A beautiful lake surrounded by virgin timber was enough for Dr. Hyacinthe P. Montborne to homestead here in 1884. He set up a shingle mill at Montborne in 1887; at the same time Hugh Walker was setting up a shingle mill in Walker Valley. With the establishment of the Seattle; Lake Shore Eastern Railroad along the shoreline of Big Lake; the valley began to boom. The Day Lumber Company at Big Lake and the Nelson Neal Lumber Company at Montborne each established lumber mills. Their operations were far-reaching into the vast timberlands. With families homesteading near and far; the Finn Settlement; Ehrlich; Big Lake; Big Rock; and Baker Heights joined Walker Valley and the town of Montborne as communities. The mills are now gone; but the communities in the Big Lake Valley have survived; and generations of families; both old and new; continue to call it home.
#2884466 in eBooks 2016-05-31 2016-05-31File Name: B01GENPB8C
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