Paul Bunyan tackled a real problem when he came to Westwood.  The site of the mill and town was unbroken forest in 1913, sixty mountainous miles from the nearest railroad.  Trails were graded into passable roads and materials and machinery were freighted in.  When the railroad arrived in 1914 the first mill was in operation and the town well under construction.  Town and plant had been detailed on the drafting boards in Minneapolis.  Sanitary sewers, water system, electric lights and telephones were extended as the forest was cleared and Westwood, with a population of 5,000, enjoys all the facilities of a modern American community.

The electrically operated sawmill has an annual capacity of 250 million board feet.  Dry kilns, one of the largest plywood factories in the country, sash and door factory and re-manufacturing departments round out production of a complete line of lumber products.

Red River operates its own logging railroad, 20 miles of which are electrified, hydro-electric plants and the foundry and machine shops, where many units of the logging and plant machinery are designed and built.

Back in the early days, when his camps were so far from any where that the wolves following the tote-teams got lost in the woods, Paul Bunyan made no attempt to keep in touch with the trade.  What’s the use when every letter that comes in is about things that happened the year before?

Since he came to Westwood Paul has renewed old friendships, formed new ones and kept close contact with the world.  Everyone expects great things of Paul Bunyan and with the Red River outfit back of him he has the chance of his life to make good.  Continuous production keeps a full assortment of stock on hand.  Customers in all parts of America find Westwood a dependable source of supply.

Here is an instance.  This old friend of Paul’s a prominent furniture manufacturer in the Lake States, was disappointed because an item he wanted for immediate shipment was not in stock in the grade and thickness required.  He wrote the letter shown below and was given an explanation of the facts in the case in the accompanying reply.

Paul Bunyan Makes Plywood

Paul Bunyan says that making plywood reminds him of the way Mrs. Bunyan made pies during the hard times of pioneer days.  She would take pancakes, spread molasses between and sew around the edges with yarn.

Plywood panels differ from other wall coverings in that the natural texture of the wood is not altered.  While the lathe-cut sheets are thin, they are solid wood with the cell structure just the same as it grew in the tree.  In making plywood the inside sheets are placed crossgrained with the face sheets.  These sheets are then united with a glue bond that is stronger than the wood itself.  This cross-grained construction prevents splitting and produces a panel much stronger than solid wood of the same thickness.