As the story goes, the first man to go down the Mississippi River on a log raft was on the last lumber raft. A beautiful story that necessitates further inquiry.
The first log, well lumber, raft?
From Steamboat Times: In 1839, Henry Merill, Merrill, or Merrell, guided the first documented lumber raft to St Louis by making his raft on the Wisconsin River. According to Source B, the raft, if the same raft, arrived in St. Louis in the spring of 1840. The raft was piloted by a crew of 20 and carried 800,000 lumber feet.
For the St. Louis area, the first lumber raft might have as early as 1831-1832, or 1835 for sure, as rafts from a 300 mile radius would go to St. Louis's mills. E.O. Shepardson, perhaps one of the earliest pilots, helped guide this 100 foot long, 30 foot wide raft to St. Louis (B).
In Source D, there is the story of James Lockwood who navigated a small lumber raft to a local market in 1831 Wisconsin. It is clear from the author that Lockwood's lumber raft was not a success. It arrived in St. Louis greatly reduced. It is also clear that Henry Merill piloted a lumber raft, but Source D shows that due to the existence of certain sawmills, lumber rafts probably went all the way back to 1832.
Key for all of the above is the term lumber raft.
Difference between a log and a lumber raft?
A constant problem for me in research is the difference between a log raft and a lumber raft. I often wonder if the author means to say one or the other. Often there isn't a distinction given.
One of the biggest differences was composition. A lumber raft was much more complex than a log raft, which just consisted of logs strung together. While lumber was strung together, there was the addition of cribs and other stabilizing structures. Also, log rafts were much smaller than lumber rafts, and carried much less board feet. For example, one of the largest lumber rafts had nine million board feet on it while one of the largest log rafts was two million board feet (F, 51).
So what about a log raft?
In source E, Stephen Hanks of Albany, Illinois is credited with being the first person to create a log raft. Up until 1844, only lumber rafts existed on the Mississippi. Like many farmers, Stephen found himself in a lumber camp in the winter of 1844. He had driven his cattle to the camp and found himself faced with an opportunity. Up to this point, the logs were driven by current, but in the spring of 1844, Hanks tied the logs together and drove it to St. Louis (E, 162). A flawed primary source, gives Hanks inspiration of a large log raft to go from Wisconsin to St. Louis to his family who made small log rafts around their local sawmill in 1837 to 1838 (G, 81).
How long did a log/lumber raft take?
From Source B, the rafts could take up to two months to go from Wisconsin to St. Louis until the introduction of steamboats, which cut the time down to two weeks. The season according to Source B starts May and ends November 15. Of course, everything needs an exception, so once a raft went from La Crosse to New Orleans in 1870. It took ten weeks.
Introduction of steam?
Source B credits Schudenburg & Boeckeler Timber Company as the company that produced the device needed to steer millions of board feet. The "Mollie Whetmore" was the first steamer. Then again, Source E talks about J.W. Van Sant from Le Claire, Iowa who produced the "stern-wheeler" to push the logs down the river in 1870. The man responsible for this could said to be Weyerhaeuser. He didn't invent it, but his mill was on the receiving end of the raft.
A question I have is what took so long, as the first steamboat to ride the upper Mississippi River was the Virginia in 1823. In 1829, the steamboat, Heliopolis, became the first successful snagboat as it opened up the snags in the river (C, 24). Then even though steam existed, when the log rafts hit patches of no current, the rafters would kedge the raft down the river. A small boat would get in front of the raft, drop anchor, and then the rafters would "somehow" as the author didn't really say, pull the raft to the anchor. I envision hooking the chain E, 162).
Source E highlights why LeClaire became a center for rafting because of the rapids. Le Claire had up to sixteen rapid pilots working from 1840 to 1915 (E, 162).
Why rafts?
According to Source B, the steamboats, having a crew of 18, could bring up to 3.5 million board feet worth of logs down the river. It would take seven trains of fifty cars each to do the same. The cost to employ a raftman was usually $1.50 to $3.00 a day (D).
The supposed last raft?
July 1, 1915, the Ottumwa Belle came to its final resting spot in Fort Madison, Iowa. On its trip down the river, it stopped in Albany to pick up a 93 year old Stephen Hanks to go as far as Davenport. Hanks therefore was the first and last rafter (E, 168). It should be noted I've read this as both a log and a lumber raft. I tend to give the credit to the Grand Excursions book that says Hanks took the first log raft and the last lumber raft. This also comes up in book, The Immortal River. Hanks also was one of the first to ride a lumber raft down the river, the first log rafter, and practically the last lumber rafter. This of course begs the question of when was the last log raft!!!!!
Why is this all important?
Because before 1844, the sawmills that sent pine South were all up in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Hanks allowed for Clinton sawmills and Weyerhaeuser's sawmills to thrive. After the introduction of steam, a raft could carry enough lumber to build 125 houses. Typically or apparently, 800 lumber rafts would go down the river each year between the 1892 and 1900 (E, 125). Therefore, every year 100,000 homes floated down the river.
It leads to a future post on the Mississippi River Logging Company, which is in my nascent opinion the single most important thing to propel Clinton to the Lumber Capital of the World... well railroads will have an argument.
Sources:
A. http://steamboattimes.com/rafts.html
B. http://books.google.com/books?id=mXUCAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA4-PR10&lpg=RA4-PR10&dq=timber+raft+mississippi+river&source=bl&ots=ks1Ky8Knp6&sig=QLSJf2h1ihHRPKW8uRCx4oOLZBE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RjznUeH2EO2yygGj7YCQBg&ved=0CGgQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=timber%20raft%20mississippi%20river&f=false
C. http://books.google.com/books?id=iqH1gzJezPQC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=timber+raft+mississippi+river&source=bl&ots=1zuXcK7N-p&sig=z-7b0nq3Ob4nQ5RmTk_9JU28D5c&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RjznUeH2EO2yygGj7YCQBg&ved=0CGoQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=first&f=false
D. http://www.mcmillanlibrary.org/rosholt/wi-logging-book/wilogging/images/00000027.pdf
E. http://books.google.com/books?id=ro6Fsh9m5gsC&pg=PA124&lpg=PA124&dq=timber+raft+mississippi+river&source=bl&ots=nJRID-lN2b&sig=IdBOm4mNNDV34kC7HPzyCcqCsHg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RjznUeH2EO2yygGj7YCQBg&ved=0CG0Q6AEwCw#v=onepage&q=Hanks&f=false
F. http://books.google.com/books?id=PYAu8pLDzWEC&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=timber+raft+mississippi+river&source=bl&ots=rZaX0jMrNx&sig=JTwYiwYn0i8vI5jjX6hoZh4GLps&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RjznUeH2EO2yygGj7YCQBg&ved=0CG8Q6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=raft&f=false
G. http://books.google.com/books?id=XEJk4r0wIjYC&pg=PA353&dq=last+raft+on+the+Mississippi+River&hl=en&sa=X&ei=D0vnUbvEDsG9qwHv-IGQBA&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Hanks&f=false
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