The Potlatch Lumber Company was incorporated in 1903 by Weyerhaeuser Lumber Company. The name was taken from the Chinook word for a celebration of goodwill and gift giving. 

In 1906, the company’s first sawmill was built along the Potlatch River in northern Idaho. The town of Potlatch would later grow around the mill, establishing a thriving company town. In its time, this Potlatch Mill was the largest white pine mill in the world. While the workforce in the United States in the early part of the twentieth century was predominantly male, Potlatch’s labor pool was almost exclusively male.

Many stories have been told about the men who built the company, the residents of Nob Hill to the loggers in the camps. But, the history of Potlatch is more than just the life of the mill. Homesteads and small mills surrounded the town, supporting the people and community. Women often had a heavy hand in the management and running of homesteads. Their stories deserve to be heard.