Arafed man standing in front of a pile of logs

His Grace Duke Richard ‘Sawmill’ Merrill III presides over the fertile Saginaw Valley basin timber stands ripe for burgeoning lumber industry harvest rush and rich dark soil floodplains ideal for cultivating high yield cereal grain crops sustaining both Chicago regional urbanization boom and distant eastern seaboard city provincial growth reliant now on Midwest bred winter wheat and corn harvest shipment received from Erie Canal logistics buildout. The Merrill dynasty claim privileged descent from minor Boston Brahmin merchant trading families who invested early in Colonial frontier warehouse mill technologies that enabled profitable Atlantic export of Appalachian highlands oak, maple and walnut wood product stocks in exchange for imported Irish woolens and English ironware merchandise supporting gradual inland settlement population growth even before American Revolution hostilities disrupted previous loyalist business models. By the post 1812 Rush–Bagot Treaty era opening Midwest territory annexation from displaced Ottawa and Ojibwa tribes toward ambitious land speculation, lumber commodity demand soared from port cities like Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee as waves of immigrants flowed west fueling Chicago’s explosive emergence as Heartland capitol. Merrill family finance stakes quickly dominated regional sawmill production capacity centered around the thriving Saginaw frontier river port settlement soon challenging the previously dominant Saint Lawrence seaway logs and grain trade patterns. Now entering his second generation tenure having outlived heartless rivals from earlier ruthless monopoly timber robber baron horsetrading, the enterprising Duke Merrill focuses civic leadership on balancing sustainable forest stewardship practices supporting continued community prosperity through value added millwork and responsibly rotated harvests ensuring future generations opportunity to thrive amid the grand Saginaw pinery domain his ancestors tamed through elusive win-