In the early years of lumbering along the west branch of the Susquehanna, so many rafts were running the loyalsock that the raftsmen would look back after negotiating a difficult set of rapids to see how the next raft would fare.
Lumber rafting began here soon after the first settlers arrived. The white pine throughout the mountains was as much as 150 feet tall, resisted decay, and was without knots. It was perfect for making the masts for ships, in a time when ships masts were desperately needed. Essentially, each tree was worth it's weight in gold. The settlers arrived with very little money, and some time on their hands between growing seasons. There was plenty of money to be made, if they could get those trees to ports where they could be sold. It would be more than thirty years before railroads and canals were in this area, and even after they were built, both were totally inadequate to handle this kind of traffic. Rafting the river was the only option.
There were four steps to this early logging business:
- The Felling Of The Trees - Beginning In August. "for fall is the best to fell trees, as every lumberman knows"
- The Skidding Of The Trees - In the winter, the trees would be drug on skids or sleds, and often sent down steep hills in chutes. This was easiest to do in the winter snows.
- The Log Drives - The logs were then floated, often one after another, down smaller streams to larger streams, lakes, or ponds, where they would be bound and built into rafts
- Rafting The River
It's also important to note that there were, after the construction of the Susquehanna Boom in 1851, two very separate groups at work here, and they were not working peacefully side by side, but rather engaged in an all out battle.
Arks & Log Drives
"The ark was simply a flat-bottom boat, roughly decked and enclosed, covered with a roof on top not unlike a square-built canal boat, though not so well or expensively built, but rather roughly thrown together and fastened mainly with wooden pins to stand the stress of but one trip down the river. " - Rafting On The River by D.F. Magee, Esq
Three Arks for a log drive on Pine Creek. The first ark was the kitchen, the middle ark was the sleeping quarters, and the last ark was for the draft horses.
Arks were used to follow the log drive. One ark furnished eating and sleeping
facilities for the men and other arks were used to stable several teams of horses. During a log drive the river would often recede leaving many logs high and dry on the flood plains. When this occurred, the arks were tied up along shore and the river men and horses worked the logs back into the river. It was very common for the men to work in the icy water up to their waists.
These were not built to go all the way down the river, but were more of a portable lumber camp to help with the log drive.
An inside view of the kitchen in one of the log drive arks.
An ark, on the Loyalsock Creek
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Building A Raft
Square timber, stacked along the creek, ready to be made into a raft
There were four kinds of rafts.
- A “spar raft” which was made by lashing tall straight tree trunks together.
- A “timber raft” which was made of squared logs
- A “lumber raft” which consisted of logs that had already been sawed into lumber,
- “Arks” which had a flat bottom and were constructed in a manner to allow for carrying cargo such as coal, grain, or other goods from the interior.
A square timer raft, with lash pole, oak bows, ash pins, headblock, and oar stem with blade
Timber rafts moored on the Susquehanna River at Williamsport, 1915.
"In the heyday of rafting, while going down the West Branch one "was touching oars with other rafts every five minutes. . . ."
Another estimated that "easily" 30,000 men rafted on the West Branch each year. 10 Individual raftsmen often made several trips in a season, and there do not appear to have been enough rafts on the river to employ so many.
Still, large numbers were engaged. The Clinton Republican reported that in 1857 there were 500 rafts tied up at Lock Haven at one time, to say nothing of those elsewhere on the river.
Each raft normally carried a six-man crew; some carried more. If one includes men who worked in the woods getting out logs as well as those who handled them on the river and downstream, surely more than 30,000 were involved." - Transition In The Woods, Cox
And that would all be in addition to, after 1850, the logs being driven down the river to the Susquehanna Boom.
When the rafts reached the Susquehanna, two would be bound together side by side, made to a width of no more than 30 feet wide.
Then two or three of these rafts were coupled together one behind the other "by a skillful means of breaking joints by moving a certain number of the logs forward or backwards.so as to lap into and secure the raft following it."
The completed raft was 30 feet wide, and between 200 to 300 feet long.
If we use the "average" measurement for a car today (6.5 feet wide by 13 feet long) , as provide by google, this means that you could park more than 80 cars on one raft - 4 rows across, with room to spare between, with 20 cars in each row.
"Rowing a raft was similar to rowing a footboat. But there was this difference. The raftsman had to be on his feet, and the oar, when held level, was less than two feet above the tide.
To dip the blade, the oarsman had to raise the handle high above his head. To lift the blade above water, he had to depress the handle to a level below his knees.
To row with the oar, he walked across the raft, his hands high above his head, the terrific strain of the push falling on the small of his back. Then he had to turn, depress the handle, walk back across the deck, and again elevate the handle and once more push. It was an exhausting effort that could not be sustained very long.
In the narrower reaches of the river, there were three men to each. oar, front and rear."
- RAFTING DAYS ON THE LOYALSOCK By Fred M. Rogers
Tied Up At Clearfield For the Night, Spring 1889
Raftsmen Slept on a straw covered floor and cooked meals in the shanty
After completion of the raft, a board shanty was often built in the center to serve as a
cook shack and bunk house. This shanty could be taken down when the raft would either be
running under low bridges or chute logs on splash dams.
Magee says, "Rafting was more or less of a dangerous business, as many rafts were wrecked by unseen rocks, " stowed," as the rivermen call it, and sometimes the crew were plunged into the icy waters to swim for it. But this "stoving" of a raft did not mean that it was lost, as no part of it would sink. It might be pretty well wrecked. The lashings broke in places, sometimes purposely cut with an axe to free and float it from the rock, but the crew would usually be able to salvage it, recover the severed parts or sections and by floating them into some still water cove or shelter, they would re-lash and re-form it and take it through safely."
A log raft and oar on the Susquehanna River at or near Williamsport.
Rafts with two large oars and a cook shandy, and the raft was ready for a crew - a pilot, a steersman, and 5-8 men.
Local raftsmen separated the river into three sections:
- Clearfield to Lock Haven
- Lock Haven To Marietta
- Marietta to Port Deposit
The river became sluggish at all three of these spots, making them natural stopping points.
Port deposit was strategically located to move goods out of the Susquehanna Valley and on to Baltimore. Later, Baltimore made improvements to make it easier for the rafts to come straight to them. This was a lucrative business, and all nearby cities were fighting for the trade. D.F. Magee explains more about the building of the canals, and how it changed the rafts routes, in Rafting On The Susquehanna, which can be read here.
An article in the Cecil Democrat, March 22 1851 noted that "about fifty rafts of lumber had descended the Susquehanna to Port Deposit up to Wednesday last , and many others were on their way." Today, McCalls Dam would would make that trip impossible.
When the river is in good condition the run from Marietta to Port Deposit could be made in eight hours.
An article in the Cecil Democrat, March 22 1851 noted that "about fifty rafts of lumber had descended the Susquehanna to Port Deposit up to Wednesday last , and many others were on their way." Today, McCalls Dam would would make that trip impossible.
When the river is in good condition the run from Marietta to Port Deposit could be made in eight hours.
Almost every rock and projection along the Susquehanna, from Marietta to Port Deposit, has a name familiar to the raftsmen. In many instances these points received their titles from the fact that rafts were once stove on them.
Here are a few of the odd names:
A Recollection Of Near Tradgedy At "Lazy Man's Gap"
by Lewis E. Theiss
When our raft was nearing Greene's Dam, at Clark's Ferry, just above the confluence with the Juniata, the pilot elected to take what the raftmen call "The Lazy Mian's Gap.' Coming down the river from Northumberland, raftmnen stick close to the west bank, where the channel is.
But to get beyond Greene's Dam, they must cross the stream, here probably three-quarters of a mile wide, in order to get into the chute on the east side. A raft can be worked directly and laboriously across the stream just below New Buffalo, or it can be given an occasional pull with the oars, so that it sidles along, crablike, toward the eastern bank, reaching it just above the chute. This easy 'course takes the raft between islands. Hence the name, "The Lazy Man's Gap."
Our pilot took the Lazy Man's Gap. We had not moved far out into the stream before the pilot suddenly dashed wildly back from his forward oar, tore the tent down like a crazy man, and shouted hoarsely, "Every man on an oar."
Every soul leaped to his post. Over the brow of Peter's Mountain, the precipitous cliff that rises from the eastern bank of the river. came a frightfully ominous cloud, rushing before a sudden tempestuous wind. We were head on to it. The wind held us back almost as though we were anchored. Back and forth across the deck we raced with those heavy oars. It seemed as though the raft would never make it.
Failing to do so, it would be swept over Greene's Dam, broken in pieces, and the crew pounded to jelly between swirling logs. At Inglenook, the villagers were on the river bank watching the seemingly hopeless fight for life. A man in a footboat rowed out from shore to take the crew to land. The pilot grasped the nose of the footboat. "Come aboard," he said to the oarsman. "I want to talk to you." The boatman stepped on the raft. The pilot drew the boat up on the logs. What he said to the oarsman was, "Get on an oar." Aided by this added "slave labor," the clumsy raft was inched toward the shore. All the while it was being swept down stream with frightful velocity, for it was in the rapids above the dam.
As it neared the bank, a big raftman grasped the end of the snubbing rope, raced across the deck and leaped for shore. He fell short many yards. But he swam desperately to land, and instantly had the hawser tied around a tree that was fully a foot in diameter.
The pilot snubbed the raft too hard. Up came the tree and went bouncing along the shore beside the raft. Somehow, that raftman got the rope untied and fastened it about a huge sycamore. This time the pilot was more cautious. The raft was snubbed gradually, then made fast, just above the chute. And almost before the tent was raised, rain descended in blinding torrents. It was a close race with death.
- “Spinning Wheel”
- “Sour Beer’s Eddy”
- “Blue Rock”
- “Turkey Hill”
- “Brothers”
- “Old Cow”
- “Hangman’s Rocks”
- “Horse Gap”
- “Ram’s Horn”
- “Slow and Easy”
- “Hollow Rock”
- “Hog Hole”
- “Sisters”
- “Old Port Bridge”
A Recollection Of Near Tradgedy At "Lazy Man's Gap"
by Lewis E. Theiss
When our raft was nearing Greene's Dam, at Clark's Ferry, just above the confluence with the Juniata, the pilot elected to take what the raftmen call "The Lazy Mian's Gap.' Coming down the river from Northumberland, raftmnen stick close to the west bank, where the channel is.
But to get beyond Greene's Dam, they must cross the stream, here probably three-quarters of a mile wide, in order to get into the chute on the east side. A raft can be worked directly and laboriously across the stream just below New Buffalo, or it can be given an occasional pull with the oars, so that it sidles along, crablike, toward the eastern bank, reaching it just above the chute. This easy 'course takes the raft between islands. Hence the name, "The Lazy Man's Gap."
Our pilot took the Lazy Man's Gap. We had not moved far out into the stream before the pilot suddenly dashed wildly back from his forward oar, tore the tent down like a crazy man, and shouted hoarsely, "Every man on an oar."
Every soul leaped to his post. Over the brow of Peter's Mountain, the precipitous cliff that rises from the eastern bank of the river. came a frightfully ominous cloud, rushing before a sudden tempestuous wind. We were head on to it. The wind held us back almost as though we were anchored. Back and forth across the deck we raced with those heavy oars. It seemed as though the raft would never make it.
Failing to do so, it would be swept over Greene's Dam, broken in pieces, and the crew pounded to jelly between swirling logs. At Inglenook, the villagers were on the river bank watching the seemingly hopeless fight for life. A man in a footboat rowed out from shore to take the crew to land. The pilot grasped the nose of the footboat. "Come aboard," he said to the oarsman. "I want to talk to you." The boatman stepped on the raft. The pilot drew the boat up on the logs. What he said to the oarsman was, "Get on an oar." Aided by this added "slave labor," the clumsy raft was inched toward the shore. All the while it was being swept down stream with frightful velocity, for it was in the rapids above the dam.
As it neared the bank, a big raftman grasped the end of the snubbing rope, raced across the deck and leaped for shore. He fell short many yards. But he swam desperately to land, and instantly had the hawser tied around a tree that was fully a foot in diameter.
The pilot snubbed the raft too hard. Up came the tree and went bouncing along the shore beside the raft. Somehow, that raftman got the rope untied and fastened it about a huge sycamore. This time the pilot was more cautious. The raft was snubbed gradually, then made fast, just above the chute. And almost before the tent was raised, rain descended in blinding torrents. It was a close race with death.
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For More Local Stories & History Of Williamsport
Find More Local History & Stories From Nearby Towns Here:
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READ MORE
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RAFTING DAYS ON THE LOYALSOCK By Fred M. Rogers
(Paper read before the Lycoming Historical Society in 1928 )
Rafting On The River by D.F. Magee, Esq
From the Journal of the Lancaster Historical Society
Rafting On The River by D.F. Magee, Esq
From the Journal of the Lancaster Historical Society
page 13 of the 1888 publication Development of Transportation Systems in the United States, John L. Ringwalt writes about rafting lumber and timber on the Lower Susquehanna River
Transition in the Woods: Drivers, Raftsmen, and the
Emergence Of Lumbering In Pennsylvania - Thomas R. Cox
(Covers well the battle between the Raftsmen & The Lumbermen)
"By 1796, rafts from both the North and West branches of the Susquehanna were making the trip downstream, some traveling as far as Norfolk, Va. The industry quickly escalated over the next decades until the river became a super-highway of rafts. In 1833 it was certified that from the 18th to the 23rd day of May, there floated down the North Branch of the Susquehanna, 2688 arks and 3480 rafts. That averages out to over 1000 rafts and arks per day or between 1 and 2 rafts every minute of the day. Their cargo was mostly grain and lumber." (Intelligencer 6/14/1833)
Transition in the Woods: Drivers, Raftsmen, and the
Emergence Of Lumbering In Pennsylvania - Thomas R. Cox
(Covers well the battle between the Raftsmen & The Lumbermen)
"By 1796, rafts from both the North and West branches of the Susquehanna were making the trip downstream, some traveling as far as Norfolk, Va. The industry quickly escalated over the next decades until the river became a super-highway of rafts. In 1833 it was certified that from the 18th to the 23rd day of May, there floated down the North Branch of the Susquehanna, 2688 arks and 3480 rafts. That averages out to over 1000 rafts and arks per day or between 1 and 2 rafts every minute of the day. Their cargo was mostly grain and lumber." (Intelligencer 6/14/1833)
From Lock Haven to Marietta, Most rafts were lashed into fleets of two. Each fleet carried a four man crew: a pilot, two steerers, and "an extra".
In Down The Susquehanna To The Chesapeake, the author contends that:
Few "upriver" men piloted rafts from below Marietta. Often they would stop there and make the trip home, while the next crew took over from there. It was from here that rafts had to navigate such areas as Cullys Falls, Horse Gap, and Hollow Rock at Bald Briar Falls. Perhaps
However, in all of the reminisces I have read, from local pilots and raftsmen, none of them mentioned this. Instead, there were many recollections of the dangers of the above mentioned spots, and many more. Perhaps this was more common with the Clearfield raftsmen than with the Lycoming County men, who were nearly 100 miles downriver to being with. Or perhaps, there were just so many raftsmen that there were too many different scenarios. This was literally a highway in the spring rafting season.
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