Echoes of Log Driving History

The Gold Digger Falls are on the Serpentine River in northwestern New Brunswick. Back when they used to drive logs down the rivers to the saw mills, falls such as these were more than a bit dangerous for the men who worked the drives. When the river was at driving pitch, the water tore through places such as this with a fury that only the master drivers could conquer. One misstep and you were a dead man. That is all history now, but stand there beside the falls with your eyes closed and you just might hear the shouts of the stream drivers of old as they leapt from log to log in their corked boots.

Fred Paget, photographer