Move to Idaho

Charles O. Brown was the first significant Lakes States timberland trader to view Latah County's forests. Ecstatic about the state's potential, Brown attempted to convince Great Lakes lumbermen to invest in Idaho timberlands. In 1899 the economy veered upward, woodlands appreciated, and lumbermen gained access to Northern Pacific Railroad scrip, enabling them to purchase timberlands without relying on Idaho state lands which were encumbered with the rule requiring cutting within twenty years. As a result, timber buyers rushed to Idaho in 1900.

That year Weyerhaeuser and Brown first met in Moscow, Idaho. After a tour of the woods, Weyerhaeuser realized Brown had not exaggerated Idaho's riches. In December 1900 they formed the Clearwater Timber Company. The following month they organized the Potlatch Timber Company, Ltd. and engaged another representative, William Deary.

William Deary, born in Canada about 1850, was an experienced logger and woodsman. He met the Weyerhaeusers in Minnesota, purchased timber for them there, and scouted for further timber purchases in Canada and the American south. Deary was sent into Latah County in the spring of 1901. He and his timber cruiser, William Helmer, were authorized to spend $100,000 for timber purchases. By 1903 the Weyerhaeuser group owned over 40,000 acres of state land in Latah and Shoshone counties.