RAFTING ON THE ST. JOE. 



GEO. H. ROOT. 



Photos by the Author. 



I had been often told that a trip down 

 the St. Joe was a perilous undertaking and 

 that few who made it cared to repeat the 

 experience. But the love of adventure, and 

 a desire to be out of doors got the best of 

 me. Early in September, 1901, I, with F,. J. 



Our first day out was uneventful. It 

 began to rain as we started. On top of 

 the divide between Placer and Slate creeks, 

 we ran into a stiff snow storm, but the 

 trail led most of the way through heavy 

 timber which protected us. That night we 



THE START. 



Martin and Geo. T.Atteberry, left Wallace, 

 Idaho, to cross the Bitter Root and strike 

 the St. Joe river about 60 miles above 

 where it empties into Lake Cceur D'Alene. 

 We engaged Ralph Sebastian, an experi- 

 enced packer, to carry our outfit to the 

 river. For company on the return trip, 

 Ralph took along a chum of his, named 

 Kemp, as gritty a boy as I ever met. 



camped on the divide between Placer and 

 Slate creeks. The next morning being 

 clear and bright we went on. 



About 4 miles down the creek, the trail 

 zig-zags up a steep mountain. There it 

 was that Martin decided to follow the 

 creek to the river, which we supposed was 

 distant about 7 miles, George and Kemp 

 went with him, while Ralph and I, with 



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