The land between I-35 and Mille Lacs Lake was covered with white pines until my grandfather, James E. McGrath, entered the area with 1,200 lumberjacks beginning in 1895. For the next 26 years, the “McGrath Timber Company” extracted the trees, with most of them floating down the Snake, to the St. Croix, and into the mills of Stillwater. I, Bill McGrath, grew up in a mansion in Stillwater. Ironically, by the 1950’s when I lived as a rug rat amid our five fireplaces, our family had very little money.

Being an environmentally conscious citizen, I give the title, “Rags to Riches to Rags” for a description of my talk at Osprey Wilds. I will explain the money aspects of lumbering, but also the necessary change in attitude that began in 1895 regarding devastation of our natural environment. 

As far as I know, I am the last grandchild of Minnesota’s last “lumber baron.” For most of my working career, I was employed as a writer. I live with my wife, Janet, in Northfield.