Building A Stronger Future

Growing A Family Tradition

In 1993 Thompson River Lumber was founded by Roger Claridge as a family owned and operated sawmill. Roger brought many years of experience and knowledge of not just general business, but the area and the industry, from operating a company that among other things, hauled logs down the Thompson River road to the mill site. TRL is located at the confluence of the Thompson River and the Clark Fork River near Thompson Falls, Montana. Thompson River Lumber is currently the second largest private employer in Sanders County. We pride ourselves in making the best possible products. The dimensional lumber, boards, industrials and specialty items produced are with the assistance of modernized equipment, and perhaps our most valuable resource, our employees. Moved by rail and by truck all across the country; our finished lumber products can be recognized by logo on our paper wrap used to protect it during travel. A portion of our residual products, that we do not use in house, supplement other businesses in the wood fiber industry, enabling them to maintain their raw material supplies and sustain their employment levels. The company today maintains that family owned and operated atmosphere through its Vice President Dan Claridge who handles the day to day operation of the mill; while Roger maintains his presence as President.
  Fun Facts About Montana
  • The state boasts the largest breeding population of trumpeter swans in the lower United States.
  • At the Rocky Mountain Front Eagle Migration Area west of Great Falls more golden eagles have been seen in a single day than anywhere else in the country.
  • North of Missoula is the largest population of nesting common loons in the western United States.
  • The average square mile of land contains 1.4 elk, 1.4 pronghorn antelope, and 3.3 deer.
  • The Freezeout Lake Wildlife Management Area contains as many as 300,000 snow geese and 10,000 tundra swans during migration.
  • At Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge it is possible to see up to 1,700 nesting pelicans.
  • The Montana Yogo Sapphire is the only North American gem to be included in the Crown Jewels of England.
  • In 1888 Helena had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world.
  • 46 out of Montana’s 56 counties are considered “frontier counties” with an average population of 6 or fewer people per square mile.
  • At Egg Mountain near Choteau dinosaur eggs have been discovered supporting the theory some dinosaurs were more like mammals and birds than like reptiles.
  • Montana is the only state with a triple divide allowing water to flow into the Pacific, Atlantic, and Hudson Bay. This phenomenon occurs at Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park.
  • The notorious outlaw, Henry Plummer, built the first jail constructed in the state.
  • No state has as many different species of mammals as Montana.
  • The moose, now numbering over 8,000 in Montana, was thought to be extinct in the Rockies south of Canada in the 1900s.
  • Flathead Lake in northwest Montana contains over 200 square miles of water and 185 miles of shoreline. It is considered the largest natural freshwater lake in the west.
  • Miles City is known as the Cowboy Capitol.
  • Yellowstone National Park in southern Montana and northern Wyoming was the first national park in the nation.
  • Montana has the largest migratory elk herd in the nation.
  • The town of Ekalaka was named for the daughter of the famous Sioux chief, Sitting Bull.
  • Fife is named after the type of wheat grown in the area or, as some locals contend, by Tommy Simpson for his home in Scotland.
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