Logs were shipped by rail from northern Minnesota to Stillwater and made into rafts. They were then floated down the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. The rafts usually consisted of 8 to 10 strings of logs fastened side by side, each string measuring 16 across and about 400 feet long. Some of these enormous rafts stretched 4 or 5 acres in size.
Lumber was rafted downstream from Stillwater. Boards were arranged in cribs or heavy crates, each 16 feet wide and 32 feet long. A lumber raft might contain as many as 200 cribs.
At the boom, floating timbers chained between piers caught and contained logs for sorting and measuring and rigging into rafts. At one time, the Stillwater boom extended a distance of 9 miles and employed 400 men to sort, scale and raft timber.
This stereocard shows a view to the east from St. Peter during the flood on the Minnesota river in April of 1881. A portion of the bridge across the river at Broadway is visible in the foreground.
This stereocard shows a view to the west toward St. Peter during the flood on the Minnesota river in April of 1881. The bridge across the river at Broadway is at far right.
men, women, children standing to the side of the falls; copyright 1897 by B. L. Lingley; caption given in six different languages on the verso of card; verso also gives descriptive information
Contributing Institution:
Hennepin County Library, James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library