Wow, what a treasure trove I stumbled upon in our filing cabinet. While looking for who knows what, I saw the USPS eagle staring up at me. Attached to the priority mail box was a simple letter from a Marilyn. I would have to guess it's the same Marilyn thanked in Felix Adler's biography.
Marilyn wanted our Bob Seger to know that "Years ago Al Bowers gave us a lot of old paper clippings. These have to do with the sawmills and log rafting, etc. I think they would be better appreciated at the sawmill museum- if they can use them somehow."
Well Marilyn, we will. I scanned all of the clippings in, and below you find my favorite quote:
"There was no tougher creature than a raftsman. His job in itself was harrowing, dangerous, and it seemed to spawn an ego of recklessness within him. On the raft, he drank hard whiskey, cursed, worked exhausting hours and never shaved and rarely bathed. Raftsmen were ribald devils, often singing or calling to the girls on the shore of the little towns they passed, and a favorite ditty (scrubbed up a bit here) went something like:
"Buffalo gals, ain't
you comin' out tonight,
comin' out tonight, comin'
out tonight."'
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