The article reviews the history of timber industry in Boulder Creek which at its height had 28 saw mills in the San Lorenzo Valley. After the Civil War those mills merged into the giant corporation of Big Basin Lumber Company. They shipped over 150 rail cars per day of lumber. Henry Middleton’s Mill was on the property near Big Basin and his Union Mill was one of the big producers. When Arthur Hill got involved in trying to save the redwoods he talked his friend MIddleton into stopping the harvest until the state could decide if it was going to step in and purchase the land.