MacKenzie, Donald Grant, 1887-1986

Donald G. MacKenzie was born in Dingwall, Scotland, in 1887. He was bonded by his father to become a mechanical engineer, but MacKenzie used his bond money to buy a ticket to New York, where he arrived in December 1904. In the following weeks, MacKenzie moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, where he worked for six months at the Michigan Lumber Company. He later moved to Ouray, Colorado, where he was employed in the Camp Bird Mine for three years. MacKenzie came to Missoula, Montana, and started working for the Anaconda Company in December 1909. In the beginning, MacKenzie worked sacking potatoes at a root house. MacKenzie also worked as a swamper, timber feller, team driver, toploader, scaler, and timekeeper. By 1915, he became a camp foreman. MacKenzie enlisted in World War I and served two years in the army. Upon his return, MacKenzie continued working for the Anaconda Company and by June 1923, he became logging superintendent, a position he held until his retirement in January 1957. In 1939, MacKenzie founded the Intermountain Logging Conference and served as its first president. He died in 1986 in Missoula, Montana