Beginnings of the Rafting Industry 



The first lumber run from Lake Saint Croix was 

 from Marine Mills, in 1839; the first logs from Still- 

 water to Saint Louis by S. B. Hanks, in 1843 ; the last, a 

 lumber raft in August, 191 5, to Fort Madison, Iowa, 

 by the steamer "Ottumwa Belle," W. L. Hunter, pilot. 



The Mississippi River Logging Company began 

 operations on the Chippewa river, and took over the 

 work begun by the Beef Slough Boom Company, in 

 1871, and increased the output steadily, reaching its 

 maximum about 1892, when over 600,000,000 feet 

 passed through its booms in a season. 



In 1 889- 1 890, the works were moved to West New- 

 ton, from which three hundred million to six hundred 

 million feet were turned out annually, until 1909, when 

 the exhaustion of the timber supply caused a final shut- 

 down. 



The first lumber was rafted down the Chippewa 

 river in 1831, and from a small beginning the industry 

 developed rapidly. 



The following large companies were engaged in saw- 

 ing pine lumber and sending it down the Chippewa 

 and Mississippi rivers: 



The Badger State Lumber Company 



The Eau Claire Lumber Company 



The Daniel Shaw Lumber Company 



The Lafayette Lumber Company 



The Northwestern Lumber Company 



The Union Lumber Company 



