 Peter Herdic and two business partners, Mahlon Fisher and John Reading, purchased the Susquehanna Boom and expanded it so that it could hold up to 300 million board feet (700 million m³) of lumber.At this time the most efficient sawmill in Williamsport could process only 100,000 board feet (200 m³) of lumber in a week.The sawmills at first could not possibly keep up with the vast amounts of lumber floating in the West Branch.