Hemlock bark, used in the tanning process, was hauled to the tannery from up to away in both summer and winter, using wagons and sleds. The hides which were tanned to make leather came from the United States and as far away as Mexico, Argentina, and China. Finished sole leather was hauled by horse-drawn wagon south about to Little Bear Creek, where it was exchanged for "green" hides and other supplies brought north from Montoursville. The lumber boom on Plunketts Creek ended when the virgin timber ran out. By 1898, the old-growth hemlock was exhausted and the Proctor tannery, then owned by the Elk Tanning Company, was closed and dismantled.