By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Historian
In September of 1962, John Dexter had just completed a two-month restoration of a historic logging wagon and he donated it to the Twin Peaks community, where he had deep family roots. It was at the urging of the Worthwhile Club and the Masonic Lodge, who were interested in preserving historic local artifacts, that Dexter decided to undertake the wagon’s restoration.
The Guernsey’s logging wagon before restoration. (Photos from Mountain Memories)
This wagon had always been considered a historical artifact, but it was severely decaying after 40 years of sitting in the weather at Strawberry Flats. It took research plus concentrated labor and effort to bring the wagon back to operational level.
In 1898, this “steam-wagon for transporting lumber” was being used by lumber mill partners Henry Guernsey, Kevin Baker and Arthur Gregory, moving logs from Grass Valley to the Rose Canyon Sawmill near current-day Twin Peaks. That partnership dissolved in 1904, the same year John Dexter first visited the mountain. The wagon was driven to Wixom Flats (Blue Jay) and remained sitting there until 1922. By then the steam-engine-pulled lumber wagon was old technology. The lumber industry was basically kaput and the heavy wagon was of no future use, so Gregory donated it to display in Strawberry Flats (now known as Twin Peaks).
The 19th-century wagon had been an amazing invention, built durable and heavy duty and very effective for moving heavy lumbering materials. Each of the four solid-wood wheels is 40 inches in diameter and 18-inches wide, and each wheel weighs 550 lbs. The wheels are encased in two thick rims of metal.
This wagon was one of the first on the west coast at the time to operate under steam power, pulled by a steam-powered tractor. The wagon itself weighs over 3000 lbs.; the weight of the lumber load would be on top of that. Lumber wagons were previously pulled with great effort by teams of oxen, mules or horses.
Community members loading the decaying 1890s wagon onto the Cadillac in 1962.
Members of the Masonic Lodge moved the wagon in pieces, on the back of a Cadillac, to Dexter’s Twin Peaks sawmill where all the restoration work was completed. The large 8 x 8-inch rough-cut square logs were specially milled by Dexter, since such large wood pieces were no longer used in vehicles in the 1960s.
The Masonic Lodge accepted the wagon from Dexter, who was a member, for display in front of their building in 1962, promising Dexter they would pay to install a roof over it to protect the restored historic wagon from the elements. The wagon was placed on a thick cement base to support the heavy weight of the wagon, with Dexter helping to install the heavy-duty roof over the wagon. This historic display and roof have withstood numerous heavy snowstorms over the past sixty-four years.
The restored logging wagon in front of the Masonic Lodge in 2026.
Dexter was also complimented during the lumber wagon dedication ceremony for his continuing efforts to maintain the wooden oxen yoke on the 1870 Daley Canyon Road monument, which was erected by the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West on July 4, 1935. He rehabilitated it in 1957, just five years before this 1962 wagon restoration dedication. The Daley Canyon Road monument was recognized as California Historical Monument #570.
John Dexter was known for his many positive volunteer efforts, and who, with his brothers, helped to build the Squirrel Inn, Antler’s Inn, and the community of Twin Peaks.
He also built and donated the large 12-foot-by-12-foot wooden cross on Rim of the World Highway (1948-2003). The cross was used for Easter Sunrise services and weddings until it was burned in the 2003 Old Fire. He also helped build the toboggan run next to his brother Greg’s Alpine Lodge Resort for the community to use in the 1930s.
In 1968, Dexter was recognized by the Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce as their first Citizen of the Year, fitting as the LACCOC held their annual community awards ceremony last week.
The wagon currently sits under the protective shelter Dexter built in front of the Masonic Lodge on Highway 189 in Twin Peaks, where the Thursday Farmers Market takes place. The Dexter family recently held their annual family reunion, which honored over 100 years of the family being in Twin Peaks.
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