The Great Raft: How a Logjam Built Shreveport

For centuries, a 100-mile logjam called the Great Raft choked the Red River above Natchitoches, making the upper river impassable. In 1833, steamboat engineer Captain Henry Shreve began clearing the jam — a five-year project that opened the upper Red River to commerce. Within months, settlers flooded in and a town appeared at the head of navigation. They named it Shreveport. The raft's removal created Caddo Lake (still the only natural lake in Texas and Louisiana) and triggered a land rush across northwest Louisiana. Without the raft, and without the engineer who broke it, the city wouldn't exist.