126 A RAFT PILOT'S LOG 



for any one to work in the yard, Captain Sam Van Sant 

 and I fired up the stove and organized the LeClaire 

 Navigation Company of LeClaire, Iowa, that is by fol- 

 lowing the code of Iowa we got up our Articles of In- 

 corporation which we later filed, and with two or three 

 amendments providing for increases in our capital stock 

 this organization carried us all right until the sawmills 

 shut down and the business ended. 



Starting with the "Last Chance" in 1882 we bought 

 the larger "J. W. Mills" from W. J. Young and Com- 

 pany of Clinton, Iowa, in 1883, the big fine three-boiler 

 towboat "Ten Broeck" from McCaffrey and Dodds at 

 LeClaire in 1886. Then a year later we bought the "St. 

 Croix" from Chr. Mueller of Davenport and also made 

 a contract to tow and handle all his logs, take them 

 away from Beef Slough or West Newton as fast as they 

 were rafted out and store and deliver them as wanted 

 at the mill. We were still running his logs when the old 

 mill burned at the foot of Scott street and we ran every 

 log cut by the new and larger mill at Cooks Point until 

 they dismantled it. 



Then in 1888 we bought the "Evansville," an old boat 

 with new boilers, new pump, etc. She belonged to the 

 Matt Clark Transportation Company, that failed. She 

 was sold at Marshal's sale to John Robson of the 

 Lansing Lumber Company which had a large bill 

 against her for fuel. 



As we had been running all the logs to this Lansing 

 mill for several years we decided to take the "Evans- 

 ville" at the price Mr. Robson had bid, for if he kept 

 her he would have her run their logs. We put a good 

 crew on her and started her out early in the spring of 

 1889, used her two seasons when we dismantled her and 

 used her engines, shaft, pumps, nigger engine, capstan 



