Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1897-02-11
dancer Character Sketches.

r;varmen have bee an I'M
our ,a,,enr in the development OF
PO' ni.ton and the Lewisto" valles :
Le"'' ort bepan with the coming OF
Their Wv" ,,;oneers. Among the first
the e"'"N the Clearwater and the
to "a''o ;,.ars was Bob Allen. tbs
e"' ,,ood moral courage and general
haru ,,',onre impressed every acqua'n'-
a'l',' ar, saw mill in the ln'and
';ro WAS established at a point near
IN, ' little town of Ana''"e' some q,
"" aid buildings that are historian
ou' orts owed their di-t'nc'ion To
''''' Sat- that their tl,nr aud trimmings
W. .a sawed boards and not puncheohs
nd came from the Washington size Oh
' ,s r;ver The mill was operated by
wv & Atwood and Bob Allen
c Allen and John Livingston
associated with them to some ex'
w., Aseariy as '63 these pioneers
S.n,ed and RATED hundred and fifty
,housapd feet of lumber, the product
astbis mill, to different points on the
.,,,o, In those days of OK teams ana
49, ro.ds this was An important under
.,,.;nr The market for this was
n,r,d as far away AS Umatilla landing
i, Oregon The Snake river wh'oh
u.s then unsurveytd and unknown
mas navigated by Bob Allen and his
c,ey of intrepid oarsmen.
There must have been good stnh IN
,ho.. old time rivermen. The idea OF
seeking market for the output OF a
nr,mitiye saw mill In the wilderness
hundreds of miles away to he trans
norted over an unknown river would
NOT he considered by a modern lumber
man. These pioneer dealers sold lum-
her and delivered at the old town OF
Umaitlla landing from the little mil
in Asotin county.
Bob Allen, job Livingston and
Walter Dyer first explored the Snake
river on lumber raft. 1t was in The
! bright sprngtime, of 1864, the day be
fore the Magruder murderers were
hanged. Beyond every curve wer'
imaginary if net real dangers. No da,
was too long to find Bob Allen on tn
lookout every hour; and his skill ant
nerve were equal to any emergency
He could pilot raft with as mucl
precision as a steamboat captain coult
guide his craft with the aid Of steam
and helm. At Palouse falls only tn
quick eye of Allen saved the raft from
destruction and the men from the coli
water by avoiding dangeroug rocks il
the rapids.
The Umatilla rapids are six mile
long. At the time of this voyage tn
water was at dangerous stage. Som
friends at Wallula told the rivermel
that it would be foolhardy to attemp
the Passage on raft. At this poin
Bob Allen tied up and explored tn
dangerous section of the river. Ate
awhole day of hard work he returne
and reported that he had found tn
rapids to be exceedingly dangerous
but that with good fortune the ru
could be made; but if ever the navigs
tor lost control of the un weildy craft
would be smashed to pieces in te
seconds.
Not one of the three brave men eve
inwardly discussed the proposition {
abandoning the undertaking, Tn
heroes of those days were so true All
unselfish. They went, that mornln.
toa duty that called for more courag
than to face battery of murderer
guns. Nerves of steel did the biddin
of the born pilot. The waters see,he
and groaned and dashed the rocks tn;
bound them. The waves beat upo
the walls of adamant and hurled the
spray back upon the hurrying raft All
upon the men who piled their stead
oars. Here the current sent them lii
an arrow straight at Il ragged reef al
there was wall that hurled back Il
rushing flood in maelstrom TIN
would swallow a steamboat on tt
other tack. The corner of the ra
struck the reef. The lumber crashe
like slivers in an avalanche. One Ell
was torn away with one oar and Il
men were helpless. Just then can
al assuring shout from Allen. The
had passed the last danger. The rs
was safe in dead water.
Fol severa! years Bob Allen work.
on the Clearwater river. In early da
'here were no big drives of logs, all t
wood and saw logs were handled
rats. For some reason this work W
performed when the river was hig
Inc Big Eddy was then as now We
dangerous during high water. VIII
.he eddy fills at q high stage of watt
nwlll swallow the biggest raft til