Nebraska Boom. Penobscot River. Maine

Abstract Alex Rouleau, interviewed by Mary Beth O’Conner for FO 107, November 30, 1973, Old Town, Maine. Rouleau talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; living conditions; leisure activities (gathering spruce gum, fishing, swimming, games); meals; stray logs; wages; Nebraska and Pea Cove booms; log jams; tools; rigging; beats; jobber’s marks; Rex Buzzell; Walter Buzzell; Gene Mann; Billy Mann. The interview is part of a project that led to an issue of Northeast Folklore, XVII:...

Abstract Emile Leavitt, interviewed by Mark LaFond for FO 107, October 25, 1973, Old Town, Maine. Leavitt talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; construction of boom piers; checking, rafting, dropping off and other aspects of boom operation; use of wedges in assembling rafts; use of pickeroon; swings; the back way drive; meals and living conditions; Pea Cove and Nebraska booms; his work building dams for Great Northern Paper Co. The interviews are part of a project that led...

Abstract Leon Bussell, Emile Leavitt, Ernest Kennedy, Stephen “Rex” Buzzell, interviewed by class of FO 107, November 8, 1973, November 15, 1973, November 20, 1973, and November 27, 1973 (respectively) Room B South Stevens Hall, UMaine, Orono, Maine. During the interviews, there was a model of Argyle Boom on the table, tools of the trade, maps, aerial photographs, and a number of Archives photographs available for the respondents to comment on. Bussell, Leavitt, Kennedy, and Buzzell talk about the...

Abstract

Harry Kennedy, interviewed by Mark LaFond for FO 107, November 12, 1973, Pea Cove, Maine. Kennedy talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; rafting and dropping off logs; stray rafts; jillpoking; checking; Pea Cove and Nebraska booms; Gene Mann and Billy Mann; Walter Buzzell; Irish workers; Greenville; endway rafts; the trip. The interview is part of a project that led to an issue of Northeast Folklore, XVII: “Argyle Boom.”

Abstract Harry Twitchell, interviewed by Leslie “Dusty” Carr for FO 107, October 26, 29, November 27, 1973; by Lucinda Lamb and Elizabeth Warner for AY 125, November 14, 1975, Greenbush, Maine. Twitchell talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; tools and techniques for rafting, checking, and sorting logs; dropping off; swings; Sunkhaze Rips; Pea Cove; Nebraska boom; Cow Island; White Squaw Island; Birch Island; building piers; hanging the boom; the boom house, meals and living...

Abstract Leon Bussell, Emile Leavitt, Ernest Kennedy, Stephen “Rex” Buzzell, interviewed by class of FO 107, November 8, 1973, November 15, 1973, November 20, 1973, and November 27, 1973 (respectively) Room B South Stevens Hall, UMaine, Orono, Maine. During the interviews, there was a model of Argyle Boom on the table, tools of the trade, maps, aerial photographs, and a number of Archives photographs available for the respondents to comment on. Bussell, Leavitt, Kennedy, and Buzzell talk about the...

Abstract Stephen R. “Rex” Buzzell, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives for FO 107, October 23, 1973, Old Town, Maine. Buzzell talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; the spring flood and resulting log jam of 1923; construction of jam piers; Sunkhaze, Nebraska and Pea Cove booms; use of shear boom; buildings on White Squaw Island; living conditions and recreation; structure and operation of boom, gap, beats, jigger, marks, swings, stray raft, dropping off; tools. The...

Scope and Contents From the Collection: The Argyle Boom Collection consists of approximately seventy-five hours of tape recorded interviews (now digitized). The interviews deal with Argyle Boom, which was one of several locations at which logs that had been cut upriver and floated or “driven” down the Penobscot River were sorted before being sent on to the lumber mills in Old Town, Orono, Veazie, Bangor, and Brewer, Maine, from approximately 1900 to 1930. The material includes interviews with people who had worked on the boom and...

Abstract William McLaughlin, interviewed by Elizabeth “Betsy” Warner for AY 125, November 22, 1975, Old Town, Maine. McLaughlin talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; dropping off and running crews; marks; sorting logs; rafting logs; Nebraska and Pea Cove booms; White Squaw Island; friends Darky Willet, Harvey Cutliff, Dave Seymore, Cody Martin, Harry Cutliff; living conditions and meals; construction of piers; use of steam boats; mills. Interview was part of a project that...