Charles "Red" McCollister collection, 1929-2006

Charles "Red" McCollister was born in Gooding, Idaho, on July 5, 1917. He attended school in Gooding, ID, and Peck, ID. After graduating from high school in 1936, McCollister worked for the US Forest Service. In 1941, McCollister went to work for Potlatch Forests, Inc., working as a bulldozer driver and cross-cut sawyer before rising through the ranks as a saw boss, skidding boss, camp foreman, and logging production superintendent. He retired in 1982.

McCollister is perhaps best known as the foreman of the annual log drives down the Clearwater River. The first log drive took place in 1928; McCollister led the drives from 1950 until they were discontinued in 1971 because of the construction of the Dworshak Dam, completed in 1972. During the log drive years, loggers cut logs during the summer, fall, and winter, stacking them along the river until the water level rose in the spring. During the spring drive, log drivers ensured that the logs floated down to the mill in Lewiston, ID. This work involved using various means, such as peavies (a pole with a spike and hook on one end) and explosives, to free up log jams. During the drives, workers lived on the "wanigan," a barge with bunkhouses and a cook shack.

The log drive was frequently publicized, covered in newspapers, magazines, books, audio programs, and films.

Charles McCollister married June Huffman, a cookhouse employee in one of the Potlatch logging camps, in 1944; the couple had three children: James, Patricia, and Sandra. McCollister died on February 12, 2010, at the age of 92.

Sources: Charles J. McCollister, 92, Lewiston. The Lewiston Tribune. https://www.lmtribune.com/obituaries/charles-j-mccollister-92-lewiston-8d188c53/. Archived: https://perma.cc/57ZF-Q5AU

The Clearwater River Log Drives: A Photo Essay.https://foresthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/mccollister_the-clearwater-river-log-drives.pdf. Archived: https://perma.cc/33VU-HH46

Famed logger Red McCollister dies at 92. The Lewiston Tribune. https://www.lmtribune.com/northwest/famed-logger-red-mccollister-dies-at-92-0d18ba7b/. Archived:https://perma.cc/6H3F-D4VH