Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1873-06-06

ing raft, varying in length from one
hundred feet to one mile, with clear
spaces of water between. The next
official account of the raft that we
have been able to find is the report
furnished by the Secretary of War,
in 1928, when the foot of the raft
was at Loggy Bayou, and its head
at or near Shreveport. We have
no information whatever in regard
to the removal Of the raft between
the Campte Settlement and Loggy
Bayou. The probabilities are that
the action of the current on the al
luvial banks, and the decay of the
logs at the lower end of the raft,
were the prime causes of it's remov-
al, and that no artificial means were
resorted to. We are further led to
this belief from the fact that the
first appropriation made by Con-
gress, that we have any account
of, was in 1928.
Soon after that time Capt. Henry
NJ. Shreve commenced work at Log
gy Bayou. AS we stated before, the
head of sthe raft was at or near
Shreveport, its estimated length be-
ing at least one hundred miles.
From that time until 1889, he labor
ed necessarily through the fall, win
ter and spring notwithstanding in
the summer, it being thought too
hot to work during the warm wea-
ther. By the time he got through,
so that the boats could pass without
detention, the head of the raft had
reached Hurricane Bluffs, in esti-
mated distance of one hundred and
sixty miles, though later surveys
make it much less. To accomplish
this the government expended, ac-
cording to the report of the Secreta-
ry of War, $45o,ooo. The first
steamers to pass through the entire
length Of the river made navigable
by the removal of the raft, were the
Indian and Concord, in 1889. The
river was then declared navigable,
but a heavy rise in 1910 closed it
again. In the fall of that year Capt.
Shreve again opened it so that boats
could pass through, but the very
next rise closed it again. The next
attempt to open it was made in l64l,
by Gen. J. T. Williamson, who en-
tered into a contract with the gov:
ernmcnt to do the work and keep it
open for four years. Between that
time and 1914, when it finally closed,
he opened it twice-both times be-
tween Carolina aud Hurricane
Bluffs For reasons not necessary
to state here, but which were salts
factory to Gen. Williamson and the
government, the contract was abro-
gated in 1914, and the work of re-
moving the raft abandoned for the
time being. Gen. Williamson re-
moved about six miles Of floating
raft, under his contract, at a cost to
the government of $4,000. The
last boat to pass through the raft
was the Houma, bound down.
The third attempt to open nayl-
CATION above the raft was made in
1854, when Congress made an ap-
preparation of sl5O,O0O. Capt. G..
A. Fuller had charge of the work
this time. After making a survey
of the raft region, he recommended
that the most of the raft be avoided
by making a detour around it. AT
this time the raft extended from
Carolina Bluffs to Conshatta Bluffs,
distance of twelve miles. His
plan was to leave the main river
through Twelve Mile Bayou, thence
through Soda Lake, Stumpy Bayou,
Shlft-tail Lake and Dooley's Bayou,
back to the main river at Conshatta
Bluffs, then near the head of the
raft. He worked on this plan two
years, and succeeded in getting the
snag-boat Gopher through and back,
but was as far from opening navi-
CATION as when he first commenced.
The plan proposed by him was not
practicable, owing to the shallow
ater where Dooley's Bayou spreads
out into Shift-tail Lake, and the ap-
preparation of 900 was frittered
away without accomplishing any
good. Not dollar spent by him
benefited navigation in the least.
During all this time easy commu-
| nication could be had with the up
per river through Twelve Mile Bay
ou, Soda Lake, Clear Lake, Black
and Red Bayous. This being the
| case, and the government having
failed to keep the main river open
after two or three efforts, the author
tiles seemed to lose all interest in
the matter.
In 1860 the head of the raft had
reached Red Bayou, and cffectually
closed navi cation around the raft.
The war between the sections soon
after broke out, and navigation
above the raft lost sight of, and not
resumed again until 1870. In the
meantime Indifferent navigation
around the raft had been developed
through the instrumentality of pri-
vate corporations, but it was so ut.
terly unsuited to the wants that the
general government was again con-
strained to lend a helping hand. II
may not be out of place to mention
that two or three different applica-
tions were made to Congress to in
corporate private companies with
large powers, likely in the end tc
prove of much more benefit to the
incorporated parties than to the
public at large. Gen. Humphries
Chief Engineer Of U. S. A., will
his vast store Of information and
sterling integrity, was able to nir
these embryo rings in the bud.
THE LAST SURVEY.
Congress then appropriated ter
thousand dollars for a preliminary
survey, which was commenced il
the fall of 1871, under the superin
tendence of Lieut.. E. A. Woodruff
of the Engineer Corps, U. S. A. III
completed his work early in 1872
and in his report to the department
was emphatic in his preference fo1
opening the channel of old river
instead of falling into the error O
his immediate predecessor, who ia
vored avoiding the raft by cutting