The River Boss

In the frozen heart of a winter river, a team of rough‑shod laborers faces a job that few would dare to accept: moving millions of feet of timber down a raging current before the deadline looms. At the centre stands Jimmy, a compact, unflinching foreman whose silence is as solid as the rocks lining the banks. His unchanging stare and habit of puffing on a long‑been pipe give him an almost mythic presence, and his simple rule—“Get the logs out, peacefully if you can, but get them out”—guides every decision.

When the firm contracts the impossible—five million feet of logs piled three miles upstream—Jimmy assembles a crew and sets the operation in motion. The men break rollways, wrestle jammed timber, and dive into icy water to free stubborn trunks, while a designated “jam crew” works like surgeons to keep the river flowing. The narrative captures the raw physicality of the work, the camaraderie forged in freezing tents, and the relentless rhythm of a river that both threatens and rewards its handlers.