The Forest Industries 77 



The first period is the heyday of the " river 

 towns " all along the great streams tributary to the 

 Father of Waters. In those days, when the notion 

 of inexhaustible supplies was still universal, the 

 lumbermen were fastidious indeed as to what and 

 where they would cut. They would take only the 

 largest and soundest pines, in localities near the big 

 streams, where logs could be carried to the water's 

 edge at the smallest possible cost. The transpor- 

 tation down to the mill was then almost universally 

 done by rafts. Every large river was covered with 

 these rafts, composed of pine logs fastened closely 

 together. The occupation of the raftsman who 

 guided these immense floats down the river, over 

 sand-bars and through rapids, was one that required 

 unusual skill, daring, and strength. The journey 

 from the pineries to the mill sometimes occupied 

 many weeks, and was accomplished quicker or 

 more slowly according to the stage of water. The 

 dangers both to the raft and to the men floating it 

 were various, and many a poor fellow has been 

 sucked under the logs by the current and drowned 

 in a vain endeavor to release a raft from some rock 

 or other obstacle in the channel on which it had 

 stranded. 



At the present time, rafts of logs are rarely seen 

 on the rivers of the West, except on the Missis- 

 sippi, and also occasionally on the Great Lakes. The 

 modern rafts are apt to be even larger than those 

 of the olden time, and are usually towed by steam- 

 ers, one forward and one at the stern to keep it 



