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Last month, on my way to the coast, I stopped in Clatskanie, Oregon, to stretch my legs and have a look around.
Almost immediately I came upon an extraordinary survivor from an earlier chapter in the former timber town’s economic life: a large, heavily weathered structure of wood and corrugated metal that bore every mark of an old manufacturing facility. Its siding was sun-checked and silvered, its sliding doors warped and ribbed with age, its windows clouded but still defiant. It stood not as a ruin, but as something that had simply endured.
It was raining that day, and I could do little more than take note of it. The wet boards darkened to charcoal and the details blurred. I promised myself I would return.
This week, under clear winter light, I did. With dry footing and blue sky above, I was able to examine and photograph the building in detail — the scalloped trim, the massive sliding doors, the layered accretions of paint, rust, and lichen, the improvised repairs that spoke of decades of practical use. It would have made a compelling architectural study even if its history had remained unknown.
But high on one wall, almost erased by time, I noticed the ghost of a signboard. The lettering was faint, barely legible, but enough remained to make out a company name. That discovery transformed the building from texture into testimony. Armed with those fading words, I was able to trace newspaper clippings spanning sixty-five years — fragments that, taken together, told not only the story of a business but something larger: the intertwined histories of timber, river, machinery, and the men who built and operated them.
What follows is that story.
Hydraulic Marine Equipment Co., Inc.
Clatskanie, Oregon
On the banks of the Clatskanie River, where timber and tide meet, stands an enterprise born of industry, ingenuity, and Northwest determination, Hydraulic Marine Equipment Co., Inc.
From Machine Shop to Modern Manufacturer
The story begins in the years immediately following the war. In 1948, L. E. Hoy and associates operated under the name Clatskanie Machine Works, providing repair, fabrication, and mechanical services to loggers, mill operators, and river men throughout the lower Columbia region.
In December 1948, L. E. Hoy and Wilfred Elliott, doing business as Clatskanie Machine Works, appeared in Columbia County Circuit Court seeking foreclosure of a lien on machinery and equipment—an early glimpse into the realities of operating a rural fabrication shop in the postwar years
These were years of rebuilding and expansion across Oregon. Timber was moving, mills were humming, and river commerce was strong. A capable machine shop was indispensable.
By 1949 the shop was advertising the sale of ten rebuilt Cadillac engines, guaranteed “A-1,” suggesting both mechanical expertise and a willingness to trade in surplus powerplants common in the immediate post-World War II economy. Such engines were frequently repurposed for industrial use—yarders, boats, pumps, or mill equipment—illustrating the adaptive, practical nature of small Northwest machine shops.
In 1952 Clatskanie Machine Works faced a labor relations challenge when Machinists Local 63 sought to place the firm on the “unfair list.” A formal hearing was held, and the employers indicated willingness to negotiate
The episode situates the company squarely within the structured union culture of mid-century Oregon industry. Even small-town shops were not isolated from organized labor dynamics that shaped industrial life in the Pacific Northwest.
In September 1953, articles of incorporation were filed in Salem for Hydraulic Marine Equipment Co., Inc., capitalized at 100,000 dollars. The incorporators, Leland E. Hoy, Anton J. Haas Jr., William R. Mathews, and Rolland R. Mains, signaled by this step their intention to move beyond repair work into full scale equipment manufacture.
By 1955, the firm publicly declared its evolution:
We are the former Clatskanie Machine Works.
The name had changed, and so had the scope.
Serving the Timber Industry
During the mid 1950s, Hydraulic Marine Equipment advertised new logging yarders for all sizes of timber, automatic hydraulic electric sawmills, and custom logging and sawmill equipment built to order.
This was no idle boast. The postwar timber industry demanded modernization. Hydraulic controls replaced cumbersome cable systems. Electric drive systems provided smoother, more reliable power than steam or belt driven gasoline units. Efficiency meant safety, and safety meant productivity.
The company’s automatic hydraulic electric sawmills represented the progressive spirit of the era, machinery designed to reduce physical strain, increase output, and adapt to the growing importance of second growth timber.
From its Clatskanie location, the firm supplied equipment to operators across Oregon and beyond.
The Haas Influence
At the center of the company’s growth stood Anton Tony Joseph Haas Jr.
A Marine veteran of World War II, wounded in the South Pacific and decorated with the Purple Heart, Haas returned home in 1946 and entered the logging trade. By 1948 he had gained an interest in Clatskanie Machine Works and would later guide its transformation into Hydraulic Marine Equipment Company.
In the early 1950s, Haas and his partners developed what would become the firm’s most enduring contribution, the hydraulic powered gillnet roller.
For generations, gillnet fishermen hauled their nets by hand, grueling work under difficult conditions. The hydraulic roller changed that practice. Nets could be retrieved more efficiently and with far less physical strain. The device quickly found use on the Columbia River and as far north as Bristol Bay, Alaska, a testament to its practicality and rugged construction.
It was a Northwest solution to a Northwest problem.
Expanding Lines and Regional Service
By the 1960s, Hydraulic Marine Equipment had broadened its offerings. Advertisements in 1966 promoted Poulan Mustang chain saws alongside other models, reflecting the company’s continuing service to loggers and small operators. The firm had become not only a manufacturer but also a trusted regional equipment supplier.
Corporate officers such as Rolland R. Mains continued to serve in business and civic roles into the 1970s, indicating stability and community standing.
The Gillnet Legacy
By the late 1980s, as the timber industry underwent consolidation and the Columbia River fishery faced new regulatory pressures, Hydraulic Marine Equipment had refined its identity around its most distinctive product:
We build all sizes of famous Columbia Gillnet Rollers.
Advertisements in the Columbia River Gillnetter continued for decades. Stuart Haas, representing the next generation, carried forward the company name and reputation.
Through changing economic climates, fluctuating salmon runs, and shifting industrial patterns, the firm maintained its commitment to custom built hydraulic equipment tailored to working fishermen.
A Community Enterprise
Tony Haas retired in 1988, having served not only as owner and operator but also as a civic leader and long time member of local organizations. His career embodied the spirit of mid century Columbia County, military service, hard work, mechanical ingenuity, and public commitment.
Hydraulic Marine Equipment Co., Inc. was never a large corporation in the metropolitan sense. It was something more enduring, a regional industrial house built on craftsmanship and practical engineering.
> Its yarders served the forests.
> Its sawmills processed second growth.
> Its rollers worked the nets of the Columbia and the waters of Alaska.
In the story of Clatskanie, it stands as a reminder that innovation does not belong only to cities. Sometimes it is forged in a small shop near a river, by men who understand both timber and tide.
SOLD This is a sample sketch that's being put forward as part of a presentation to a local council, so me and various other artists might get a gig painting at some funky fashion do. Fabulous Darling ;)
With Yeti for It Tulabelle True, Sign of the Times Poppy, Rock Candy Rufus Blue, and Spooky Sooki the Return
ink and pastel
I am making some preliminary studies in colour for a new oil painting of this hillside view.
Ngày nghỉ mình ngồi ôn bài … :D
…
Dụng cụ rất ư là đầy đủ :">
Mà mỗi cái là bàn học phải chia sẻ vời thằng em nên mình ngồi dưới đất học bài :P
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Haiz…sắp thi rồi mà mới hùi nãy W.Mi làm bể cái cái gương :((
XUI TẬN 7 NĂM LẬN !
đang kím cái gì hình tam giác để chui wa cho hết xui đây !
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Sắp thi tới nơi rồi … mọi ngườ hãy cố gắng lên để đạt vào nguyện vọng mình mơi ước nhé ! Hwaiting !!!!!!
Study V / acrylics on paper / 2014 / 30 x 40 cm
For inquiries and purchases write at objectos@objectos-misturados.pt
Watercolor on Bamboo Hahnemuhle paper.
My friends, thanks for yours nice comments, visite and invites !!!
This is the last batch of SOOC jpegs from the Q2 Monochrom, cropped and processed in DxO PhotoLab 6.
Four days ago, I began calling this address "home." It is full of unique adornments that I cannot wait to share with all of you.
Today I am unpacking, unwinding, decorating, dusting, and chasing my son around a home that is twice the square footage of our old. The study, seen here, is fast becoming my favorite room. I wanted to snap a shot of our books in their temporary home, creatively designed by our friend Michelle.
Now that I'm (somewhat) settled, I'll be around to catch up on the Flickr goodness that I've been missing.
eMo is used to study human-machine interaction. He was developed by Professor Noel Sharkey's robotics group at the Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield.
Clear glass ambrotype. MPP 5"x4" with Zeiss Jena 180mm lens, wide open at f/4, 25 sec exposure. Lit by two soft boxes and a white reflector.
This year I'll be taking the Japanese Languange Proficiency Test (JLPT or Noken) for level 2 (or 2-kyû, which is the second most advanced level), so I've been studying since January.
The exam is in December, though XD
Well, it's not that I have been studying really hard 'cause I still have a lot of time, so it's been a really relaxed but constant study so far. That doesn't mean I will stop studying during summer holidays, though!
In this pic you can see my "friends" when preparing the exam.
I wish Momohime could speak and teach me Japanese, haha