Dams were used by the Mendocino mill on Big River to bring the cut logs to the mill. The Mendocino Lumber Company was “famous” for damming Big River. With rare exceptions, dams along Big River were used only during the winter season. Logs were stored in the stream beds – see pic below:

Logs stored in a Big River stream bed

Winter rains furnished the freshet (body of water) for floating the logs down river, but in most cases, did not. Dams were then used to build up a reservoir of water. When the dams were tripped (blown up), a flood was created along with a “head.” A head is similar to the shore side of an ocean wave. Near the dam, a head might begin as high as 10 feet dropping to three-foot height 15 miles down river. A higher head, which would result in being able to float more logs a greater distance, would be obtained by tripping/blowing up more than one dam in succession. This, for sure, was in the days before environmentalists were invented. In his book, Big River Was Dammed, W. Francis Jackson documents at least 27 dams on Big River.

These pics (I believe) are all of dams on Big River:

Building a Big River Dam – note mule on the right with water carrying bags

Sluice gate on a Big River Dam

A Big River Dam with the Sluice Gate Open

I have a large collection of pics of big trees. The big ones fascinate me. My book collection – now part of the Club’s library – contains all the big tree books I have come across since I moved here in 2000. Before 2000 I was an urbanite and did not know of the majesty of the “big one”. Enough of my claptrap here are pics that I particularly like:

[Click on any pic to see the gallery and pics full size.]

When I found the pics I could barely see what they were about. After playing with all the controls on my pic proggy I did somewhat enhance them:

Old photo #1 of Big River, Mendocino

Old photo #2 of Big River, Mendocino

Not good eh? Things did improve when they were converted to grayscale. I don’t know exactly where the photos were taken on Big River. However, they must have been taken 4 to 7 miles inland where the river narrows.

Boom Camp on Big River Mendocino

Jam of logs on Big River

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s there were quite frequent floods along the Mendocino coast. Whilst I haven’t actually found pictures of places flooded I did find this pic which shows what had to be cleaned up after a flood on Big, River Mendocino.

Big River Flood Aftermath in early 1900s

Note the flimsiness of the track.

Alas, I have yet to find a vid of logs being “driven” down Big River in Mendocino – the only river along the Mendocino Coast susceptible to such an operation. I know logs jams were routinely “blown up” with gunpowder – I have pics of that happening. Therefore any vid showing a river log drive is definitely of interest. This clip is an excerpt from “Timber on the Move: A History of Log Moving Technology,” a documentary film from the Forest History Society: https://foresthistory.org/documentary…