I saw a program on TV about 10-12 years ago describing a ship loaded with logs sinking in the lake in the late 1800's. The program was about the salvage efforts. The logs were extremely tight grained maple and in excellent condition. The salvager made a ton of money selling the logs. According to the program, it wasn't so much the cold water treatment over a century that made the logs so valuable but rather the tightness of the grain. I have heard since then of cuemakers making shafts from this wood.
Here is some more information for ya lunchmoney. It is a pretty cool site.
Purdman
In the 1800's logging mills dotted the shorelines of lakes and rivers that were adjacent to the majestic forests of North America. Thousands of rugged lumberjacks felled millions of virgin trees that were previously untouched by man. These logs were tied into rafts and floated to the lumber mills for processing. Most of the lumber was used for building the great cities of the Industrial Revolution, except the logs that were lost before reaching their destination. These logs also known as 'sinkers', became waterlogged in transit and in their subsequent holding ponds and settled to the bottom. Forgotten, these sunken timbers have remained at the bottoms of lakes and rivers for over a century, untouched and perfectly preserved in the icy cold waters of the North. It wasn't until the 1990's when Timeless Timber discovered these lost 'sinkers' and devised methods for the recovery and state-of-the-art kiln drying of these irreplaceable woods.
. I had a shaft made from this wood and it was pretty nice. For the most part it's the same type of feel that the old cues had before someone decided whiter is better. I beleive the shaft was priced about the same as a Predator shaft. It did seem somewhat heavier and more dense. I have a shaft from a C series McDermott that I liked better so I don't have the underwater shaft anymore. Getting these logs was a big specialty business when I lived in Minnesota 10 years ago.
