Lumber was vital to early settlers of the Grande Ronde Valley. In 1890, Smith and Stanley built a large mill in the small town of Perry, Oregon. Operating the first bandsaw in Union County, the mill produced about 20,000,000 board feet of lumber per year, using trees cut from the surrounding hills and carried to the mill by the Grande Ronde River and its tributaries. By 1900, the mill changed ownership and became the Grande Ronde Lumber Company. Logging continued after the railroad was extended through the nearby Starkey area in 1906, allowing an expanded timber base and more stable employment. At the turn of the century, travel between cities and towns, when not possible by railroad, relied on stages and private wagons that soon shared bumpy corduroy roads with growing numbers of horseless carriages. As automobile and truck use increased, Oregon adopted its first state highway plan, the "Get Oregon Out of the Mud" campaign, in 1914. One of the state's primary highways was US 30, running from Ontario to Seaside through northeast Oregon and the Columbia River Gorge. US 30 became a vital link for moving goods from Oregon ports, mills, and farms to and from points east, and businesses and property owners saw highway locations as an advantage and a requirement for success. The route also served tourists traveling to Oregon's scenic coast, forests, mountains, and the Columbia River.