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Kusma This caught my eye for a few reasons: The spring of 1886 was very dry, so the water level was too low to transport logs, until the rivers rose in heavy rain in June 1886, the Clam River dam was blown up and dams on several other tributaries were opened.
1. The Clam River dam was blown up?! I thought surely that must mean something I don't understand, but nope, according to the Minneapolis Tribune, a local hermit named Davidson blew up the dam with dynamite. Maybe it was because the spring had been so dry? This story doesn't say, but the logjam appears to have been an ongoing story and surely the dynamiting of a local dam received coverage so maybe it's out there. Also the Trib's article supporting the Clam River thing seems to say the other dams were opened after the Clam River dam was blown up, possibly they were opened because it was opened?
2. I think your current hook is a good one, but there's got to be another one in the Clam River dam being dynamited by the hermit, Davidson.
3. The sentence is long and contains 1886 twice, I wondered if maybe you'd intended two sentences?
"Dynamite bomb" -- I see that's what the newspapers of the time were calling it. I've never heard anyone call a dynamite charge a 'dynamite bomb'; it's possible this is obsolete language rather than American English.
In Clearing the log jam, it says 'but also released most of the water' -- from where? I think this means the explosion moved so much water that it temporarily lowered the water level in the river until rain replenished it? I can't get to that Jam of all Jams source (although OMG I know the author of that book! I'm emailing her to see if she'll come take a look.) --valereee ( talk) 13:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
I'm following the sources (Curry and the newspaper she must have used as her source) in calling it a "dynamite bomb", and am wondering whether should include more of the story of the brave man who went back to re-fuse the bomb when it didn't explode at first. But perhaps using "dynamite charge" is better except in a direct quote.
Small world that you know Edna Curry -- I spent about a pound on an ebook version of the Jam of all Jams, as I couldn't get a complete version of the earlier article. She uses a Taylors Falls newspaper quite a bit that I couldn't get hold of. It would be lovely to get comments or improvements from her.
Thanks again! — Kusma ( t· c) 13:43, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
Last week the lumbermen wore a dejected and lost-their-last-friend look, for the water in the rivers was steadily falling and their logs were almost inextricably jammed at Wood river, Kettle river rapids, the mouth of the Namagon and other places. Crews had been discharges, and there seemed little prospect of getting the logs to market for an indefinite time.
But it remained for Davidson, the hermit, to strike the key-note for a change to all this, by blowing out the Clam river dam with dynamite. The water from that stream caused a slight rise, and by one of Elias McKean's "most remarkable coincidences", there seemed to be a concert of action by the elements and otherwise. Other dams were opened, heavy rain storms flooded the upper country, and there was immediately a boom in the water of the Saint Croix, and logs went booming along toward the great Stillwater boom.
Logs from the "low-water" drives were easily floated off, and came down stream in immense rafts, almost blockading the river as they moved along.
Reaching the famous dells of the Saint Croix, their course was interrupted. The channel was too narrow and the current too sluggish to allow their passage in such large bodies, and shortly after midnight, Sunday morning, they "hung-up" and began jamming and piling.
Something such a catastrophe has been anticipated, and yet it came unexpectedly, for the men who had been here for weeks, building sheerbooms at the eddies in the dells, and keeping watch to prevent a jam, were asleep in their tents, and their booms were broken, and the formation of the biggest jam ever known commenced before they were aware of it.
Davidson, the man charged with the latest blowing up of Chase's dam on Clam river, is reported as in jail at Grantsburg for contempt of court. Mr. Chase had heretofore indulged in a great deal of fooling about the dam, and had been enjoined by the court from interfering. His last exploit really offended the Wisconsin court, and the St. Croix lumbermen are glad. Davidson has long proclaimed alleged rights to overflowed lands, but has always considered himself the court, and when felt aggrieved would resort to dynamite to blow up the corporation dam.
Up on Clam Lake an irascible Scotchman, Robert Davidson, had been carrying on a feud with certain lumbermen who had dammed the river and flooded his land. ... He blew out the Clam River Dam with a well-placed charge of dynamite.
Robert Davidson, a Scotchman, came to the Siren community in 1865. He entered what is probably the first homestead in the township. He made his living chiefly by hunting and furnishing venison to the logging camps along the Clam River. He lived in a log shanty near where the Clam River bridge on 70 is now located and levied tribute from the logging companies for flooding his land when they drove their logs down the river. He lived to the ripe old age of 102 years, a living example that dirt does not kill anyone. Shortly after the first World War he became quite ill and was taken by some kind person to Webster. These people game him a bath and he died within twenty-four hours.
The dam on Clam River, built at a cost of $10,000, was, in 1886, blown up by dynamite and destroyed by Robert Davidson, who claimed that the flowage interfered with his meadow lands.
Per St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota)? Because we don't want it moved while it's on the main page. --valereee ( talk) 16:57, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
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Reviewer: GhostRiver ( talk · contribs) 16:58, 17 January 2022 (UTC)
Hello! I'll be taking a look at this article for the
January 2022 GAN backlog drive. If you haven't already signed up, please feel free to join in! Although QPQ is not required, if you're feeling generous, I also have a list of GA nominations of my own
right here.
Good Article review progress box
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This was a winter activity, as the trees were so large that the only way to move them through the forests was by horse-drawn sleds.Slightly unclear connection; I suppose the sleds necessitate that this be done in winter, but it's not immediately clear
could deal withand
pile up, don't end sentences with prepositions
It was fearedby whom?
Using ropes, land-based steam engines and horses tried to pull out logs from the jam.Awkward sentence construction; while it shows now that the engines and horses were the ones using the ropes, a first read suggests that some unnamed force was using ropes, engines, and horses
so were highly welcome events thereawkward phrase construction
Thank you for your patience as I deal with my migraine headaches. Putting on hold for now. Feel free to reach out with questions, and please let me know when you're finished. — Ghost River 16:50, 28 January 2022 (UTC)