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OLD TIMES ON THE MISSISSIPPI
Port Byron Globe
January 31, 1935
By J. D. Barnes
Writer’s Experience
as a Riverman |
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J. D. Barnes
The following was taken from the Globe Files of Feb. 1,
1895. The presence in Stillwater of the little rafter Le Claire
caused no small amount of commotion among the old floaters of that
locality, as quite a number of them came aboard and were shown
around the boat, but they looked upon the enterprise with doubts and
suspicious and openly declared it a vagary. The fact was they were
not quite ready at that day and age for so radical a change in
rafting. However, in less than three years from that time those same
men either had boats or were looking for them. It was the same old
story. There has never yet in the history of the world been a new
enterprise started without the opposition of the majority of the
people. They have opposed it but they have done all in their power
to defeat it, yet it would advance little by little, and of course,
in time it would become prevalent, then those same people would
wonder why they were ever opposed to it.
After
remaining in Stillwater a few hours we pulled out for a run thru the
Dells of the St. Croix. I had often heard of this wonderful little
river and now to actually behold its beautiful scenery was an
opportunity of a life time. It is a very crooked stream with high
perpendicular banks overhanging with cedar boughs and other
shrubbery, and the river itself has the appearance of being chiseled
out of the solid rock.
There was
one little incident that happened on our way up the lake that I came
very near forgetting. When near the little town of Osage, we passed
an old German with a flatboat loaded with cordwood. He hollored to
us to take him in tow. Tromley asked him where he wanted to
go, and he replied up the lake. We hooked onto him and again started
up the lake, but had not proceeded far before the flat boat was
under water and the wood floating in all directions. Tromley saw but
one way out of the scrape, so he gave orders to cut her loose and
send her adrift, and the last we saw of the old Dutchman he was
shaking both his fists at us, and yelling something that we could
not understand.
Arriving at Taylor Falls we discovered our
cargo of corn had then dropped the best down near a new mill for
some stabs for fuel for the boat, and right here we came very near
having a very serious accident, tho it was only intended for a
joke. It was in this wise; the slabs were loading were up on a high
bank and had to be run down to the boat on a car, and it was quite a
steep grade. Dave Carr, Ira Thompson and the writer were
detailed to load the car at the top of the bank while the remainder
of the crew would unload and carry them aboard the boat. Everything
worked very nicely until the last load, which we three loaders
proposed to ride down on. It was the last car and it would be so
romantic-in the meantime, Jim Davenport, for a joke, had
knocked out the butting block at the foot of the track, which left
nothing between us and the icy waters of the St. Croix. However, as
we neared the foot of the track, Tom Doughty saw and realized
our peril. He rushed out with uplifted hands and cried out: “For
god’s Sake jump or you will go into the lake.” Before he had time to
repeat his words we were off the car, and on she went at a lightning
speed, cars, slabs and all pell mell into the lake. As soon as
Tromley realized what had happened hi says: “boys, we had better
get out of here before that man comes what owns that railroad car.”
So we pulled on for Stillwater. Davenport on being taken to task
for what he had done, claimed that he was innocent, that he had no
idea that we would be so foolhardy as to attempt it. Yet he would
have laughed if we had gone into the lake. He was worse scared than
Doughty when he saw us on the car. He told Doughty, who was
standing half way up the track to give us warning that the butting
block was out and that they merely intended it for fun of seeing the
car and its cargo plunge into the lake.
Though the writer had just made a narrow escape from a cold bath and
probably drowning in the lake he seemed doomed to pass thru a part
of that ordeal, for on the following day, while attempting to make a
landing over on the east side of the lake Dave Carr and I
were sent out with the line. The wind was blowing quite hard off
the shore and as Dave had some experience in the business he told me
to take the line up the bank. In the mean time the boat began to
swing out when the mate hollered out to hold onto the line and they
would pay it out, but they could not check the boat and the line was
all gone. Like the boy that stood on the burning deck and would not
go I clung to the line, when I went casouse (?) and they pulled me
on board. At the same time Carr was ordered in with the small boat
and the project was abandoned. When they had landed me on board the
boat dripping with icy water. Billy Dodd had the audacity to
ask me whether or not it was cold.
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