256 REPORT OF THE 



ments were made for holding and sorting the logs belonging to all the mills 

 located at or below that place. 



From the books of this company it appears that in 1851 there were 132,500 

 " market "* logs, 19-inch standard, equivalent to 26,500,000 feet, B. M., received at 

 this boom. The next year 69,080,000 ft. of logs passed through ; and these figures 

 may be assumed as showing approximately the amount of the lumber business on 

 the Upper Hudson at that time. 



The business increased yearly until the maximum was reached in 1872, when 

 1,069,000 markets, or 213,800,000 ft. were handled at this point. At that time the 

 lumbermen were not cutting below twelve inches on the stump, or nothing less than 

 " two-log" trees. Hence the logs in the boom ran, on an average, about two to the 

 standard, and so the 1,069,000 markets delivered at the boom that year represented 

 over two million separate logs or "pieces." 



After 1872 the business declined steadily until 1900, when the books of the 

 Boom Company showed that 282,771 markets, or 56,554,200 ft., were received 

 that year. These figures tell briefly the story of the rise and fall of the lumber 

 business on the Hudson watershed. 



Streams Declared Navigable. 



But to return to the story of the early log driving. At first, the people living 

 along the rivers objected strenuously to the use of the streams for floating logs to 

 the mills. The first law declaring any river in this State a "public highway" was 

 passed in 1806. This act provided that the Salmon River in Franklin County could 

 be used for rafts and boats below Malone, and it enacted further that if any person 

 shall " cut or fell any trees into the said river such person shall forfeit one dollar for 

 each tree so felled and suffered to remain in the said river twenty-four hours." 

 This same law — chapter 139 — forbids any person from " rolling any log or logs into 

 the Schroon River, in Essex County, or doing anything to obstruct said river," 

 under a penalty of five dollars for each offense ; but provides that nothing in the 

 act shall " prevent any person from rafting any lumber down said river they may 

 think proper." The restrictions in this law as to obstructions will be read with 

 interest by those who in recent years have noticed how often some Adirondack 

 river is filled at times for a long distance with a solid mass of floating logs through 

 which no boat can pass. 



*The market or standard log is 19 inches in diameter at the small end and 13 feet long, and is 

 generally referred to as a "market" by the lumbermen of the Eastern Adirondacks. 



