Double ended drift boats
Around 1950 the McKenzie River White Water Parade queen is floating the river in a classic double ender.
The addition of a "bow" on both ends of the boat was a turning point in white water drift boat design and the beginning of a long and unending argument about which end of the boat is the bow and which end is the stern. This design is able to take on big white water with the rower facing down stream while the new sharp "stern" deflected water and avoided being pushed from side to side as the square end boat might.
An October 2, 1938 edition of The Sunday Oregonian details a trip by Prince Helfrich and Veltie Pruitt down Oregon's Deschutes river. It took superb rowing to keep their square enders from being controlled by the big water and at times they spun their boats around to enter rapids point first.
The double ender removed the need to spin the boat and allows a less skilled rower to enter white water facing the direction you are moving and in a much better position to maintain control.
McKenzie River lore is that boat builder Woodie Hindman had the square end of his boat pushed around while running the Salmon River in Idaho. His solution to the problem was to put the point on both ends of the boat. This was a very popular boat in the late 1940's. It has more rocker than other drift boats and is a very quick turning, nimble design perfect for spring creeks in the smaller sizes.
