Square Ended Drift Boats
In this McKenzie River white water parade photo taken around the late 1930s you can see that most boats on the river were the square ended design.
The square end of the early Mckenzie River drift boats can be seen in photographs as early as the1920's. The older boats were long heavy weight boats that could take a beating; however, these boats needed to be faried around larger rapids. The lighter square enders first made of cedar boards with battens and later out of plywood are a very versital design that became a favorite of McKenzie River guides and anglers.
Veltie Pruitt's famous lightweight cedar board and batten boat was 16 feet long and only 36 inches wide. Veltie, along with good friend and fellow river guide Prince Helfrich, used this boat for the 1938 movie Shooting the Deschutes; a movie was shown the next year at the Worlds Fair in N.Y. and San Francisco.
