1 86 A RAFT PILOT'S LOG 



crew with oars. They soon wore out or were abandoned 

 for larger and better boats, preferably stern-wheelers. 



A few side-wheelers, somewhat larger, gave better 

 satisfaction. The "L. W. Barden," called by the crew 

 "L. W. Workhouse," under Captain Joseph Buisson's 

 command, did a lot of good work running Daniel Shaw 

 lumber from Reads. 



The "Viola" and "Julia Hadley," the "Buckeye," the 

 "Annie Girdon," "Champion," the "L. W. Crane," the 

 "Iowa," the "Minnie Will," and the "Pearl," also in 

 this class, wore themselves out in the work but none of 

 them were rebuilt, for by that time the many advantages 

 of the stern-wheeler had been conclusively demon- 

 strated. The "Clyde" was the last of the only three 

 side-wheelers built for rafters; the other two were the 

 "Minnie Will" and "Julia Hadley." 



Stern-wheel packets converted or diverted to the 

 work were the "Natrona," "Wm. White," "Mountain 

 Belle"; the "Hartford," "Evansville" and "Jas. Fisk, 

 Jr." from the Ohio; the "Mollie Mohler" and "Hud- 

 son" from the Minnesota river; the "St. Croix" from 

 the river of that same name and the "Maggie Reaney" 

 and "Jennie Hays" from Lake Saint Croix. These boats 

 were much better than the best of the side-wheelers but 

 they were not the equals of boats built especially for 

 rafting. 



The "Eclipse" and "Vivian," after finishing their 

 rafting careers, were sold to Ohio river parties to tow 

 show boats. 



When I decided to quit rafting and engage in short 

 trade packet business, I retained my stock in the Le- 

 Claire Navigation Company, but I bought the "Silver 

 Crescent" from the Van Sant and Musser Company, 

 our LeClaire Navigation Company and Captain Bob 



