The Great Raft began forming sometime around the beginning of the last millennium.
The trees filled the river and formed a series of intermittent log jams that stretched for miles.
The jam also forced water over the banks and into the valley creating numerous large and deep lakes.
Woodruff blew up the logs, dredged the riverbed, created reservoirs, and constructed dams.
The work progressed fast.
Although the river was finally open for navigation, the geology of the Red River valley was changed forever.
Many lakes and bayous that the river created disappeared.
Only those protected by dams remained.
By the half of the next century, only local rock barges traversed the Red River.
Sources:Invasives Watch/Red River Historian
