Money Does Grow on Trees: AB Hammond and the Age of the Lumber Baron

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Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, &
Graduate School
Professional Papers
2010
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Gregory Llewellyn Gordon
The University of Montana
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Gordon, Gregory Llewellyn, "Money Does Grow on Trees: A. B. Hammond and the Age of the Lumber
Baron" (2010). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 676.
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MONEY DOES GROW ON TREES: A. B. HAMMOND AND THE AGE OF THE
LUMBER BARON
By
GREGORY LLEWELLYN GORDON
B.A., University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 1986
M.S., University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 1992

Dissertation
presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy
in History

The University of Montana
Missoula, MT

May 2010

Approved by:

Perry Brown, Associate Provost for Graduate Education
Graduate School

Dan Flores, Chair
History

Richard Drake
History

Jeff Wiltse
History

Jill Belsky
Forestry

Paul Alaback
Forestry

David Emmons
History
i
Abstract:
Money Does Grow on Trees: A. B. Hammond and the age the timber baron.

Two highly contrasting views inform our view of America‘s Industrial Era (1877-
1920). The ―captains of industry‖ thesis holds that America‘s industrial and economic
might depended on creative capitalists freely pursuing individual wealth. The opposing
―robber baron‖ perspective holds that the capitalist free-market system engendered a
great disparity of wealth and resulted in social and environmental costs while accruing
benefits to the few.
In seeking to understand the Industrial Era historians have traditionally looked
toward the top echelon of American businessmen: Rockefeller, Gould, Morgan, and the
like, largely ignoring the scores of second-tier capitalists. The era of ―laissez-faire‖
capitalism, however, was not just the work of a few individuals, but rather hundreds of
men of a type forged in the Protestant tradition.
In the American West, regional entrepreneurs, like Andrew B. Hammond were
the primary agents of environmental change and had as a great, and perhaps greater,
impact upon both the physical, social, and economic landscape than the top industrialists.
For the West at least, the Rockefellers, Harrimans, and Morgans merely served as
conduits of capital, while regional industrialists actually transformed the western
landscape from one dominated by Native Americans to one fully integrated into the
global capitalist system. Rather than a colony under the yolk of eastern capital, American
West was exploited from within. Westerners themselves created the institutions,
conditions, and opportunities that converted the nation‘s natural resources into private
wealth.
As one of the region‘s premier lumberman Hammond was a significant agent of
environmental change. As an individual, Hammond made choices that affected both the
physical and economic landscape. While Hammond‘s actions were constrained by the
structures of capitalism, he tailored it to fit his own needs, desires, and specific
circumstances. In doing so, he also shaped the world around them.
Hammond offers a real life illustration of how the struggle over natural resources
during the Industrial Era gave rise to the two most pervasive forces in modern American
life – the federal government and the corporation. But rather than a triumph of one over
the other, the conflict resulted in a huge increase in the power and ubiquity of both
institutions and defined the increasingly close relationship between them.
ii
CONTENTS:
Introduction: 1

One: Standing at the Crossroads: 19

Two: Paul Bunyan‘s Pancakes: 38

Three: War for the Pines 57

Four: The Woodcutter War 87

Five: To Hell‘s Gate and Back 115

Six: Working on the Railroad 140

Seven: The Cramer Gulch War 171

Eight: Sparks Lights a Fire 195

Nine: A Political Animal 220

Ten: The Panic 245

Eleven: Montana‘s Pariah/Oregon‘s Messiah 256

Twelve: The Oregon Land Frauds 281

Thirteen: A. B. Hammond, Inc. 310

Fourteen: California Dreaming 326

Fifteen: Assembling the Empire 354

Sixteen: Oxen, Horses, and Donkeys 380

Seventeen: The Great Strike of 1907 407

Eighteen: Socialists and Progressives 442

Nineteen: Class War and World War 470

Twenty: ―The Age of Cooperation and Consolidation‖ 512

Epilogue: Epitaph 551

Bibliography 578
ii
Note On Sources:

With little published material on A. B. Hammond specifically and lumbermen in
general, I relied heavily on primary source material, using secondary sources to provide
background context. Since Hammond‘s personal records were destroyed following his
death, I had to pursue a rather sporadic and often very faint trail. When Georgia-Pacific
bought the Hammond Lumber Company in 1956, it acquired all of its records. Despite
repeated inquiries, Georgia-Pacific denied access to these records. Other Hammond
source materials are scattered throughout the country, many in unprocessed collections,
presenting an additional challenge. Fortunately, the Charles Herbert McLeod collection
at the University of Montana contains forty years of correspondence between Hammond
and his business partner and close friend, ―Herb‖ McLeod. In addition to their personal
and business communications, Hammond sent copies of his correspondence with
government officials, newspapers, and other businessmen. Contrary to Hammond‘s
requests to destroy their correspondence, McLeod meticulously preserved nearly
everything, providing a treasure trove of material.
I conducted research at many other institutions, from large repositories to small
historical societies. At the Montana Historical Society, I found the T. C. Power and
Samuel Hauser collections most helpful. The Oregon Historical Society contains a large,
and unfortunately, unprocessed collection of the records of the Portland office of the
Hammond Lumber Company. Wading through these boxes, however, proved quite
productive. Likewise, I found extensive materials regarding Hammond‘s redwood
operations at the Humboldt State University archives. The Huntington Library contained
iii
substantial correspondence between Henry Huntington and Hammond. While the
Bancroft Library lacked any direct Hammond correspondence, I found the records of
Hammond‘s competitors, including those of the Dobleer and Carson and the Elk River
lumber companies, revealing. At the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, I was able
to piece together Hammond‘s ancestry. I also visited county museums, public libraries,
and local historical societies. Those that provided useful information included the
Missoula Public Library, Astoria Public Library, Clatsop County Historical Society,
Tillamook Historical Museum, Fort Missoula Historical Museum, Van Buren (Maine)
District Library, Grand Falls (New Brunswick) Museum, and the Humboldt County
Historical Society. I also made use of copied material from the Forest History Society
and the National Archives.
Serendipity played an immeasurable part of my research. Stopping in a tiny
roadside museum in Maine, I encountered Guy Dubay, who had spent much of his adult
life researching the region‘s lumber industry. Dubay graciously allowed me access to his
vast collection of historical records and manuscripts. Similarly, in Humboldt County, I
ran into Susie Van Kirk, an independent historical researcher who had culled all the
material from local newspapers that pertained to Samoa and who was most helpful. Also
in Humboldt, the Timber Heritage Association had recently uncovered the Little River
Redwood Company (LRRC) files. The LRRC was a competitor of the Hammond Lumber
Company, but then merged with Hammond‘s company in 1932. Although the files are
not open to the public, the Timber Heritage Association allowed me access, and I spent
many hours crouched in the attic of the Samoa Cookhouse. As near as I could gather,
iv
these were the most extensive collection of any redwood lumber company and provided a
valuable window into the industry.
For Hammond‘s Montana years, I was most fortunate to have the assistance of
Dale Johnson, former archivist at the Mansfield Library, University of Montana.
Johnson‘s unpublished dissertation, ―Andrew B. Hammond, the Education of a Frontier
Capitalist‖ (1976), provided a starting point for my research and a useful chronological
reference. Johnson relied heavily on newspaper accounts and limited his research to the
thirty years Hammond spent in Montana. Over the ensuing 30 thirty years, several
archival collections that shed more light on Hammond have appeared, thus I was able to
supplement Johnson‘s pathbreaking work. Furthermore, by researching Hammond‘s
family background, childhood, and the remaining forty years of his life after he left
Montana, I placed his Montana activities in a larger context. I also took a more critical
view of newspaper accounts as source material than Johnson did. Newspapers
occasionally conflicted with common sense and secondary sources. Many secondary
sources, especially those on Montana history, tended to repeat the same interpretation,
ultimately relying upon a single newspaper article. Other sources, however, also proved
problematic. In public statements Hammond often manipulated facts and, at times, lied
outright. While he was more forthcoming in his personal correspondence, he was also
prone to denial and self-aggrandizement. As much as possible, I tried to corroborate
differing accounts or points of contention with as many sources as possible. Often this
led me to pick bits and pieces from various sources and reconstruct what actually
happened. Other times, I simply had to choose the most likely or most consistent version
v
of events. Overall, I tended to view newspapers, personal correspondence, and
government reports more as a form of discourse than as definitive sources.
While Johnson and I differed on some of our interpretations, I found his
documentation to be impeccable. By generously providing me with his research notes
and files, Johnson greatly expedited my research. Since the Missoulian newspaper is not
indexed, Johnson‘s files allowed me to go directly to the relevant articles. Johnson also
provided a sounding board for my thoughts and ideas about Hammond and insight into
his character, as well as valuable Missoula lore.
I was most fortunate to inherit the collections of three previous researchers of the
Hammond Lumber Company. Dan Strite, an employee of the Hammond Lumber
Company, unofficially served as the company‘s historian. Bill Stoddard intended to write
a company history and produced a rough manuscript before he died. Jack Blanchard
amassed a vast assortment of photographs and data on the HLC. All of their work is now
complied into a single collection, which is in my possession.
In addition, I corresponded with and met with historians who were familiar with
the topic. While most could not provide specifics, they were able to point me in the right
direction and also helped clarify many of my thoughts. These personal communications
included: Daniel Cornford, David Emmons, Michael Kazin, Lowell Mengel II, William
Parenteau, and William Robbins.

vi
Abbreviations used in footnotes:
D&C Dobleer and Carson company files, Bancroft Library, Berkeley, CA.
FHS Forest History Society, Durham, NC.
HEH Henry Huntington Collection, Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
HLC Hammond Lumber Company files, Oregon Historical Society, Portland,
OR.
LRRC Little River Redwood Company files, Timber Heritage Association,
Eureka, CA.
MHS Montana Historical Society, Helena, MT.
PANB Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick
UM K. Ross Toole Archives, University of Montana, Missoula, MT.

Unless otherwise noted, all correspondence to/from A. B. Hammond is from the C. H.
McLeod collection Mss 001, University of Montana.
vii
Introduction

The social structure and the state are continually evolving out of the life-process
of definite individuals.
Karl Marx, The German Ideology. 1

When eighty-five year-old timber baron A. B. Hammond died in 1934, a story
quickly circulated among the lumbermen of San Francisco. According to legend,
Hammond, with a shock of white hair, neatly trimmed goatee and impeccably dressed,
just as he was in life, sat up in his coffin at the approach of the pallbearers. ―Six
pallbearers?‖ he thundered. ―Fire two, and cut the wages of the others by ten percent.‖2
While apocryphal, the anecdote accurately reflects Hammond‘s hardnosed
business reputation and the attitude of both his employees and fellow lumbermen toward
him. Notoriously anti-labor, Hammond vigorously opposed collective bargaining,
minimum wages, and the eight-hour day. He waged a thirty-year war against the unions
of lumber workers, sailors and longshoremen, crushing every strike against his
enterprises. For nearly forty years, Hammond attempted to consolidate the redwood
lumber industry, buying up smaller mills, acquiring timberlands through nefarious means,
browbeating his competitors into forming associations to control prices, then underselling
everyone. Finally in 1931, taking advantage of the Depression, he negotiated the largest
merger of his career, cementing the Hammond Lumber Company as the nation‘s top
redwood lumber company.
With Hammond‘s death, the age of the timber baron came to an end. Born in the
timber colony of New Brunswick, Andrew B. Hammond was the scion of generations of

1 Karl Marx, ―The German Ideology‖ in Jon Elster, ed. Karl Marx: A Reader (Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press, 1986).
2 Gage McKinney, ―A. B. Hammond, West Coast Lumberman,‖ Journal of Forest History (October 1984):
196-202.
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