[Transcript]
Booming Industry Meets Old-Growth Forests
In 1881, a Chicago-based businessman named Francis Beidler and his friend B.F. Ferguson formed the Santee River Cypress Lumber Company.
Their goal was pretty straightforward but bold: to harvest the vast old-growth cypress forests of the Congaree floodplain and supply the booming cities of America with its prized rot-resistant wood.
Beidler and Ferguson saw a good opportunity here, and they invested heavily.
Struggles in the Swamp
They built temporary camps and moved men, mules, and machinery through the thick muck and tangled waterways.
Cross-cut saws sang through the ancient trees, and felled giants were chained together to slope downstream. Yet the swamp wasn't so easily tanked.
Logs sank into the dark waters, equipment rusted out in these damp conditions, and the swamp's fierce mosquitoes and diseases wore down even the toughest of crews.
And when the rain came, well, unpredictable floods could wash out roads and landings overnight, forcing the crews to rebuild again and again and again.
Unlike other logging operations in the South, the Santee River Company never built permanent camps or railroads here.
When Nature Wins
Their work was seasonal, and it was scattered. It was a constant struggle against the swamp's wild heart.
And by the 1910s, the company pulled out of Congaree completely.
It was one of those rare moments in history where nature was victorious over industry.
