The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-06-28

high bank by one of these huge
eddies. Besides hearing it, we
could see the logs and smaller drift
wood whirling around in its grip.
so. as we neared. we swung far
over to the other side OF the river.
Even then We could feel the strong
pull of the pool and 1t took some
fast work with the paddles to get
past.
We don't know just how danger
Gus a whirlpool of that size is. 1t
depends a good deal upon who tells
you about them. One csn talk to
ten men and get ten conflicting
stories.
BY boiling these down we have
come to the conclusion that. nstu-
rally. there is an element OF danger
to these pools. but that If one
doesn't loss his head, he can escape
il caught by them.
On the other hand. there is little
excuse for getting caught. They
can be heard for some distance.
and the points and bends where
they are found should be given a
wide berth anyway.
River Changes
But. despite the gusty headwinds,
this day turned out to be one of the
most enjoyable we had had on the
river as far as weather was con-
cerned. We didn't realize that the
weather man was merely preparing
us for another Of the many seiges
of rainy weather we have found so
annoying ever since the voyage
started.
All day long We had unusual
trouble with current crossings.
Usually these are rather easy to
follow, for IL the current itself
can't be seen because of the wind
ruffling the water, 1t can be fol-
lowed by watching the high cut
banks and making crossings there.
But, since the Yellowstone came
in. that. too, has changed. In fact.
everything about the river has
changed.
Above the Yellowstone the Mis-
souri, WAS comparatively passive,
weli-behaved old gentlemen. Cam
tankerous, tits true. but rather
easy to get along with. But below
the Yellowstone, the river really
starts on its winding sprint to the
gulf. taking fearful toll of every
thing that in any way hinders its
progress.
Bottom Is Altered
1t seems to take great delight
in bewildering the wandering boat
man with its sudden, and unlocked
for antics. Sandbars are thrown
up overnight. only to disappear in
few hours the next day. Acres
of fertile bottomland will. in a few
hours, be washed into the river only
to reappear the next day on the
other side.
Perhaps. firing of its old chan
mel. the river might suddenly cut
through, instead of around a bend.
and leave mans wheatfield
stranded on an island in the middle
of the river.
The reason we found crossings
so difficult WAS that they followed
no set pattern. Even when the
wind slaekened and We could. to a
certain extent, follow the line of
the ever-present drift wood. 1t did
not always mean a channel. Time
and again we followed our old habit
Of crossing where the opposite
banks were highest. only to be sud-
denly brought to q grinding stop
atop the eement-like hardness of
some low-lyins sandbsr.
Unless deep water it close by.
il is sometimes hard to push off
one of these bars against the cur
rent.
Most of the time the heavy cur
rent, which cuts the channel, aetu-
ally takes the inside track around
the bends and doesn't make q COM
plete crossing until the middle of
the next bend or even in the center
of q reach.
After some experimenting We
found that our most successful
method Was Just plain guess work.
and for the rest of the day We only
missed one crossing. and even then
We had enough water to float US.