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The early McKenzie River drift boats reached their apotheosis through the deft hands of guide and boat builder Woodie Hindman. Woodie was born in McLean, Texas in 1895. During his early years he was a Texas Panhandle ranch hand and café operator. In 1934 he moved to Eugene to lease a hotel, The Hampton. Shortly after his arrival he became interested in the McKenzie, its fishery and the boats. He had a spirit of adventure, a keen sense of humor and talent as a camp cook. In 1937 he met and married Ruth Wilhoit. They had no children. | |||
| Woodie and Ruthie, circa 1939, courtesy of Ruth Burleigh |
| In addition to running the hotel Woodie built boats and guided. His boat building career began in 1935 under the tutelage of Kaarhus. Woodie worked for Tom for a time in 1935. By 1941 Woodie had built his own shop in Springfield and moved there. He sold his business to Marty Rathje in 1954. |
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Although Ruthie didn't build boats she did share Woodies flare for adventure. Like Woodie she too became a licensed guide. In fact, she and Ruby Taylor (Kenny's wife) would team up when the men were off guiding somewhere and would hit the rivers themselves, often out-fishing the men. In August 1939 she joined Woodie for the first successful solo down the Middle Fork of the Salmon in a hard boat. | |||
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Ruthie tending camp on the Middle Fork, courtesy of Ruth Burleigh |
| Their experiences on that trip prompted Woodie to think about a new design for the McKenzie. He built and used the square-ender at the time. The only problem was it tended to be slapped around a bit as the down river transom encountered heavy water. Two accounts report that Woodie's boat was turned around in some serious white water so that he had to negotiate the water bow first. "I liked the way it cut through the waves," he noted. |
 Woodie and early board and batten boat, courtesy of Ruth Burleigh
Ruthie and her sister, Nora, in the McKenzie White Water parade, circa 1940, courtesy of Ruth Burleigh. |
I believe his cumulative experiences with the square-ender, not simply the '39' Middle Fork trip, led to his new design. He built his new boat during the winter of 1939-40. It was a 14' (around the sheer) double-ender. He simply repeated the bow frame pattern and replicated it for the stern, except that he lengthen the down river frames to accentuate the down river prow. The new design revolutionized McKenzie River drift boats, although it was not until 1946 that he was able to build 16' boats due to the limitations on plywood panel lengths. The double-ender became Woodie's boat of choice. The boat's popularity was tied to its functionality. It was a charm to row due to the accentuated rocker. It would pivot on a dime. This boat sports the most extreme rocker of the early McKenzies. Its crescent lines are lovely. As Woodie noted in one of his diaries, the lines had a purpose: "…to resemble the crescent shapes of the waves …" The boat, however had at least one limitation, the loss of some interior space. This boat also became the choice of many River guides through the 1940s. | |||
 Woodie's double ender re-created full size from plans developed at the River's Touch. The boat was built by Ray Heater.
Woodie's first double ender with a transom re-crated by Roger Fletcher at the River's Touch.
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In 1946 Woodie modified the double-ender. He removed
the up river bow and replaced it with a small tombstone type transom.
McKenzie River guide Everett Spaulding claims he talked Woodie into this
modification. A 1974 Eugene Register-Guard article about the McKenzie boats
quotes Spaulding as saying he was tired of rowing the long, slow, lower
stretches of the Umpqua and Rogue Rivers. He said he wanted Woodie to build
a double-ender with a small transom so he could hang a motor off the transom
to move him more quickly through the slow water. Regardless the reason
Woodie built his first double-ender with a transom in 1946. It was 16'
around the sheer and measured 5'6-1/4" across the beam amidships and 4'
across the bottom. It was this boat that set the standard for all subsequent
McKenzie style drift boats. It also raised questions and debates about which
end of the boat was actually the stern and which end was actually the bow.
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