In 1880, Robert B. Reagan, age fifty-nine, operated a sawmill on the west half of Beat No. 1 on One Eye Creek. He lived at Precinct 1, Residence 112 in District 11, and owned and operated the Brandon Hotel in Rusk.
His mill was d to be a capital value of $2,700. A boiler powered a 20-horsepower steam engine and a circular saw. The mill operated during all twelve months of the reporting period on daily 10-hour shifts. Reagan paid from 50 cents to $1.00 daily for unskilled and skilled laborers, who were paid a total wage of $1,000. Six of the ten workers were seventeen or older, four sixteen or younger. The mill manufactured 500,000 feet of lumber (worth $5,000) from $2,800 worth of sawlogs and mill supplies. Reagan did his own logging.