Lake Fork Verne - Rafting Logs On The Illinois Chords

Rafting Logs On The Illinois
(c) by:  Verne Garrison April 27, 2009
Banjo tuned E, Key D, Capo 1

Chorus:                        

  D                          G      D
A summer experience, I will never forget
                               A
In my early days of forester training
 D     G       D
I remember it yet
                             A      D
But today, I know those years are waning

                               G   D
We were rafting logs, off of Bath Chute,
                       A
A channel on the Old Illinois
       D                  G        D  
Rolling them off of Grand Island Butte
                   A        D
A quiet scene, hardly any noise

We stapled one inch steel cable into top of the log
Let it float down stream, then attach another
Three strings, a hundred foot or so long
Then float them down to Beardstown ,in all kinds of weather

Chorus:

Swamp Oak, Maple and Black Gum
Used long pike pole, hammer, staples, and cable
We walked the bobbing logs with care
For beneath the log raft lay cottonmouth lair

Our job, to get the logs down the Illinois River
To Casswood Industries circular saw mill
Just remembering that ride, makes me shiver
That dark black river, it all seems so real

Keeping the log raft in tow
With a flat-bottom skiffie
Powered by Model A Ford engine
Dodging barges and sunken logs
Made the whole trip more than just iffy


Chorus: