Jon Dragan, the first outfitter to offer trips on West Virginia’s New and Gauley Rivers, died suddenly on February 12th, 2005. He was 62. Jon began his commercial rafting career in 1964 on the Youghiogheny River, and in 1966 John Sweet took him down the New River Gorge. Dragan looked past the areas strip mines, junked cars, and ramshackle houses and saw the marvelous beauty of it’s mountains and rivers. Jon and his brothers founded Wildwater Unlimited in 1968 and soon became known for their high standards on and off the river. Their early guests included many future outfitters and guides. Over the next three decades the whitewater rafting business became an economic engine that transformed the area. Over five million rafting guests ran the New and Gauley in the past 37 years. Jon was a long time member of American Whitewater and a strong C-1 paddler in the early part of his career. He will be sorely missed by thousands of paddlers in New River country and beyond.