The idea for Lumberman's Monument began with the Kiwanis Club's desire to recognize reforestation efforts with a fieldstone marker, but R.G. Schreck, former Huron National Forest Supervisor, pressed for a more impressive memorial tied both to Michigan's vast reforestation program and to the old-time Michigan lumbermen. He gathered representatives of Michigan's principal lumbering families at the Holland Hotel in East Tawas, where support for the plan took shape, committees were formed, John W. Blodgett of Grand Rapids was appointed to head the selection of an artist, and William B. Mershon of Saginaw was chosen to lead fundraising. After considering sites including Hanson pines and the Tittabawassee River, the group was most impressed by the scale of reforestation in the Huron National Forest and unanimously chose the old Thompson Trail on the banks of the Au Sable River. Mershon, a wealthy lumberman from Saginaw, became the chief fundraiser, appealed to old families of the early lumber industry, and by March 1930 had raised more than $47,000, just before the Depression might have weakened support. He also insisted that the memorial honor "the pioneer lumberman himself," giving it the name Lumberman's Monument. Robert Aitken of New York was selected as sculptor, and after other ideas were considered, the final design became a bronze monument of three nine-foot figures: a sawyer with an axe and saw, a river driver with a peavey, and a timber cruiser with a compass. Aitken used photographs of early lumberjacks and of a person standing on the exact site. The bronze statue arrived in East Tawas by train and was trucked to its destination, was completed in October 1931, and was officially dedicated the following summer, when it was turned over to the United States Forest Service as perpetual caretaker. Congress designated the surrounding land for recreation and education, and the present Visitor Center and exhibits were built in 1982. More than 120,000 people visit the site annually.