The Bureau Mill

[To Dan, who requested information on the Bureau mill, I lost your e-mail address during a computer crash, so I hope you find this info. Larry]

Captain Charles Bureau, an apparent “interested party” in “The Peoples Transportation Company” of Clatskanie, owned a mill located on the Clatskanie River below the town of Clatskanie. Clues to the location are given in a series of references given in “Local News” columns of the newspapers of the day.

March 25, 1892

Clatskanie: The [road] supervisor has been having some needed work done on the Marshland road. The bridge has been built around the iron cylinder at Bureau’s mill, and the logs have all been taken out so that a horse can get through the entire distance from here to Marshland.

August 19, 1892

Clatskanie: The shingle mill at Bureau’s was running a part of this week.

Aug 10, 1894

Clatskanie: Capt. Bureau expects to discard water as a motive power for his mill and has been getting an engine and a boiler…

Jan 18, 1895

Clatskanie: The melting snow and heavy rains of the past week have swelled the streams about here to enormous size. Fall Creek was a raging torrent and washed out some of Salderns’ bridges, also a portion of the dam that furnished water for Capt. Bureau’s mill and near the mouth of the stream carried away the county bridge erected some two years ago…

[Fall Creek is tributary to the Clatskanie river less than 1/2 mile NW of the town of Clatskanie. The railroad crosses the Clatskanie River very close to the same place.]

October 18, 1895

Clatskanie: A camp of surveyors on the proposed railroad route has been located near Bureau’s mill…