History of Whitewater Rafting

It is interesting to note that whitewater rafting wasturn of the century that the first ever commercial
one of the earliest forms of transportation. It waswhitewater trip was undertaken. At first, surplus
not only used for carrying people but also formilitary rafts were used as boats and it was only
transferring goods from one place to another.much later that inflatable rafts were used.
However, it became quite popular as a form ofPrivate companies played a major role in augmenting
leisure activity in the 1980s.the rafting business. In 1956, one of the members of
In 1811, the first recorded attempt to navigate thethe most affluent business families of America, John
Snake River in Wyoming was planned by theD. Rockefeller built a resort that introduced one of
Overland Astorians. While attempting to boat thethe first floating trips in the country. However, it only
stretch below Jackson Hole, the river was found toevoked a lukewarm response. Later, in the 1960s and
be too treacherous and it came to be called ?Mad1970s, exclusive whitewater rafting companies were
River.?formed. These include the Becker-Cooke Expeditions,
The rubber river raft is believed to have beenHatch River Expeditions and Slickrock Adventures.
invented in the early 1840s. It was first made by Lt.Rafting was first included in the Munich Olympic
John Fremont, who was then serving in the U.S armyGames, 1972. Subsequently, it was included in the
and Horace H. Day. They invented the rubber raft1992 Barcelona Games and the 1996 Atlanta Games.
with the intention of surveying the Rocky MountainsIn 1996, the Ocoee River in Tennessee Valley played
and the Great Plains. Although the raft was inventedhost to the whitewater events of the Summer
in the mid-nineteenth century, it was not until theOlympic Games.