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Manitobans Who Made a Difference

(Courtesy of the Archives of Manitoba)

Probably the most well known individual in the history of the lumber industry in Manitoba, over time Theodore Arthur Burrows operated sawmills in most forested areas of the province and conducted logging operations in the Lake Winnipeg, Riding Mountain, Duck Mountain, and Porcupine Forest areas. Burrows' involvement in the lumber trade in Manitoba, as well as Saskatchewan and Alberta, encompassed all facets, including retailing. In 1890, he was one of the founding members and the first president of the Western Retail Lumbermen's Association, an organization that still represents the interests of lumber retailers. Burrows was representative of the timber barons of Western Canada whose beliefs in unhindered expansion and exploitation of resources epitomized the tenets of nineteenth-century capitalism.

Burrows was born in Ottawa, the grandson of Captain John Burrows, the engineer in charge of constructing the Rideau Canal. Theodore Burrows moved to Manitoba in 1875, and worked for a surveying party in the Dauphin area. He then quit his job, attended Manitoba College to study law, and obtained a position in a law firm, becoming the first articling student in Manitoba. A business opportunity called, however, and Burrows left the firm to work for his uncle, Alfred Burrows, in the real estate business. They were so successful in the housing boom of the late 1870s, that two streets in Winnipeg's North End were named Burrows and Alfred avenues, respectively.

Still looking for his niche in life, Burrows, in partnership with Arthur Walkley, a carpenter from Selkirk, purchased a sawmill in 1878 at Fort Alexander, near the mouth of the Winnipeg River. Burrows obtained two timber berths: one on Catfish Creek, and the other on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg near The Narrows, and established the Theodore A. Burrows Lumber Company in 1879. He proved to be a very resourceful man, and in one case solved the problem of a labour shortage by learning an Aboriginal language and hiring Aboriginal workers. In 1883, Burrows and Walkley sold the Fort Alexander mill, and, the following year, Burrows purchased the Selkirk Lumber Company. By 1886, his company was the largest firm operating on Lake Winnipeg, responsible for one-third of the 12,000,000 board feet brought to Selkirk that year. In 1890, the lumber industry in Manitoba went into a slump. That same year, Burrows was hired by the Government of Manitoba to supervise the construction of colonization roads between Neepawa and Dauphin (the Burrows Trail) and Russell and Dauphin (the Russell Trail). This work gave him the opportunity to scout the timber resources of these regions, a development which led to allegations that his brother-in-law, Clifford Sifton, Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly (M.L.A.) for Brandon North, had helped him to obtain the post. In 1892, Burrows entered politics and became one of Sifton's political lieutenants in Manitoba. Burrows was elected as M.L.A. for the new constituency of Dauphin and although he and his family moved to Winnipeg in 1900, represented Dauphin until 1903. The following year, he was elected by acclamation as Liberal Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Dauphin, serving until 1908.

In 1896, Burrows was instrumental in having the Canadian Northern Railway, then the Lake Manitoba Railway and Canal Company, built to Dauphin. He became the railway's land commissioner, a position which allowed him to view the eastern slopes of Duck Mountain, and provided him with inside information about the Canadian Northern's need for railway ties for the line north from Dauphin to Cowan, then west to Swan River. In 1897, Burrows established the Dauphin Lumber Company and assumed timber berths for Riding Mountain from the previous lessee. In 1898, he established a retail lumberyard in Dauphin, and acquired another timber berth on Duck Mountain. The following year, Burrows built a sawmill on the Garland River, and by 1904, the Garland mill manufactured 4,358,262 board feet of lumber annually.

By 1902, Burrows had acquired most of the timber berths for the southern slopes of Duck Mountain, and in 1903 he built the province's largest sawmill at Grandview. During the first operating year, the mill produced 7,000,000 board feet of lumber. Burrows' combined output for all his lumbering activities up to this point equaled 12,000,000 board feet. In 1910, the Grandview mill burned, and was replaced with a new mill capable of producing 125,000 board feet per ten-hour shift. As many as 1,000 men were employed by Burrows Lumber in the woods and mill operation at Grandview. In 1918, however, because of high costs, Burrows closed the Grandview mill and built an even larger one at Bowsman, which produced 20,000,000 board feet annually.

Burrows' political career was directly affected by his dealings in the lumber industry. After his election to Parliament, Burrows faced accusations of favouritism and corruption. It appeared as though Sifton, now federal Minister of the Interior, had favoured his brother-in-law, since Burrows had been awarded 18 of the 19 berths for which he had tendered. Although no charges were laid, an investigation by the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons in 1907 contributed to Burrows' defeat in the federal election of 1908. Thereafter, Burrows focused on his business interests and at the height of his career, owned 15 sawmills and about 35 retail lumberyards. By the 1920s, the lumber industry had started to decline.

In 1926, Burrows was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, a position he held until his death, at which time he was head of the Theodore Burrows Lumber Company, president of the Phoenix Lumber Company operating in Alberta, the Northern Lumber Company operating retail lumber yards in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and the Ontario, Manitoba and Western Land Company, and a director of the British Crown Mortgage Company. He also was on the Board of Wesley College (now the University of Winnipeg), and served as First Worshipful Master of Vermillion Masonic Lodge, Dauphin. Although the firm's retail lumberyards were sold to the Monarch Lumber Company in 1929, more than a century after Burrows established his business, Burrows Lumber Inc. continues to operate from its Winnipeg headquarters (as well as from Naples, Florida) as a wholesaler of hardwood and softwood lumber. Burrows was buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Winnipeg.