Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1920-01-13
FINEST SPECIMEN
or MANHOOD
MEN OF STRENGTH AND
PROWESS Piled RIVERS
IN PINERY DAYS,
WRITES C.. n. JOHN
SON
Lumber Fleets Borne on Rivers to
Markets in The Days OF Brave
Men and Strong
To the Editor:

To the Editor:
To those who may have read my
article about floating the lumber to
market, it may be worth while to call
attention TO the Importance of the
Wisconsin river as a commerce car.
ried in the early days of the lumber
industry of northern Wisconsin.
Upon the successful operation of
running the lumber to market depend
ed the prosperity and even the liveli-
hood of all the people of the Wiscon-
sin valley.
There were saw mills scattered
along the river from Barnum, some
twenty miles below Grand Rapids, to
Merrill. There were mills on the
PloVer river at Grand Rapids, stew
ems Point, on the Eau Claire river at
Mosinee, on the Eau Claire, Rib.
Trappe and Pine rivers, as well as at
Wausau and Merrill
The lumber industry was the only
industry that brought cash money in
to this section.
The only way to market this lum-
Der was by floating it down the Wis
consin and Mississippi rivers. st.
Louis was the great lumber market,
though occasionally lumbermen were
able to dispose of some of their pro-
duct at various cities along the Mis-
sissippi river. However, as said be-
fore. st. Louis was the real market.
If for some reason the lumbermen
were unable to get their lumber to
market in any ) aar, business stagna-
tion followed. However, it was sell
dom but that the bulk of the lumber
was not marketed
The vast region from below Grand
Rapids to Lake Superior was one
great wilderness of timber, conse-
quently the snow melted slowly and
the spring freshet could always be
counted on to furnish plenty of water
to run the river" Then a June
freshet used to come pretty regularly
and fleets of lumber that had to be
tied up in the spring were usually
gotten out then.
Imagine the stir on the lower Wis
cOnsin river when the lumber fleets
from Grand Rapids. Stevens Point,
MOsinee, Wausau, Merrill and those
from the side streams were moving
down the river.
A fleet of lumber" contained from
eight to twelve "rafts"-from 500 900
to over a million feet of lumber for
each fleet
Each fleet was in charge of a
'pilot'-the executive officer. River
pilots in those days were the great
men. good river pilot was lord of all
he surveyed. He could sit with his
feet cooked up on the hotel stove un-
til the lumberman with million or
several million feet, of lumber to get
TO market comes around to offer
terms. However, when the contract
was made and the price fixed for talk
ing fleet of lumber to st. Louis, the
wisconsin river pilot was on the job
When the fleet" was ready. cook and
cookery abroad. ropes and a boat
and the pilot ordered "tie loose"
from that time until that fleet of lum-
per was tied up in st. Louis the river
men-the nnderlings-never had
chance to overSleep. 1t was work from
daylight to dark. Meals? The river
men could eat whenever they hit the
cookery. but sometimes some luck
less fellows might not see "the cook
cry for couple of days at a time.
That would frequently happen down
on the lower river Some raftsmen
would get behind or run into
pocket" and they might not see the
cookery for a day or two.
1t may here be explained that the
lower river is filled with sandbars
and the channel of the river would
shift from season to season and some
times in a few weeks. 1t was the
business of the pilot to pick out the
channel, but sometimes the men COM
IN frrh4
and drift into some bayou without any
outlet. In that case the raft" might
have to be 'cut up" into "cribs" and
each separate crib" pushed back
into deep water. Many raftsman
had to work all night to "handspike"
his raft back to the channel There
was no sleep until that raft had re-
Joined the fleet.
At the mouth of the Wisconsin
river all the RATS were coupled to-
gether in one big raft to be floated
down the Mississippi river These
lumber rafts were a terror to the
steamboats, on the Mississippi river.
Moving slowly with the current. usu-
ally in the steamboat channel. the
steamers could not bulge them
When fleet of lumber was under
way on the Mississippi river, it was
seldom tied up until St Louis was
reached. The pilot would select one
Of his best men to assist him in nav
igating the river. Either the pilot or
his assistant would be on the lookout
all the time. The men stayed with
their oars. They snatched whatever
sleep they could get between times.
That is, while the raft was floating
serenely down the channel But every
little while the raft would sag out of
the channel and the crew was called
TO the oars. Much depended upon the
acumen OF the pilot as navigator.
Some of the large manufacturers that
would have several fleetSN of lumber
every spring would hire special pilots