Potlatch Lumber Company

Early in 1903 Weyerhaeuser and his associates agreed to form a new firm, merging all their Idaho properties and naming it the Potlatch Lumber Company. William Deary became the general manager. The stockholders selected Charles Weyerhaeuser as president, Henry Turrish vice president, John Kehl, Clifton Musser, Frank Hill Thatcher as directors, and Frederick Bell as secretary.

In 1903 Deary purchased the Palouse River Lumber Company for $265,000, and in 1904, purchased the Colfax sawmill for $115,000, essentially monopolizing the lumber industry in the area. Palouse City was booming, but Potlatch's directors realized that they needed a larger mill. They also became aware that they would have to build a logging railroad, or lure an existing railroad company into its timber holdings in order to open interior forest lands.

It was decided that Potlatch Lumber Company would construct a railroad, and the directors named Frank Thatcher president. In 1905 the Washington, Idaho, and Montana Railway was incorporated. Construction crews broke ground in May and drove the first spike in August 1905. By late September tracks stretched 11 miles upstream, and on March 16, 1906, the first load of logs reached the Palouse mill via the line making Palouse River log drives obsolete.

In February 1904 Deary publicly confirmed rumors that a new mill would be constructed in Latah County. Not only would Potlatch construct a sawmill, but also a complete town. Allison Laird was named Deary's assistant general manager. The duo meshed into an effective management team. Deary supervised logging and milling; Laird directed financial affairs, oversaw town activities, and handled many of the firm's public speaking engagements.

By 1905 construction had begun on the company's railroad, sawmill, and town. Large-scale lumbering had come to Idaho.