"Getting Out the Spruce" for the Allied Forces - Vancouver, Washington
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 45° 37.439 W 122° 39.475
10T E 526667 N 5052327
Marker giving history of a World War I lumber mill operated by the Army at Vancouver Barracks.
Waymark Code: WMJAF5
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 10/19/2013
Views: 4
Text of marker:
"Getting Out the Spruce" for the Allied Forces
This open plain where you are standing was the location of the U.S. Army Spruce Production Division's (SPD) Vancouver Spruce Mill during World War I. This sawmill, at its peak, produced one million board feet each day of finely manufactured spruce lumber. Sitka spruce, with its high strength-to-mass ration, was ideal for the manufacture of military aircraft.
The war in Europe had bogged down in the trenches, and the Allied forces hoped that aircraft would break the stalemate. As a result, Pacific Northwest lumber companies received an order from the Allies for a monthly production quota of 10 million board feet of lumber. However, due to unresolved labor issues, the private companies were not able to meet the Allies' need.
The SPD was commanded by Col. Brice P. Dique. Under his direction the Spruce Mill was constructed in forty-five days, and achieved peak production within six months. Three thousand soldiers were assigned to work in the plant here in Vancouver, while another thirty thousand soldiers labored in the woods, alongside men and women from the private sector, building roads and railroads, and cutting and shipping trees.
The armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, only two months after the Cut-Up Plant reached peak production. The next day the plant closed, and within a few weeks the soldiers, not without some regret for the unrealized potential of their hard work, were headed to home and family.