The Production of Mine Timbers

"The mines of Butte, in addition to the square timber used, consume each year large quantities of round timber, which are called stulls. The Stull business is an important industry, as will be seen from a brief description of the operations of the Mines Timber Co., which institution furnishes most of the stulls and lagging poles used in the Butte mines.Timber produced by the Mines' Timber Co. is mostly cut on the government forest reserve, on California gulch, American gulch and French gulch. To bring the timber to market, a flume 16 miles long has been constructed from Big American gulch to Mill creek. The flume, which heads on Big American gulch, on the Atlantic slope, crosses the Continental Divide at an elevation of 6,525 ft., and delivers timber at Mill creek on the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific railway, which is on the Pacific slope. Timber is loaded on cars at Mill creek and shipped to the Butte mines, a distance of twenty-six miles. There are 29 trestles on the flume line over 25 ft. high. The highest trestle is 78 ft. and the longest is 775 ft. The longest tunnel on the line of the flume is 565 ft. from portal to portal."