Newport Hauls a 142-Foot Cedar Out of the Woods for a Fourth of July Flagpole
A volunteer crew fells, floats and drags a giant cedar to the I.W.N. depot grounds, where it will fly Old Glory over town.
The talk of getting a big flagpole resulted in the appointment of a committee consisting of F. E. Lehmkuhl and Mayor Appel to hunt up a tall cedar for that purpose. These gentlemen started out on a hunt for a likely cedar on Friday morning and in the neighborhood of Freeman, about three miles northeast across the river, they spotted the tree they wanted.
Sunday morning a bunch of volunteers started out to fell the tree and start it on its journey to town. Some of the party returned that night, while others remained to continue the work of bringing it in. Mayor Appel, Judge Long, F. F. Lehmkuhl, J. P. Berneck, H. S. Anderson and Edgar Lawter stayed on the job until it was completed.
The work of getting the big tree to Freeman Lake, across that body of water, and down to the river proved bigger than was anticipated, for a large part of the way it was necessary to swamp out a road for the two teams required to move the pole. It was a Herculean task, but the boys stayed by it with grim determination to be successful and finally landed it in the river near Langille's Tuesday evening. Wednesday it was brought up to the ferry landing with launches and from there was hauled to the corner of the I.W.N. depot grounds by Williams' traction engine.
The big stick measures 142 feet and is 30 inches across at the butt. It will be trimmed up, oiled and got in readiness for hoisting on the morning of the Fourth. A 15x30 foot emblem of Old Glory will be secured to float from its top, and it will stand on the highest part of the I.W.N. depot grounds, where it cannot fail to attract a great deal of attention, and be a good advertisement for one of the great resources of this section. Without a doubt it is the tallest cedar ever secured in this section, and it will stand considerably higher than the big pole presented to the city of Spokane last winter by C. P. Lindsley.
The gentlemen who have devoted their time and hard labor to the securing of the big flagpole are certainly entitled to the thanks of the community.
“It was a Herculean task, but the boys stayed by it with grim determination to be successful.”
In 1909 Newport turned a giant cedar into a civic spectacle, with volunteers hauling it through the woods and down the river to advertise the town’s resources. The impulse is familiar today: public ceremonies, downtown flags and community stunts are still used to make a small city visible. What has changed is the scale of the logistics—and the trees available to do it with.
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