History of Rafting

Whitewater rafting has a pretty exciting history. As far as historians know, rafting began when the Nez Perce and other Native American tribes built rafts in Oregon and Idaho. Flowing through Oregon is the Columbia River. This river and its tributaries provided abundant fishing for the many tribes living along the water. Along Columbia’s largest tributary is the Snake River, where the Nez Perce tribe lived and later on passed their knowledge of rafting to Lewis and Clark. Read on for more about the history of rafting.

Tracing all the way back to the 1800’s was the first recorded attempt to navigate a river with a raft. In 1811 a trip to navigate the Snake River in Wyoming was planned. The men who tried to run this river decided it was much too dangerous and difficult to be safely rafted and gave it the nickname the “Mad River” after their failed attempt.

Fast forward about 30 years and the first rubber raft was made by Lt. John Fremont and designed Horace H. Day. These two men planned to head out and survey the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. Their first known trip took place in 1842 to survey the Platte River. Their raft design was further improved by Peter Halkett of Britain and allowed people to navigate the challenging waters in the Northeastern United States.

A century later whitewater rafting really began to grow as a sport. In June of 1940, along the Salmon River in Idaho the first commercial rafting trip took place using surplus military rafts and this river is still run commercially to this day! After World War II, the sport of whitewater rafting continued to grow year after year. In 1967 John Cooke and Denny Becker’s Becker-Cooke Expeditions began guiding the Snake River, one of today’s most popular rivers to raft. In 1972 whitewater sports took place in the Munich Olympics for the first time, further increasing the popularity of the sport!

Today there are many options for rivers to test your skills as well as whitewater guiding companies to help you get down the river safely. Now that you know a little of the history of whitewater rafting, it’s time to get out on the water yourself. Next time you’re looking to book a trip or rent a raft, give us a call at Colorado River Rentals! 970-423-7036