Roger Fletcher's book "Drift Boats and River Dories" looks at the history and construction of these boats, made famous on the McKenzie and Rogue rivers. Submitted photo

Roger Fletcher’s presentations attract not only sport fishers and wooden boat aficionados, but river guides, modelers, drift boat users and anyone else interested in the history of drift boats. A gifted and enthused speaker, Fletcher brings his dedicated research of drift boats to life at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 3, at the Columbia River Maritime Museum. There will be numerous models of re-created originals, along with a full-sized, 16-foot Rapid Robert, one of the 10 recovered wooden boats featured in his celebrated book, “Drift Boats and River Dories.”

Fletcher will discuss vessel performance characteristics and the story of their recovery and will highlight his presentation with raw footage of the early boats at work. The listener will become engrossed with these early river running pioneers as Fletcher weaves the exciting, curious and dynamic stories about these “eddies of evolution” and the fascinating tales about the men and women behind the boats.

“Drift Boats and River Dories” is a fascinating history of the river pioneers who designed, built and used the early river dories and their successive incarnations. Not only does this book shed light on a little-known but significant piece of Oregon history, it details Oregon’s unique contribution to wooden boat design. With marine illustrator Sam Manning’s drawings, the book documents the traditional free-form method of drift boat construction and provides sufficient detail to model 10 boats to scale or build them full size.

If you want to know more about drift boats, if you’re considering building one, or if you’re simply interested in the historical development of a uniquely Western craft with strong ties to fishing, don’t miss “Drift Boats and River Dories.” Books are available through the museum store.

This presentation is free for museum members and free with paid admission for non-members. For more information, go to the Web site at www.crmm.org or call (503) 325-2323.

The Columbia River Maritime Museum is located at 1792 Marine Drive. Regular admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors older than 65, $5 for youth ages 6 to 17 and free for children younger than 6. Museum members are admitted free of charge.