USFS - Historical Footage - Clearwater Flume Logging - 1938

In the interest of highlighting traditional skills, I am sharing this great video produced by the USFS Northern Region. According to the USFS Audio-Visual website description: Flume Logging - Clearwater River. This video highlights the early years of the Clearwater Log Drive (1928-1971) when flumes transported logs from the woods to the bank of the river throughout the logging season. Tree lengths were skidded to this flume landing and the "bucked' by sawyers into saw logs. Men then rolled the logs into the flume. Water would be released from flume dams as needed to float the logs to the river. The original length of this particular flume was about eight miles. Now, all we have left to remind this generation of the endeavor are "Log Flume" amusement park rides. But you can see what a real flume was like right here! Enjoy!

[@watsonrk1]

Looks to be the North Fork of the Clearwater, in Idaho near Orofino before the dam. My father was a sawyer for Potlatch for many years in the 60's and 70's before these log drives ended in 1971. . Beautiful country, rough life. Still to this day you can find some old flumes in the mountains around Headquarters, Bovil and Elk River. Yes, they road the flume, quickest way to get a ride from camp to home. They dialed down the flow and hopped a log which took you to the river where you could catch a ride by car or the train.

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

They likely didn't ride in winter (when most of this footage was taken). brrrr

[@scottbryant2235]

How did they suppy water to the flume?

[@1doalbeck]

They had small dams with head gates . The water was intermittent. The true masters were the men rolling the logs into the flume. Extremely dangerous work.

[@bryontharp5790]

Bovil Clarkia st Joe river rad County

[@watsonrk1]

@bryontharp5790 Yes. Some of the best-looking woods a person will ever see. Headquarters, Santa, Fernwood, the Hersey Highway, Boles Cabin.. Want a good read.. Caulked Boots. Read the story of the Ridge Runner. They called him the Wildman of the Clearwater, chased him for 13 years. I actually knew the man who caught him. Excellent story of the Idaho back country.

[@unclefuddelmer9224]

My fathers whole family were loggers in N. PA clear back in the 1850s. Cousins, uncles, grandfathers, great grandfathers, great uncles, all the men were either fellers, horse skidders, flume workers, whatever jobs there were. After the railroad was built some of them worked the trains or downstream at the mills. I remember my Grampa telling us kids to “clean your supper plates cuz someday you might have to carry onion and mustard sandwich’s to work, like I did in the woods for years.” He died at 47 but looked 70. Real family men they were. God rest their souls.

[@ericschmuecker348]

A great thanks to you and your kin. The timber they brought out of the hills became the seeds of American cities. Providing jobs, building homes that made towns grown into cities.

[@randycollins7910]

Great respect for your hard working family. He looked 70 at 47 because in effect he was worked to death. God grant him rest in Heaven.

[@8044868]

Back in 1969 I got to know an old time forester named Attlee Weinmann at Clarkia, Idaho. He was retired from the FS, but was working for the state as foreman of the slash and fire crew I served on. He had worked all over the North Fork of the Clearwater and St. Joe country and, as a history major at the U. of I., I enjoyed his stories. One of them was of staying on the North Fork a little too long and having to hike out up the Beaver Creek flume.

[@jimurrata6785]

Just _building_ that flume through wilderness, without any power tools is an amazing accomplishment!

[@billrodriguez3399]

Environmental rape

[@DJ-yu9oj]

@@billrodriguez3399 Democrats are baby killers

[@Detroitstoken]

old timers are no joke, this is always amazing to me, when I think how did they do it back in the day or I say "dam this is tough" or something to that effect. We have it so easy compared to our grandfathers and they still got the job done.

[@Bethsabee_Sheba_Newrose]

A decade later and this is truer than ever.

[@watsonrk1]

The Clearwater River has 3 forks, North, South. The North fork was damed by the the creation of Dworshack Dam and essentially covered the free flowing river, its towns and valleys. The Middle fork comes down from the Lock- Saw and Selway Rivers and the South Fork somewhere behind Grangeville. Huge expanses of forest, no roads. They created dams on small creeks to hold the water. Put the cut logs down in the creekbeds pointed down stream and then flushed them down the creek by releasing a torrent of water. If no water was available, they built the dam and waited for the spring runoff to come, why there logging in winter. It was also safer in winter, made it hard to start a fire from a exhauset pipe or a spark. They cut a lot of trees, replanted everything as the went, burned the slash to replenting the soil and some pinecones need heat to release the nut... or seed whichever way you call it. way. They would "deck the logs" in piles and then release just enough water to get them going down the flume. Once moving, roll.more logs in, which increased the depth in the flume. But they needed to be very careful, if they jammed up, the water overflowed, the logs stopped moving and were extremely difficult to get moving again. They needed water to float and move, water 3 miles away and the spill was a mile back ment emptying the flume of logs until the water could float and move them, often nearly the entire flume needs to go. My dad would come home with frozen pant legs and blue feet. The waded in the water, rode logs in winter, worked in freezing conditions because thats what they did... log in winter and be ready for the flush in spring. Someone replied to an earlier comment of mine.. they worked as long as they could get into the woods, ofter riding a D-6 for hours because the snow was deep and a truck couldnt make it. For as long as i remember, when the snow got to deep and they couldnt log, we hunted. And he went back when they could get a cat in, so they didnt miss the run-off. I can still hear the river at night along the middle fork in spring with the heavy winter run-off. We camped while he worked, the boulders smashed into eachother as the heavy current swept them downstream, so loud they kept you awake some nights, the entire river bank and small islands were changed nearly daily and i always wondered what happenend to the fish. When the water cleared, they were hungry, brook, rainbow, cutthroat and nice big fat ones. They days when you took what you needed, supper tonight, some for a day ir two later and maybe share with a friend... not this 2 fish and only fish over 12" with a barbless hook, but not longer than 13" and the adapose fin needs to be clipped indicating a hatchery fish. Ive seen pictures of elk hanging off the back of the cat as they come out. Watched them drag the small cabins on log skids from one spot to another for them to stay in as they cut timber... We'd stay in them after the crews went home. Lot of times, they would line them up near Breakfast Creek and they made great hunting base camps for elk. That was 45 years ago... wow, like it was yesterday.

[@ryanharris6045]

You should write a book. That is awesome stuff!

[@darylhawkins4658]

Fun to watch. So carefree, they look. If they only knew what the next seven years would bring.

[@YENDERSBY]

Hard life but these men are top athletes - let's applaud ..

[@DanielFCutter]

This is great-thanks for uploading. A sentence or two about where the heck it is would be a welcomed addition.

[@Bethsabee_Sheba_Newrose]

Someone commented that it’s in Idaho, USA

[@1doalbeck]

North fork of the Clearwater

[@garlandremingtoniii1338]

I was thinking the exact same thing, My friend…

[@douglasthompson2740]

I am amazed that butt ended board joints on the Flume could withstand the repeated impacts of logs with that much momentum! The energy that went into constructing it just looks beyond belief. Amazing truly amazing.

[@PolkRidgeAesthete]

Magnificent.

[@vincentvargas6224]

WOW! i heard there was a flume in california that was 54 miles long.

[@CountlessPWNZ]

63 miles, Madera CA

[@MrGlennjones]

And...The Davidson Ditch in Alaska is I believe 80 miles long, in brutal country. Built for sluicing.

[@jbryantphotographer]

Currently reading “The Great Glorious Goddam of it All” and this is really lending some interesting visuals to the narrative playing out in my head.

[@waltermarlin1730]

A saltwater above ground canal all the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Huge idea. Like a really big log flume

[@johnmca5643]

I'm here because I just watched an episode of Bonanza and they built one on the show. I wanted to see more. The shows was a dry flume.

[@Tina-di4lx]

Incredibly ingenious

[@davidbrown-xk8zl]

Back to the days when men were MEN, not fruit flavored beer and liquor drinkers, but hard working, physically fit,God fearing MEN.They may have only bathed once a week,but they washed their hands and face before each meal,and then said Grace. Oh how I wish I could go back to that era for one year, and worked along side of them out in the wild.The stories I could tell my grandchildren, and they could tell their children!

[@AnthonyDuran]

There are still many a man and woman like that today. You can be one of them by working for the Forest Service in Idaho and elsewhere within the U.S.

[@davidbrown-xk8zl]

If I could go back 50 years (I am 73) I would do exactly as you mentioned.By the way,"Ax Men" is one of my favorite programs on TV.@@AnthonyDuran

[@AnthonyDuran]

@@davidbrown-xk8zl I’m 34 in the midst of my fourth season of fire. I got into the game late and hadn’t done much as far as gigs, but still it’s been quite tough and my body sure as hell feels it. Haha But kudos to you regardless and enjoy the rest of your years my friend!

[@b4ds33d]

You couldn’t have kept up modern sissy boi.

[@davidbrown-xk8zl]

@@b4ds33d It must be tough, you are growing old, AND a real asshole.

[@bryantc382]

Men at the top of their game..true grit

[@bruceparks3124]

I agree with you about these loggers. The girly men of today can't even conceive of the things their predec cessors did.

[@cookieflavoredoreo4685]

I WANT TO RIDE IT!! The “log flumes” at theme parks are so small, this looks like it would be so much fun Yes I know this one would probably kill me

[@rosewhite---]

building the flume was amazing hard work! builders should have memorials or statues.

[@coloradostrong]

So blm could year them down.

[@Rs-bm1gy]

I Agree! We could learn from history, long as it's understood and not just made up stories

[@CountlessPWNZ]

@@coloradostrong and where is blm now?

[@summervillains]

This footage is awesome. How on Earth did you find it?

[@alton31ellis]

Great video. Why is the music from the Weather Channel?

[@sun9912]

🌊

[@parttimefarmer5738]

Almost magical

[@alanrath1820]

Grand

[@pleasantlakepirate1832]

You can't tell me the boys didn't ride that when it was clear of logs.

[@jamesbenedict7206]

Watch out for splinters!

[@tomkennish1772]

They had special built buggies that they would ride down in every once i. A while to look for logs that fell out or for maintenance of the flume.

[@avoidtheherd7066]

Thank God logs are round and they float.

[@nicklivingston6668]

Why can't you save video's to favorites?

[@craigparks5624]

I wonder if the Romans used aqueducts like flumes, Periodically.

[@moncorp1]

I rode that at Six Flags

[@fasx56]

Is this Clearwater Rive in Idaho./

[@paulnimphius3167]

Where did the water come from?

[@mattywho8485]

It's a wonder there's a tree left on this planet

[@RobertNutbar]

Its almost like they have an incentive to replant the trees or something. Crazy

[@chuckbarnessr6199]

Could someone put a narration to this video instead of the music? Thanks for posting.

[@jamesbenedict7206]

And this is why OSHA was invented!

[@donnebes9421]

The year my mom was born

[@ThomasBMawn]

Is there original sound?!🤔🤷‍♂️

[@dshurak827]

I am not saying that this is when men were men, but thank God for OSHA

[@johnmca5643]

You can picture broken bones being a daily event.

[@bruceparks3124]

D Shurak, the worst and most insidious thing that OSHA has done is to quietly remove the balls of American men. Guess what, the Russians, the Chinese, the South Americans, and the Africans still have their balls and all we have is a bunch of gaming girly men who have been cowed by feminists and other girly men, and we are in deep doo doo.

[@bullsnutsoz]

OSHA is for pussies!

[@ioanbirsan2418]

Skok ?

[@krazylegs74]

When America worked.

[@tomrogers9467]

Might have been nice to know what state this was in for us viewers who are not in the US. (We all know the state the US is in itself, though!)

[@on_the_off_beat]

Gotta be what is today the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest in northern Idaho. There is a Clearwater river there, and it is in the Forest Service's "Northern Region". Topography, snow, trees, are right for the area. But yeah, they should've been more specific.

[@davidwpinkston4226]

do forests like this still exist?

[@tomrogers9467]

Only in pockets of protected wilderness. The US is a champion of raping their land!

[@DJ-yu9oj]

@@tomrogers9467 bull 💩

[@johnphipps4105]

Idaho's growth has always outstripped its timber loss, so there is actually more forest now than there was 100 years ago. The issue is that outsiders control congress and has all but banned logging, meaning 500 million acres are about to burn and acidity the soil in the next 20 years

[@charlesbrowniii8398]

It's really sad seeing all those trees in that area. Now it's mostly logged off bare mountains and much of the Clearwater is a reservoir behind one of North America's highest dams.

[@tomrogers9467]

They weren’t loggers, they were Forest Rapists.

[@donevanshug]

My Dad and Grandpa would laugh if thy could see the stuff there logging today! Don't see how thy can get a 2x4 out of a tree. My Grandpa worked sixteen hour a day from the time he was 12 tell his Parkinson got to bad.

[@cmalpass]

You ever been to Oregon? Plenty of big trees still coming to the mills everyday. We grow 'em big and fast! I see them everyday in the mills I call on.

[@jillsmcfarland2001]

Deadliest catch inland.

[@mittnagivag4867]

would be much better with narration

[@CountlessPWNZ]

I witnessed this. I'm such a thug

[@craigparks5624]

Glacier melt must be the sorse.

[@RobertNutbar]

The water comes from dams.

[@jameswalker9391]

I didn't see any fat guys. ; )

[@daleolson3506]

The music junked another video 👎