouetted to the south.  As the moon rises, the skies become brighter and bluer.  Just a couple of minutes to try to capture the moon rising, what's left of the northern lights, the north end of the Milky Way and Mt. Rainier.  Here's what I got.

Pretty full night.

 

 

"Trapper Boy"

What was your first entry level job as a kid?  If you grew up in the woods, you might be a "Bull Cook" who assisted the cook and did all the dirty work at logging camps (my dad's first job).  Or in the days before child labor laws and if you were strong and fast enough at age 15 or 16, perhaps working as a  "Chokerman" or choker setter - one of the most dangerous jobs there was.  In the mines, you might become a "Trapper Boy".

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress, circa 1909

The trapper boy in the mine above located in West Virginia was responsible for opening and closing the door that controlled mine ventilation.  He got paid $0.75 for a 10 hour work day.  It appears that underground mine jobs varied little from West Virginia to Black Diamond.

Quoting from Eve Thomas in the book Mining the Memories, "most kids left school when they were 13, or 14,15.  Lot of kids in those days went to work in the mines.  It was nothing to see one of these kids walking down the track and a lunch bucket rubbing the rail.  They were big round dinner buckets in those days.  Originally they used to have safety doors in the mines.  These guys were called trapper boys.  That's what all these kids were started at." 

Photo courtesy Library of Congress, circa 1909

Keeps the job description pretty simple.

P.S. If you haven't read the book Mining the Memories and are a fan of local history, you should get it.  Copies are available for purchase at the Black Diamond History Museum or at the library.

 

Asahel Curtis - Photographic Showmanship Circa 1910

Thanks to the Kinsey brothers, Clark and Darius, and to Asahel Curtis, we are blessed to have a photographic history of northwest logging dating back to the 1890's.  Each of them in their own way were pioneers in the art and science of outdoor photography.  And somehow they even found a way to make a living at it - no easy task then as now.  One of the ways they sold photos was to make a trip to a logging camp, hauling with them over 100 lbs of gear.  By befriending camp bosses and cooks, they were able to get fed and spend time playing cards with the crews at night.  After a day of photography, they headed home to develop their photos.  Once printed, they returned to camp with a collection of pictures, often riding a "speeder" to make the trip.  Their goal - sell these photos to the crews who had likely never before had a photo taken of themselves.  This was their bread and butter market and served as a steady source of income.

A little showmanship also helped as the following photo of Asahel Curtis illustrates.

Photo courtesy of Washington State Historical Society, 1943.42.18746, Asahel Curtis photographer, circa 1910

Curtis took this picture of himself in this monster douglas fir no doubt with the help of an assistance.  It sold well to "city folk".

Economic Clusters - Explosives Manufacturing Circa 1909 - 1975

Economic/business Clusters have been the engine responsible for much of the Puget Sound region's economic growth for many years.  What are clusters?  A common definition is" a geographic concentration of interconnected businesses, suppliers, and associated institutions in a particular field. Clusters are considered to increase the productivity with which companies can compete, nationally and globally."  Software, bio-tech, medical and aerospace businesses are well known current examples.  Markets are not just local for these businesses and the pooling of talent helps all to attract and retain the skills needed.

It started in the northwest with natural resource driven industries such as mining, timber and fishing - and Explosives Manufacturing.  The explosives cluster began in 1909 with DuPont opening its manufacturing facility in the company town aptly named DuPont along the Nisqually River and Puget Sound.  DuPont provided access to markets via both rail and ship, opening up markets as far south as the Panama Canal and as far north as Alaska.  Local demand was also high for mining and logging.

Why focus on Explosives Manufacturing as an early cluster?  Safety at these plants was paramount and they also blew up a lot.  Part of DuPont's success was 3,200 acres where they controlled everything including access.  Yet despite the secrecy surrounding it, we know that the plant had numerous explosions including some loss of life.  According to the Official DuPont History, explosion occurred in 1909, 1910, 1916, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1930, 1935, 1936, 1938 and 1947.  A ship carrying a cargo of explosives exploded with captain and crew running the ship aground to save themselves, starting a fire on shore not far from today's Narrows Bridge that lasted days.  DuPont was a model of workplace safety that permeates the company to this day and yet despite it all, they still had problems.

Other cluster businesses located nearby and likely staffed with some people with experience at DuPont, were not so fortunate and faced big explosions and large loss of life.  The J.A. Denn Powder Company operated an explosives plant in Hawks Prairie, just across the Nisqually River from DuPont. 

Image courtesy Seattle Post Intelligencer and HistoryLink.org

Eleven people died in this explosion that occurred in 1934 including the plant chemist.  Shortly after the disaster, Patrick Kelly, then Director of the State Department of Labor and Industries, announced that insurance rates would be raised for those employed in the explosive manufacturing business.

Another cluster business was established in Frederickson, near Puyallup and current home to a Boeing Manufacturing plant.  The following photos of the Columbia Powder Company plant show the aftermath of explosions in 1940 and 1949.

Photo courtesy of Tacoma Public Library, D-10525-2, circa 1940

Four employees lost their life in this explosion when 2,000 lbs of dynamite ignited, blowing the plant to smithereens.  The explosion could be heard 30 miles away.  Nine years later, an even larger blast occurred.

Photo courtesy Tacoma Public Library, D41193.4, Richards Studio Collection, circa 1949

A family of six who lived nearby was killed in this explosion that leveled a 3 story building and rocked buildings 15 miles away.  Dangerous stuff.

Which makes DuPont's accomplishments at their plant even the more miraculous where 2 people perished in explosions during a period that spanned from 1909 to 1975 and during which well over 1 billion pounds of explosives were manufactured.  Quite a record.

Footnote:  My first job out of graduate school and WSU was with DuPont at their headquarters in Wilmington, DE.  It always made an impression on me about how important safety was to the company.  I was with the Finance group and about the closest I came to being in danger was when I tried to fix the copy machine.  EVERY department in the company was required to have safety meetings.