Lumbering began in the Oregon Country in 1827 at Fort Vancouver. Here, the Hudson's Bay Company were employed to cut lumber for export to the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii). 

The first sawmill in the Willamette Valley was established by Ewing Young on Chehalem Creek in 1837. Young's mill supplied lumber for incoming settlers. In 1844 Henry Hunt established a mill above Astoria to make lumber for export to California. 

Later, the gold rush in California created a lucrative market for Oregon mills. By 1849 there were 37 sawmills in operation in the lower Willamette and Columbia region. The huge forest products industry continues to be a major part of Oregon's economy even after its downturn in the 1980s.

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