River drive research

[Okrafarmer]

Hello, everybody, long time no see.

I've been doing a lot of writing lately (Amazon books and stories, mostly fiction). I'm doing a serial story right now where I am researching a lot about the timber industry in Maine in the 1920's.

My story takes place in February of 1923, in the upper Kennebec valley in northern Maine. There are a lot of good online resources to comb through, which I am doing.

I thought it might save time if I ask a few questions here, and some people might have a quicker answer than trying to filter out the debris with the search engine.

First question. In what year (years?) did the Kennebec log drive transition from long logs to strictly 4-foot pulp? One source said "in the 1920's." OK, but which 1920? My story is 1923. I'd like to hit it with accuracy....

Also, I don't know if they made the switch "cold turkey" and one year it was long logs only, and the next year it was 4-ft only, or if there was any fumbling around with some of each??? which would understandably have been awkward.

Any help appreciated, and I will probably have more questions.

[rusticretreater]

River driving was at its peak between 1860 and 1890, according to David C. Smith's A History of Lumbering in Maine 1861-1960. On the Kennebec, it started a bit later and was continuing, though near its end, when his book was published in 1972.

Smith, David C. A History of Lumbering in Maine (University of Maine Studies #93, University of Maine Press, 1972)

I also found this link to information on the Kennebec Log Driving Company
https://www.saltstoryarchive.com/tagview.php?id=11949

[SwampDonkey]

River drives up here lasted as long as there were no hydro dams on the main rivers. Those dams started in the 50's. There was a log boom built in the early 60's at River de Chute on the main river, but soon after a dam was announced and they were never used. My grandfather was on many log drives on the Tobique River, probably into the 40's. The Saint John river system drains from northern Maine, Quebec and central NB.

I would think if you hit places like the Patten Lumberman's museum you'd find your answer. They sell all kinds of books on the history of the industry. The museum has existed since 1963.

https://lumbermensmuseum.org

[moodnacreek]

Did you come across the film 'From stump to ship' ?

[newoodguy78]

You read my mind moodnacreek, was the first thing I thought of when I read this. I've watched that two or three times through the years. Great documentary for anyone interested in old time logging in the northeast.
 I've poked around in some of the places they logged, mind blowing the volume of logs they sent down the waterways up there. 

[Southside]

X2 on the museum in Patten, you could also call the North Maine Woods head quarters in Ashland, ME. They are the "gate keepers" for a whole lot of land west of Rt 11, all commercial forest and have a lot of historical information on the area.  Al Cowperthwaite would be a great resource to reach out to, he knows that ground and it's history like the back of his hand.  Tommy Pelletier runs the organization these days and his dad, Gary, was another tremendous resource so he might have a lot of info you need.  

[Okrafarmer]

Thanks, guys, some of that helps. My uncle, Phil Dow, is some help too, and is involved in his local historical society in Albion, Maine. Another historical society in Bingham says they'll get back to me.

I'm trying to pinpoint the exact year they switched over to 4-foot pulp on the Kennebec. My story takes place in 1923.

I have seen Stump to Ship, and Lumberjack Sky Pilot, and several other good films from those days. Both these two are awesome to watch, and I believe are available on Youtube. Last River Drive is also good, about that last Kennenec River log drive in 1976, the year before I was born in a hospital on the banks of the Kennenec.

[moodnacreek]

Thanks, guys, some of that helps. My uncle, Phil Dow, is some help too, and is involved in his local historical society in Albion, Maine. Another historical society in Bingham says they'll get back to me.

I'm trying to pinpoint the exact year they switched over to 4-foot pulp on the Kennebec. My story takes place in 1923.

I have seen Stump to Ship, and Lumberjack Sky Pilot, and several other good films from those days. Both these two are awesome to watch, and I believe are available on Youtube. Last River Drive is also good, about that last Kennenec River log drive in 1976, the year before I was born in a hospital on the banks of the Kennenec.

If memory serves, national geographic had a nice spread on the last river drive in Maine.

[Southside]

in a hospital on the banks of the Kennenec

Maine General in Augusta? 

[thecfarm]

I was there in '61.

[Okrafarmer]

I was there in '61.

I would love to talk to you about it. I'm now writing two different stories that involve the river drives.

[Okrafarmer]

in a hospital on the banks of the Kennenec

Maine General in Augusta?

Mid Maine Medical Center, at the time, in Waterville. Not sure what it's called now.

[Okrafarmer]

I was there in '61.

I would love to talk to you about it. I'm now writing two different stories that involve the river drives.

Or maybe you were born in 1961? Your profile says you're 61 years old. Which would still be off by a year or two. ???

[SwampDonkey]

He's older than the hills, you can't go by dates. :D

[240b]

tall trees tough men by Robert Pike.  mostly connecticut river but i think foot notes about maine drives.

[thecfarm]

Sept 4, 1961, so my profile is right.  ;)

[woodroe]

My grandfather built a camp in the 50s on the west shore of Wyman Lake about 7 miles north of Bingham.
So as a young fellah in the 60s grandpa would bring me along to spend time at camp. The tugboat(s) hauling rafts of pulp to the dam in Bingham were running steady then. Some of the rafts were huge, talking acres.
Seems like it was mostly 4' pulp at that time.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyman_Dam went in in the 30s .

The Dead River was a tough one for log driving with jams common due to being more shallow and bouldery. There is a graveyard at the base of the Dead River near the confluence of the Kennebec River and some of the log driver casualties are said to buried there.  FWIW.

[peakbagger]

I am 63, I had a lot of relatives in Quebec, so we drove up RT 201 about every other year and I remember seeing the river full of logs. The last drive on the Kennebec was 1976. East Millinocket was still storing logs in the Penobscot river into the late eighties. 

Here is article on the boom piers on the Androscoggin A Glimpse at NH's Logging History - New Hampshire Magazine (nhmagazine.com)

[SwampDonkey]

I think the last log drive in Quebec was up on the Gatineau River in 1994, which is near where Isawlogs (Marcel Crites) lives. Sometime in the 50's it was over on the Saint John in New Brunswick. My grandfather was a log driver on the Tobique, which is a major artery of the Saint John River watershed. I remember a couple of driving dams remnants, one on the Little Tobique and one down near the mouth on the Pokiok stream, which feeds the Tobique.

[Okrafarmer]

My grandfather built a camp in the 50s on the west shore of Wyman Lake about 7 miles north of Bingham.
So as a young fellah in the 60s grandpa would bring me along to spend time at camp. The tugboat(s) hauling rafts of pulp to the dam in Bingham were running steady then. Some of the rafts were huge, talking acres.
Seems like it was mostly 4' pulp at that time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyman_Dam went in in the 30s .

The Dead River was a tough one for log driving with jams common due to being more shallow and bouldery. There is a graveyard at the base of the Dead River near the confluence of the Kennebec River and some of the log driver casualties are said to buried there.  FWIW.

Thanks, I will look into that graveyard and see if I can include it in my story. A lot of men died. I was also trying to see if anyone had compiled a list of casualties over the years, but have not found a central list anywhere.

[Southside]

If Phil Dumont is still alive he can probably tell you a lot, spent over 50 years up in those woods as a Game Warden. Last I knew he was back living in Ft Kent.

[Okrafarmer]

I got slowed down on those two books, but still doing a lot of writing. i plan to get back to them sooner or later.

[woodroe]

You might like this 1950s logging and river drive movie narrated
by a guy that was actually working it.
Teams of horses and bulldozers get the wood to the river
or streams
 It's in the upper Kennebec Valley
with lots of pulp being dumped or sluiced into the Kennebec then rafted by tugboats across Wyman Lake.
Really well done if anyone has some free time, like me waiting for Spring to come.