EARLY RIV^ER DAYS 29 



The oars or sweeps by which the raft was handled, 

 consisted of stems twenty feet long, usually young tama- 

 rack poles, about twelve inches thick at the big end. In- 

 to this was pinned a pine blade fourteen inches wide, 

 about twelve feet long and two and one-half inches 

 thick at the end attached to the blade, and sawed taper- 

 ing to one and one-quarter inches at the outboard end. 



Each string of the raft had one of these oars hung on 

 a head-block across the end and held in place by a two- 

 inch oak pin, working in a long slot through the oar- 

 stem near the big end, and driven deep down into the 

 head-block. This made the heavy oar balance nicely, 

 and with a big, strong man at the end of each of eight 

 to twelve oars, directed by an intelligent pilot, very 

 satisfactory work was done when the weather was calm. 



Rafts of both logs and lumber were made up of long 

 strings each sixteen feet wide and about four hundred 

 feet long. The string was composed of logs placed in 

 rows, close together, side by side and butt to butt, and 

 the rows held together by sixteen-foot poles laid across 

 the string and fastened to each log by hickory or elm 

 lockdowns and wooden plugs. The lockdown was bent 

 over the pole, the ends stuck down into one and one- 

 quarter inch holes in the log, and then the plugs driven 

 in to hold them. 



Lumber was built in strongly framed cribs at the 

 mill where it was sawed, and slid off into the river by a 

 tilting cradle on which it rested. 



Rafts were not made up to size until they were safely 

 out on the Mississippi. About seven cribs long and 

 four strings wide was the usual size run on the tribu- 

 taries. 



The crew lived on the raft on its voyage down to the 



