L\TRODUCTION 



river is based on a paper read at the Monthly meeting 

 of the Executive council of the Minnesota Historical 

 Society, April 1 1, 1904, by Captain Edward Durant of 

 Stillwater -see Minnesota Historical Society's Collec- 

 tions, vol. X, part ii, pages 644-675. 



Authorities for early operations on the Chippewa, 

 Black, and Wisconsin rivers are History of Lumber 

 and Forest Industry of the Northwest, G. W. Hotch- 

 kiss, Publisher, Chicago, 1898, and an article on Water- 

 nimy and Lumber Interests of Western JVisconsin by 

 John Milton Holley, A.B., in "Wisconsin Historical ^o- 

 ciety^s Proceedings 1906," pages 21 1-21 2 - through the 

 kindness of Annie A. Nunns, Assistant Superintendent. 



My authority for the output of logs through Beef 

 Slough Boom 1867- 1889 and for that of West Newton 

 Slough, 1889-1896 is the American Lumberman, James 

 E. Defenbaugh, vol. i, 1907. 



For the output from West Newton 1897 to 1904, I 

 could only get partial reports from the Surveyor-gen- 

 eral of Logs and Lumber of the State of Minnesota and 

 from other sources which enabled me to make the esti- 

 mate given. It is very close to the actual figures. 



The reported output of the Saint Paul Boom 1888 to 

 1916 is complete as given by the Surveyor-general of 

 Logs and Lumber of Minnesota. 



My authority for information about the organization 

 and operations of the ALR.L.Co. or "Pool" as it was 

 usually called is The Mississippi River Logging Com- 

 pany - an historical sketch by Matthew G. Norton, 

 1912. Mr. Norton of "Laird Norton & Co." of Win- 

 ona, Minn., was a prominent member of the company. 



The records of the rafting industry are nearly all 

 scattered and lost. I cannot fully express my gratitude 

 to those who have helped me gather up and arrange 



