Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-06-25

appointed was: T. Weston of Juneau.
H. Reed Of Wood. John SlOthOwer of
Portage, and Walter d. McIndOe and
harrington of MarathOE. The follow
ing lumbermen then signed their
names to the resolutions. promising
to pay their share of the expense: W.
c.. Wells, Henry Reed, fhOS. Weston.
Geo. Hiles. \. H. Reed. e, Patterson.
Samuel HileS. O. Garrison. J. t. King
StOn. \. w. CrOnkhite, 3. s. Minor.
S. W. Hall and ThlS B. Scott
Such meetings were common. and in
1872 a like meeting s5aS held in
Stevens Point. where similar resOlu-
tiOns were adopted, and in 1873 a bill
was introduced into the state Legis-
lature. to revoke the charter of the
Kilbourn Dam. but was lost
BY the ordinance of 1877. the
Wisconsin River was declared "a
navigable stream. and shall forever
remain free to nayigatiOn." and it
was no more than right that the dam
should be removed.
Clint'S Dam was also great
obstruction. and in 1888 was blown
out to allow some lumber to pass over
and no one was ever prosecuted for it
as the owners had failed to comply
with the law. which required a free
passage for raftS.
There were usually two men to a
raft, the bOWS-man on The front sweep.
and the tailS-man on the rear sweep
These men had their bed on their raft.
in a small Shanty. about six feet long
three and One-half feet wide and three
feet high. something like dog
kennel When meal-time came theV
would generally tie up and go to the
cOOk-raft. a raft upon which Il small
house was built, where all the cooking
was done. Sometimes when they
would not tie up for meals, the cook
would do up their lunch, and man,
called the Skiff-man. whose buSi-
ness it was to carry communications
between the raftS by means of Skitf,
would bring the meals to the men on
their own raft.
The wages of the raftSmen varied
according to the number Of men to be
had, being all the way form $50 to
$3.50 for a trip. The best paid men
were the river-pilOts, who received
about So for running a rapidS-piece
over a dangerous place, and they some
times made as high as $50 in a single
day.
The lumber was RATED from as far
up river as Merrill, but never from
above there on account of the Grand
father Rapids. over which it is inn
possible to run a raft, down as far as
New Orleans, although the usual
destination was st. Louis. When the
rafts arrived in the Mississippi river,
the whole fleet was coupled together,
making one large raft, called a
Mississippi raft, which was more con-
Went than eight or ten small rafts.
Although at the present day We
never think of rafting as anything Of
importance, yet between 1910 and 1880
it was indirectly the mainStay Of this
section of the country, and it was the
only way the lumDeman could get
their products to market. 1t was an
industry of no mean size. for in 1913
10. 0.000 900 feet of lumber and $4,000, 900
shingles passed over the rapids at this
place. Had it been impossible to run
lumber down the river, northern
Wisconsin would not be what it is
to-day. as the lumbermen would not
have had any other way to get their
lumber to market and would have to
wait for railroads to be built, and no
railroad was built until 1872. SO
taking it all in all, although rafting
is no more. it did its full share in
building up the northern and central
| parts of Wisconsin.
Every nation hOnOrs its soldiers and
statesmen, every state hOnOrs its
governors and legislators, every city
honOrs its mayors, intact, every COM
munity honors the men who have
helped to build it up, and why should
not we, the people of the Twin Cities,
or Wood County. honor the raftSmen
who have done so much for the growth
of this section, who have brayed
perils as great as the soldiers, and
who have contributed as much as the
statesmen. And if ever the Twin
Cities. or Wood County, have a park,
or art gallery, adorned by statuary or
paintings nothing could be more
fitting than to have placed in the
center, statue of the raftsman hold
ing the guiding oar Of his raft.