The Big Lakes Box Company was organized by Merle West, Burge Mason, and A. J. Voye in 1917. It was one of the largest retail lumber businesses in the area. The Company purchased lumber yard property on South 6th Street, near where the Klamath Falls Street Department’s maintenance building is now located and converted it to a box factory. In 1920, the Company built a sawmill along Lake Ewauna. The Company also operated a sawmill in Canby, California, from 1937 until 1942. This operation relied heavily on the railroads, which trucks began to replace, making this the last such operation by the Company. Big Lakes Box Company ceased all operations in 1946. In 1947, the mill at Klamath Falls was closed and dismantled.

Squaw Valley Logging company leased equipment from Big Lakes Box Company because of the heavy demand for lumber from World War II. They operated in many of the same locations that Big Lakes Box Company did, until they too ceased operation in 1950.