The Edward Rutledge Timber Company Collection is a business collection consisting of 24 file boxes and some 25 bound volumes of account books, ledgers and financial records. The material was received for processing shortly after it had been damaged by flood water in December 1964 at Lewiston, Idaho. An appreciable part of the collection, apparently including the minute books, was destroyed at this time. This accounts for the otherwise inexplicable gaps in the material.

Correspondence between 1914 and 1916 is comparatively limited, being still primarily concerned with clearing up legal matters. Sometime in either 1914 or 1915 it was decided to go into production. In previous years, for example in 1910, the only timbering done was by contract of burned-over areas. Production began for the saw mill at Coeur d'Alene in April, 1916 and in July of that year it began for the planning mill. Huntington Taylor was apparently Davies' associate in the construction of the mill and the associated logging facilities, although there are actually no concrete records to reveal the exact nature of this arrangement.

Beginning in 1917 there is a tremendous increase in the volume of correspondence both to and from the company. Labor difficulties figure prominently in the correspondence, the I.W.W. responsible for causing considerable problems, and there is the beginning of the labor organization aiming to cut the ten hour day to eight hours with the same pay. In the correspondence there is discussion over the purchase of timber; insurance on lumber; and in particular there is much mention made of new bills in the Legislature, namely the Repeal of the Poll Tax Law, the Workmen's Compensation Bill and the Eminent Domain Bill. There are a large number of letters from small companies requesting advice and a notably large number of applications for work; clearly the effects of war were being felt.

The correspondence of 1918 is basically very similar to that of the previous year. There are very few offers to sell either land or stumpage. The volume of correspondence from the Associated Employers Reciprocal is considerable and is concerned with the payment of compensation to workmen involved in accidents. There is further mention of the I.W.W. and a special report on the situation is given. The International Association of Chiefs of Police corresponded with the company suggesting that there be the establishment of a cooperative police and secret service department to be maintained by the lumber manufacturers of the west to combat the disruptive influence of the I.W.W. A lengthy communication from the War Department at Portland enumerates logging camp regulations, pay regulations and a long list of rigid regulations covering every aspect of the industry which the company, by implication, regarded as something of an invasion of their rights.

Correspondence between the Employers Association of the Inland Empire, the Loggers Club and the Timber Products Manufacturers is prominent during 1918. It covers a wide variety of subjects; labor and wage schedules; the problems of preventing the draft of essential employees; camp conditions etc. Methods of combating the I.W.W. are also suggested. The purpose of these associations seems, therefore, to be to ensure that all workers labor under those conditions most satisfactory to themselves and to their employers.

During the year 1919 the same trends are visible in the lumber industry. Letters and bulletins from the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen are prominent; the North Idaho Forestry Association is active in keeping its members informed regarding all legislation pertinent to the industry, and the Western Forestry and Conservation Association correspondence covers every aspect of lumbering from new legislation to modern methods of conservation.

During 1920 and 1921 the volume of letters is very much diminished. It would appear that by far the greater part of the correspondence for these years has been lost. What remains is merely routine correspondence with nothing of any particular interest to be noted.

From 1901 up to 1916 the correspondence of this company is of value because of the light it throws on the development of the company and its methods of purchasing and acquiring new timber lands and the litigation involved in this process. After 1916, and the notable increase in the volume of correspondence, the papers become of even greater value and interest to the forest historian for here is to be found much material concerning the development of the I.W.W. as a subversive force in this industry; the growth of the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen to counteract the former group; the growing participation by lumber manufacturers in legislation pertinent to forestry; the more active associations of timber manufacturers designed to make more efficient every aspect of their industry; and the increasingly greater awareness of the need for a more efficient and well organized industry in general.

In addition to this material there are those more routine letters, requests for advice and for employment, camp reports, orders for equipment, covering a miscellany of matters which taken as a whole do a great deal to give one a clear picture of the forest industry of the first two decades of this century.

In addition to the thirteen file boxes of correspondence dating from 1901 to 1920 there is one further file box which holds correspondence and other material dating from 1920 up to 1954. Evidence of flood damage to these papers is apparent, and between these dates there are frequent large gaps in the correspondence. Primarily the correspondence is of a financial nature and is particularly concerned with the dissolution of the Company.

The General Correspondence includes routine correspondence; much of this is concerned with financial problems, in particular tax problems; there is also the cancellation of a hospital contract, but very little else of any great importance. There is, however, a greater volume of correspondence directly related to the dissolution of the Company; this includes letters to the Secretary of State at Olympia, Washington, wherein the technicalities of the dissolution are discussed, and there are various letters from individuals within the company concerned with the actual liquidation proposals.

Correspondence with the First National Bank of Seattle is anent the trust agreement between Elizabeth W. Titcomb as settler, and the bank as trustee, the resignation of the bank from this position in November, 1942, and the consequent appointment of successor trustees.

The folder headings on all other folders should make their contents quite clear.