Now that so much timber was being cut down, the logs had to be processed and brought to the market place. Mills became a profitable business. Cyrus Walker was a lumber dealer who started a mill town and named it Port Gamble. Here is part of his ship's log:

Day 24: We are in Discovery Bay. It has taken us 24 days to get here. It is a good location for a mill, but the up-sound settlement would have more of a labor pool.

Day 26: We traded our small sailboat with the Indians for a canoe and then pushed into upper sound.

Day 28: Passed Port Townsend with its two or three cabins and were little impressed.

Day 30: Port Ludlow was good, but Sayward Mill beat us there.

Day 40: We are now at a place known to the Indians as Teekalet. We will put the mill town here and rename it Port Gamble.

Cyrus Walker established his mill at Port Gamble, as he said he would. Later he bought the Port Ludlow mill. He married the daughter of Talbot, one of the former mill owners, and built a royal palace, Admiralty Hall, which sat on a sloping lawn. Guarded by a cannon, it had a square third floor, sliding doors, and a dozen bedrooms. Here Walker received and entertained his distinguished guests.

In the 1800s Port Ludlow was more like the capital of a kingdom than a western sawmill town. Life was more luxurious than anywhere else in the territory, while it lasted, during the boom years.

Ships from around the world came to the mill town carrying furnishings for houses and dinner parties. The furniture was suited for royalty--heavy, ornate, and hand-carved; it was brought from Germany around the Horn. Now that there were mills were to make lumber, the logs could be sold. The giants could be cut down, rolled into the water and towed to Port Discovery, Port Ludlow, or Port Gamble.

But after 30 years of logging, the more accessible timber had been depleted, so loggers had to move inland. They could still use the sea, but they needed a way to get the logs from where they were felled to the waterways. Oxen were the answer. The loggers loaded up wagons with timber and the oxen pulled the load to the beach. A new style of logging had been born.