A Thrilling Ride

            I’ve found some really interesting stories from the past. While reading a town’s website for my Iron Making and Other Pennsylvania Industries book, I read about the start of lumber rafting down the Delaware River which is Pennsylvania’s eastern border. Men lashed whole logs together to make a raft and rode them downstream to businesses that would buy wood. Shipbuilders along the Delaware needed long straight poles for masts and crossbeams. Philadelphia furniture makers also wanted wood.

Long after the first log raft in the 1760s, Frank Walton and his crew cut down trees, constructed a raft, launched it onto the Delaware River, and floated down in 1869.

            Riding a raft of lashed together logs with no good way to hang on would be daring enough, but another thrill in the trip occurred when Frank and his crew sighted elephants in the water ahead near the town of Milford, Pennsylvania. With no brakes or any other way to stop the raft, they barreled into one of the giants, an angry mean one! The men shouted and fought him with their oars to keep him from hurting them. Finally, they were able to push away and continue their dangerous trip down the river.

            Why would a group of elephants be crossing the Delaware River of all places? A circus traveling in the area thought a bridge over the Delaware might break from the weight of the elephants and chose the river bed instead as a safer route. The elephant that the lumbermen landed up against had the name of Tippo Sahib who had killed his trainer recently.

            The next time you cross a Pennsylvania river on a bridge, look down and think about how you would feel seeing elephants plodding through the water.

            Do you know any amazing lumbermen stories, past or present? The job was and still is one with lots of danger. Please share your story in the comment section.

Reference: “The Lord High Admiral.” Townofcocectonny.org. Web Aug 2018.

Photo Credit: “Pennsylvania. Lumbering and Lumber Towns – Log Raft on West Branch of Susquehanna.” Library of Congress. Wikimedia.org. Web 24 Oct 2018  

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennsylvania._Lumbering_and_lumber_towns_-_log_raft_on_West_branch_of_Susquehanna._LCCN2016650769.tif.

_log_raft_on_West_branch_of_Susquehanna._LCCN2016650769.tif.

Erie Fishing: Part Four

Lake Erie 2010

The kinds of fish caught on Lake Erie changed over the years. Many of the popular fish decreased in availability from over fishing, huge buyer demand, environmental factors, and the loss of the spawning waters. For example, the sauger, with blotched brown or gray sides, 12 to 18 inches long, and a long sleek body similar to a walleye, grew scarce because of over fishing and habitat loss. 

Fish Caught in Lake Erie                                                                                                    

	1700s	1800s	1900s	2000s
Popular Fish	black bass, catfish, lake trout, perch,  muskellunge, northern pike, whitefish, lake sturgeon,	cisco, whitefish, lake trout	northern pike, walleyes, blue pike, smelt, white bass, whitefish, carp, goldfish, yellow perch, suckers,	catfish
Declined in number during this time		muskellunge, lake sturgeon	herring, northern pike, bluepike,   sauger, suckers, whitefish	cisco, lake trout

Ways of Fishing

            Even though the Seneca used nets, most Erie fishermen first used hook-and-line fishing to bring in fish.

With the introduction of the seine net by Thomas Horton in 1830, fishermen caught more fish at one time. The seine is a long rectangle net with a weighted bottom.

            The gill-net which tangled a fish’s gills came into use in the 1850s. The holes in the net are made a size that a fish’s head can go through but not its body. As the fish struggles, the cord slips behind its gills trapping it.

The seine or the gill net needed many men working together to haul them in over the side of the boat. Later, mechanical net pullers cut down the need for so much crew.

In 1902, fishermen used an estimated 800 miles of nets in Lake Erie

The End of the Industry

            The number one reason for the end of Erie fishing came from the new supermarket style of merchandising in the early 1900s. Until that time, people went to a fish market to buy fresh fish. The supermarkets wanted their products in packages ready to put out for sale at an inexpensive price. Salt-water fish could be obtained cheaper than Erie’s fresh-water fish.

To reduce the number of fish of endangered fish being caught, the government banned the use of gill nets in 1996. The seine net was also prohibited for most species. This caused the final collapse of the Erie fishing industry. Bringing in the quantity of fish needed to make a business thrive grew too difficult. 

 References

Applegate, Vernon C. and Harry D. Van Meter. “A Brief History of Commercial Fishing in Lake Erie.” Fishery Leaflet 630, April 1970 Washington, D.C.: United States Department of the Interior. pubs.usgs.gov. Web 24 April 2017.

Arway, John A. “Lake Erie Commercial Fishing – 2016.” Fishandboat.com. Web 6 May 2017.

Gwynn, David. “A Quick History of the Supermarket.” Groceteria.com, 1999-2018. Web 4 Jan 2017.

Roddy, Dennis B. “Caught in a Net of Laws and Bans, Fishermen Lost Their Livelihood.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 30, 2010. Web 6 May 2017.

Smith, Kristina. “Ohio wants to bring two fish species back to Lake Erie.” Port Clinton News Herald.com, April 16, 2015 Web 4 Jan 2018

Watkins, Charles A. “A Good Day’s Catch: Commercial Fishing in Erie.” Pennsylvania Heritage, Vol. IX, No. 2, pages 12-17. Harrisburg: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Spring 1983.  Print.

The Fishing Industry in Pennsylvania: Part Three

The Presque Isle Lighthouse
watched over
fishermen after being built in 1873

Erie Fishing

Fish, fish, fish. That is what the people of Erie, Pennsylvania, did daily. They also ate lots of fish. The city of Erie is located next to Lake Erie in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania and in the 1900s once had the Read More

The Fishing Industry in Pennsylvania: Part Two

Shad Fishing (con't)

In the early 1800s, the construction of the three dams hurt the shad fishing. The Shawmont and Reading Dams on the Schuylkill River were built to make the river more travelable by boat. The Fairmount Dam also on the Schuylkill made a reservoir for a water works company that provided water for Philadelphia.

The dams prevented Read More

The Fishing Industry in Pennsylvania

American Shad

            The American shad is a silver-colored fish with a greenish band along its back and dark spots along the top of its sides. This species is the largest member of the herring family. In weight, American shad average from four to seven pounds and can be anywhere between 16 and 30 inches long.

Prior to the late 1800s, large groups of American shad grew to maturity in the Atlantic Ocean, and then made their way up rivers in April and May. After reaching the Pennsylvania waters Read More

Jobs from the Past

I haven’t posted in a while. The local homeschool group asked me to help with their co-op this fall. I found that preparing took all my extra time, and my writing took a back seat for a while. We had about 70 people attend from babies through to the oldest, me! What fun I had Read More

York Agricultural & Industrial Museum

           Years ago I wrote about my favorite museum, the Jimmy Stewart Museum. I just found my second favorite, the York Agricultural and Industrial Museum. Read More