Peeling Back The Bark
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Pauline Bunyans and WWII Victory Lumber
By Eben Lehman on March 12, 2024World War II created a shortage of workers along with a national need to produce lumber for military efforts. During the war, Weyerhaeuser News, the lumber company’s magazine, ran features highlighting the work done by the women who took …
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Life and Lunch: Alfred Eisenstaedt’s Weyerhaeuser Timber Crew Photographs
By Eben Lehman on February 9, 2024In December 1954, Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt journeyed into the woods near Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, for an unusual assignment. His subjects were a Weyerhaeuser Timber Company logging crew. But instead of photographing them felling trees, the men would appear …
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From the First Tree Farm to the President’s Front Lawn: Remembering the 1961 National Christmas Tree
By Eben Lehman on December 21, 2021The chosen 75-foot Douglas fir on the Clemons Tree Farm.
Sixty years ago this month the National Christmas Tree was erected in Washington, DC, on the Ellipse between the White House and the Washington Monument. The annual tradition of a …
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The Wood Prince of Bel Air: Building the ‘Strangers When We Meet’ House
By Eben Lehman on June 4, 2020In the summer of 1960, Columbia Pictures released the film Strangers When We Meet. Adapted by Evan Hunter from his novel by the same name, the film’s plot centers around Larry Coe, an architect (played by Kirk Douglas) who …
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When Woodsmen Bested Spacemen
By James Lewis on July 19, 2019Capitalizing on the excitement surrounding the Apollo space program and the first Moon landing on July 20, 1969, the Weyerhaeuser Company published an article in its company magazine that December. “Spacemen become Woodsmen” recounted the visit by four Apollo astronauts …
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Forest History on the Move: Everett’s Wandering Weyerhaeuser Office
By Eben Lehman on May 10, 2019Twenty-five miles north of Seattle, at the mouth of the Snohomish River, lies the city of Everett, Washington. Officially incorporated on May 4, 1893, the city has seen more than 126 years of growth and development, much of it bolstered …
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Explosive Truths: A Review of the book Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens
By James Lewis on May 18, 2017The vial measures about 1.75″ in length but contains a great deal of information and memory.
This is an expanded version of the review of Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens, by Steve Olson, which first …
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Forgotten Characters from Forest History: Tim Burr
By Eben Lehman on February 17, 2015Everyone knows Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl, and maybe even Ranger Rick Raccoon, but there are many other forest and forestry-related fictional characters that long ago fell by the wayside. Peeling Back the Bark's series on “Forgotten Characters from …
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May 29, 1903: Bob "Forest History" Hope was Born
By James Lewis on May 29, 2013On this date in 1903, Bob “Forest History” Hope was born in London, England. His career in comedy spanned 60 years and moved from the Vaudeville stage to radio and film and eventually television. He appeared in more than 70 …
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American Tree Farm System turns 70
By James Lewis on June 12, 2011On June 12, 1941, the nation’s first Tree Farm was dedicated. The 120,000-acre Clemons Tree Farm in Washington, owned by the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, received that designation with great fanfare—Washington Governor Arthur Langlie and other dignitaries were on hand for …
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May 18, 1980: Mount St. Helens erupts, leaves a mess of documents
By James Lewis on May 18, 2010On this day in 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and left an altered landscape as well as a mess of historical documents in its wake. The deadliest volcanic event in U.S. history …
