CONSTRUCTION

Howe Sound Company contracted for construction of a mill, a town, shipping and trucking system, repair shops, offices, and a powerline from Chelan Falls. The challenge was rugged, steep terrain along Lake Chelan and Railroad Creek valley in an area free of snow only four months a year. Wages for miners were $4.60 a day, and laborers were paid $4.00; room and board was $1.20 a day.

With the completion of the transportation system, 30 men were hired to build barges and a tugboat with an iron covered prow to break ice. Switchbacks on a road from the mine to lake were widened, and bridges were built to support heavy flatbed trucks with three axles and ten tires to carry three containers, each holding five tons of concentrate.

When the company was refused a permit for construction of a powerhouse and dam, it requested a right-of-way and powerline for electricity from the Washington Water Power Company Dam at Chelan Falls. In the meantime, the company used a diesel-powered electric power plant and proceeded with construction. The Federal Power Commission granted the permit in late summer 1937, and a contractor was immediately hired to erect the 110,000 volt transmission line with a right-of-way 300 feet wide and 52 miles long. The terrain was formidable, and one worker described the route so rugged that "even mountain goats can't walk." In spite of a late start, the powerline was completed and began carrying power in January 1938.

By the end of March, the first ton of ore was milled, and in another month 1,000 tons were processed daily. By the end of 1938, a combination of new underground mining methods and the mill design enabled the mill to process 2,000 tons per day. The first shipment of concentrate was barged to Chelan on April 7, 1938 escorted by a boats carrying company officials and visiting dignitaries from neighboring communities. When the flotilla arrived at the company dock in Chelan, businesses closed their doors, and a high school band provided music for the celebration and speeches.

From Chelan, the concentrate would be trucked four miles to the railroad where it would be hauled 243 miles to the smelter in Tacoma.

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