Logging in Plumas County. Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.Logging in Plumas County

Located within the northern Sierra Nevada mountain range, the forests of Plumas County were once seen as a source of endless timber. Lumber was needed during the Gold Rush for water flumes, mine timbers, and an array of buildings. While timber was abundant, the abilities of the early settlers to harvest, transport, and mill the logs were often very limited. Markets remained relatively local throughout the second half of the 19th century until the completion of the Western Pacific Railroad in 1909. This sparked a new rush of industry into the region. Vast tracts of untapped Plumas County timber were bought up by speculators, and many sawmills were erected. Logging in the western United States moved from animal power to steam engines to internal combustion in the space of about 50 years. While Plumas County's lumber industry was reflective of these developments, it also found its own identity as a timber-producing region that was nearly unequaled.

Scott J. Lawson is a fifth-generation native of Plumas County, his Swiss ancestors settling in Indian Valley in the 1850s. Local and regional history is a passion he has held for as long as he can remember, and it fits well with his position as director of the Plumas County Museum, in Quincy, California. He oversaw the restoration of the 1878 Variel Home in Quincy, now a museum, is currently working on the restoration of the 1864 Taylorsville School, and has assisted in the restoration and preservation of a number of historic structures and sites in Plumas County and Sierra County. He is an avid hiker and has spent countless hours and days tracing out forgotten trails, water ditches, wagon roads, emigrant routes, abandoned railroads, mining sites and homesteads, and more. He has worked closely with Oregon-California Trails Association, Trails West and the U.S. Forest Service on pinpointing the location and mapping of the Beckwourth Emigrant Trail, the Jamison Emigrant Trail, various forgotten cemeteries, and many other historic features and sites on public lands. Lawson enjoys reading, researching, gold mining and just getting out in the great outdoors.