The Susquehanna Boom was a system of cribs and chained logs in the West Branch Susquehanna River

West Branch Susquehanna River

The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the extension of the main branch, with the shorter West Branch...

, designed to catch and hold floating timber

Timber

Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

 until it could be processed at one of the nearly 60 sawmill

Sawmill

A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

s along the river between Lycoming

Lycoming Creek

Lycoming Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located in Tioga and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania in the United States.-Geography:...

 and Loyalsock Creek

Loyalsock Creek

Loyalsock Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located chiefly in Sullivan and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania in the United States...

s in Lycoming County

Lycoming County, Pennsylvania

-Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Plateau:Lycoming County is divided between the Appalachian Mountains in the south, the dissected Allegheny Plateau in the north and east, and the valley of the West Branch Susquehanna River between these.-West Branch Susquehanna River:The West Branch of the...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The Susquehanna Boom was originally built under the supervision of James H. Perkins, and operated from 1851 to 1909, when it shut down for lack of timber.

Function

A boom is "a barrier composed of a chain of floating logs enclosing other free-floating logs, typically used to catch floating debris or to obstruct passage". The Susquehanna Boom extended seven miles (11 km) upstream from Duboistown

Duboistown, Pennsylvania

Duboistown is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,280 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

 to the village of Linden in Woodward Township

Woodward Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania

Woodward Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 2,397 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

 where it was interrupted to create a channel across the river for the passage of a ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

. It was extended further westward towards Jersey Shore

Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania

Jersey Shore is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is on the West Branch Susquehanna River, west by south of Williamsport. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. In the past, Jersey Shore held farms, railroad shops, cigar factories, a...

. This extension was not always used, depending on the supply and demand for lumber. The boom was constructed by creating a series of man-made islands known as "cribs". These cribs built of local mountain stone and sunken timber were stretched diagonally across the river, beginning on the south side near Duboistown and ending on the north side near Linden. The boom was made of 352 separate cribs that were 22 feet (6.7 m) high. The boom was opened and closed at the upper end by a device known as a "sheer boom." It was 1000 feet (304.8 m) long and was controlled with a hand-powered windlass

Windlass

The windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder , which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt...

. The sheer boom gathered the logs into the main boom that was capable of holding up to 300 million board feet (700 million m³) of logs. The lower end of the boom was where the logs were sorted. The mills in Williamsport, South Williamsport

South Williamsport, Pennsylvania

South Williamsport is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,412 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

, and Duboistown each had their own distinctive brand burnt or cut into the logs. The men working at the end of the boom would sort the logs according to their corresponding brand and float them into the correct holding pond along the bank of the river. During the height of the lumber industry in Lycoming County, 1861–91, the various mills produced 5.5 billion board feet (13 million m³) of lumber. Williamsport became one of the most prosperous cities in Pennsylvania and in the United States. Men like James H. Perkins, Peter Herdic

Peter Herdic

Peter Herdic was a lumber baron, entrepreneur, inventor, politician, and philanthropist in Victorian era Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. He was the youngest of seven children born to Henry and Elizabeth Herdic on December 14, 1824 in Fort Plain, New York. Herdic's...

, and Mahlon Fisher became millionaire

Millionaire

A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...

s while many of the men who actually worked in the river struggled to survive on the wages paid to them by the lumber barons.

Beginnings

The first European settlers arrived in what became Lycoming County after the Province of Pennsylvania

Province of Pennsylvania

The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as Pennsylvania Colony, was founded in British America by William Penn on March 4, 1681 as dictated in a royal charter granted by King Charles II...

 purchased the land from the Iroquois

Iroquois

The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...

 in the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix

Treaty of Fort Stanwix

The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was an important treaty between North American Indians and the British Empire. It was signed in 1768 at Fort Stanwix, located in present-day Rome, New York...

. Small scale sawmills along tributaries of the West Branch Susquehanna River were built prior to the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

, and provided enough lumber to build the houses and barns of Williamsport and the surrounding area. Even more timber was made into rafts and floated all the way down the Susquehanna River

Susquehanna River

The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...

, into Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 and on to Baltimore, where the massive and straight timbers were turned into masts for the famous Baltimore Clipper

Baltimore Clipper

Baltimore Clipper is the colloquial name for fast sailing ships built on the south-eastern seaboard of the United States of America, especially at the port of Baltimore, Maryland...

s and other sailing vessels of the 18th century.

In the 1830s, lumber booms were not used along the Susquehanna and West Branch Susquehanna rivers, but they were used extensively in the Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

 lumber industry. According to Taber, the idea for a very large boom on the West Branch Susquehanna River originated with John Leighton, who had worked in Maine sawmills and visited the Williamsport area in 1836. The West Branch Susquehanna River drainage basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 at Williamsport is 5682 square miles (14,716 km²), and is drained by many fairly large tributaries such as Sinnemahoning Creek

Sinnemahoning Creek

Sinnemahoning Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Cameron and Clinton counties, Pennsylvania, in the United States.Sinnemahoning Creek is formed by the confluence of the Bennett and Driftwood Branches at the borough of Driftwood.The tributary First Fork Sinnemahoning...

 and its branches, Kettle Creek

Kettle Creek (Pennsylvania)

Kettle Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in north central Pennsylvania in the United States.Kettle Creek joins the West Branch Susquehanna River at Westport.-See also:*List of rivers of Pennsylvania*Kettle Creek State Park...

, Pine Creek

Pine Creek (Pennsylvania)

Pine Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Potter, Tioga, Lycoming, and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. The creek is long...

, and Lycoming Creek. In the 19th century these streams and their tributaries reached far into the Allegheny Plateau

Allegheny Plateau

The Allegheny Plateau is a large dissected plateau area in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio...

 and provided easy access to the millions of trees that covered much of Pennsylvania then. Leighton saw that the stretch of the West Branch near Williamsport was fairly slow moving, broad, deep and calm. This stretch of river, known as the "Long Reach", proved to be the ideal setting for the construction of the Susquehanna Boom. However, the properties of the river that made it ideal for a very large boom also made it a poor location for operating water-powered sawmills. Only one such sawmill, the "Big Water Mill", operated in Williamsport prior to the establishment of the boom, and it went bankrupt at least twice.

The next several years saw two developments that made the Susquehanna boom and the sawmills associated with it feasible. The first was the development of reliable means of transportation, with the completion of the West Susquehanna Branch of the Pennsylvania Canal

Pennsylvania Canal (West Branch Division)

The West Branch Division of the Pennsylvania Canal ran from the canal basin at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, at the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River with the main stem of the Susquehanna River, north through Muncy, then west through Williamsport, Jersey Shore, and Lock Haven to its...

 to Williamsport in 1834 and opening of the first railroad in 1839. These allowed finished wood products to be taken to markets year-round, instead of just floating logs and rafts down the river during Spring and high water. The second was the gradual development and acceptance of steam engines to power sawmills, allowing large mills to operate without water-power.

The arrival of James H. Perkins, a native of New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, in December 1845 was the beginning of the economic boom that would make Williamsport into a booming lumber city. Perkins had been a successful owner of a calico prints factory in Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

 prior to selling out and moving to the West Branch Susquehanna River Valley. Perkins and his business partner, John Leighton, set out with the goal of creating a large scale lumbering and milling operation. Perkins believed that Williamsport could be a major center in the lumber business, as it was surrounded by a plentiful supply of old-growth forests of hemlock, white pine

Eastern White Pine

Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...

 and various hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

s.

The Susquehanna Boom Company was incorporated on March 26, 1846. There were initially 100 shares of stock issued at $100 per share. The first shareholder

Shareholder

A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....

s were John Dubois (founder of Duboistown and later Dubois, Pennsylvania

DuBois, Pennsylvania

DuBois is a city in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, northeast of Pittsburgh. It is the principal city in the DuBois, Pa Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

) and his brother Matthias DuBois, each with 25 shares, Perkins had 24 shares, Isaac Smith had 20 shares, Elias S. Lowe (a partner of the DuBois brothers) had five shares, and Leighton had one share, perhaps as payment for services. John DuBois was elected President of the Boom and served in that capacity until 1857.

The stockholders meeting held on November 5, 1849, saw the election of John Leighton to the chair and Elias S. Lowe was chosen as the secretary. Construction of the boom began in 1849 with the erection of two temporary booms. Periodic flooding along the West Branch slowed construction of the boom until it was ultimately completed in 1851. When filled to capacity the 450 acres (1.8 km²) of enclosed river could hold nearly one million logs.

Operation

The Susquehanna Boom was placed in an area of the river that had a large bend that drew the logs to the south side of the river. It worked as a type of corral, a corral for logs. Operating and managing the boom was a labor intensive endeavour. 150 men and boys were needed to sort and separate the millions of logs that floated into the Susquehanna Boom. Boys as young as 12 worked among the cribs. They had to identify one of over 1,700 marks found on the logs and send them along in a raft to the proper sawmill. Sorting these logs was the first job a boy could get on the Susquehanna Boom. The "Boom Rats" walked along long planks known as "stretchers" that connected the 352 cribs. They used long handled hooks to gather the logs to be tied into rafts. The was a job that required strength and agility and was the domain of young men.

The boom had to be lifted from the river at the outset of every winter before the river would freeze. This job was carried out by a group of men that worked with a tugboat

Tugboat

A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...

. The power of the tub lifted the boom out of the water for storing on the safety of the banks of the river. Then each spring before the run of the logs down the river the boom had to be put back into place.

The boom operated for eight months. The 150 employees were paid $1.50 per day for their work. The owners of the boom paid an average of $50,000 per year to their employees for an average of $333.33 per man. This low pay compared to the millions that the owners of the boom and some of the mills brought about some hard feelings among the workers of the Susquehanna Boom. The workers of the boom, the lumber jacks, and the sawmill workers banded together in 1872 went on strike that summer.

Sawdust War

The strike began on July 1 and culminated with the riot

Riot

A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...

 known as the "Sawdust War" broke out on July 20. Nearly 3,000 men felt like they had not received a fair share of the profits. Over 5 million dollars worth of lumber had been processed the previous summer. Men like Peter Herdic, James Perkins and Mahlon Fisher had become millionaires while they struggled to feed their families with the wages earned at the dangerous jobs. In addition to the disparity in income the workers were also being forced to work twelve hour days when the Pennsylvania General Assembly

Pennsylvania General Assembly

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times , the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. Since the Constitution of 1776, written by...

 had recently passed a law requiring ten hour workdays. Despite the new law the state government had no way to enforce the new rules and the owners of the lumber mills and the boom chose to ignore the law. The leaders of the lumbermen decided that going on strike would be the only way to receive the hours and pay that they felt they deserved. Their motto was, "Ten hours or no sawdust."

On the morning of July 1, 1872 the leaders of strike assembled in front of the Lycoming County Courthouse

Courthouse

A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...

. They then marched to each sawmill and gathered the mill workers and/or shutdown the machinery of the mill. The strike on July 1 was relatively peaceful. The leaders of the strike became worried that the lumbermen would return to work without gaining the new working hours and higher pay that they sought. Many of the mill workers expressed worry that they would be unable to feed their families if they did not earn their wages by working. The leaders of the strike assembled once again on July 22 and they descended on the mills once again. This time they were met by a police force that was ordered to prevent the mills from being closed down. The strikers attempted to force their way past the police force. They threw stones at the police and the mill and the riot began. Many of the strikers armed themselves with clubs and revolver

Revolver

A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...

s. They chased away mill workers and tried to chase away the police.

The Pennsylvania Militia was called in to protect the interests of the sawmill owners. And the strikers fled the scene. Twenty-seven men were arrested for their role in the riot and 21 convicted by the local court for their roles in the riot on September 14, 1872. Twenty-one days later all of them were pardoned by Pennsylvania Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 John W. Geary

John W. Geary

John White Geary was an American lawyer, politician, Freemason, and a Union general in the American Civil War...

 as a political favor to Peter Herdic, the owner of the Susquehanna Boom.

End of the Boom

The Susquehanna Boom lost its profitability for three main reasons. First was the periodic floods that swept down the West Branch Valley following the winter snow melt and the spring rains.
The West Branch Valley was devastated by a flood

Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...

 in 1894. The sawmills along the river were largely destroyed. The boom was washed away and close to two million of board feet (5,000 m³) of freshly cut timber were washed down the Susquehanna River. Second were the newly constructed railroads in North Central Pennsylvania. These railroads were able to transport the fresh timber more quickly and were less risky, expensive and dangerous than floating the logs down the West Branch Susquehanna River and its tributaries. Thirdly, little thought for the future was placed when the massive stands of old growth forest were harvested during the 19th century. The mountains were clear cut

Clearcutting

Clearcutting, or clearfelling, is a controversial forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Clearcutting, along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, is used by foresters to create certain types of forest ecosystems and to promote select species that...

. The tops of the trees were left to dry. The passing steam trains spread burning embers along the railroad tracks. These embers would spark devastating fires that prevented the forests from regrowing. Without trees the sawmills could no longer process timber, the mills closed and eventually the boom itself was forced to close in 1908.