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Stockton Box Mill at West Point probably in the mid 1940’s
Robert Fischer who grew up in West Point, and whose father worked for Stockton Box, tells about the origins of the mill. Quoting, sometimes loosely, from Bob’s “Memoirs of a Sierra Sawmill”
In 1939, the Coffenberry brothers erected a sawmill on Negro Creek, a tributary of Bear Creek, which itself flowed into the Middle Fork of the Mokelumne River. Over the hill on Bear Creek, they provided company housing. The ridge in between was the site of the lumber drying yards and the company office. Maintenance shops were adjacent to the mill. In 1941 they sold this operation to Stockton Box Co. Editor’s note: I was having trouble tying down the date of the sale to Stockton Box, but with the help of two elderly West Point residents I think that 1941 is the correct date. This also correlates with several references in the American Eagle which identified employees who had been at the Stockton Box Mill since 1941. We know that Harry Oatman came to West Point as mill superintendent in January, 1945.
Stockton Box was part of American Box Company which later changed its name to American Forest Products Corporation. This mill at West Point burned in 1947 and was reconstructed. Logging was conducted in the watersheds of Bear Creek, Blue Creek, and Forezt Creek. A diesel (later electic) powered engine ran the band saw. The log carriage was steam driven. Scrap that was not used to fire the boiler was incinerated in a conical burner. (Also called a teepee or wigwam burner) The mill’s first superintendent was Charles Gray a corporate player who wasn’t very well liked by most of the employees. He was succeeded by Lawrence Wilsey, a much respected man who managed to use the timber resources and the human resources very effectively.
This mill existed to provide lumber to box factories, or finishing mills, such as the one in Toyon, also owned by American Forest Products. The lumber from this mill was hauled by Autocar or Peterbilt trucks to the railhead at Toyon, or all the way to Stockton.
The logging camp for this mill was called Robinville. The electrical lines ended at West Point, so the residences at Robinville used kerosene or Coleman gas lights, had only cold water unless it was heated on the wood stove, and used an outhouse. Robert’s father soon put in a propane stove for cooking, oil heaters for space heating, a water heater, and expanded the size of the cabin in which they lived.
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This same page is in our “Outdoor Exhibits” section to illustrate how our new-to-us Jammer was used.
Log on carriage with first slab cut made
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Diesel motor for powering the mill
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Photo is self explanatory
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Reconstruction of the burnt mill
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Jammer loading truck
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Logging arch in use. It could be the one on our grounds. (Probably not)
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Guess that you could call this winch a diesel donkey, and spar tree
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By 1945 Harry Oatman, who came up from Toyon when that sawmill was closed, was manager and he was followed in 1950 by James Coonan who came down from Trinity Alps Lumber Co., another American Forest Products mill, in Hayfork. Under Oatman, Hubert Arnold was mill superintendant, Jerry Meyers was yard superintendant, Jack Cherney was woods boss, Clarence Austin truck shop foreman, and Hardy Porteous was the cat shop foreman. Some anecdotes about that period are found in my “Memoirs of a Sierra Sawmill” of which the museum has a copy.
Of the three men pictured, the center one is the saw filer, Jasper Houston, a real Southern gentleman from Louisiana. The picture on the right is Harry Oatman, the mill manager.
Of the three men pictured, the center on is Jasper Houston, the saw filer, a real Southern gentleman from Louisiana. The picture on the right is Harry Oatman, the mill manager.
Thanks so much, Robert.
John
John,
Did you get the updated “Memoirs of a Sierra Sawmill” I sent you? Your site says Stockton Box built the mill in ‘42 or ‘43 but I always understood the mill was built in ‘39 by the Coffenberry’s whoever they were. We once had an old postcard showing the mill which it called the Coffenberry mill. The Hagues said they worked there for the Coffenberrys and they stayed on with Stockton Box. (Babe Hague and I were in the same class of ‘49 at Calaveras High.) I think Stockton Box may have taken over the mill in ‘42 or ‘43 but it was an existing mill – which as we know burned down in ‘47. Enjoy your correspondence and appreciate your research into history of the Sierra mills. All best wishes to you and Ron and Pat Bradley.
Bob Fischer
Bob,
I worked at the museum today, and your memoirs were there waiting for me. Actually, I’ve already read through most of your writings.
Thank you so much.
I’ll work on getting the story straight. I think what may have happened is that I picked up the dates for Sandy Gulch from the American Eagle, and transposed those dates in my mind to Stockton Box at West Point.
Again, thanks for taking a real interest. I (we) do appreciate it.
John
Bob,
Unless I missed an attachment, I didn’t get a copy of the memoirs. I did look for the copy the museum has, but haven’t found it yet. I got the information about the building of the Stockton Box Mill directly from the American Eagle for 1945. They didn’t mention there was a mill already there, but probably from their point of view, there was no need to mention it.
Thanks for your help in trying to get this all straight. I need that help.
John
Robert,
I’m working today at the museum and your memoirs were here waiting for me. I went back to the American Eagles and found an article that said that Charley Meyers worked at the mill from its inception in 1940.
Funny thing about this web site, every time you think you’ve gotten things straight, the more things pop up that need more information.
Anyway, thanks so very much for the memoirs. I’ll get to read them in the next day or two.
John