a I b R.AFLY OF THE U NIVLRSITY or ILLINOIS 917.7 ILLINOIS HISTCRICAL SURVEY On tlie Wafer Way fo io^sva Steam Doatmg On ttke Upper Mississippi Tlie Water Way to Iowa Some^ River history Ic^m. J. Tetersen-. Publisked &i Iowa City Iowa in 1937 ly TLe State Historical Society of Iowa COPYRIGHT 1937 BY THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA PRINTED BY THE TORCH PRESS FOR THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA, IOWA CITY, IOWA '"/. I o the memory of 'Unaries L. IPefersen wno spent tniriy-eiglii years of aaven- forevriflu trie Jjianiomic! Jo JLioc Ofcanmers Q72.'5(58 i'^Foan ilie ll/diitoF Xiie Cjrreai l\iver aicr 'vray io ioiva it s m a mamr! From sky fjiiiae wafers Manj sicamlboais oteamlDoait capiaios oteamaooai cargoes ofeamLlttoat excuarsions VamsJnimg red men lijucliaii treaty groTumcls Jrrontier military Jtorts ooicliers come audi go Jh/migrant pioneers vV estward tliey go C^rossmg tke river Visions ok empire Benj. F« bliamljaugii Stftfe oistoracal aocicty oil Iowa Iowa i^liy loyva. Confenis FROM THE EDITOR 7 1 MISSISSIPPI : THE GREAT RIVER u 2 VERITAS CAPUT : ITASCA 13 3 THE JOURNEY OF THE WATERS 22 4 UNDER FOUR FLAGS 28 5 FULTON'S FOLLY : A MISSISSIPPI DREAM 36 6 MONOPOLY ON THE MISSISSIPPI 41 7 A FLATBOAT ODYSSEY 48 8 THE VOYAGE OF THE NEW ORLEANS 57 9 HENRY MILLER SHREVE . 68 10 ST. LOUIS : A PORT OF CALL 75 11 THE STORY OF THE WESTERN ENGINEER .... «i 12 THE VOYAGE OF THE VIRGINIA 9o 15 THE INDIAN AND THE STEAMBOAT 107 1-1 TO TREATY GROUNDS BY STEAMBOAT iii 15 VISITING THE GREAT WHITE FATHER 118 16 THE TRANSPORTATION OF INDIAN ANNUITIES . 126 17 THE LAST RED CARGOES 134 18 FACTS, FIGURES, FURS, AND BUFFALO ROBES . . . 144 19 FREIGHT FOR RED RIVER OXCARTS 162 20 STEAMBOATS ON THE MILITARY FRONTIER . . . . 167 21 WARS AND RUMORS OF WAR 174 22 MOVEMENT OF TROOPS IN PEACE TIMES . i9o 23 TRANSPORTATION OF SUPPLIES i96 [9] Contents 2-i PIGS OF LEAD 204 25 THE FEVER RIVER SETTLEMENT 210 26 THE PORT OF GALENA 2/5 27 STEAMBOAT BONANZAS 227 28 RACE HORSES IN THE LEAD TRADE 2)9 29 RIVAL TRADE ROUTES 242 30 1 CATLIN AND THE FASHIONABLE TOUR 248 51 THE WEST NEWTON VS. THE DIE VERNON . ... 266 _^'32 THE GRAND EXCURSION OF 18^4 271 ^ 35 MID PLEASURES ON PALACES 287 5^ PATHS OF EMPIRE 296 55 THEY CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI }oi ^Zb ON THE TRAIL OF THE IMMIGRANTS }j6 ^ 37 TO THE NORTH STAR STATE }3} 38 LIFE ON THE DECK AND IN THE CABIN 3 5J - ^^: CABIN AND DECK PASSAGE 3/T ^0 MANY CARGOES AND STRANGE 381 •^11 CAPTAIN JOSEPH THROCKMORTON 39 1 42 DANIEL SMITH HARRIS : A FIGHTING SKIPPER . 406 4o THE RACE OF THE GREY EAGLE ^t' >4*« WHEN CAPTAINS RULED LIKE KINGS 4}S 4o THE OPENING OF NAVIGATION 45' -lb CLOSING OF NAVIGATION 4^4 47 ICE GORGES AND WINTER QUARTERS 475 4S NAMESAKES OF THE OJIBWAY 4«3 NOTES AND REFEF.ENCES 4^7 INDEX 553 [10] iMLississippi ° I lie virrcait JKivcr From the Laud of the Ojibway Far flung and powerful was the Algonquian nation, ranging all the way from the Passamaquoddy Indians of Maine to the Arapaho of Montana, and from the Cree around Hudson Bay to the Pamlico in North Carolina. Of the many tribes that composed this great woodland stock of North American Indians none was more powerful than the Ojibway. Fierce warriors of the lake and forest, the Ojibway be- came the scourge of surrounding tribes once they secured firearms from the French traders late in the seventeenth century. They drove the Fox Indians from northern Wis- consin. They sent the Sioux scurrying across the Missis- sippi and on to the Minnesota River. They were likewise successful in battle against the dreaded Iroquois. Finally, the Ojibway occupied the vast range of territory between Lake Superior and the Red River of the North. '^ Knowing that the lakes and streams which they trav- ersed in birch canoes paid tribute to a mighty rivets, the Ojibway called this waterway the Mississippi, which means Great River.l This name, at first used only in reference to the headwaters of the Great River, was passed on by the various Algonquian tribes to the French fur traders [11] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi and missionaries, who in turn applied it to the river as it coursed southward. In time the name Mississippi dis- placed the various Indian names in use along the lower river, such as Chucagua, Tamaliseu, Tapatu, and Mico. At least thirty or more names had been applied to the Mississippi, such as Rio Grande, Palisado, and Escondido by the Spanish; and St. Louis, Conception, Buade, and Colbert by the French. Adopting a spelling based on the Indian sound, Hennepin called it Meschasipi on his map of 1697; while William Delisle, the brilliant cartographer to the French king, spelled it uniformly Mississipi on his maps of 1703, 1718, and 1750. Jonathan Carver used the present spelling, and later writers and map-makers have followed his example.^ For many years the boundary between war-like tribes and mighty nations, the Mississippi served as the main highway in the discovery and exploration of an inland empire. Over its waters passed wave upon wave of pio- neers eager to build enduring Commonwealths west of the Great River. Upon its placid bosom floated rich argosies of grain and merchandise. (To this day the Missis- sippi remains for the white man what it was to the dusky Ojibway — the Great River.) [12] 2 Veritas C^apot I Jllasca What's in a Name Many notable men ventured into the wilderness to dis- cover the true source of the Mississippi. Their exploits have been recorded in history; and the names of many of them may still be found on the map of the Upper Missis- sippi Valley. The achievements of Zebulon M. Pike, Lewis Cass, Giacomo C. Beltrami, and Henry R. Schoolcraft form part of this dramatic story of exploration : faced by starvation and the danger of Indian attack, each modestly inscribed his name in the story of the discovery of the headwaters of the Mississippi. First to carry the flag of discovery to the sources of the Mississippi was Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike. Braving the frozen northland in the dead of winter. Pike managed to reach Leech Lake on January 31, 1806. Fourteen years later, Lewis Cass, with a party of thirty-eight men, among whom was Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, entered Cass Lake but failed to reach the headwaters of the Mississippi. Cass learned, however, from the "best information" obtainable, that the Mississippi had its origin in a lake called "La Biche" or Elk Lake. In 1823 Beltrami, a man of courage and endurance (even though he may have been a "hero- ^ worshipper, with but one hero, and that himself") , placed [13] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi the sources of the Mississippi in Lake Julia, a tributary of Turtle Lake. \It was not until 1832 that the true source of the Great River was discovered by Henry Rowe School- craftp Schoolcraft was born in Albany County, New York, on March 28, 1793. Trained in languages and the natural sciences, he began his career as an explorer in the mineral region of Missouri and Arkansas in 1817-1818. His pub- lished account of this expedition won instant recognition; and in 1820 the government requested him to join Gover- nor Lewis Cass of Michigan on what turned out to be an unsuccessful exploration of the Upper Mississippi. Ten years later (in 1830) Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, then serving as Indian Agent, was ordered to "proceed into the Chippewa country, to endeavor to put an end to the hostilities between the Chippewas and Sioux." Schoolcraft set out in June of 1831 with twenty-six men, but low water caused him to change his plans. After holding In- dian conferences on the St. Croix and Chippewa rivers, he paddled down the Mississippi and up the Fever River to Galena. Here the party divided, some returning by the Wisconsin River, others by way of the Pecatonica and its branches to Fort Winnebago, the Fox River, and Green Bay." In the following spring the War Department again or- dered Schoolcraft to "proceed to the country upon the heads of the Mississippi, and visit as many of the Indians in that, and the intermediate region, as circumstances will permit." Accordingly, on June 7, 1832, Schoolcraft set [14] Veritas Caput : Itasca out with a force of thirty men, including Lieutenant James Allen and ten soldiers detached for topographical duty, Dr. Douglas Houghton, a surgeon and geologist, and George Johnston, a half-breed interpreter. Reverend Wil- liam T. Boutwell, a missionary to the northwestern In- dians, was invited to accompany the exploring party: he was destined to play a unique role in the expedition. The Schoolcraft expedition reached the Mississippi from Lake Superior by ascending the St. Louis River and por- taging into and descending the Sandy Lake River. Begin- ning the ascent of the Mississippi on July 4, 1832, the party passed through Thundering [Grand] Rapids, Poke- gama Falls, Lake Winnebagoshish, and on to Cass Lake. It was at Cass Lake that Schoolcraft chose a "select party" to explore the source of the Mississippi. A Chip- pewa Indian named Ozawindib (The Yellowhead) acted as guide. The party of sixteen included Schoolcraft, Allen, Houghton, Boutwell, George Johnston, three Indians, seven engages, and a cook. "These, with their travelling beds", Schoolcraft relates, "were distributed among five canoes, with provisions for ten days, a tent and poles, oil cloth, mess basket, tea-kettle, flag and stafif, a medicine chest, some instruments, an herbarium, fowling pieces, and a few Indian presents." Ozawindib guided Schoolcraft and his men up the hitherto unknown east fork of the Mississippi to its source. Thence the party made a six-mile portage which required thirteen stops (called by the voyageurs a '^pose" or "place of putting down the burthen") . Despite heavy loads, the [15] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi expedition pressed on eagerly. Suddenly, on turning out of a thicket into a small weedy opening, Schoolcraft came upon the "cheering sight of a transparent body of water . . .'It was Itasca Lake i— the source of the Mis- ; sissippi." ' Everyone was delighted with the picturesque surround- ings. Schoolcraft noted that "Itasca Lake, the Lac la Bicbe [Elk] of the French, is, in every respect, a beautiful sheet of water, seven or eight miles in extent, lying among hills of diluvial formation, surmounted with pines, which fringe the distant horizon . . . The waters are transparent and bright, and reflect a foliage produced by the elm, lynn, maple, and cherry". The lake had a "single island" upon which the exploring party landed and raised the American emblem on a flagstaff. The island is known to ^ this day as Schoolcraft Island. After a scant three hours the expedition departed down the Mississippi through the outlet of Lake Itasca, which Schoolcraft described as "perhaps ten to twelve feet broad, with an apparent depth of twelve to eighteen inches. The discharge of water appears to be copious, compared to its inlet. Springs may, however, produce accessions which are not visible, and this is probable both from the geolog- ical character of the country, and the transparency and coolness of the water." Jubilant over the success of his expedition, Schoolcraft paddled swiftly down the Mississippi from Lake Itasca, holding occasional conferences with Indians on the way. Upon his return to Sault Ste. Marie he prepared his "Nar- [16] Veritas Caput : Itasca rative of an Expedition Through the Upper Mississippi to Itasca Lake, the Actual Source of this River" in 1832." Four years later (in 1836) the distinguished French scholar, J. N. Nicollet, found other "inconsiderable afflu- ents" of Lake Itasca, but contended that this lake was the "principal reservoir". Nicollet generously declared that "the honor of having first explored the sources of the Mississippi, and introduced a knowledge of them in phys- ical geography, belongs to Mr. Schoolcraft and Lieutenant Allen. I come only after these gentlemen; but I may be permitted to claim some merit for having completed what was wanting for a full geographical account of these sources . Whence came the beautiful name Itasca? That is a question which has kept historians in a quandary for sev- eral generations. At the time neither Schoolcraft, nor Allen, nor Houghton, nor Boutwell, seem to have given a satisfactory explanation of the origin and use of this name. In 1853 Mrs. Mary H. Eastman published the American Aboriginal Portfolio in which she recounts that Itasca was the daughter of Nanabozho, the Spirit God of the Chip- pewa, whose falling tears formed the lake. Mrs. Eastman declared that Schoolcraft had received the story from his Chippewa guide and had told it to her. Schoolcraft a little later confirmed this theory when he himself wrote a poem on the lovely Itasca which was included in his Summary Narrative of the expeditions of 1820 and 1832 published in 185 5. In the same book, however, he states that Ozawindib had given the Indian name for the [17] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi lake as Omushkos, which was the Chippewa name for elk. In 1872 new light was shed on the origin of the name by Reverend William T. Boutwell. Replying to an in- quiry as to the origin of the word Itasca, Boutwell declared that while paddling slowly westward across Lake Superior, Schoolcraft had turned to him and said : "I would like to give a name to Elk Lake that will be significant or expres- sive, as the head or true source of the Mississi[ppi]. Can you give me any word in Latin or Greek that will convey the idea. I replied no one word will express the idea — the nearest I can come to it is Veritus Caput — or if you pre- fer the noun Veritas — you may coin something that will meet your wishes. In less than five minutes he replied I have got the thing — handing me a slip of paper on which was the word Itasca ... It was then & there & in just this manner the word, the name Itasca was coined. The Ojib- was invariably called the lake Omushkos Sagaeigun [Elk Lake]." Thus, at the suggestion of Boutwell, the name Itasca was coined by Schoolcraft, by taking from the expression Veritas caput the last four letters {Has) of the word Veritas and combining them with the first two letters {ca) of the word caput — which gives the new word Itasca. It may be added that the fanciful creation of new words or names by dividing two familiar words and com- bining the parts as in the case of Itasca was not uncommon in the period of the Schoolcraft explorations. Although the Boutwell explanation of the name Itasca was generally accepted in the years that followed, some [18] Veritas Caput : Itasca writers still clung to the Chippewa legend. And there were others who believed that the word might have been derived from the O jib way words ia (to be), totosh (the female breast, implying origin), and ka (terminal sub- inflection) , the whole ia-tofosh-ka signifying a fount. This explanation was actually accepted in the 1882 edition of Webster's Dictionary. Students of the Dakota Indians also pointed to a possible origin from the language of that nation. Meanwhile, Boutwell's explanation received further cor- roboration from Reverend Jeremiah Porter in a letter to Jacob V. Brower in the early nineties. Porter declared that upon the return of Schoolcraft, Houghton, and Allen in 1832 "they told me how they had named so beautifully the lake from two Latin words." ^ After a period of sixty years the question still remained unsolved in 1932 when the Minnesota Historical Society and other organizations celebrated at Itasca State Park the centennial of the discovery of the source of the Mis- sissippi.* Hundreds of pages had been written about the park and its name, but the matter still lay open to debate. After a careful evaluation of the problem, Dr. Theodore C. Blegen, superintendent of the Minnesota Historical Society, concluded : "In the light of Porter's corrobora- tion, the case at present seems to lean toward the Boutwell explanation, though the episode of the Latin words may possibly have occurred on the return journey rather than on the trip west. It is obvious that something is lacking in the evidence, however. It is an intriguing little problem [19] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi and it is to be hoped that from some source will come the key that will unlock the mystery." * That key — a contemporary verification of Boutwell's Veritas Caput by a member of the expedition — may now be presented. It comes from Schoolcraft himself! Leaving Lake Itasca on July 13, 1832, the day of the discovery, Schoolcraft hastened down the Mississippi, arriving at Fort Snelling eleven days later. On the following day (July 25, 1832) he wrote a letter to Dr. Addison Philleo, editor of a Galena newspaper, describing the expedition to the true source of the Mississippi River. The concluding paragraphs of Schoolcraft's letter furnish all the evidence needed to substantiate the Boutwell explanation.^" "The Mississippi [above Cass Lake], expands into sev- eral lakes, the largest of which is called lac Traverse. A few miles above this it forms into a south west and north west branch. We ascended the latter [sic], through a number of lakes to its source in a small creek. From thence we made a portage of 6 miles, with our canoes, into La Biche or Itasca Lake (from a derivation of the expression Veritas caput) which is the true source of this celebrated stream, being at the same time, its most western and northern head. This lake is about 7 miles long, having somewhat the shape of the letter Y. It has clear water and pleasant woody shores. It has a single island, upon which I landed, caused some trees to be felled, and hoisted the national flag. I left this flag flying, and proceeded down the N. W. or main fork. A descent of about 180 miles brought us back to our party at Red Cedar, a Cape [or Cass] lake." [20] Veritas Caput : Itasca Ver itas ca put! The letter signed by Schoolcraft him- self solves the riddle of the naming of Lake Itasca. No longer need there be even a shadow of doubt cast upon the origin of the name of the lovely Lake Itasca — the head- waters of the Mississippi. The Schoolcraft letter of July 25, 1852, as first published in the August 22, 1832, issue of The Galenian and later copied in the December 1, 1832, issue of Niles' Register, was discovered in November, 1936, by Dr. VC^illiam J. Petersen, Research Associate in the State Historical Society of Iowa and author of the pages of this book. — The Editor. [21] 1 lie Joorney oi the VV alters One may think of the Great River of the Ojibway as comprising the Upper Mississippi, which includes the jour- ney of the waters all the way from Lake Itasca to the mouth of the Missouri, and the Lower Mississippi as Old Man River rolls along from the mouth of the Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico. The Falls of St. Anthony abruptly breaks this journey of the waters, separating the Upper Mississippi in its flow through the "land of the sky blue waters" from its course southward into the heart of the Great Valley which shares the glory of its name. Rising almost imperceptibly in north central Minnesota out of the multitude of lakes and streams that empty into Lake Itasca (the most remote of which is Lake Hernando de Soto with an elevation of 1571 feet above sea level) , and flowing swiftly through pine forests interspersed with birch, balsam, and tamarack, the Upper Mississippi glides peacefully through Cass Lake and Winnebagoshish Lake and then swiftly passes Grand Rapids, Little Falls, and St. Cloud. Its precipitate flight through the land of ten thou- sand lakes once reached a thundering climax at the Falls of St. Anthony. But now the hand of man has robbed the Great River of much of its pristine grandeur by restrain- ing its wild course with walls of concrete. By the time St. Paul is reached the Mississippi has [22] The Journey of the Waters dropped almost 900 feet in the 600 mile journey from its source. Already it has flowed a hundred miles farther than the renowned Seine, and three times as far as the historic Jordan in its entire course. And yet at St. Paul this Great River has barely reached adolescence : its journey has just begun.^^ After leaving the land of sky blue waters (a region re- nowned in fable and history) the Mississippi flows south- ward for 660 miles from the Falls of St. Anthony to the mouth of the Missouri : six hundred miles of water and a thousand reminders of history and romance. For this is the Mississippi of Joliet and Marquette; the Mississippi of Julien Dubuque and the mines of Spain; the Mississippi that played a role in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812; the Mississippi that resounded with the war call of Black Hawk and swallowed the blood of his fellow tribesmen. On its banks at Hannibal, Mark Twain grew to man's estate; and at Le Claire, Buffalo Bill went to school and developed his "love for skiff riding on the Mississippi". This is the river which the pioneers of Iowa had to cross. Here is the true "Upper Mississippi" on which the steamboats War Eagle, Grey Eagle, Itasca, and Hawkeye State and many others carried the rich argosies which nurtured to maturity the newly-born Common- wealths of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Min- nesota. It is here that the Mississippi winds through a valley that bears mute evidence of millions of years of scouring and polishing. Towering ramparts, such as Maiden Rock [23] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi and Trempealeau in Wisconsin, Barn Bluff and Dresbach in Minnesota, Capoli Bluff and Pike's Peak in Iowa, stand like sentinels on guard. Below Dubuque the river flows past the historic towns of Clinton, Davenport, Muscatine, Burlington, Fort Madison, Nauvoo, Keokuk, Quincy, Hannibal, and on to St. Louis. During the course of the 660 mile journey from St. Paul to St. Louis the Great River drops from 680 to 384 feet above sea level. With the exception of occasional outcroppings (like Cap au Gris, Elsah, and Piasa Rock) the river below Keokuk runs through wide valleys hemmed in by low-lying bluffs. Between the Falls of St. Anthony and the mouth of the Missouri, the Mississippi presents a wonderland of natural and rugged beauty. In the early days visitors from foreign lands stood spellbound on the decks of steamboats as the grandeurs of an ever-changing panorama unfolded be- fore them. Europeans invariably compared the river be- tween Dubuque and Lake Pepin with the historic BJiine; while Americans likened its fantastic bluflFs to the palisades of the lordly Hudson. In width, but not in depth, this middle section of the Father of Waters actually surpasses the Lower Mississippi. And small wonder, for on its way it has been nourished by the St. Croix, the Chippewa, the Black, the WapsipinicoM, the Rock, the Iowa, the Skunk, and scores of smaller streams; and it has been fed by the Illinois, the Wisconsin, the Minnesota, and the Des Moines, streams which in length surpass the Delaware and the Hudson. Just above St. Louis the Mississippi receives the muddy [24] The Journey of the Waters waters of the Missouri whose yellow silt has been pilfered from the soil during the course of its almost three thousand mile journey from the Rocky Mountains. Between the mouth of the Missouri and the Gulf of Mexico the Mississippi enters the final lap of its journey to the sea. For over twelve hundred miles it flows past cotton plantations and squalid homes of negroes and poor white folk. This is the Mississippi of De Soto and La Salle, of Antoine Crozat, of John Law and the Mississippi Bubble. This is the river over which Napoleon and Jefferson hag- gled after years of French and Spanish intrigue. Here courses the Mississippi that tempted Aaron Burr, led Ful- ton and Livingston to dream of monopoly, and inspired Andrew Jackson in his heroic defense of New Orleans. Down this mighty waterway went the youthful Lincoln to get his first glimpse of the slave block. Around tower- ing Vicksburg the remorseless Ulysses S. Grant forged a ring of steel that split the Confederacy in twain and doomed the cause of the South. Along this great highway floated keelboats and flatboats, steamboats and showboats. Up its swift current raced the Natchez and the Robert E. Lee while a nation cheered them on. _/ The Great River below St. Louis has reached strong maturity; but an interesting journey is still before it. Fifty-five miles downstream from the metropolis of the Mississippi lies Ste. Genevieve, the oldest white settlement in Missouri : it was settled in 1735, almost a century before the Black Hawk War opened the Iowa prairies to the white pioneers. Farther downstream at the confluence of the [25] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Ohio with the Mississippi lies Cairo, where Charles Dickens learned to his sorrow the hazards of American land spec- ulation. For over one thousand miles below Cairo, the Mississippi winds through a level flood plain from fifty to one hun- dred miles wide. Behind high-banked levees cowers many a hapless river town : none more fearful than New Madrid when Old Man River goes on a rampage. Mighty tribu- taries like the Arkansas and the Red rivers join the swirling waters — to whose volume the Ohio has contributed thirty-one per cent, the Upper Mississippi nineteen per cent, and the Missouri only fourteen per cent. Flood losses along the Lower Mississippi are immense : in 1922 they were set at $17,087,790; in 1927 at about $285,000,000; and in 1937 floods along the Ohio-Lower Mississippi reached a staggering total which will run far in excess of these sums. During low water the Lower Mississippi dis- charges into the Gulf of Mexico about 70,000 cubic feet of water per second, compared with 2,300,000 cubic feet during flood stage. Measured by the volume of water car- ried, the renowned St. Lawrence pales before the Father of Waters.^^ Ancient is this river : geologists place its beginnings some sixty million years ago. But those who dwell upon its banks are prone to think of it in terms of modern com- merce, industry, and power. Thus the mighty Mississippi and its more than fifty navigable tributaries furnish about 14,000 miles of waterways which border or traverse twen- ty-seven States, seventeen of which are entirely or very [26] The Journey of the Waters largely within the Mississippi drainage system. If one in- cludes the Great Lakes cities, which are economically and politically a part of it, the Mississippi Valley now produces almost half the manufactured goods of the nation. The gigantic dam at Keokuk ranks as one of the great power plants of the world. This fertile basin of the Mississippi, which has been aptly called the "body of the nation", surpasses in area the his- toric valley of the Nile. It is twice as large as the valley of the Volga, and fourteen times greater than the Rhine basin. In extent it is exceeded only by the Amazon and the Kongo. Here, in this breadbasket of the nation, is found sixty-five per cent of the improved land and over half of the population of the United States. No other section of this vast inland empire can compare in wealth ^ and fertility with the five States of the Upper Mississippi Valley." [27] 4 Under Jroiir Flags The discovery and exploration of the Mississippi River is a story of epic proportions. The colorful pageant opens with the swash-buckling De Soto hacking his way through the wilderness in 1541 : it concludes with the discovery of Lake Itasca by Schoolcraft in 1832. Throughout the drama intrepid soldiers, hardy fur traders and miners, and black-robed Catholic priests stalk across the stage.; Of the many actors who played a part none showed greater courage than did Hernando de Soto under the flag of Spain. De Soto is said to have begun his career with nothing but his sword and shield. Possessing rare qualities of leader- ship, this courageous Spaniard so distinguished himself with Pizarro that he returned from Peru with over one hun- dred thousand pesos of gold. He was appointed governor of Cuba and commissioned to conquer and settle at his own expense what is now the southern part of the United States. In May, 15 39, De Soto left Havana with 620 men and 223 horses. Landing at Tampa Bay he moved slowly in a northwesterly direction, fighting Indians, enduring sick- ness and disease, "determined to send no newes of himself until hee had found some rich country." From the Chicka- saw Bluffs below present-day Memphis, De Soto and his [28] Under Four Flags ragged army first viewed the Mississippi River on May 8, 1 541. As a member of this expedition a Portuguese gentle- man from Elvas has left what is perhaps the earliest re- corded description of the Mississippi: "The River was almost halfe a league broad. If a man stood still on the other side, it could not be discerned whether he were a man or no. The River was of great depth, and of a strong current; the water was alwaies mud- die; there came downe the River continually many trees and timber." De Soto spent a month building barges with which the expedition crossed the Mississippi. Traveling for almost a year in what is now Arkansas De Soto finally returned to the banks of the Great River, broken in health and de- pressed in spirit. There he died on May 21, 1542. His body was wrapped in blankets weighted with sand, "wherein he was carried in a canoe, and thrown into the middest of the River." " More than a century passed before the curtain rises on the next act. The scene is shifted to the St. Lawrence Valley and the Great Lakes, where the French were search- ing for the Western Sea. By 1634 Jean Nicolet had reached the Winnebago Indians in the Green Bay region. Upon his return to Quebec, Nicolet observed that "if he had sailed three days' journey farther upon a great river which issues from this lake [Michigan] he would have found the sea" which led to distant China.'^ A generation later Radisson and Groseilliers, two ob- scure French coureurs de bois, plunged into the wilderness [29] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi beyond Lake Superior and Green Bay. Of his third jour- ney, made about 1660, Radisson wrote : "We weare 4 moneths in our voyage wi^'out doeing any thing but goe from river to river. We mett severall sorts of people . . . we went into ye great river that . . . has 2 branches, the one towards the west, the other towards the South, whi''^ we beheve runns toward Mexico, by the tokens they gave us." This description led some scholars to believe Radisson and Groseilliers actually entered the Mississippi. If so, their accomplishment was unknown to the French officials and the Jesuits. Indeed, the first reference to the Missis- sippi by its present name was not made until 1666 when Father Allouez referred to the "great river named Messipi" in a letter to his Jesuit superiors.^® It remained for Joliet and Marquette to give the first definite account of the Upper Mississippi. Setting out from the Jesuit Mission of St. Ignace on May 17, 1673, with five French companions, Joliet and Marquette pad- dled steadily westward through Lake Michigan, Green Bay, and the Fox River. On June 7th they reached a vil- lage of Miami, Mascoutens, and Kickapoo Indians. Ac- cording to their journal no Frenchman had "yet gone any farther" than this "Maskoutens" village of the "fire Na- tion" (after whom Muscatine County takes its name). Pressing onward, Joliet and Marquette portaged from the Fox to the "Meskousing" or Wisconsin River and "safely entered Missisipi" on June 17, 1673. As they glided down this "renowned River", Marquette observed that the Mississippi took its "rise in various lakes [30] -t Under Four Flags in the country of the Northern nations." They saw deer, wild cattle or buffalo, swans, turkeys, bustards, and many other wild birds and animals. Huge catfish struck their frail craft with such violence as "about to break the Canoe to pieces". For eight days they saw no trace of Indians. Finally, on June 25, 1673, they "perceived on the water's BCge some tracks of men" and followed them to a village of the "Peouarea" or Illinois Indians. This first meeting of the white man and the red man on the Upper Mississippi is believed to have occurred near the mouth of the Iowa River?* After a few days Joliet and Marquette continued downstream as far as the mouth of the Arkansas whence, learning of the presence of Spaniards and fearing capture, they returned up the Mississippi to Lake Michigan by way of the Illinois River.^^ Between 1673 and 1762 France extended and strength- ened her grip on the Mississippi Valley. La Salle dispatched the prudent and courageous Michel Aco to reconnoiter the Upper Mississippi in 1680. Aco was the first white man to explore the Mississippi up to the Falls of St. An- thony (so named by the mendacious Louis Hennepin in honor of his patron Saint) .^* In 1685 Nicolas Perrot was appointed "Commander of the West": he immediately commenced building Fort St. Nicolas at the mouth of the Wisconsin River. Thus prairie du Chien traces its history back to the period that witnessed the beginnings of Philadelphia. Perrot also built forts farther up the Mississippi at Lake Pepin. On May 8, 1689, seven years after La Salle stood at the mouth of the [31] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Mississippi and took possession of the land drained by the Father of Waters, Nicolas Perrot went through the same colorful ceremony on the shore of Lake Pepin, amid the chanting of Latin hymns, shouts of "vive le roi", and salvos of musketry. Hastening to the mineral region in 1690 at the urgent request of the Miami Indians, this energetic Frenchman is the first white man known to ha^ mined lead in the Galena-Dubuque region/^ France secretly ceded her land west of the Mississippi to Spain in 1762 and relinquished her claim to Canada and the country east of the Mississippi to England the follow- ing year. Thereupon two new flags were planted on the banks of the Great River. The English flag on the Upper Mississippi was most ably carried by two Connecticut Yankees, Jonathan Carver and Peter Pond. Both were veterans of the French and Indian Wars and loyal subjects of George III : both visited the Upper Mississippi on the eve of the American Revolu- tion. Carver was the first to reach the Mississippi, setting out from Boston in June, 1766, to explore the wilderness be- yond the Great Lakes and acquire a "knowledge that promised to be so useful" to both his King and his coun- try. On October 15, 1766, he "entered that extensive river the Mississippi" with a party of fur traders. Pad- dling up the Mississippi, Carver wintered among the Sioux Indians on the Minnesota River. The following spring he returned to the Falls of St. Anthony to secure supplies to enable him to continue to Oregon. When these failed to [32] Under Four Flags arrive, he returned to Prairie du Chien in May, 1767, and spent the remainder of the summer exploring the "Chipe- way" River country. In 1768 he returned to Boston and set out for England where he died a pauper. His book, Travels Through the Inferior Parts of North America, published in London in 1778, went through many editions. On May 1, 1767, at Carver's Cave in the lower part of Dayton Bluff (now included in modern St. Paul), two Sioux chiefs granted Carver and his heirs a large tract of land in the present States of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The litigation which ensued highly publicized Carver's Cave, which later became a show place for steamboat passengers bound for St. Paul.'" Peter Pond visited the Mississippi as a fur trader in 1773. Pond was brave in heart, if poor in spelling. He traded with the Sioux on the Minnesota River, returning to Prairie du Chien in the spring of 1774. There he saw a "Large Colection [of Indians and traders] from Eavery Part of the Misseppey who had arived Before us — Even from Orleans Eight Hundred Leages Belowe us." ^^ The Spanish flag flew over the west bank of the Mis- sissippi from 1762 until that region was transferred to France following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Spain endeavored to tighten her grip on the Upper Mississippi through a system of land grants. Thus Julien Dubuque was granted the right to work a princely tract in the lead district in 1796; and subsequently grants were made to Basil Giard on the present site of McGregor, and to Louis Honore Tesson in what is now Lee County, Iowa." [33] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Meanwhile England did not fare so well on the east bank of the Mississippi. It was during the American Revolution that George Rogers Clark wrested Post Vincennes and the French settlements in southern Illinois from the English. At the close of the struggle England recognized the claim of the Americans to the east bank of the Mississippi. "With the consummation of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 the American flag was planted on both banks of the Mis- sissippi. The United States lost no time in securing a firm hold on these new possessions. In 1803 Jefferson ordered Lewis and Clark to explore the Missouri and the streams leading from its headwaters into the Pacific Ocean. Two years later Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike was sent to discover the source of the Mississippi. Both expeditions resorted to much the same means of transportation that had been in use during the Spanish and French periods of exploration. Lewis and Clark had a large boat and two pirogues, all complete with sails, oars, poles, and rope. Pike had a seventy-foot keelboat, with which he could make some twenty miles a day upstream in a favorable wind." After a winter in the wilds of Minnesota, Pike returned to St. Louis on April 30, 1806, having gotten no farther than Leech Lake. He had failed in his quest. On the very day Pike was being welcomed at St. Louis, Lewis and Clark were leaving their camp at the mouth of the Walla Walla River on their journey home. Battling their way back over the Rockies and down the Missouri, Lewis and Clark did not reach St. Louis until September 23, 1806. By that [34] Under Four Flags time even Jefferson had given them up for lost. Their re- turn was hailed with delight and their exploits were still ringing in the ears of Americans when Robert Fulton in- augurated an entirely new mode of transportation.'* [35] Fulfon s Folly : A Mississippi Orcain A CLOUDLESS blue sky hung over lower Manhattan on ^ 1 August 17;"l807. Early risers did not suspect that the day was destined to be particularly eventful. At breakfast, however, many smug New Yorkers sat up in amazement upon reading the following notice in the Ainerican Citizen : "Mr. Fulton's ingenious steamboat, invented with a view to the navigation of the Mississippi from New Orleans up- ward, sails to-day from the North River, near State's Prison, to Albany. The velocity is calculated at four miles an hour. It is said it will make a progress of two against the current of the Mississippi and if so it will certainly be a very valuable acquisition to the commerce of Western States. News of the departure of Lindbergh in the Spirit of St. Louis on his trans- Atlantic flight in 1927 could scarcely have created greater excitement than this steamboat an- nouncement. A large crowd hastily assembled on the dock at Greenwich Village where the Clermont lay steaming up. The most sanguine spectator might readily be forgiven for not waxing enthusiastic over the rude craft which had been dubbed "Fulton's Folly". Compared with the pala- tial vessels of the halcyon days of steamboating, the Cler- mont was aptly described as a "Long Island skiff". [36] Fulton's Folly : A Mississippi Dream The Clermont was 133 feet long, had an 18-foot beam, a 7-foot hold, and measured about 160 tons. The diameter of her cylinder was two feet and she had a four-foot stroke of the piston. She was decked for a short distance at stem and stern; but her Boulton & Watt engine, which was placed in the hold in the center of the boat, lay open to view. From the engine aft a rude cabin covered the boiler and the apartment for the officers. Her side wheels were equipped with twelve huge paddles. There were no paddle-boxes, and the wheels, when in motion, sent water splashing on deck with every revolution. The Clermont's rudder was shaped like that of a sailing vessel, and was moved by a tiller. Her boiler was set in masonry, and the condenser stood in a large cold-water cistern — the two greatly diminishing the buoyancy of the vessel. The thirty- foot smokestack rose almost as high as her two masts. Should her engine fail, Fulton could hoist sails on the two masts.'^ Skeptics were not slow to point out the weaknesses of the Clermont. There were doubting Thomases even among Fulton's guests, whose anxiety increased as the hour for departure approached. The inventor alone remained calm and serene. Tall, slender, and very handsome, Fulton moved about the boat with an air of confidence, making last minute adjustments. "The morning I left New York", he wrote afterwards, "there were not perhaps thirty per- sons in the city who believed that the boat would ever move one mile an hour, or be of the least utility, and while we were putting off from the wharf, which was crowded [37] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi with spectators, I heard a number of sarcastic remarks." But the sneers were changed to tumultuous cheers as the Clermont swung out into the current at one o'clock in the afternoon and churned proudly upstream. A new era had dawned in American transportation."' / The progress of the Clermont up the Hudson was viewed Avith mingled fear and astonishment. Sailors gazed in amazement at the novel craft driven by a "tea-kettle" which, without the use of sails, rapidly overhauled their river sloops. Some of the more timid actually ran their boats ashore and fled to the woods in terror. On a high bluff opposite Poughkeepsie a group of villagers stood as though transfixed. Some thought the Clermont a sea monster, while others believed her to be a sign of the ap- proaching judgment. One eye-witness considered her a "backwoods saw-mUl mounted on a scow and set on fire." Coughing and wheezing as she plowed along, the Clermont reached Albany in thirty-two hours. "^ Fulton was pleased with the performance. To his friend Joel Barlow,^* poet-statesman, he wrote exultantly upon his return : "The distance from New-York to Albany is one hundred and fifty miles : I ran it up in thirty-two hours, and down in thirty. I had a light breeze against me the whole way, both going and coming, and the voyage has been performed wholly by the power of the steam- engine. I overtook many sloops and schooners beating to windward, and parted with them as if they had been at anchor . . . The power of propelling boats by steam is now fully proved." '° [38] Fulton's Folly : A Mississippi Dream A guest aboard the Clermont was equally delighted with her performance : "As we passed the farms on the bor- ders of the river, every eye was intent, and from village to village, the heights and conspicuous places were oc- cupied by the sentinels of curiosity, not viewing a thing they could possibly anticipate any idea of, but conjectur- ing about the possibility of the motion. As we passed and repassed the towns of Athens and Hudson, we were polite- ly saluted by the inhabitants and several vessels, and at Albany we were visited by his excellency, the governor, and many citizens . . . She is unquestionably the most pleasant boat I ever went in. In her the mind is free from suspense. Perpetual motion authorizes you to calculate on a certain time to land; her works move with all the facility of a clock; and the noise when on board is not greater than that of a vessel sailing with a good breeze." ^^ An unforeseen incident occurred at Albany. The chief engineer, a Scotchman, went ashore and imbibed too freely in celebration of the successful voyage. He was promptly discharged. Fortunately the assistant engineer was familiar with the engine, and so the return trip was made without mishap. / The voyage of the Clermo7it marked an epoch in more than Hudson River navigation. Robert Fulton and his financial supporter. Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, had broader visions : both had turned their eyes westward toward the Mississippi Valley where American pioneers were hewing out a mighty empire in the wilderness. "Whatever may be the fate of steamboats for the Hud- [39] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi son", Fulton reminded Livingston after a successful trial run, "every thing is completely proved for the Mississippi, and the object is immense." To Barlow he declared that steamboats would "give a cheap and quick conveyance to the merchandise on the Mississippi, Missouri and other great rivers, which are now laying open their treasures to the enterprise of our countrymen; and although the prospect of personal emolument has been some inducement to me, yet I feel infinitely more pleasure in reflecting on the im- mense advantage my country will derive from the in- vention." ^^ But it would take more than Fulton's enthusiasm and inventive genius to establish a line of steamboats on the western waters : a little hard cash would also be needed. Fortunately Fulton had won the support of Robert Liv- ingston, a statesman and diplomat as well as an experi- menter in his own name. Livingston himself had been intrigued for a number of years by the possibilities of steam navigation. He had been associated with the attempts of such men as John Fitch, Samuel Morey, John Stevens, and Nicholas J. Roosevelt. The construction of the Clermont had been made possible by the liberal donations of Living- ston, and in gratitude Fulton had named the boat after the Chancellor's estate on the Hudson. ^^ [40] i^lonopoly on tne i'»'Jiississippi As THE Clermotjf was steaming merrily up the Hudson on her maiden voyage, Chancellor Robert R. Livingston made a strange prophecy. Before the end of the century, he assured his listeners, vessels propelled by steam alone might make the voyage to Europe! His guests were too polite to laugh outright, but John R. Livingston is said to have whispered to a cousin : "Bob has had many a bee in his bonnet before now, but this steam folly will prove the worst yet!" But history records that the American steam- ship Savannah crossed the Atlantic as early as 1819.^* If Thomas Jefferson did not provide the bee for Living- ston's steam folly, he at least may have focused the Chan- cellor's attention on our western waters. In 1801 Jefferson had sent Livingston as minister to France with instructions to forestall the rumored retrocession of Louisiana to France. The following year, the retrocession having been confirmed, Jefferson wrote Livingston that "There is on the globe one single spot, the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It is New Orleans, through which the produce of three-eighths of our territory must pass to market, and from its fertility it will ere long yield more than half of our whole produce and contain more than half of our inhabitants." Jefferson concluded his letter by threatening to marry the United States to the [41] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi British fleet and nation the day France took possession of New Orleans.^^ But Napoleon Bonaparte did not relish the idea of fair Columbia embarking on the holy sea of matrimony with John Bull. War with England was impending. And Na- poleon, suddenly changing his tack, offered to sell all of Louisiana to the United States. The Louisiana Purchase was officially consummated on April 30, 1803. As Living- ston was affixing his signature to the treaty he observed to James Monroe : "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives." He went on to prophesy that the Louisiana Purchase would "change vast solitudes into flourishing districts" which would cause the United States to take its place "among the powers of the first rank"/« There was little in the previous development of the Mississippi Valley to support this rosy vision. At the time of the Louisiana Purchase only three States — Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio — had been admitted into the Union. Less than four hundred thousand settlers occupied the ter- ritory between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi, with Kentucky alone boasting over half the total. In 1800 New Orleans with a population of 9650 inhabitants dominated the entire valley. Pittsburgh contained only 1565 souls; Cincinnati had but 750; and a scant 600 had settled at Louisville. In 1799 Governor Carlos Dehault de Lassus found only 6028 people in Upper or Spanish Louisiana. St. Louis could count only 925 inhabitants, one-third of whom were colored." [42] Monopoly on the Mississippi Following the Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson divided his new acquisition into two territories. He ap- pointed William C. C. Claiborne as governor of Orleans Territory, which included nearly the same boundaries as presen t-day Louisiana. All the remaining wilderness north- ward to the Canadian line between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains was designated Louisiana Ter- ritory. Out of this vast domain four States were destined to be carved along the Mississippi. But in 1807 Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota were not even geographical expressions. ^hen Governor Claiborne visited New York City in the autumn of 1810 he discussed with Fulton and Living- ston the possibilities of introducing steamboats on the Mississippi.^^ Both men demanded a complete monopoly for steam transportation before embarking on such an en- terprise. Claiborne apparently was sympathetic. Where- upon Fulton and Livingston opened a correspondence with the various governments along the Ohio and Mis- sissippi to secure similar monopolies. At that time Ken- tucky and Tennessee were the only States bordering on the Mississippi, and their western borders were far beyond the fringe of settlement. Mississippi Territory, which com- prised what is now Mississippi and Alabama, lay directly below Tennessee. North of the mouth of the Ohio lay Illinois Territory, which embraced present-day Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota east of the Mississippi.'* Because of his great influence Livingston experienced little difficulty in pushing the desired monopoly through [43] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi s^ the New York legislature. But consummate skill would be needed to secure similar grants from western States and Territories. Livingston's technique was brought to light a quarter of a century ago when two small boys stumbled upon a box of papers yellowed with age in an unused loft in Galena, Illinois. The signatures on one of the letters quickly caught their attention.^® Clermont, State of New York, August 20th, 1810. To his Excellency, The Governor of Upper Mississippi; Sirs; Wishing to extend the benefit of steamboat navigation to the Mississip- pi River, a capital approaching to two hundred thousand dollars will be required, which capital must be raised by subscription; but subscribers cannot be obtained until an effectual law presents a fair prospect of securing to them such exclusive right as will return emolument equal to the risk and trouble. In this point the patent law of the United States is at present imperfect, hence after the example of encouragement granted by the State of New York we have applied to the different governments bordering on the Mississippi for their protection and patronage and thus take the liberty to transmit to you our petition. To improve the navigation of the Mississippi by transporting goods for three fourths of the sum which is now paid and in three fourths of the time; to render such an establishment periodical, uniform and secure is an object of such immense importance to the states bordering on the Mississippi, a work of so much labor and hazard to the undertakers as we hope will excite the most lively feeHngs of patronage and protection both in your Excellency and the Honourable, the Legislature of Upper Louisiana. On the receipt of these papers we shall esteem it a particular favor to be honored with an answer from your Excellency, expressing your opinion on this subject. We have the honor to be respectfully, Your Excellencies most obedient, RoBT. R. Livingston. RoBT. Fulton. [44] Monopoly on the Mississippi \Only one government hearkened to Fulton and Living- ston, despite their adroit plea. On April 19, 1811, the legislature of Orleans Territory passed an act granting Livingston and Fulton "the sole and exclusive right and privilege to build, construct, make use, employ and navi- gate boats, vessels and water crafts, urged or propelled through the water by fire or steam, in all the creeks, rivers, bays and waters whatsoever, within the jurisdiction of the territory, during eighteen years from the first of January, 1812." All might have gone well for the monopolists had not Congress in April, 1812, declared that as a condition for the admission of Louisiana "the river Mississippi, and the navigable waters leading into it, and into the gulf of Mexico, should be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of that state as to those of the other states and territories of the United States, without any tax, duty, impost or toll". Fortunately for Livingston and Fulton, however, the new State apparently saw fit to con- tinue the monopoly.*" It would be a mistake to think that Livingston and Ful- ton were blind to the many hazards of their undertaking. They were fully aware of the great distances and the archaic means of traveling in the West. Louisville was ten times as far from New Orleans as Albany was from New York. And Pittsburgh was some six hundred miles farther up the Ohio from Louisville. The commerce of this inland empire was largely de- pendent on crude river craft capable of floating down- [4n Steamboating on Upper Mississippi stream but unable to stem the swift currents of the Mis- sissippi and Ohio rivers. Only a few models — such as keelboats and barges — could return upstream. Freight barges required a year for the round trip between one of the Ohio towns and New Orleans. It took three months of back-breaking labor to shove and pull a barge from Louisville to Pittsburgh. Keelboats were much fas- ter. These sleek crafts could run from Louisville to New Orleans in six weeks; but they consumed four and one- half months on the return trip. It required unusual effort to pole a keelboat from Louisville to Pittsburgh in less than a month.*^ The voyage of the Clermont meant little to most of the people of that day. Even the most sanguine could scarcely conceive of a time when (in 1844) the steamboat /. M. White would make the round trip between St. Louis and New Orleans in nine days. On this same trip the /. M. White made the upstream voyage between New Orleans and St. Louis in three days, twenty-three hours and nine minutes — a record which stood until 1870 when the Robert E. Lee and the Natchez battled for supremacy. Nor could they envision in that very same year (1844) the Sultana running from New Orleans to Louisville in five and one-half days. This record was destined to be grad- ually lowered until 1853 when the Eclipse came snorting up to Louisville in four days, nine hours, and thirty min- utes, averaging fourteen miles an hour upstream.*^ But to talk of such feats in 1809 would have elicited derisive guffaws. In their wildest dreams Fulton and Liv- [46] Monopoly on the Mississippi ingston could only conceive of a steamboat traveling dis- tances in three-fourths of the time required by cruder river craft. Even then.-they felt the western waterways ought to be studied from the standpoint of the commerce / offered as well as from the practicability of navigation it- self. What they needed was a competent, courageous part- ner to study these western waters and report to them. They found such a man in Nicholas J^Roosevelt.N. [47] A FLiloaf Odyssey Nicholas J. Roosevelt was molded upon the genuine Roosevelt pattern. Of sturdy Dutch stock, members of the Roosevelt clan have usually manifested an adventurous, bold, courageous, and self-reliant spirit. Many social and political reformers have come from their ranks. Some displayed inventive genius; many harbored a deep and abiding love for the sea and ships. Nicholas Roosevelt was an inventor and an engineer in his own right. His courage and enthusiasm and his vision and enterprising spirit were well known to Fulton and Livingston. Nicholas Roosevelt was no novice in steam transporta- tion. In 1782, at the age of fifteen, he had built a model boat, propelled by paddle wheels over the sides which were revolved by hickory and whalebone springs unwinding a cord wrapped around the axles. At the age of thirty he entered into an agreement with Chancellor Livingston and John Stevens to build a steamboat. On October 21, 1798, this boat, which was named the Polacca, made a successful trial trip, attaining a speed equivalent to three miles an hour in still water.- Just before the trip Roosevelt had proposed to Livingston (an ardent proponent of stern- wheelers) that they "throw two wheels of wood over the sides", but the Chancellor sharply replied that such a plan was "out of the question!" [48] A Flatboat Odyssey When Livingston became minister to France in 1801 their experiments ceased. Meanwhile Roosevelt found his business on the verge of collapse. He had erected a rolling mill to supply the government with rolled and drawn cop- per for six 74-gun ships only to be suddenly "cut off" by a change of administration. By 1809 he seems to have re- couped some of his losses, for when Livingston and Fulton outlined their scheme to him he was eager to join in the venture. It was agreed that Roosevelt should set out for the West at once. His pretty bride of six months, Lydia Latrobe of Baltimore, determined to accompany him." Transportation was just emerging from a pristine state when Roosevelt arrived at Pittsburgh in May, 1809. The creation of the Northwest Territory in 1787 had been fol- lowed by a flood of immigrants into the Ohio Valley. As the years rolled on, thousands of land-hungry settlers were floated down the Ohio on a flotilla of fantastic craft. Boat yards and outfitting establishments did a thriving business in the embryonic towns on the Ohio, Mononga- hela, and Allegheny rivers. Some boats were strongly con- structed, but any of them might fall a victim to snags, sandbars, or hidden boulders. Pittsburgh, Wheeling, and Brownsville were the principal points of embarkation and many famous Upper Mississippi steamboats were destined to be launched from their boat yards. When Nicholas Roosevelt arrived these cities were still in the flatboat era, although keelboats and barges were in general use." The first problem confronting Roosevelt was the type of craft best suited for his work. The most simple boat [49] / Steamboating on Upper Mississippi was the log canoe which could be bought for three dollars or less. Then there was the pirogue, which was a large canoe often forty or fifty feet long, from six to eight feet wide, and capable of carrying a family and several tons of household goods. Both the canoe and pirogue were un- popular for long trips on western streams not only because they were unwieldy and heavy on portages but also be- cause of the danger of Indian attack. They were much too small for Roosevelt. Another type was the flat-bottomed skiff in which two or three might venture on a long trip; Roosevelt did not overlook this possibility. Then there was the bateau, a big skiff capable of carrying an entire family. Several pairs of long oars or sweeps propelled the bateau downstream, while poles were used for ascending the river. Since Roosevelt did not intend to return upstream he quickly discarded the bateau as a possible means of transportation." The resourceful Dutchman found that the flatboat, a creation of the Ohio Valley, was the most popular craft for pioneer families. Flatboats varied greatly in size, measuring from twenty to sixty feet in length and from ten to twenty feet in width. The smaller flatboats were usually called "Kentucky boats", after their destination in Kentucky or the lower Ohio. The big "flats" bound for the Lower Mississippi were generally called "New Orleans" boats. Some flatboats had two large sweeps projecting like horns from each side; these were called "broadhorns". Emigrants sometimes compared the Kentucky "broad- horn" to a "New England pig-sty set afloat". Flatboats [50] A Flatboat Odyssey cost from a dollar to a dollar and a half for each foot of length. The hull of the flatboat was constructed of large squared pine or hardwood timbers hewn from the forests of west- ern Pennsylvania. The average craft rose from three to six feet above the water's surface and drew from one to two and one-half feet of water when fully laden. As they floated down the Ohio loaded with men, women, and children, horses and cows, cats, chickens, and dogs, grind- stones, powder, household furniture, and farm imple- ments, the flatboats resembled a "mixture of log cabin, fort, floating barnyard and country grocery." Their rugged construction made them bullet-proof, while withering vol- leys could be poured through loopholes on marauding bands of Indians or the murderous white riffraff of the Ohio-Mississippi country. Such a boat presented the qual- ities most needed by Roosevelt." There were, however, two other types of craft (the keelboat and the barge) which could not be overlooked. These resembled each other closely and were capable of upstream navigation. Keelboats were sharp at bow and stern, and although of light draft they could carry from twenty to forty tons of freight. They were called keel- boats because of the heavy four-inch square timber that extended from the bow to the stern along the bottom of the boat. This timber was placed so as to take the shock of a collision with a submerged snag or other obstruction. Keelboats were constructed of heavy planks and had planked ribs like a ship. They were usually from forty- Steamboatlng on Upper Mississippi five to seventy-five feet long and from seven to nine feet wide. Sometimes they carried a mast and sails to take ad- vantage of any favoring breeze. A captain or steersman and two men at the sweeps could propel a keelboat down- stream, but upstream navigation required a steersman and from six to ten men provided with poles. The work of these men was hard and fatiguing : it developed a hardy and robust type of riverman who bore a striking resem- blance to the Upper Mississippi log raftsmen. Although keelboat transportation was tedious and ex- pensive it was as superior to horse-packing as the steam- boat was destined to be to the keelboat. A man with five horses could transport one-half a ton of freight about twenty miles in one day. A keelboatman could pole two or three tons the same distance upstream in the same time. In trutlylceelboats were the rapid transit express boats until the advent of the steamboat.**) Barges cost about five dollars for each foot of length and were modeled somewhat after a ship's longboat. They were usually from thirty to seventy feet long, from seven to twelve feet in width, and carried a mast, sails, and rud- der. Four long oars accelerated progress downstream which ordinarily ranged from four to five miles an hour. Poles were used for upstream navigation but barge captains availed themselves of every favorable breeze to aid the sweating crew. Even then two miles an hour against the current was considered good time. Because of their com- parative celerity both barges and keels were often used by business men, land speculators, and government officials. [52] A Flatboat Odyssey After surveying the types of craft in use, Roosevelt de- termined to use a flatboat. Since accuracy rather than speed was important, and since he would be obliged to live in his craft for six months, Roosevelt built a flatboat that contained all the "necessary comforts for himself and wife". The young bride described her new home as "a huge box containing a comfortable bed room, dining room, pantry, and a room in front for the crew, with a fire-place where the cooking was done. The top of the boat was flat, with seats and an awning." Securing a pilot, three hands, and a male cook, Roose- velt and his young bride left Pittsburgh with its more than four thousand inhabitants and started down the Ohio. Cincinnati, Louisville, and Natchez were the only points of importance in the entire distance between Pittsburgh and New Orleans. Cincinnati had a population of twenty- five hundred in 1810, while Louisville was about one-half the size of Cincinnati. As they drifted down the Ohio, Roosevelt constantly^ studied the rapidity of the current. He carried letters of introduction to the leading citizens, and he was received kindly and hospitably entertained. At Louisville he re- mained on shore some three weeks. The westerners listened respectfully to his explanation of the purpose of the voyage and the benefits of steam navigation. But no one, merchant or boatman, gave him a single word of encour- agement. In answer to his stories of the experiments on the Hudson and other eastern rivers, the rough river pilots would simply point to the turbid, whirling Ohio as a con- [53] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi elusive answer to all his reasoning. Undaunted, Roosevelt continued his studies of the Ohio and Mississippi. "He gauged them,: he measured their velocity at different sea- sons; he obtained all the statistical information within his reach, and formed a judgment with respect to the future development of the country".*^ Fortunately Roosevelt did find a few sources of infor- mation. Thus, below Louisville lay the Falls of the Ohio — a particularly dangerous spot which required the services of special pilots during low water. These pilots kept an account of the number of boats and the amount of pro- ducts they piloted over the Falls. During the seven-month ^ period beginning October 5, 1810, regular pilots took 743 boats over the Falls. They estimated that fully one-third as many more passed over the Falls during high water. Among the commodities listed were flour, bacon, pork, lard, corn, oats, butter, and $35 5,624 worth of merchan- dise. Over nine thousand barrels of whiskey and almost four thousand barrels of cider were also included in the estimate. Lumber, hemp, yarn, cordage, shoe thread, country linen, apples and dried fruit, beans, onions, and tobacco, horses, hogs, and a miscellaneous assortment of articles complete the merchandise which Fulton, Living- ston, and Roosevelt sought to offer a cheap, speedy, and safe transport to New Orleans.*® Leaving Louisville and the Falls of the Ohio behind, the flatboat continued down La Belle Riviere. Gliding silently along they passed "many a scene of revelry and blood- shed". One night, as their boat lay tied to the bank of the [54] A Flatboat Odyssey Mississippi, Roosevelt was aroused by two Indians in his bedroom, calling for whiskey. Nor would the dusky red men leave until Roosevelt gave them firewater."'' As they floated lazily downstream with the current they encountered many drinking, cursing, fighting rivermen. Bitter rivalry existed among the crews on the flats, keels, and barges. Each had its own bully or champion who usually stood ready to challenge a rival — particularly if the chances of winning were good. Typical of the keelboatmen was that justly famous character, Mike Fink. What Daniel Boone was to Ken- tucky or Sam Houston to Texas, Mike Fink was in legend and fact to the story of keelboating on the Ohio and Mis- sissippi. As king of the keelboatmen, this is how Mike was wont to modestly describe himself to a foe who dared question his supremacy. "I'm a Salt River roarer! Fm a ring-tailed squealer! I'm a reg'lar screamer from the ol' Massassip'! Whoop! I'm the very infant that refused his milk before its eyes were open, and called out for a bottle of old Rye! I love the women an' I'm chockful o' fight! I'm half wild horse and half cock-eyed alligator and the rest o' me is crooked snags an' red-hot snappin' turkle. I can hit like fourth-proof lightnin' an' every lick I make in the woods lets in an acre o' sunshine. I can out-run, out- jump, out-shoot, out-brag, out-drink, an' out-fight, rought-an'-tumble, no holts barred, ary man on both sides the river from Pittsburgh to New Orleans an' back ag'in to St. Louiee. Come on, you flatters, you bargers, you [55] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi milk-white mechanics, a.n' see how tough I am to chaw! I ain't had a fight for two days an' I'm spilein' for exercise. Cock-a-doodle-doo!" " Such were the characters encountered by Roosevelt on the Mississippi and in the unkempt western settlements. A few days were spent at Natchez, where Roosevelt con- ferred with leading citizens and disposed of the flatboat. Nor was Natchez the most genteel place in which to sojourn. According to one account, "Natchez is a land of fevers, alligators, niggers, and cotton bales . . . where to refuse grog before breakfast would degrade you below the brute creation . . . where bears, the size of young jackasses, are fondled in lieu of pet dogs; and knives, the length of a barber's pole, usurp the place of toothpicks . . . where nigger women are knocked down by the auc- tioneer"." From Natchez-under-the-hill the Roosevelts set out in their skiff down the Mississippi to New Orleans, which they reached in early December after a nine day trip. At New Orleans they took passage on the first vessel ready to sail for New York. It was a hard voyage, for the captain took sick and yellow fever broke out aboard the vessel. They were allowed to leave the ship at Old Point Comfort; and they completed their journey by stagecoach, arriving in New York about the middle of January." [56] 8 Tlie Voyage of ilic VSslv Orleans Both Livingston and Fulton were delighted when the heavy stagecoach that carried Roosevelt and his young wife rumbled into New York City. Did Roosevelt bring good news or bad news? Were their hopes and dreams to be shattered by a gloomy report? The grave anxieties which they must have entertained during Roosevelt's long absence were quickly dispelled as that enthusiastic gentle- man painted a rosy picture of the prospects for steam navigation in the Mississippi Valley. Then, ^ while Roose- velt hurried back to Pittsburgh, his partners lost no time incorporating the Ohio Steamboat Navigation Company to operate a fleet of vessels on the western waters under the Fulton-Livingston patents.*? Roosevelt arrived in Pittsburgh in the spring of 1810 and commenced building a steamboat according to plans furnished by Fulton. He established a boat yard under a lofty bluff on the Monongahela about a mile from the "Point". The hull was constructed of native white pine. The copper boiler was made in New York and transported across the Alleghenies, but skilled eastern mechanics were required to install the engine. Named the New Orleans after the port of her destination, the boat was launched in March, 1811. The pioneer steamboat of the Mississippi Valley was ready to start on her maiden voyage the fol- lowing October. [57] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi The New Orleans was a side-wheeler, measuring be- tween 300 and 400 tons burden. The bow of the boat was reserved for freight; the engine and smokestack stood exposed in the center; and the cabin was built in the rear. This cabin was divided, one aft for the ladies and a larger one forward for gentlemen. The ladies' cabin contained only four berths, but was comfortably furnished. The New Orleans also carried two masts equipped with sails. It has been said that she was "a large and heavy boat com- bining incongruous features of marine and river craft". The cost of the New Orleans was said to be $38,000, but it seems unlikely that anywhere near this sum was ex- pended." The construction of the New Orleans produced con- siderable speculation and wonder. "It will be a novel sight, and as pleasing as novel", Zadok Cramer observed in The Navigator^ "to see a huge boat working her way up the windings of the Ohio, without the appearance of sail, oar, pole, or any manual labour about her — moving within the secrets of her own wonderful mechanism, and pro- pelled by power undiscoverable! This plan if it succeeds, must open to view flattering prospects to an immense country, an interior of not less than two thousand miles of as fine a soil and climate, as the world can produce, and to a people worthy of all the advantages that nature and art can give them".^^ A large crowd gathered at Pittsburgh to witness the departure of the New Orleans on Sunday, October 20, 1811. Skeptics shook their heads gravely, and experienced [58] The Voyage of the Neii' Orleans rivermen expressed concern for the safety of those on board. But neither Roosevelt nor his young wife could be dissuaded from the rash adventure; and handkerchiefs and hats waved "God speed" as the boat swung out in the current. Puffing bravely upstream a short distance, the Neic Orleans triumphantly arched around in the current and sped past the cheering throng. A moment later she disappeared behind the first headlands on the right bank of the Ohio. It was a small crew that served under Captain Nicholas Roosevelt on this epoch-making voyage of the New Or- leans. Nicholas Baker acted as engineer, and his faithful performance of this important duty led to his promotion to the captaincy by the time the boat reached New Or- leans. Andrew Jack served as pilot. There were also "six hands, two female servants, a man waiter, a cook, and an immense Newfoundland dog, named Tiger." °^ The progress of the New Orleans down the Ohio was viewed with amazement. Backwoodsmen flockeu to the banks of the Ohio to catch a glimpse of the strange craft. At Point Pleasant at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, Roosevelt cajoled the keeper of the "Traveller's Rest" to part with some cordwood. "While the wood was being toted aboard the singular craft," a local historian relates, "nearly all the one hundred inhabitants examined, com- mented, criticized. Some claimed it was an attempt to chain nature's forces and would end in disaster to crew and owners, a mere invention of the Devil's. Others watched every movement, took notes of all machinery, [59] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi and resolved to 'make a like machine or spoil a home'." '^ Steaming downstream at a speed of eight to ten miles an hour, the Neiu Orleans cast anchor at Cincinnati two days later amid the plaudits of the townsmen who had as- sembled on the bank. "Well, you are as good as your word; you have visited us in a steamboat, but we see you for the last time", said many of those who had met Roose- velt on his former visit. "Your boat may go down the river; but, as to coming up it, the very idea is an absurd one." Rugged keelboatmen, their shoulders toughened by poling many weary miles against the current,shook their heads disparagingly. All agreed that the steamboat would never return. After taking on a supply of wood the New Orleans pro- ceeded to Louisville which was reached at midnight on the fourth day in "sixty-four hours sailing from Pittsburg." A brilliant moon flooded the shimmering surface of the Ohio as the boat dropped anchor opposite the quiet town. The roar of escaping steam caused the sleeping inhabitants to spring from their beds and rush down to the river to discover the cause of this weird sound. Some insisted that the comet of 1811 had fallen into the Ohio and produced the hubbub.'^ The next morning many citizens came aboard to ex- press their congratulations "accompanied by regrets that it was the first and last time a steamboat would be seen above the falls of the Ohio." A local newspaper declared that the boat, could "accommodate from sixty to eighty cabin and steerage passengers, in a style not inferior to any [60] The Voyage of the New Orleans packet in the union." A public dinner was tendered Roosevelt a few days later. Then Roosevelt invited his hosts to dine aboard the New Orleans. While the feast was at its height the guests suddenly heard rumbling ac- companied by a very perceptible motion in the boat. Panic-stricken at the thought that the boat had slipped her anchor and was drifting toward the Falls and almost certain destruction, all rushed to the deck only to find the Netc Orleans churning bravely upstream leaving Louis- ville far behind. Thus did Roosevelt convince his "incred- ulous guests" to their own "surprise and delight". Low water prevented the New Orleans from crossing the Falls of the Ohio, so Roosevelt ran an excursion to Cincinnati where he was hailed with wild enthusiasm. On one occasion the New Orleans ran thirteen miles in two and one-half hours in the presence of a number of "re- spectable gentlemen". These trial runs upstream did much to promote confidence in steam navigation.'''^ Rain in the upper Ohio Valley finally allowed Roosevelt to risk the perilous descent of the Falls. Just before the start Mrs. Roosevelt gave birth to a child but this could not deter her from joining her husband. Soon all hands were on deck; an experienced "rapids pilot" took his place beside the regular pilot in the bow; and the New Orleans weighed anchor. Steam had been crowded into the boiler in order that the speed of the boat would permit easier guidance through the swift current. With her safety valve shrieking and her wheels lashing the Ohio into a foam, the Neiv Orleans made a wide circuit for the In- [61] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi diana channel and then headed downstream. "Instinc- tively, each one on board now grasped the nearest object, and with bated breath awaited the result. Black ledges of rock appeared only to disappear as the New Orleans flashed by them. The waters whirled and eddied, and threw their spray upon the deck, as a more rapid descent caused the vessel to pitch forward to what at times seemed inevitable destruction. Not a word was spoken. The pilots directed the men at the helm by motions of their hands. Even the great Newfoundland dog seemed affected by the apprehen- sion of danger, and came and crouched at Mrs. Roose- velt's feet." But the crucial passage was finally made; and, with feelings of "profound gratitude to the Almighty", Roosevelt ordered the New Orleans to round to below the Falls. There the rapids pilot bade them adieu, while prep- arations were made to continue the journey downstream. As the New Orleans churned on down the Ohio the consternation of the scattered settlements increased. Op- posite William Henry Harrison's farm at North Bend a family was "much alarmed" when a neighbor came dashing up shouting, "The British are coming down the river." All rushed to the bank only to see something resembling a "saw mill" making its "slow but solemn progress with the current." The frightened family breathed a sigh of relief upon learning it was one of those new "contrap- tions" called a steamboat.*'^ Nicholas Roosevelt had looked forward to "plain sail- ing" after passing the Falls of the Ohio. Instead he was subjected to "days of horror" as the first tremors of the [62] The Voyage of the Netc Orleans New Madrid earthquake shook the cable and boat as the New Orleans lay at anchor, causing those aboard to expe- rience a "nausea resembHng sea sickness." The shocks con- tinued throughout the night; and it was some time before the true character of the "dread visitor" was reaHzed. When the Neu' Orleans resumed her journey the next morning the machinery prevented those aboard from noting any disturbance — that is, all save Tiger, who "prowled about, moaning and growling" whenever he seemed to become aware of the shocks/' The passengers aboard the New Orleans found the Mis- sissippi a raging flood with the bottom lands submerged. Once a large canoe of Chickasaw Indians darted from the forest and set out in pursuit of the boat. Greatly out- numbered by the redskins, Roosevelt crowded on steam. A close race ensued from which the New Orleans finally emerged victorious. Screaming their disappointment, the enraged Chickasaw gave up the chase and turned back into the forest whence they had come. • Shortly after this incident Roosevelt was aroused one night by loud shouts and the scuffling of many feet. Springing from his bed, he seized the nearest weapon (which proved to be a sword) and dashed out of the cabin to do battle with the Chickasaw. Instead he met a more dangerous enemy — the forward cabin of the New Orleans was on fire! After great exertion the fire was extinguished, but the incident did little to soothe the jaded nerves of the crew already worn by the terrors of the earthquake. [63] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Each afternoon Roosevelt allowed the crew to go ashore and cut enough wood for the next day. Squatters often came aboard to tell their harrowing experiences as the ground trembled beneath their feet. At New Madrid many panic-stricken settlers begged to be taken aboard, but Roosevelt was forced to turn "a deaf ear to the cries of the terrified inhabitants of the doomed town." One night an island to which the Neiv Orleans had been an- chored was swallowed by an earthquake : it was necessary to cut the hawser to free the boat. The ravages of flood and earthquake so changed the normal features of the river that the pilot was often at a loss as to which way to steer. During this period of "anxiety and terror" Mrs. Roosevelt records that she "lived in a constant fright, unable to sleep or sew, or read." ^' At last the terrors of the New Madrid earthquake were left behind and the New Orleans soon hove in sight of Natchez. "Expecting to remain here for a day or two, the engineer had allowed his fires to go down, so that when the boat turned its head upstream, it lost headway altogether, and was being carried down by the current far below the intended landing. Thousands were assembled on the bluff and at the foot of it; and for a moment it would have seemed that the New Orleans had achieved what she had done, so far, only that she might be overcome at last. Fresh fuel however was added, — the engine was stopped that steam might accumulate, presently the safety valve lifted — a few turns of the wheels steadied the boat, — a few more gave her headway; and, overcoming even the [64] The Voyage of the New Orleans Mississippi, she gained the shore amid shouts of exultation and applause." The remainder of the journey was made without inci- dent. Once the New Orleans was "detained by the break- ing of one of her wheels"; but on the evening of January 10, 18 12, she arrived at the port for which she was named- ^Although the New Orleans was eighty-two days out of Pittsburgh the captain stated that the boat had actually consumed only ten days and nineteen hours run- ning time^^His work as the pioneer steamboat captain on western waters completed, Roosevelt left the New Orleans ^ in charge of Captain Baker to run in the New Orleans- Natchez trade. She continued in this trade for two years, until snagged on July 14, 1814, two miles above Baton Rouge. Her boiler and part of her machinery were sal- vaged and placed in the second New Orleans.^^ A grateful nation did not forget the work of this trail- blazer on the American steamboat frontier. A century later, on October 31, 1911, a colorful flotilla of steam- boats lay marshaled along the Monongahela at Pittsburgh. Gaily festooned in flags and bunting an armada of some fifty vessels had assembled to celebrate the centennial of western steamboat navigation. President William Howard Taf t and a group of other dignitaries were aboard the V/r- ginia which served as flagship of the squadron. The nearest lineal descendants of the Livingston, Fulton, and Fitch families, together with some sixty thousand people, were present to witness the christening of the "quaint" little [65] / Steamboating on Upper Mississippi New Orleans by Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt whose grand uncle Nicholas J. Roose- velt had launched the first steamboat on western waters exactly a century before. Built by the city of Pittsburgh at a cost of $10,500, the diminutive craft was as close a replica of the New Orleans of 1811 as steamboat inspec- tion laws and fragmentary information would permit. Following the christening of the new boat, President Taft spoke briefly. At the conclusion of his address the whistles of the entire fleet saluted the little side-wheeler with wild acclaim. The Netv Orleans then led the flotilla in a spectacular review before the President.^*' In 1811 the first New Orleans had ushered in an era in river transpor- tation whose halcyon days could still be remembered in 1911 by many a hoary-headed riverman as he watched with tear-dimmed eyes this colorful pageant of the packets. As the replica of the New Orleans churned proudly by with her sister ships in the line, the scene doubtless brought back phantom memories of such sleek floating palaces as the Eclipse, the Baltic, and the /. M. White; the Sultana, the Princess, and the Southern Belle; the Peytona, the Natchez, and the Robert E. Lee. X. A century had witnessed many changes in the Missis- sippi Valley. The centennial celebration of 1911 attracted a throng that doubled the combined population of Pitts- burgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis, and New Orleans in 1810. Pittsburgh in 1911 could boast three times the population living in what is now the States of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi in [66] The Voyage of the New Orleans 1811. Illinois and Indiana contained a million more in- habitants than did the entire United States in 1810. There were more people munching corn pone in Arkansas than there were inhabitants west of the Alleghenies a century, before. \The steamboat had played a significant and dra- matic role in the settlement and development of the Mis- sissippi Valley.y' [m HeiirT dialler oLreve For the Mississippi Valley the voyage of the Neiv Or- leans was as distinct a triumph as the Fulton-Livingston monopoly was a severe blow. Were the builders of the other steamboats already under construction destined to lose all? The answer of at least one man, Henry Miller Shreve, was an emphatic No! In the bitter struggle against the Fulton-Livingston monopoly no name ranks higher than Shreve's. No man contributed more than he to the popularization of steamboating during the first decade of steam navigation on western waters. Henry M. Shreve (after whom Shreveport, Louisiana, is named) was born in New Jersey in 1785. He settled with his parents at Perryopolis in western Pennsylvania in 1788, the same year that Julien Dubuque commenced mining lead in Iowa. In 1807 Captain Shreve took a 3 5 -ton barge to St. Louis, returning to Pittsburgh with one of the first cargoes of furs destined for Philadelphia by that route. In 1810, the year Julien Dubuque died, Shreve took his barge to Fever River and returned with a cargo of lead. This venture, which marks the beginnings of the Ameri- can lead traflSc on the Upper Mississippi, netted Shreve about $11,000. With these profits he was able to inaug- urate a thriving barge service between Pittsburgh and New Orleans.*^ [68] Henry Miller Shreve Between 1811 and 1815, while Shreve was engaged in the New Orleans trade, the Ohio Steamboat Navigation Company launched four steamboats — the first New Or- leans^ the Vesuvius^ the Etna, and the second Ne^u Orleans. Before the Yesui/ius left the ways, another enterprising American, Daniel French, launched the 2 5 -ton Comet, a stern-wheel steamboat featuring the vibrating cylinder. Shreve was an impelling force in French's venture, contri- buting one-iif th of the capital to the company. The Cainet steamed to Louisville in the summer of 1813, and the following spring descended to New Orleans. After mak- ing two trips to Natchez, she was sold, taken apart, and her engine installed in a cotton factory. The fate of the Comet, together with the threat of con- fiscation on the part of the monopoly, only stiffened Shreve's resistance to the Fulton-Livingston corporation. While at New Orleans with a barge in 1814, he secured the legal services of A. L. Duncan, a prominent member of the Louisiana bar. The Livingston interests already had the service of every other lawyer in New Orleans, but failed in their effort to entice Duncan away from Shreve. Meanwhile French launched the Enterprise on the Mo- nongahela at Brownsville. The new boat made two trips to Louisville during the summer of 1814. On December first Shreve assumed command and steamed to New Orleans in fourteen days. Upon his arrival he procured bail in case of seizure — which actually took place the follow- ing day. But martial law had been proclaimed; and An- drew Jackson, who was delighted with Shreve's celerity, [69] "N Steamboating on Upper Mississippi promptly pressed the Enterprise into government service. General Jackson knew that some keelboats were mak- ing their way slowly down the Mississippi with additional supplies; and he sent Shreve upstream to meet them. Shreve performed this service with great dispatch. The Enterprise returned with the military stores in six and one- half days, having traveled 654 miles. Jackson then ordered Shreve to run the British blockade of the Mississippi under cover of darkness in order to carry supplies to destitute Fort St. Philip. He executed this dangerous mission without being discovered. The next night, however, while endeavoring to return past the bristling batteries, the Enterprise was sighted and the British opened fire. Fortunately only a few cannon balls struck the boat and these bounced harmlessly off the cotton bales with which the Enterprise had been pro- tected. This daring feat was loudly acclaimed by Jackson and his troops; and Shreve was the hero of the hour. On January 8, 18H, the Enterprise did effective work in re- pulsing the British at the battle of New Orleans.^^ In the following spring the Enterprise advertised her departure from New Orleans for Pittsburgh on May 6th. The Fulton-Livingston monopoly again had her seized, but Attorney Duncan was ready with bail and Shreve '. went on his way rejoicing. The Enterprise was the first steamboat to ascend the Mississippi and Ohio, reaching Louisville in twenty-five days. Continuing upstream she steamed into Brownsville fifty-four days out of New Or- leans, twenty days having been spent in taking on and dis- [70] Henry Miller Shreve charging freight at the various ports along the way/" Soon after his return Shreve determined to superintend the construction of a steamboat upon a design radically different from any thus far used. His vivid imagination and rare inventive genius had di'scover gd many flaws^in the Enfer^risCy as well as in the half dozen other craft jchat had appeared on western waters. Every steamboat that had been built thus far was simply a keelboat with engine and boilers dumped in the hold. The freight and passengers' also found their way into the holds of these crudely fash- ioned craft. Such sharply modelled vessels usually drew from six to ten feet of water, far more than the floating palaces of the sixties measuring a thousand tons. Fur- thermore, Shreve found that low-pressure engines did not develop sufficient power : the Enterprise had made slow time upstream even when the Mississippi was overflowing its banks. Finally, passenger accommodations were inad- equate and even hazardous, particularly if a boat was suddenly snagged or if she exploded. In August of 1815 the timbers of the Washington were "growing in the woods". When some New York gentle- men inspected her the following summer they declared that her accommodations exceeded anything on the Hud- son. The Washington measured 403 tons — the largest steamboat afloat on western waters. She was the first "two pecker" to be built in the West — a design that was dis- tinctly Shreve's. Her cabin was placed between the decks, the main cabin being sixty feet long. She also had three "handsome private rooms" and a commodious barroom, [71] ^ Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Her boilers were placed on the main deck instead of in the hold — a plan speedily adopted by other boat builders. In place of Fulton's vertical stationary cylinders or the vibrating cylinders invented by French, Shreve substituted horizontal cylinders with the vibrations to the pitmans. Both Fulton and French had used single low-pressure en- gines. Shreve employed a double high-pressure engine, the first of its kind on western waters. When the Washington arrived at New Orleans, Ed- ward Livingston is said to have remarked to Shreve after a critical examination : "You deserve well of your coun- try, young man; but we shall be compelled to beat you if we can." But Livingston reckoned without his competitor. An angry mob formed when Shreve was arrested at New Orleans for trespassing upon Fulton-Livingston waters. Shreve, however, expressed the wish that no demonstra- tion take place. Upon reaching Livingston's office the popular skipper was immediately released. His attorney applied for an order to give bail for damages caused by the Washington's detention and the court granted it. Livingston was panic-stricken. He offered to admit Shreve on an equal share in the monopoly with his com- pany if only he would "instruct his counsel so to arrange the business that a verdict might be found against him." Shreve rejected this bait "with scorn and indignation", for he realized that "the West looked to him for the free navigation of its waters". ^^ The originality of his improvements over those of both [72] Henry Miller Shreve Fulton and French was demonstrated throughout the legal struggle; and it was "further shown that western commerce could never have benefited under either the Fulton or French patent." But Judge Dominick A. Hall of the United States District Court for the Louisiana Dis- trict dismissed the case in 1817 on the ground that neither the plaintiff nor the defendant was a resident of Louisiana. y [Thanks to Shreve the monopoly claims of Fulton and Livingston with relation to the Mississippi were finally i withdrawn in 1819.*^ Five years later Chief Justice Mar-i shall put an end to the Fulton-Livingston monopoly in New York in the celebrated case of Gibbons vs. Ogden.l From that, time on no further attempt was made to par- cel out American waters to private individuals." In addition to introducing an almost entirely new steamboat and breaking the Fulton-Livingston monopoly, Shreve deserves to be remembered for one more important thing. Prior to 1817 no steamboat had conclusively demonstrated the practicability of upstream navigation. Western settlers had never considered the trip of the En- terprise as convincing because it had been made when the Mississippi overflowed its banks and the boat had made many short cuts, often in still water. But the arrival of the Washington at Louisville in twenty-one days from New Orleans in the spring of 1817 marked an era in steam transportation : it removed all doubt as to the future of upstream navigation. At a public dinner tendered Shreve by the citizens of Louisville the ingenious captain predicted that the time would come when the trip would [73] l^ Steamboating on Upper Mississippi be made in ten days : in 1853 the Eclipse steamed from New Orleans to Louisville in four days and nine hours. When Henry Miller Shreve died in 1851 the St. Louis Republican declared that his name had been "for nearly forty years closely identified with the commerce of the West, either in flatboat or steam navigation." To his Post Boy went the honor of first attempting (in 1819) to carry mail by steamboat on western waters. A decade later Shreve built the Heliopolis, the first successful snag- boat in the Mississippi Valley. During the thirties he was busy removing the great Red River raft, and it was while thus engaged that his name became associated with the city of Shreveport. To Shreve of St. Louis went the honor of sending (in 1848) the first message eastward to the President of the United States over the newly erected telegraph line. But the defeat of the Fulton-Livingston monopoly and the trip upstream with the Washington are Shreve's greatest achievements. ^'To him", declared the St. Louis Kepnb- licojty "belongs the honor of demonstrating the practicabil- ity of navigating the Mississippi with steamboats." " ■ V [74] 10 St, Loiais : A Port of Call Twelve years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a French fur trader, Pierre Laclede Liguest, estabHshed a trading post on the present site of St. Louis. For two generations following 1764 the history of St. Louis was as colorful as her growth was slow. During the American Revolution it was St. Louis that beat off a su- perior force of British and their Indian allies. On April 9, 1804, her citizens witnessed the transfer of Upper Louisiana from Spain to France; and on the following day they saw France turn it over to the United States. In 1806 they welcomed Zebulon M. Pike upon his return from the Upper Mississippi; and they cheered Lewis and Clark when those two trail-blazers returned from their conquest of the Missouri. From St. Louis the intrepid Manuel Lisa sallied forth up the Missouri in quest of furs and pelts for tiie Missouri Fur Company. From this same frontier com- munity Wilson Price Hunt, at the behest of John Jacob Astor, set out in a keelboat in 1811 to establish Astoria. Lead from the Herculaneum shot tower below St. Louis helped Andrew Jackson to victory over the British at New Orleans. Out of such dramatic episodes is the warp and woof of the early history of St. Louis patterned. But this romantic record stands in sharp contrast with her economic growth. [75] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi It was not until July 12, 1808, that the first newspaper west of the Mississippi was printed at St. Louis. The pub- lication of the Missouri Gazette was a hazardous economic venture, for St. Louis had scarcely a thousand souls at that time. A post office was established the same year, but mail service was costly and irregular : in 1809 St. Louis received no mail from the East for two months. By 1816, however, the Missouri Gazette could describe the place as an "opulent city" with lead, soap, and candle factories, and one million dollars in capital. But the city needed factories, steam mills, seminaries, churches, banks, and steamboats. She lacked a courthouse and a city hall. The Gazette believed a distillery ought also to be counted among her liquid assets, for St. Louis bought annually more than five thousand barrels of whiskey. The dreams of the Missotiri Gazette began to be realized in 1817 when the first Presbyterian Church was organized, a public school system inaugurated, the Bank of Missouri incorporated, and a courthouse erected. One vitally im- portant thing was still lacking : not a single steamboat had ventured north of the mouth of the Ohio. The reasons for their non-appearance are not hard to find.'* / Between 1811 and 1816 the evolution and growth of steamboating was slow. Not more than ten steamboats i had been built on the Ohio and Lower Mississippi, and the mortality rate was very high. The great cost, the danger from snags and sandbars, the difficulty of passing the Falls of the Ohio, the War of 1812, and the Fulton-Livingston monopoly all served to hinder construction and navigation St. Louis : A Port of Call on these streams. The danger of explosions during these experimental years also made navigators wary. Finally the westward movement, as evidenced by the admission of States, had not yet reached its high tide. Indiana was ad- mitted as a State in 1816, Illinois in 1818, and Missouri in 1821. The influence of the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers on Indiana and Illinois is indicated by the manner in which the pioneers clung to the banks of these waterways, leav- ing the northern two-thirds of each State virtually un- populated.'' It is not strange, therefore,'^hat steamboats did not ven- ture above the mouth of the Ohio before 1817. The small number of boats and the increasing volume of trade seem to have kept them on the Ohio and Lower Mississippi^ When eight steamboats were launched on western waters in 1817, news trickled west to St. Louis that a steamboat would soon visit that port. The announcement was hailed with delight. Weeks passed and no steamboat came. Finally, on Au- gust 2, 1817, just as the people of St. Louis had given up hope of seeing a steamboat that year. Captain James Read docked the Zebulon M. Pike at the foot of Market Street amid the enthusiastic cheers of the citizens who had as- sembled on the bank. The red man alone did not welcome her : indeed, the glare of her furnace fire, coupled with the black smoke rolling from her lone smokestack, so alarmed the Indians that they fled to the rear of the village and could not be induced to approach the evil monster." The advent of the Zebulon M. Pike was a landmark in [77] J. Steamboating on Upper Mississippi (St. Louis and Upper Mississippi Valley history. The boat was scarcely a paragon of beauty; nor did she represent any advance in construction. On the contrary, she was a dingy little scow built on the model of a barge at Hen- derson, Kentucky, in 1815 : she measured only 31.76 tons. Next to the Comet, she was the smallest steamboat docu- mented in the Mississippi Valley. Her cabin was situated on the lower deck; her paddles had no wheelhouses. Since her low-pressure engine was scarcely able to stem the cur- rent of the Mississippi, the crew frequently resorted to poles and the running boards as in keelboating. Six weeks had been required to make the trip from Louisville to St. Louis." During the years 1818 and 1819 over sixty steamboats i were built for western commerce. That was four times the number constructed in the previous seven years. It was quite natural, therefore, that there should be a gradual increase and expansion in their use, but even with this I a;dded number it is not likely that more than a third of B the total trade on western waters was carried by steam- I boats. Earlier, however, in 1817, nine-tenths of the trade ^had been carried by other types of boats." 1 ■Cj'he port of St. Louis kept pace with this rapid expan- sion of steam commerce. /The Pike was not the only steam- boat to arrive in 1817. In October of the same year the Constitution appeared^ During 1818 there were several arrivals; and from that time on the number gradually in- creased. \Few cities have been more advantageously located to command the inland commerce of an empire. St. Louis [78] St. Louis : A Port of Call served as the hub of a system of waterways which in- cluded the Upper and Lower Mississippi, the Ohio, the Missouri, and the Illinois. Over these rivers and their tribu- taries there was destined to pass a steam tonnage greater than that of the entire British Empire in 1843. In 1817 St. Louis had clamored for a steamboat. \By 1819 the arrival of a steamboat had become commonplace. But it was not only steamboats that made St. Louis a port of call. Ocean steamers also docked at her wharves!^ Early in 1819 the Maid of Orleans steamed from Phila- delphia to New Orleans. The steamer Sea-Horse arrived from New York about the same time. These were prob- ably the first steam craft to make an ocean voyage of any length, since the Savannah (the first steamer to cross the Atlantic) did not set out for Liverpool until May 26, 1819. Several weeks before the departure of the Savannah the captain of the Maid of Orleans^ not content with his deep- x. sea honors, brought his trim craft snorting up the Mis- sissippi to St. Louis, arriving there about the first of May." It was only human that St. Louis should become enthu- siastic over her commercial prospects. "In 1817, less than two years ago", crowed the Missouri Gazette, "the first steamboat arrived at St. Louis. We hailed it as the day of small things, but the glorious consummation of all our wishes is daily arriving. Already during the present season we have seen on our shores five steamboats and several more daily expected. Who would or could have dared to conjecture that in 1819 we would have witnessed the ar- rival of a steamboat from Philadelphia or New York?" [79] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi But St. Louis was destined to even greater things in 1819 as this "great American invention" opened up a "new arena" for her merchants. With pardonable pride the M/5- souri Gazette declared that "A steamboat . . . has started from St. Louis for Franklin, two hundred miles up the Missouri, and two others are now here destined for the Yellowstone. The time is fast approaching when a journey to the Pacific will become as familiar, and indeed more so, than it was fifteen or twenty years ago to Kentucky or Ohio." '' The Yellowstone expedition was more than a landmark in Misouri River history. It was the steamboat Western Engineer which first ascended the Big Muddy as far as present-day Omaha and Council Bluffs. It was this same diminutive craft which, in 1820, ascended the Upper Mis- sissippi to what is now Keokuk, blazing a trail and pointing the way for the steamboat Virginia and her epoch-making voyage to Fort Snelling three years later. The story of the Western Engineer is a unique chapter in Upper Mississippi steamboating. [80] 11 Tke Story of tike 'Western Engineer ^ On the eve of the American Revolution Daniel Boone led a party of pioneers out of the Yadkin Valley in North Carolina and into the blue grass region of Kentucky, where one might live the life of a backwoodsman. By 1795 Boone found Kentucky becoming too crowded for comfort. Disliking to have a neighbor so close that he could see the smoke from his cabin, Boone once more moved westward, this time building a cabin fifty miles up the Missouri River in Spanish territory. He was then sixty years old. During the next twenty-five years he hunted and trapped along the Missouri. He died at the home of his son Nathan Boone in St. Charles County, Mis- souri, in 1820." At the time of Boone's death pioneer cabins were sprinkled for two hundred miles along both banks of the Missouri as far as Franklin and Chariton. Beyond lay a wilderness expanse inhabited by red men and dominated by the straggling trading posts of such empire builders as the Chouteaus of St. Louis and John Jacob Astor and his American Fur Company. Kansas City was yet unborn; and Joseph Robidoux did not found St. Joseph until 1826. Even in the settled area below Franklin, Jefferson City had not been laid out and six years were to pass before it became the permanent capital of Missouri. But hope and [81] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi enthusiasm were not lacking among the pioneers. "Almost every settler, who has established himself on the Missouri", an eye-witness relates, "is confidently expecting that his farm is, in a few years, to become the seat of wealth and business, and the mart for an extensive district." ®^ St. Louis had waited five long years after the voyage of the New Orleans before the arrival of the first steamboat at her port. But the mushroom settlements along the lower Missouri welcomed their first steamboat only two years after the Zebulon M. Pike reached St. Louis. It was on May 21, 1819, that the departure from St. Louis of the steamboat Independence for Franklin and Chariton, Mis- souri, was announced by the Missouri Intelligencer. A week later the same newspaper recorded "with no ordi- nary sensations of pride and pleasure", the arrival of the Independence with passengers and a cargo of flour, whis- key, sugar, and iron castings. The Independence required only seven "sailing days" to reach Franklin : she was joy- fully received by the inhabitants of that enterprising frontier community. Heavy artillery roared a salute of welcome from the shore and the Independence boomed a triumphant reply with her cannon. The captain and passengers aboard the Independence were regaled with a grand dinner, and toasts were drunk in honor of the first steamboat to ascend the Missouri. "The grand desideratum^ the important fact is now ascer- tained, that steam boats can safely navigate the Missouri river", declared the Intelligencer exultantly. "At no dis- tant period may we see the industrious cultivator making [82] The Story of the Weslent Engineef his way as nigh as the Yellow Stone, and offering to the enterprising merchant and trader a surplus worthy of the fertile banks of the Missouri, yielding wealth to industry and enterprise." " But this enthusiasm was short lived. The Missouri River was not yet conquered : the Judepeudence may have ar- rived at Franklin in seven "sailing days", but she had actually been thirteen days en route. At that very moment a fleet of steamboats was steaming down the Ohio and up the Mississippi bent on conquering the Big Muddy. The expedition was financed by the government and had the backing of the army. Yet only one of these steamboats (the Western Engineer) was destined to stem the swift current of the Missouri successfully, as far as present-day Council Bluffs. The story of the Western Engineer is linked with the expansion of the military frontier on both the Missouri and the Upper Mississippi. Late in 1817 President James Monroe appointed John C. Calhoun as his Secretary of War. Calhoun immediately dispatched expeditions to establish what later became Fort Snelling on the Upper Mississippi and Fort Atkinson on the Missouri. During the winter of 1818-1819 preparations went on apace. To Colonel James Johnson of Kentucky went three contracts : the first to transport clothing, ordnance, and military stores from Pittsburgh to St. Louis; the second to furnish sup- plies; and the third to transport supplies and troops by steamboat up the Missouri. It was the first time the gov- ernment had dared to charter steam craft, and Calhoun [83] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi was bitterly criticized for risking the success of the expe- dition on such a new and untried means of transporta- tion." While James Johnson was securing steamboats to carry- out his part of the contract the government suddenly decided to construct a steamboat at the United States Arsenal on the Allegheny River near Pittsburgh. It is not known whether this rash project was condemned as un- fair to private capital. At any rate the new boat was launched on March 28, 1819, and christened the Western ^ Engineer in honor of the engineering corps and her ulti- mate destination. Eye-witnesses declared she "embraced the watery element in the most graceful manner, under a national salute." She was a dingy looking craft, measuring only thirty tons and drawing but nineteen inches of water light. Her equipment was calculated to strike terror in the hearts of the Indians. In form she resembled a black, scaly serpent, rising out of the water, with waste steam escaping from her sculptured figurehead. A mineralogist, a botanist, a geographer, and a painter, together with a considerable force of troops were aboard with Major Stephen H. Long when the boat steamed down the Ohio from Pittsburgh on May 5, 1819. The diminu- tive craft had no difficulty in descending the Falls of the Ohio; and she reached St. Louis on June 9th, thirty-six days after her departure from Pittsburgh. The Western Engineer^ according to a St. Louis account of her arrival, anchored at the upper end of the town. "In passing the Independence and St. Louis, then at anchor before the [84] The Story of the Western Engineer town, she was saluted by these vessels . . . Her equipment is at once calculated to attract and to awe the savage. Ob- jects pleasing and terrifying are at once before him : — artillery; the flag of the republic; portraits of a white man and an Indian shaking hands; the calumet of peace; a sword; then the apparent monster with a painted vessel on his back, the sides gaping with port-holes, and bristling with guns. Taken altogether, and without intelligence of her composition and design, it would require a daring savage to approach and accost her".*° ^ ?''^f The boat left St. Louis on June 21st and entered the mouth of the Missouri the following morning. In ascend- ing to Fort Bellefontaine, a distance of four miles, she twice grounded on sandbars and had difficulty in getting afloat. Retarded by the strong current, impeded by sand- bars and rafts of driftwood, the valves of her crude en- gine worn by the fine sand which hung suspended in the yellow, turgid Missouri, the Western Engineer toiled past Charbonniere, St. Charles, Cote sans Dessein, and on to Franklin. At Franklin the Indians recoiled in horror at the "monster of the deep" that smoked with fatigue and lashed the waves with violent exertion. Said one red man: "White man bad man, keep a great spirit chained and build fire under it to make it work a boat". Leaving Franklin the Western Engineer churned past Chariton, Fort Osa ge, and on to the mouth of the "Kon- zas" River where Kansas City now stands. Nearby they found a party of "abandoned and worthless" white hunters whose deportment and dress appeared to surpass in un- [85] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi couthness those of the rudest savages hving in the vicinity. Puffing bravely up the sandbar-studded Missouri, the boat glided past Cow Island and the Nodaway River. She reached the mouth of Wolf River on September 1st. Here some hunters were sent ashore and returned with a "deer, a turkey, and three swarms of bees." Three days later many large catfish were caught, some of them weighing as much as fifty pounds. Finally, on September 17, 1819, the Western Engineer arrived at Fort Lisa, a trading post of the Missouri Fur Company located on the west bank of the Missouri a few miles above present-day Omaha. Here she went into winter quarters at a point which was desig- nated as Engineer Cantonment — having ascended the Missouri farther than any other steamboat.^^ Meanwhile the Johnson, the Calhoun, the Expedition, and the Jefferson had failed in their efforts to ascend the Missouri for any considerable distance. Despite his failure to fulfill his contract. Colonel Johnson estimated the cost of this service at $256,818.15. The amount staggered the committee appointed to investigate the bill; but it was endorsed by Quartermaster General Thomas S. Jesup. For the forty-day detention of the Expedition at the mouth of the Missouri, Johnson demanded of the goverrmient $13,333.33, or more than double the value of the boat. At the same time he asked $7200 for the thirty-six day delay of the Johnson. Such sums received the support of the Monroe administration, but drew a stern rebuke from the House Committee appointed to investigate this "Tea Pot Dome" of the "Era of Good Feeling". The committee [86] The Story of the Western Engineer actually passed a resolution directing the Attorney Gen- eral to "use all legal means" to recover $76,372.65 due the government.'^ The difficulty of navigating the Missouri and the failure of the other steamboats to follow the Western Engineer necessitated a change in plans, and Lieutenant James D. Graham was ordered to steam down the Missouri to St. Louis with the Western Engineer^ thence up the Mississippi to the "De Moyen rapids", and then down the same stream to Cape Girardeau, "taking such observations and sketches on the voyage as are requisite in constructing a chart of that part of the river and the adjacent country." '*^ If the ascent of the Missouri thwarted Colonel Johnson's steamboats in 1819, the problems of navigating the Upper Mississippi were hardly less difficult, during 1819 the War Department had ordered Major Thomas Forsyth to ship $2000 worth of goods by steamboat to the Sioux In- dians above Prairie du Chien in payment for the site on which Fort Snelling was to be established. But at that time it was believed that the rapids could not be stemmed by steamboats, and so keelboats were used. The conquest of the Mississippi as far as the Des Moines Rapids would be no mean feat and would bring hope to an area even less populated than the banks of the Missouri.*^ Little is known of this voyage on the Upper Mississippi, for in making his report Major Long merely states the re- sults of the surveys of those aboard the Western Engineer. "The bottoms on the Upper Mississippi", Long reported, "contain less woodland, in proportion to their extent, than [87] v/ Steamboating on Upper Mississippi those of the Missouri. The prairies upon this river also become more numerous and extensive as we proceed up- ward." The land was fertile, though hilly, and timbered in spots with cottonwood, blue and white ash, hackberry, black walnut, cherry, mulberry, hickory, and several varieties of oak. The population was located almost ex- clusively in the river valley and extended upwards about 160 miles. Especially numerous were the Salt River set- tlements around Louisiana, Missouri; but Long felt that the scarcity of timber, mill sites, and springs of water would prove a serious impediment to settlement in that 90 region. It was left for Captain Stephen Watts Kearny to record the presence of the first steamboat known to have as- cended the Upper Mississippi River as far as Keokuk. In \J his journal of August 15, 1820, Kearny wrote: "At 8 A. M. we embarked on board our canoe & de- scended one mile, to the mouth of the Des Moines, where we found the Steam Boat, "Western Engineer", com- manded by Lieut. Graham, who came here a week since, for the purpose of taking observations, &c. Put our baggage on board, & fastened the canoe to her. Near this saw a coflSn containing the bones of an Indian tied fast to the centre of a large tree which was done at the request of the deceased to preserve his fame after the extinction of his body. "Proceded at 10 & run about 15 miles when about 1 P. M. we found ourselves on the Sand bar & from which we endeavored, but without success, to extricate ourselves. [88] The Story of the Western Engineer The boat has but few hands & those sick with fevers. August 16th "At 8 A. M. we succeeded after much exertion in get- ting off the Sandbar & in endeavoring to cross to the op- posite shore to reach the channel, we ran on another bar about 200 yards from the one we left, & found ourselves even faster than before. "At 2 P. M., aware of the uncertainty of the Steam Boat reaching St. Louis, and our party being desirous to pro- ceed without loss of time we took to our canoe, & having a favorable breeze hoisted sail." ^^ Such unfavorable reports were doubtless responsible for the failure of steamboats to attempt the navigation of the Mississippi above the Des Moines Rapids before the voyage of the Virginia. Indeed the land was so sparsely populated below the rapids that there was little cause for steamboats to ascend above the mouth of the Missouri. Quincy and Keokuk were still unborn and even the site of Hannibal was beyond the fringe of settlement. Fifteen years were to pass before Mark Twain saw the light of day at Florida, Missouri; and it was not until 1839 that the four-year-old lad was to view the Mississippi at Hannibal. ^ [89] 12 TJke Voyage of the IJirginia^' A MOTLEY crowd had gathered on the St. Louis levee on April 21, 1823. SquaHd Indians intermingled with rough- ly clad immigrants, levee loungers, lead miners, and fur traders. A sprinkling of soldiers and officials added color to the general confusion and bustle. All eyes were centered on the steamboat Virginia which lay at the levee with steam in her boilers, preparing to carry government sup- plies to the posts on the Upper Mississippi.^^ Built at Wheeling, Virginia, in 1819, the Virginia was a small stern-wheeler of 109.32 tons, owned by Redick McKee, James Pemberton, and seven others. She was 118 feet long, 18 feet 10 inches beam, and her depth was 5 feet 2 inches. She had a small cabin on deck but no pilot house, being guided by a tiller at the stern. James Pem- berton acted as master occasionally, and John Crawford, it seems, held the official position of captain.^* Among the passengers aboard the boat was Major Law- rence Taliaferro, the Indian Agent at Fort St. Anthony (renamed Fort Snelling in 1824). Taliaferro superin- tended the movement of supplies. He no doubt imparted a great deal of information about the trip to Giacomo Constantine Beltrami, the Italian exile and explorer who was the sole chronicler of the events of the journey.^^ An- other passenger was Great Eagle, a Sauk Indian chief, [90] v/ The Voyage of the Virginia whom William Clark had induced to come on board while his less fortunate tribesmen made their way along the banks. A Kentucky family bound for the lead mines at Galena was on board "with their arms and baggage, cats and dogs, hens and turkeys; the children too had their own stock." A woman missionary bound for the lead mines to work among the Indians completes the list of known passengers. Finally all was in readiness : the last passenger had hasti- ly scrambled aboard. Amid cries of farewell and the good wishes of those gathered on the levee to see her off, the Virginia swung gracefully out into the channel on an "en- terprise of the boldest, of the most extraordinary nature; and probably unparalleled." Many skeptics shook their heads, doubtful of the practicability of steamboats cross- ing the rapids of the Mississippi. For days after the de- parture of the boat "there was a great speculation as to whether the steamboat would ever return".^*' The current of the Mississippi seemed to grow swifter as the Virginia entered the Chain of Rocks channel a few miles above St. Louis. "We were approaching the mouth of the Missouri, which is only eighteen miles from that town", Beltrami remarked, "and notwithstanding the power of our steam-boat, we did not come in sight of this river before eight o'clock the following morning." The ease with which the boat passed the mouth of the Mis- souri was attributed to the presence of an island which obstructed the flow of that mighty stream, thereby break- ing the pressure of its enormous volume. [91] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Sixteen miles above the mouth of the Missouri a series of towering bluffs attracted the attention of the venture- some ItaHan. "The eastern bank of the Mississippi, op- posite the village called Portage des Sioux, leading from the Illinois to the Missouri", he noted, "rises in abrupt rocks, hewn by nature into perpendicular pillars." Piasa Bluff gave him an illusion of viewing the palaces of Pompey and Domitian on Lake Albano. A few miles above the mouth of the Illinois, the Vir- ginia entered the great bend of the Mississippi. Leaving picturesque Cap an Gris rock behind, she churned on past Clarksville to Louisiana, "two pretty rising villages" on the Missouri shore — the latter being about a hundred miles from St. Louis. With the exception of the forts along the way, Louisiana was the "last vestige of civilization" before Prairie du Chien was reached. Beltrami designated the woodland region about present- day Quincy, Illinois, as the Prairie des Liards because of "^ the extensive growth of poplar and cottonwood. He was amazed by the thick masses of trees which covered the islands and flood plains and stretched as far as the eye could see to the low-lying hills beyond. It would be a bad country in which to get lost, he thought. One day while the Virginia was wooding up, Beltrami ventured alone into the forest. A flock of wild turkeys having eluded his pursuit, he continued his walk, solilo- quizing on the beauty of the plant and animal life about him. Suddenly realizing that considerable time had elapsed, he hurried back to the river only to find the boat [92] The Voyage of the Virginia gone. Panic-stricken, he discharged his gun frantically, hoping to attract attention. The echoes resounded vainly in the great forest. Fortunately the boat struck a sandbar and Beltrami's absence was discovered. A canoe, sent to the rescue, brought him back completely exhausted from his mad rush through the heavy underbrush along the muddy bank in pursuit of the boat. When Beltrami returned to the Virginia he found that Great Eagle and the pilot had quarreled because the Indian had recommended taking a certain channel while the pilot insisted on taking another. When the boat struck the sandbar Great Eagle was so vexed that without further ado he plunged into the stream, swam ashore, and joined his fellow tribesmen who were making their way along the bank. This incident probably occurred in the "Channel of the Foxes" a short distance below Fort Edwards. The following day the Virginia arrived at Fort Edwards, where Great Eagle was found surrounded by members of his tribe. They had arrived before the boat, had set up a temporary encampment, and "were exchanging furs with the traders of the South-west Company." Great Eagle came aboard to get his bow, quiver, and gun. He was still exasperated with the officers of the boat but greeted Beltrami warmly. The latter, coveting the scalp of a Sioux chief that Great Eagle carried "suspended by the hair to the handle of his tomahawk", took advantage of this favorable moment to secure the much prized trophy. Up- on visiting the Sauk lodges, Beltrami was struck by the perfect equality exhibited by the Indians : even their dogs [93] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi and their young bears and otters were treated as belonging to the community. Beltrami carefully observed the position of the fort, "built upon a promontory on the eastern bank of the Mississippi; its situation, which is very pleasant, commands a great extent of the river and the surrounding country, as well as the mouth of the river Le Moine [Des Moines] which descends from the west and is navigable for three hundred miles into the interior. The banks of this river are inhabited by the Yawohas [lowas], a savage people, who have been almost entirely destroyed by the Sioux." At the time of the voyage of the Virginia the land west of the Mississippi and north of the Missouri boundary line was "distinguished only under the name of Savage Lands". No traces of white civilization existed in what is now Iowa and Minnesota, other than a few scattered huts belonging to half-breed traders. After being pleasantly entertained by the ojQScers of the garrison, the visitors boarded the Virginia and continued on their journey to the foot of the Des Moines or Lower Rapids, a hitherto impassable barrier for steamboats. In 1820 the steamboat Western Engineer had proceeded to this point, but even the conqueror of the Missouri did not dare venture farther. Indeed, she had repeatedly grounded in the channel below Fort Edwards and had returned to St. Louis only with the greatest difficulty. In spite of an excellent stage of water, the Virginia pro- ceeded cautiously, since the sharp jutting rock could easily crush the hull of the stoutest steamboat. For nine miles [94] The Voyage of the Virginia the perilous ascent continued, until the boat succeeded in squirming her way up to the "Middle of the Rapids of the Moine". There she was forced to return, her heavy load and draught being too great to effect the passage; it was only by sheer good luck that the vessel escaped a rock and was saved from being dashed to pieces. Fortunately the damage was slight. Two days later, with a considerably lightened cargo, the Virginia succeeded in reaching the head of the rapids, where a party of Sauk Indians was encamped on the east bank of the river, near the present site of Nauvoo, Illinois. Nine miles farther upstream the ruins of old Fort Madi- son on the west bank attracted Beltrami's attention. It had been established in 1808 as an entrepot for the In- dian trade of that region. The government had abandoned its factory system in 1822, thus leaving the field open to the "South West Company" which, together with a rival organization, monopolized the commerce of almost the whole Indian region. A short distance above Fort Madison the Virginia glided by the mouth of the "Bete Puante" or Skunk River. The Indian name for the precipitous "Yellow Hills" on the east bank of the river is perpetuated in the town of Oquawka, Illinois. Not far above the yellow banks, the mouth of the "Yahowas" or Iowa River came in view on the west side. From this point on the beauty of the Mis- sissippi held Beltrami spellbound. "Wooded islands, dis- posed in beautiful order by the hand of nature, continually varied the picture : the course of the river, which had [95] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi become calm and smooth, reflected the dazzling rays of the sun like glass; smiling hills formed a delightful con- trast with the immense prairies, which are like oceans, and the monotony of which is relieved by isolated clusters of thick and massy trees." Leaving the Grande Prairie Mascotin in her wake, the Virginia rounded a bend in the river just in time for Bel- trami to gain a "distant and exquisitely blended view" of Rock Island. Fort Armstrong stood at the foot of this island on a plateau about fifty feet above the level of the river. The eastern bank of the Mississippi above the mouth of Rock River was lined with an encampment of Fox In- dians, allies of the Sauk and resembling them in features, dress, weapons, customs, and language. On the western shore of the Mississippi *'a semicircular hill, clothed with trees and underwood", enclosed a fertile spot carefully cultivated into fields and kitchen gardens. The fort saluted with four discharges of cannon, and the Indians paid the same compliment with their muskets. While the Virginia lay at Fort Armstrong preparing for the ascent of the Upper Rapids, Beltrami paid a visit to the Indian village of Saukenuk. Situated about three miles to the southeast on the north bank of the Rock River, this was the largest village of the Sauk tribe in the Mis- sissippi Valley. Beltrami was astonished at the skill exhibited by the youthful Sauk Indians with their bows and arrows : they almost exhausted his supply of coins by hitting with ease small pieces twenty-five paces distant. To prevent the [96] The Voyage of the Virginia utter depletion of his purse he was forced to remove these costly targets to a distance of thirty-five paces. Smoked bear and highly flavored roots served as welcome refresh- ments during this sport. The Sauk had never heard of any people other than the French, English, Spaniards, and Americans. They were surprised to learn that Beltrami was of a different na- tionality; their surprise turned to veneration when he told them that he had come from the moon; but when the wily Italian attempted to gain a "clandestine entrance" to the medicine dance he was promptly ejected. Nor did his celestial homeland enable him to secure a medicine bag until he had made a present of "good whiskey" both to the person who gave it to him and to the high priest whose sanction was necessary to secure it. The following day, with the assistance of Colonel George Davenport and his "Patroon Debuts" or steersman, the Virginia began the ascent of the Rock Island or Upper Rapids, which Beltrami observed were longer and swifter than the Des Moines or Lower Rapids.^^ Suddenly the boat struck a rock and stuck fast. Every hand was in- stantly at work endeavoring to free the stranded craft. The fact that the river had been rising for two days helped the boat, which Beltrami believed would otherwise have remained "nailed" fast. The crew was entirely exhausted by the labor involved in getting the boat over the rapids, so the captain held her over for a few hours near the present site of Le Claire, Iowa, in order to give the men an opportunity to recover [97] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi from their fatigue. Beltrami went ashore and succeeded in shooting a large rattlesnake with which he returned in triumph to his fellow travelers. Six miles above the rapids the Virginia passed a village of Foxes on the west bank of the river. A little higher up she passed the Wapsipinicon River flowing into the Mis- sissippi from the west and the "Marais d'Oge" or Marais Dosier Slough on the east bank. Steaming on past the present site of Clinton, Beltrami observed the "Potatoe Prairie" on the west side known today as Pomme de Terre Prairie. Higher up, after passing the rivers La Pomme and La Garde which ran westward, he "saw a place called the Death's-heads; a field of battle where the Foxes defeated the Kikassias [Kaskaskia], whose heads they fixed upon poles as trophies of their victory." This was at Tetes des Morts Creek, which empties into the Mississippi at the northern boundary of Jackson County. The Virginia stopped at the mouth of the Fever (Ga- lena) River and Beltrami considered its name "in perfect conformity with the effect of the bad air which prevails there." The family from Kentucky and the woman mis- sionary debarked, while the other passengers spent a few hours visiting the lead mines. Twelve miles above the mouth of the Fever River the lead mines of Dubuque came into view. The Italian visitor was again obliged to resort to the use of "all-powerful whiskey" to obtain permission to see the mines. He found that the Indians were carrying on just enough mining to satisfy their needs in trade. They melted the lead in holes [98] The Voyage of the Virginia dug in the rock and reduced it to pigs in this manner. It was then carried across the river, for they would permit no white man to come to the mines to get lead. Despite these precautions Beltrami considered the mines so valua- ble and the Americans so enterprising that he doubted whether the Indians would long retain possession of them. His canny forecast was realized exactly a decade later. Leaving the mines of Dubuque, the Virginia wound her way through a country of ever increasing beauty. Bel- trami's pen was "struck motionless" as for forty miles the variety of scenes and objects attracted his attention and excited his astonishment. Rude and unkempt in its pristine grandeur, Eagle Point opened the way to "Prairie Macot- che", as Beltrami labelled present-day Maquoketa Chute. At length a place which he felt might be called Longue Vue [Buena Vista?], elicited this description: "Twelve small isolated mountains present themselves in defile, and project one behind another, like side-scenes. They are intersected by small valleys; each has its rivulet, which divides it, and reflects from its limpid streams the beauty of the trees by which its banks are adorned. These hills exhibit a mixture of the gloomy and the gay, while those which appear at the back of the scene are veiled with magical effect in the transparent mist of the horizon. On the eastern bank a verdant meadow rises with gentle slope to a distant prospect, formed and bounded by a small chain of abrupt mountains. Little islands, studded with clumps of trees, among which the steamboat was winding its course, appeared like the most enchanting gardens." [99] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi A deserted Fox village was seen on the banks of the Tur- key River, Eight miles farther up, the Virginia passed the "Old Village de la Port" where Guttenberg now stands. There the pretended territorial jurisdiction of the Foxes was said to terminate, but these red warriors often hunted beyond their domain, thus frequently precipitating bloody wars with the Sioux. The importance of the Wisconsin River as a highway for the fur trader was noted as the Virginia passed the confluence of that stream with the Mississippi. Six miles above this point the boat hove in sight of Prairie du Chien. She had traveled almost five hundred miles, and this little French settlement was the only village to present any of the earmarks of white civilization. South of Prairie du Chien stood a "wretched wooden fort, named fort Craw- ford". The passengers lost no time in poking about the inter- esting French settlement. Some "gloomy and ferocious" Winnebago Indians caught Beltrami's eye, but he refused to shake hands with "Mai-Pock" upon learning that he had regaled his friends with human flesh. This was "an ex- pression of contempt the most severe and humiliating an Indian" could receive. The industrious and friendly Me- nominee were commended for their refusal to join the English in the War of 1812. Bidding farewell to Prairie du Chien, where Joseph Rolette had politely entertained them, the voyagers began the last lap of the long journey to the northernmost mili- tary post on the Upper Mississippi. An uncharted channel [100] The Voyage of the Virginia fully two hundred miles in extent remained to be traversed before Captain Crawford could discharge the last of his cargo and once more turn the bow of his gallant little craft downstream. About six miles from Prairie du Chien, near the mouth of the Yellow River, stood a rock which was painted red and yellow every year and which the Indians looked upon with veneration. The Mississippi at this point presented scenes of peculiar novelty. "The hills disappear, the num- ber of islands increases, the waters divide into various branches, and the bed of the river in some places extends to a breadth of nearly three miles, which is greater by one half than at St. Louis; and, what is very remarkable, its depth is not diminished". Conspicuous landmarks were noted as the boat threaded this network of channels. At the foot of Winneshiek Slough a mighty rampart called "Cape Winebegos" still stands guard over what is now Lynxville, Wisconsin. Cone-shaped Capoli Bluff, a few miles below present-day Lansing, was described as Cape a I'Ail Sauvage. The whole region is known to-day as the Winneshiek Bottoms and forms an important section of the Upper Mississippi Wild Life Refuge. The Virginia usually stopped at dusk, since it would have been foolhardy to proceed in an unknown channel hitherto unnavigated by a steamboat. But one evening as they were about to tie up for the night it was found pos- sible to go on, for suddenly the entire river was illuminated by the distant glow of a gigantic forest fire. [101] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi "It was perfectly dark, and we were at the mouth of the river Yahowa [Upper Iowa]", wrote Beltrami, "when we saw at a great distance all the combined images of the infernal regions in full perfection . . . The venerable trees of these eternal forests were on fire, which had communi- cated to the grass and brushwood, and these had been borne by a violent north-west wind to the adjacent plains and valleys. The flames towering above the tops of the hills and mountains, where the wind raged with most violence, gave them the appearance of volcanoes, at the moment of their most terrific eruptions; and the fire winding in its descent through places covered with grass, exhibited an exact resemblance of the undulating lava of Vesuvius or ^tna . . . This fire accompanied us with some variations for fifteen miles . . . Showers of large sparks, which fell upon us, excited terror in some, and laughter in others. I do not believe that I shall ever again witness such astonish- ing contrasts of light and darkness, of the pathetic and the comic, the formidable and the amusing, the wonderful and the grotesque." The Virginia traveled all night by the aid of this superb torch. During the night she passed the Bad Axe and Rac- coon rivers, but at dawn the tired craft ran aground "by way of resting herself". A few miles above the river Ajix Kacines [Root], Bel- trami noticed a place called "Casse-Fusils" (broken musk- ets) from the fact that a party of Indians, jealous of another band armed with English guns, attacked them and broke their muskets. This incident probably occurred [102] The Voyage of the Virginia opposite the present site of La Crosse, Wisconsin, near a point now known as Broken Arrow Slough. Puffing on past the mouth of the Black River, the Vir- ginia entered the beautiful and romantic country around what is now the city of Winona. The majestic bluffs were likened to those on the Rhine between Bingen and Co- blenz. All Beltrami's powers of expression were exhausted by mighty Trempealeau, the mountain that walks in the water. "Amid a number of delightful little islands, en- circled by the river, rises a mountain of conical form equally isolated. You climb amid cedars and cypresses, strikingly contrasted with the rocks that intersect them, and from the summit you command a view of valleys, prairies, and distances in which the eye loses itself. From this point I saw both the last and the first rays of a splendid sun gild the lovely picture. The western bank presents another illusion to the eye. Mountains, ruggedly broken into abrupt rocks, which appear cut perpendicularly into towers, steeples, cottages, &c., appear precisely like towns and villages." A Sioux Indian encampment was observed at "la Prairie aux Ailes" [Winona], and here the Virginia landed. Wrapped in a wretched buffalo skin. Chief Wabasha came on board followed by a motley array of warriors. Major Taliaferro greeted Wabasha with "plenty of shakes by the hand", and smoked the calumet of peace while Beltrami acted as "ape" to this "troop of comedians". Wabasha was greatly impressed with the construction and performance of the white man's boat. The intricacy of the engine espe- [103] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi cially appealed to him. When members of the Stephen H. Long expedition passed his village in keelboats a short time later he expressed deep interest in the Virginia and was particularly curious about the construction of the engine and the principle on which it worked.^* Leaving Chief Wabasha behind, the Virginia entered a section of the Mississippi that was "diversified by hills, plains, meadows, and forests." The Buffalo and Chippewa rivers were seen flowing into the Mississippi from the east. Below modern Wabasha the Embarras or Zumbro River drained a region called the Great Encampment. Just above the mouth of the Chippewa, the boat en- tered an "elliptical amphitheatre" known as Lake Pepin. Encircled by little hills and varying from one to three miles in width throughout its course of twenty-two miles, Lake Pepin is so deep that boats have no difficulty in navi- gating it even during seasons of low water. In stormy weather its waters are lashed into a fury and steamboats seldom venture upon it. As the Virginia was plowing her way through, a terrific squall struck the lake and it was only by means of skillful navigation on the part of Captain Crawford that she was able to wallow her way to safety. Staring Indians, transfixed with astonishment upon the bank, were the only spectators of this thrilling and almost fatal incident. On the eastern shore near the head of Lake Pepin towers romantic Maiden Rock. Another Sioux village hove in sight at the Mountain of the Grange, now known as Barn Bluff at Red Wing. Here again the chief and his leading [104] The Voyage of the Virgmia warriors came on board. After the travelers solemnly smoked the peace pipe and gave ear to some long and woe- fully dull speeches, the Virginia continued upstream. Above the mouth of the Cannon River the Mississippi became narrower and less studded with islands, while the bluffs were steeper and more imposing. All on board must have experienced a thrill as they passed the St. Croix River and realized that the long journey was almost at an end. Medicine Wood, Pine Bend, and Little Crow's Village at the Grand Marais were soon left behind. While the boat was wooding up, the passengers were told of a small valley of cedars, firs, and cypresses leading to a cavern named in honor of Jonathan Carver. On May 10, 1823, the Virginia nosed her way into the St. Peter's or Minnesota River and came to a well-earned rest under the frowning cliffs upon which Fort St. An- thony was built. When the Indians saw the boat "cut its way without oars or sails against the current of the great river, some thought it a monster vomiting fire, others the dwelling of the Manitous, but all approached it with rev- erence or fear." When the tired boat began to blow off steam the frightened Indians "took to the woods, men, women, and children, with their blankets flying in the wind, some tumbling in the brush which entangled their feet as they ran away — some hallooing, some crying, to the great amusement of the people on board the steam- boat." The Virginia made the long journey of seven hundred ' ^ miles in twenty days. She met with many delays. During | [105] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi the course of the journey she struck five sandbars, four below Prairie du Chien and one above. Approximately five days had been spent in getting over the Des Moines and the Rock Island rapids. Wood was burned for fuel, and since none had been prepared in advance the boat had been forced to lay over while fresh supplies were cut by the crew. Several days must have been lost in the process of wooding up. Moreover, with the exception of the night of the forest fire, the engines had stopped each day at sun- down. XThe voyage of the Yirginia established the practicability of navigating the Upper Mississippi by steamboat. Later ? in the year she completed two more trips above the rapids, one to the mouth of the St. Peter's and another to Fort Crawford. After these trips the government did not hesi- tate to utilize this quicker and more reliable way of mov- / ing troops and supplies^ J '^With the advent of steam navigation it became evident j| that the Mississippi provided the most expeditious and \y\/ jl natural outlet for the huge quantities of lead that were pi just beginning to be produced and were soon to reach !^ enormous volumes. The river was to become also the main I I artery along which the great waves of imrriigration moved steadily northward into the Upper Mississippi Valley. No other means of transportation before the advent of the railroad was capable of serving this region so welb [106] 13 Xne Inaian ana tlie oteamDoat The progress of the Virginia up the Mississippi was viewed with alarm by the Indians. Beltrami was impressed by the fright they displayed at Fort Snelling : "I know not what impression the first sight of the Phoenician ves- sels might make on the inhabitants of the coast of Greece; or the Triremi of the Romans on the wild natives of Iberia, Gaul, or Britain; but I am sure it could not be stronger than that which I saw on the countenance of these savages at the arrival of our steamboat." ^^ If the Indians at Fort Snelling were frightened, their white brothers who first saw such steamboats were equally startled. In Europe the peasants of Walachia fled (in 1830) o at the sight of the first steamboat on the Danube, believing it to be the work of Satan. These same Walachians, like Beltrami himself, traced their lineage back to Imperial Rome and gloried in it. Less than six years later, in the spring of 1836, the Walachians anxiously awaited the ar- rival of the first steamboat. Eight craft then plied on the y Danube, and little colonies were springing up at each steamboat landing. In 1836 a score of steamboats were churning between St. Louis and the mineral region.^"" But the Indians soon became accustomed to the steam- boats puffing up and down the Mississippi. They even came to look on with characteristic apathy while these [107] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi boats discharged troops and supplies, and loaded up with furs and passengers for below. As the years rolled on and the Indians came to associate the steamboat with the ar- rival of their yearly annuities, they became even more strongly attached to the craft which plied regularly in the trade. They were especially fond of such steamboats as the Lynx, the Otter, the Osprey, and the Argo. Indeed, when the Argo sank in 1847, the Indians felt it was as much their loss as the owners'. "It became known". Cap- tain Blakeley relates, "that we had bought the Dr. Frank- lin, called by them the Great Medicine, before that steam- boat arrived. When she landed at Red Wing on her first trip, the traders sung out that the Great Medicine was coming. This cry raised everyone in the village, men, women, and children, and all rushed to the bank of the river and onto the boat, shouting 'How! how! how!' " ^°^ The arrival of the steamboat at an Indian village was always a signal for a rush to meet her. On July 16, 1847, Harriet E. Bishop, a woman missionary, arrived at Kaposia on the Lynx. "The ringing of the bell", declared this bad- ly frightened servant of the Lord, "occasioned a grand rush, and with telegraphic speed, every man, woman, and child flew to the landing. "To an unsophisticated eye like mine, the scene on shore was novel and grotesque, not to say repulsive; blankets and hair streaming in the wind; limbs uncovered; children nearly naked, the smaller ones entirely so, while a papoose was ludicrously peeping over the shoulder of nearly every 5> 102 squaw. [108] The Indian and the Steamboat During the removal of the Winnebago from Iowa in 1848 an incident occurred which was remembered with deep chagrin by the Winnebago for several years. It ap- pears that the Dr. Franklin was the first boat on the Upper Mississippi to have a steam whistle. On one occasion, after the boat had discharged her red passengers, the whole tribe gathered on the bank to watch the "Great Medicine" back out. Sensing the possibilities for some fun, the en- gineer, Bill Myers, pulled the cord of the whistle "which gave a terrible screech, and instantly every Indian man, woman, and child jumped, shed their blankets, and rushed for the top of the bank or some place to hide." This incident made the poor Winnebago the laughing stock of the tribes on the Minnesota River. But in 1851 they had their revenge. When the Dr. Franklin went up to Traverse des Sioux, the Winnebago plotted with Cap- tain Russell Blakeley to frighten the Sioux. The Dr. Franklin snorted up to the Sioux village under a full head of steam, and as the boat touched the shore a hideous blast sent every Sioux flying for cover. Indeed, so great was -J their fright that the Winnebago poked no little fun at their former mockers and thanked Captain Blakeley for squar- ing accounts.^''' y^ Steamboats played an important part in the relations of the Indian and the white man for almost half a cen- tury. The Indian even found courage to travel by steam- boat. He seldom traveled alone, however, but factors other than fear and distrust accounted for this. Only on rare occasions did the Indian have funds to procure a pas- [109] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi sage; the desire for whiskey, generously diluted with river water, proved more tempting to his fancy. Moreover, by the time the steamboat had become common, the reserva- tion system and the trading house, both under the close supervision of the Indian Agent, tended to discourage trav- el by the red men. Despite this fact/ the Indian played an important role, both directly and indirectly, in the development of steamboating on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Steamboating was stimulated directly by the necessity of transporting delegations to treaty grounds, by the delivery of annuity goods as provided by these treaties, and by the ultimate removal of whole tribes to new reservations.^ IEach of these processes tended to weaken the Indians' hold on the lands of the Upper Mississippi Valley and to stim- ulate the advance of white settlers into the region. /in- directly, the Indian stimulated steamboating through the presence of the fur trader and the soldier on the Indian frontier.j [110] u 1 o 1 reaty Ijrrouncls nj otfeamiDoat A FOX WARRIOR was Stealing furtively down the Missis- sippi below Prairie du Chien. Desperately wounded and half-starved, he staggered along, wading streams and skulk- ing through the underbrush. His strength was ebbing fast as he approached the Fox village at the mouth of Cat- fish Creek below present-day Dubuque. Fortunately he managed to reach his kindred and friends just in time to tell of the ambuscade and massacre of their principal chiefs and headmen by the Sioux and Menominee. Then the lone survivor himself departed to the happy hunting grounds."* A paroxysm of fear gripped the leaderless Fox Indians, and they fled precipitately to Rock Island. When the news of the bloody tragedy reached Washington, the gov- ernment ordered General William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, to assemble the warring tribes at Prairie du Chien. William Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame) was deeply venerated by his many red children in the Missis- sippi Valley. They trusted this courageous "red-haired chief" with "iron in the blood and granite in the back- bone". And well might they trust him as a friend, for as early as 1826 Clark had urged the Secretary of War to adopt a more humane policy toward his red charges : "While strong and hostile", Clark wrote, "it has been our [111] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi obvious policy to weaken them; now that they are weak and harmless, and most of their lands fallen into our hands, justice and humanity require us to befriend and cherish them." "= Clark set out from St. Louis on the steamboat Planet with a motley cargo of Indians from the Missouri River. When the steamboat reached Rock Island, the Sauk and Fox, with recent atrocities still fresh in their minds, stub- bornly refused to attend the peace negotiations. But Clark had learned the subtle techniques for the successful cajol- ing of red men. Long years before he had once remarked: "It requires time and a little smoking with Indians if you wish to have peace with them." The recalcitrant Foxes, their grief assuaged with a liberal supply of presents to the friends and relatives of the victims, finally agreed to proceed to Prairie du Chien on the Planet. When the boat reached Galena, she had some three hundred members of the Sauk, Fox, Iowa, and Oto tribes jammed aboard. In addition to these, a small delegation of Missouri, Sioux, and Winnebago lent color and confusion to the heterogen- eous array of Indians that swarmed over Captain Butler's diminutive craft. At Prairie du Chien "time and smoking" finally brought the warring factions to an understanding after two weeks of negotiations. On July 15, 1830, the Sioux and the con- federated tribes of Sauk and Fox agreed to mark off be- tween them a neutral strip forty miles in width in what is now northern Iowa and southern Minnesota. Shortly afterwards Clark returned the Indians to their homes [112] To Treaty Grounds by Steamboat aboard the steamboat Ked Rover, Joseph Throckmorton commanding. A total of $24,265.83 was appropriated for this treaty, and only $840.94 was left unspent.^"* Before 1823 the Indian had traveled long distances by canoe or on foot to attend a treaty meeting. With the arrival of the steamboat the red man was transported to the scene of the council and fed while away from his vil- lage. He found the Great White Father quite willing to do this, particularly when spurred on by the hope of more land cessions. Prior to the Black Hawk War most of the councils in the Upper Mississippi Valley were called at some point near a military post. Fort Crawford and Fort Armstrong were favorite treaty grounds, but a number of councils were also held at Fort Snelling. The gradual withdrawal of the Indians northward to the land of the sky blue waters can be measured by the points at which the treaties were signed. In 1842 the Sauk and Fox Indians gave up all claim to land in the Territory of Iowa by a treaty signed at Agency, six miles east of Ottumwa on the Des Moines River. Nine years later, at Traverse des Sioux and Mendota, the Sioux ceded large tracts of land in the Territory of Minnesota and smaller patches in northern Iowa."' Despite accounts found in contemporary newspapers of the palatial appointments and speed of Upper Mississippi craft, the journeys of the commissioners, clerks, and inter- preters were seldom pleasant. Thus, in 1829 Caleb At- water, a resident of Ohio, was appointed commissioner to act with Brigadier General John McNeil and Colonel [113] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Pierre Menard. After a tiresome journey down the Ohio and up the Mississippi, Atwater finally reached St. Louis where he busied himself for days in securing quantities of food and supplies. These he sent on by steamboat as quick- ly as they were purchased. When all was in readiness Atwater boarded the steamboat Missouri (John Culver commanding) and set out for Prairie du Chien. It took the Missouri almost a week to reach the Lower Rapids. Here the journey was interrupted by the low stage of the water. While making his way on foot along the river from Fort Edwards to the head of the rapids, Atwater found many of the packages, which had been forwarded several weeks before, scattered along the bank and exposed to the elements. A large part of these were stowed aboard Cap- tain Throckmorton's Red Rover which lay at the head of the Lower Rapids, hopefully waiting for a cargo with which to return upstream.^°® Fort Armstrong was not reached until noon of the third day. Here a delegation of two hundred Winnebago sur- rounded Atwater and demanded "flour, hog meat, and whisky." Eleven barrels of pork, two hundred pipes, and a plentiful supply of tobacco appeased their anger, and the Red Rover continued upstream. Learning at Galena that an unprecedented number of Indians had gathered at Fort Crawford, Atwater purchased an additional five hundred bushels of corn. The Indians at Prairie du Chien greeted the commis- sioners warmly. According to Atwater : "As soon as we were discovered by our red friends, a few miles below the [n4] To Treaty Grounds by Steamboat fort, opposite to their encampment, they fired into the air, about fifteen hundred rifles to honor us. Our powder had become wet, and, to our extreme mortification and regret, we could not answer them by our cannon. Having fired their arms, some run on foot, some rode on their small horses furiously along over the prairie to meet us where we landed." As soon as her cargo was discharged, the Ked Rover departed downstream for the remaining annuities and treaty supplies."" Orations were followed by unrestrained feasting; fa- vorite Indian games were interspersed with murders. All the tribes appeared contented, save the Winnebago whose chief grievance was that $20,000 in annuity goods had not been delivered. They demanded that this debt be wiped out before the government enter into new obligations. Low water had delayed the delivery of these annuities, but this explanation did not placate the Winnebago who, even after the goods did arrive, threatened to murder every white man present. At this crucial moment the two chiefs, Keokuk and Morgan, appeared with two hundred Sauk and Fox war- riors and began their war dance for the United States. They informed the unruly Winnebago that thirty steam- boats with cannon and troops and four hundred of their own warriors were close at hand. This silenced the Win- nebago and brought the negotiations to a close. The suc- cessful termination of the treaty of 1829 may be attributed to the timely arrival of the long delayed annuities and to Keokuk's extravagant fabrication of the approach of [iin Steamboating on Upper Mississippi thirty steamboats loaded with well armed white troops/^" In 1837 Governor Henry Dodge of the Territory of Wisconsin set out on the steamboat Irene for Fort Snelling to negotiate a treaty with the Chippewa, whereby they surrendered their choicest lands to the white man. Among the signatories to this treaty were Henry H. Sibley and Hercules L. Dousman of the American Fur Company; J. N. Nicollet, the noted French scientist; and Joseph Emerson, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A., owner of the famous slave, Dred Scott/^^ The signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux on July 23, 1851, was the prelude to the final extinction of Indian land title in the Upper Mississippi Valley. Many steam- boats were required to carry the Indians to and from the treaty ground and in transporting food and gifts. Thirty braves from Red Wing's band went up on the Dr. Frank- lin, while the Nominee carried Wabasha's warriors. The steamboat Excelsior (James Ward commanding) arrived at St. Paul on June 20, 1851, with Commissioner Luke Lea on board and the next morning proceeded to Mendota where the party was joined by a number of traders and chiefs of the lower Sioux bands. According to a passenger, the Sioux managed "to conform here on the boat without murmuring to our pernicious habit of eat- ing three meals a day." A drove of cattle and a supply of provisions were taken on board at Mendota to furnish sub- sistence for the Indians expected at the treaty. Leaving Mendota, the Excelsior steamed over to Fort Snelling where Governor Alexander Ramsey came on [116] To Treaty Grounds by Steamboat board. But a company of dragoons who were to accom- pany the commission as a guard was not ready so the Excelsior departed without them. Among the passengers were James M. Goodhue, the first editor in Minnesota, and Frank B. Mayer, a Maryland artist whose famous painting of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux has been preserved to this day. On July 20th, the Dr. Franklin brought a party from St. Paul to witness the signing of the treaty. The year 1851 marks the last time a large body of In- dians was carried by steamboat to sign a treaty in the Upper Mississippi region. Henceforth the activity of steamboats, so far as Indian councils were concerned, shifted to the Missouri River.^" [117] 15 Visiting tike Cjreat vVliife Jraflier Indian councils in the West were never exclusive gather- ings of the chiefs and headmen : the whole tribe attended. Braves came accompanied by their squaws and dirty- faced papooses. Old men and women, bent and withered with age, hobbled about the treaty grounds and scolded crossly at the slightest pretext. Even the dogs, half- starved on account of the lack of food, accompanied the tribe : they barked incessantly during the day and howled so dismally at night that the Indian orators called atten- tion to their pitiful condition, the better to illustrate their own sad plight."^ Bitter quarrels among the Indians or with the commis- sioners and the interminably long speeches, together with the cost involved in transporting and feeding whole tribes of hungry Indians, led the government to inaugurate the policy of transporting small delegations to Washington. Limiting the number of orators tended to bring negotia- tions to an earlier conclusion. The amount saved on food and presents, it was estimated, would actually pay the cost of transportation; at the same time the bewildered Indians would be overawed by the power of the government. Such methods, it was hoped, would hasten the extinction of Indian land titles and work to the advantage of the white man. [118] Visiting the Great White Father The payments to steamboat captains formed no small portion of the expense of taking the Indian delegations to Washington. William Clark's estimate of the cost of tak- ing his delegation of Sauk, Fox, Iowa, and Piankashaw Indians to Washington in 1824 was $2,908.80. Included in the party was one agent, three interpreters, one servant, one hired man, and eighteen Indians. Transportation from St. Louis to Washington required $1,231.75; while pro- visions and tavern expenses amounted to $772.74. Lawrence Taliaferro estimated $857.23 for transporting his Sioux, Chippewa, and Menominee Indians from St. Peter's to Washington in 1824. He figured $482.00 for transportation, $149.84 for provisions, $199.00 for hired men, $24.39 for sundries, $19.00 for presents, and $13.00 for medicine. It would be difficult to explain this differ- ence. Still more confusing is Taliaferro's estimate of $2,992.00 for the journey home — especially since only $150 of this was needed to make the trip from Prairie du Chien to Fort Snelling. The difference can hardly be at- tributed to up- and downstream tariffs."* For the Indian, a trip to Washington was like the first visit of a country boy to a big city. But it was no easy task for the Indian Agent. Even aboard the steamboat it was necessary to be constantly on the alert to prevent the Indians from securing firewater : vigilance had to be re- doubled whenever the steamboat landed and the Indians went ashore. On one occasion, Marcpee, a Sioux from the Fort Snelling district, had a bad dream while ascending the Ohio River, dived overboard, and swam ashore. He [119] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi reached St. Charles, Missouri, in safety, but there the thrust of a Sauk dagger changed the course of his journey to the happy hunting grounds."' Amusing incidents were without number. In 1831 Colonel Samuel C. Stambaugh departed from Washington with a group of Menominee warriors. The journey home was to be made after visiting the principal cities of the East. At Philadelphia a theater party was arranged with a special section reserved for the warriors. During the course of the program a gigantic elephant from Siam was led on the stage. The astonished Menominee gave one loud, discordant shriek which almost precipitated a riot. Terrified whites and blacks hastily sought cover. But the Indians were not without a defender : a local newspaper declared that such a reception was no worse than the cus- tom of fashionable gentlemen in Philadelphia theaters who beat boxes with their canes."^ Somewhat different was Black Hawk's visit to the Great White Father in 1833. At the conclusion of his ill-fated war he was carried in chains aboard the steamboat Win- nebago and taken to Jefferson Barracks. On his journey downstream, the defeated Sauk leader was placed in charge of Lieutenant Jefferson Davis (the man who later became President of the Southern Confederacy) . Of his treat- v/ ment by Davis aboard the Winnebago, Black Hawk after- wards declared : "We remained here [Prairie du Chien] a short time, and then started to Jefferson Barracks, in a steam boat, under the charge of a young war chief [Davis], who treated all with much kindness. He is a [120] Visiting the Great White Father good and brave young chief, with whose conduct I was much pleased. On our way down, we called at Galena, and remained a short time. The people crowded to the boat to see us; but the war chief would not permit them to enter the apartment where we were — knowing, from what his own feelings would have been, if he had been placed in a similar situation, that we did not wish to have a gaping crowd around us." "^ Black Hawk and his two sons, the Prophet, and nine braves were aboard the Winnebago when she arrived at St. Louis. Fifty warriors had been landed at the foot of the Lower Rapids upon pledging to remain at peace."^ Held with ball and chain Black Hawk languished in Jefferson Barracks until spring. Then he made a steamboat journey by way of the Ohio to Pittsburgh, and thence overland to Washington. The trip was arranged to im- press the fallen chieftain with the power of the white man : it turned out to be somewhat of a triumphant tour as related by Black Hawk in his Autobiography}^^ "In a little while all were ready, and left Jefferson bar- racks on board of a steam boat, under charge of a young war chief, whom the White Beaver sent along as a guide to Washington. He carried with him an interpreter and one soldier. On our way up the Ohio, we passed several large villages, the names of which were explained to me. The first is called Louisville, and is a very pretty village, situate on the bank of the Ohio river. The next is Cincinnati, which stands on the bank of the same river. This is a large and beautiful village, and seemed to be in [121] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi a thriving condition. The people gathered on the bank as we passed, in great crowds, apparently anxious to see us. "On our arrival at Wheeling, the streets and river's bank were crowded with people, who flocked from every direction to see us. WhUe we remained here, many called upon us, and treated us with kindness — no one offering to molest or misuse us. This village is not so large as either of those before mentioned, but is quite a pretty village. "We left the steam boat here, having travelled a long distance on the prettiest river (except our Mississippi,) that I ever saw — and took the stage. Being unaccustomed to this mode of travelling, we soon got tired, and wished ourselves seated in a canoe on one of our own rivers, that we might return to our friends. We had travelled but a short distance, before our carriage turned over, from which I received a slight injury, and the soldier had one arm broken. I was sorry for this accident, as the young man had behaved well." Upon meeting President Andrew Jackson the red war- rior said to his Great White Father : "I am a man and you are another." This may have been sufficient for send- ing Black Hawk to Fortress Monroe as the guest-prisoner of the government. Upon his release Black Hawk returned to his home in Iowa by way of the Great Lakes and Prairie du Chien. Three delegations of Upper Mississippi Indians went to Washington in 1837. Unknown to the representatives of the American Fur Company who were attempting to force the Sioux to sign certain papers acknowledging their [122] Visiting the Great White Father debts, Major Taliaferro arranged with Captain James Laf- ferty of the steamboat Ariel to be at Fort SnelHng on a certain day. Luckily for the Sioux, the steamboat was on time and they set out downstream before the Fur Com- pany became aware of their departure. At Kaposia the Ariel was boarded by Big Thunder and his pipe bearer. The great Wahkoota and his war chief clambered aboard at what is now Red Wing; and at the present site of Wino- na, Wabasha and Etuzepah joined the delegation. Twen- ty-one Sioux were on the Ariel when she reached Galena. An editor described them as a motley and curious set of "varmints". Leaving Galena on August 23, 1837, the Ariel made her way down the Mississippi and up the Ohio to Pittsburgh, whence the Indians journeyed overland to Washington. Secretary of War Joel R. Poinsett met the Sioux at Washington. Henry Hastings Sibley, Alexis Bailly, Joseph Laframboise, and AJexander and Oliver Faribault were present to "protect" the interests of the American Fur Company. After solemn deliberations, a treaty was signed on September 29, 1837, by which the Sioux relinquished all claims to the pine forests of the St. Croix Valley, thus clearing the way for the organization of the future Ter- ritory of Minnesota. The representatives of the Fur Com- pany were able to include a provision whereby a sum of $90,000 was set aside for the payment of the "just" debts which they claimed the Indians owed them."° After viewing some of the wonders of the East, the Sioux returned by way of the Ohio and the Mississippi to [123] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi St. Louis where the steamboat Rolla was chartered to transport the delegation to Fort SneHing. Leaving Galena on November 7, 1837, the Indians began the last lap of their three thousand mile journey. About twenty miles below Pine River, the flue of the boiler suddenly collapsed. The fireman of the Kolla^ a negro, and a valuable horse were killed; but the Sioux escaped without injury, and the delegation was safely landed at Fort Snelling the next day/^ Before the Kolla turned her nose downstream Major Taliaferro paid Captain Dwyer $1450 "for transportation & fare of a delegation of Sioux Indians & their Interpreters & attendants by contract from St. Louis to the Agency at St. Peters". The government paid $5 5 per passage for the twenty-six Indians and their attendants aboard the Kolla, which was almost double the amount usually charged for such a trip. Not even the late season could justify such a payment. This sum, added to the income from freight and passage received from other sources, probably yielded the Kolla her most profitable trip of the season. Even if Captain Dwyer had creditors before he reached Fort Snelling he must have left for St. Louis with a light heart.^" Two other Indian delegations went to Washington in 1837. The Sauk and Fox under Joseph M. Street signed a treaty on October 21st, relinquishing 1,250,000 acres of Iowa land. This is known today as The Second Purchase. Then, on November 1st, the Winnebago, under Agent Thomas A. Boyd, ceded all their lands east of the Missis- [124] Visiting the Great White Father sippi, together with a portion of the Neutral Strip. Three delegations in one year, together with the special annuity goods usually provided for in the treaties, brought rich returns to the enterprising steamboat captains who plied the Upper Mississippi/"' [125] Tlie 1 ransporiation ot iiiai&n. Aniniiif les A LARGE BAND of Chippcwa had assembled on the St. Croix River near present-day Stillwater. A year before, in July of 1837, they had made a treaty at Fort Snelling with their Great White Father. They had been solemnly promised that their first yearly annuity would be paid on this very spot. A year had passed and the Chippewa, with child-like simplicity, had gathered to receive their sup- plies. But long-winded Congressmen, inefficient depart- mental employees, the stage of the water, and the season of the year often delayed the delivery of annuity goods. These factors, together with an inherent dislike of the Indians for raising their own crops, often led to distress- ing hardships. Delay in the delivery of Indian annuities was common, but few tribes suffered more than did the Chippewa in 1838. By the middle of July the Chippewa began to feel genuine concern as their annuities still remained unde- livered. Suddenly the steamboat Palmyra (W. Middleton commanding) was spied puffing proudly up the St. Croix. She was the first steamboat to churn the waters of that river. The assembled tribesmen dashed down to greet her and to receive their long-awaited annuities. Their stock of provisions was running low : indeed, many of the Chippewa were in dire need of food. But Captain Mid- [126] The Transportation of Indian Annuities dleton carried no annuities for the Chippewa aboard the Palmyra. Instead he brought a party of workmen with equipment to erect the first mill in the St. Croix Valley. The red man might cede his home; land pirates might im- mediately enter and denude the rich valley of its wealth of timber; but the Indian must await the delivery of his annuities. It was not until the first week of November that the steamboat Gipsey arrived with the Indian goods. By that time the plight of the red men was desperate. An account of the first payment has been left by Levi W. Stratton, a St. Croix lumberman: "The old stern wheel Gipsey brought the goods and landed them on the beach. The Chippewas came there to the number of 1,100 in their canoes, nearly starved by waiting for their payment. While there receiving it the river and lake froze up, and a deep snow came on; thus all their supplies, including one hundred barrels of flour, twenty-five of pork, kegs of tobacco, bales of blankets, guns and ammunition, casks of Mexican dollars, etc., all were sacrificed except what they could carry off on their backs through the snow hundreds of miles away. Their fleet of birch canoes they destroyed before leaving, lest the Sioux might have the satisfaction of doing the same after they left. "Many of the old as well as the young died from over- eating, they being nearly starved. Thus their first pay- ment became a curse rather than a blessing to them, for their supplies soon gave out, the season for hunting was [127] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi past, they were away from home and had no means of getting there, except by wading through the deep snow. Many perished in the attempt. As is usual in such cases, I suppose, no one was to blame, but the poor Indians had to suffer the consequence of somebody's neglect. The Old Gipsey had scarcely time to get through the lake before the ice formed." ^'* The delivery of Indian annuities formed an important cargo for enterprising steamboat captains. Each year steamboats churned up the Mississippi and its tributaries to deliver a varied assortment of Indian goods. Steamboat captains who secured contracts to deliver annuities were considered extremely fortunate for, while the movement of delegations and tribes usually required but one trip, the traffic in annuities called for many trips to the points designated. Before the voyage of the Virginia the government fre- quently sent presents to the Indians by means of keelboats. Thus, when the keelboat Amelia stopped at the mouth of the Upper Iowa River in 1821 Indian Agent Lawrence Taliaferro was visited by Chief Wabasha and a band of seventy-eight warriors. After explaining the views of the government. Major Taliaferro gave the "respectable" Wabasha a present which brought "visible" pleasure to his eyes. Although the value of such presents was usually small they proved a tempting bait which produced the de- sired effect. His appetite whetted, the Indian asked for more; it was then but a short step to the actual sale of lands. The steamboat was the chief means of transporting [128] The Transportation of Indian Annuities such annuity goods before the coming of the railroad/" It should be pointed out, however, that until the steam- boat had become a means of communication with points on the Upper Mississippi it was not possible to deliver huge quantities of annuities at the very doors of the tribes. For example, in 1824 provision was made to convey the Sauk, Fox, and the Iowa Indian goods only as far as St. Louis; but later treaties called for the transportation of goods to designated points on the Upper Mississippi. In 1829 the Winnebago were to receive immediately $18,000 in specie and $30,000 in goods and presents at Prairie du Chien and Fort Winnebago. Three thousand pounds of tobacco and fifty barrels of salt were also to be delivered at the same points annually for a period of thirty years. Likewise the amount of iron, tools, and steel required by a blacksmith called for annual shipments during the next three decades. Three years later the Winnebago were granted additional annuities for a period of twenty-seven years. At the same time the Black Hawk Purchase provided that annuity goods be delivered yearly at the mouth of the Iowa River. Both treaties specified that the government defray the cost of transportation.^"^ While eastern markets furnished a considerable portion of the Indian goods carried by Upper Mississippi steam- boats, it was bustling St. Louis that claimed the lion's share of the trade. Indeed, in 1829 Atwater observed that the Indian Department had expended millions of dollars in St. Louis.'"' Ten years later a Davenport newspaper viewed with envy the departure from St. Louis of the [129] ./ Steamboating on Upper Mississippi steamboat Pizarro which was bound up the Missouri River to its confluence with the Kansas with 20 spinning wheels, 20 looms and their "appendages", 300 axes, 100 plows, and $10,000 in specie. This "pretty little outfit" was destined for the Iowa and other Indians/"® While the entire western country was included in this commerce no small share belonged to the Upper Missis- sippi. In the thirties, especially, with Sauk and Fox, Win- nebago and Potawatomi, Chippewa and Sioux, and other tribes gradually giving way before the westward tide of immigration, treaties called for an ever increasing ship- ment of annuities. By 1844 four tribes alone were being supplied annually with goods valued at $218,910 : the Sioux received $40,510; the Sauk and Fox $85,540; while the Winnebago rejoiced over annuities valued at $92,860.''' The importance of the Indian trade is further illustrated by a comparison v/ith the commerce from the white settle- ments on the frontier. "About $80,000", declared a St. Paul newspaper in 1852, "has been paid out to the lower bands of Indians in accordance with the treaty stipula- tions for the purchase of their land : also about $20,000 worth of goods. The Governor has gone to Traverse des Sioux, where he is to meet the upper bands of Indians, and will pay them, it is said, over $300,000. The effect of the payment is easily observed in St. Paul. The merchants are reaping a rich harvest. The Indians are as plentiful in town as mosquitoes in summer; but they are more wel- come, for they bring the cash, while mosquitoes settle [130] The Transportation of Indian Annuities their bills in another way." '^° At St. Paul the trade in general merchandise during the year 185 3 was estimated at $390,000. This represented the goods purchased by the citizens of St. Paul and by white settlers throughout the surrounding country. But the government trade during the same year amounted to fully $400,000.'"' Each flourishing community between St. Louis and St. Paul made strong bids for a portion of this trade and often received a generous share. For a long time Galena played a leading role; but in the decade preceding the Civil War other river towns cut deeply into her trade. In 1857 Davenport and the surrounding territory in Iowa fur- nished goods for the Sioux of the Minnesota River to the value of $28,000."' The delivery of Indian annuities was usually a colorful spectacle. Captain Edwin Bell recalls a particularly dramatic episode following the arrival of the steamboat Globe.''' "In 18551 had command of the steamer Globe, making trips on the Minnesota river, and in the early fall of that year we carried supplies to the Sioux at Redwood Agency. The Indians would come down the river several miles to meet the boat. They were like a lot of children, and when the steamboat approached they would shout, 'Nitonka pata-wata washta', meaning, 'Your big fire-canoe is good.' They would then cut across the bend, yelling until we reached the landing. "In the fall of that year, 185 5, their supplies were late, when I received orders from Agent Murphy to turn over [131] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi to the Indians twelve barrels of pork, and twelve barrels of flour. As soon as we landed, we rolled the supplies on shore. I was informed that the Indians were in a starving condition. It was amusing to see five or six of them rolling a barrel of pork up the bank, when two of our deck hands would do the work in half the time. "When the flour and pork were on the level ground, the barrel heads were knocked in, and the pork cut in small strips and thrown in a pile. Two hundred squaws then formed a circle, and several Indians handed the pieces of pork to the squaws until the pile was disposed of. The flour was placed in tin pans, each squaw receiving a panful. "Later, in the same season we had an unfortunate trip. The boat was loaded deep. Luckily Agent Murphy and Capt. Louis Robert were on board. We had in the cabin of the boat ninety thousand dollars in gold. About three miles below the Agency, we ran on a large boulder. After much effort, we got the boat afloat. Major Murphy gave orders to land the goods, so that they might be hauled to the Agency. We landed and unloaded, covering the goods with tarpaulins. There were about fifty kegs of powder with the goods. While we were unloading, the agent sent for a team to take Captain Robert and himself, with the gold, to the Agency. Then we started down the river. We had gone only a few miles, when we discovered a dense smoke, caused by a prairie fire. The smoke was rolling toward the pile of goods which we had left in charge of two men. When we reached the ferry at Red [132] The Transportation of Indian Annuities Bank, a man on horseback motioned to us to land, and told us that the goods we left were all burnt up and the powder exploded. This was a sad blow to the Indians." Late in April, 1857, the Fire Canoe (R. M. Spencer commanding) lay at the foot of Lake Pepin loaded with three hundred tons of flour, pork, and lard for the Indian Agency at Redwood. This consignment, which was part of a contract of $28,000, had been produced in Iowa. Wil- liam Wood of Davenport, a member of the firm of Wood and Barclay of St. Paul, was the successful bidder for these annuities. The Fire Canoe arrived at the St. Paul levee on May 6, 1857, with two barges in tow and 1800 barrels of flour, 600 barrels of pork, 100 barrels of lard, and 3000 bushels of corn. The voyage to Redwood took thirteen days; the Indians were almost starved when the Fire Canoe arrived. Averaging barely fifteen miles per day upstream, the Fire Canoe returned to St. Paul after an absence of twenty days.^"^ The yearly delivery of Indian annuities gave steamboat y captains a rich source of revenue during the early years of steamboating on the Upper Mississippi. But the com- ing of the railroad, together with the removal of the tribes westward across the Missouri, had well nigh destroyed this traffic by the opening of the Civil War. [133] 17 1 Jlip JLasf JRecl 'Uargoes The dramatic migration known as the westward move- ment reached what is now Keokuk on the Upper Missis- sippi in the decade preceding the Black Hawk War. By 1860 both banks of the Mississippi between St. Louis and St. Paul were well populated. The scattered Indian tribes that had occupied the area had been carried back on the crest of the immigrant waves, first across the Mississippi and then across the Missouri. A generation of pioneers witnessed the removal of the Winnebago from Wisconsin to Iowa and to northern Minnesota. During the same period the Sauk and Fox moved from Illinois to Iowa and thence on to Kansas. Weary and vanquished, bewildered and embittered, the Indians trekked westward. Sometimes the movement was made on foot, sometimes by wagon teams, and not infre- quently by steamboat. Late in 1832 over two thousand Choctaw Indians arrived at Memphis and embarked on a steamboat for Rock Roe on the White River : wagon trains carried them west of Arkansas Territory. A dele- gation of Seminoles arrived at Memphis in 1832 on the steamboat Little Rocky and from there set out overland for Fort Gibson. Four years later 511 Creek Indians ar- rived at Little Rock on the steamboat Alpha. The tragic story of the dispossession of the red men was reenacted over [134] The Last Red Cargoes and over again on a frontier more than two thousand miles in extent."' Not all the Indian tribes of the Upper Mississippi Val- ley were removed to their new homes by means of steam- boats. Many tribes were forced to migrate overland. But steamboat captains reaped a harvest whenever whole tribes were transported on their boats. The removal of the Win- nebago during the summer of 1848 was one of the most colorful incidents in Upper Mississippi steamboat history. It was a difficult task; but, if newspaper accounts can be relied upon, the profits accruing to the owners of the Dr. Franklin amply repaid them for their work. By the treaty of 1846 the Winnebago had agreed to cede their claims and privileges in the Neutral Ground and remove northward to a spot provided by the government. A strip of land at the mouth of the Crow Wing River was finally designated. Since over two thousand Winnebago were involved in this transfer, a detachment of troops from Fort Atkinson was ordered to accompany them. Five hundred head of cattle were taken along for sub- sistence; while three hundred teams were required to haul the baggage which made up this Indian camp. At Wa- basha's village the party was to be picked up by steamboat and carried as far as St. Paul, but when the Indians assem- bled on the prairie just below Wabasha's village, they re- fused to move another foot. Captain Russell Blakeley has left a report of the episode. "After the agent had nearly despaired of success, the only alternative left was to send to Capt. Eastman of Fort [135] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Snelling for additional troops, which, with a six-pounder, were sent under the command of Lieut. Hall, to see wheth- er he could encourage the fellows to go. In canvassing the situation, Lieut. Hall became suspicious that the chief, Wabasha, whose village was just above the prairie upon the Rolling Stone creek, had in some way encouraged the Winnebagoes not to go. He arrested Wabasha and brought him on board the Dr. Franklin, and chained him to one of the stanchions of the boat on the boiler deck, evidently with the intention of frightening him; but after a short time he thought better of it, and released him. This was regarded as a great outrage to this proud chief, and it was not regarded in favorable light by those having charge of the Winnebagoes, who numbered over two thousand souls, besides Wabasha's band; but it finally passed without trouble. All the men in charge of the Indians were con- stantly urging them to consent to the removal, and talks were almost of daily occurrence, which would always end in Commissary Lieut. J. H. McKenny's sending down to the camp more flour, sugar, meat and coffee, realizing that when their stomachs were full they were more peaceable. "One morning the troops, agent, and all in charge, were astounded to find the Indian camp deserted; not an In- dian, dog or pony was left. The canoes that had brought part of them were gone as well. Everything in camp that could hunt was started to find them. The Dr. Franklin was sent down the river to overtake them if they had gone in that direction, and I think it was three days before they were found. They had taken their canoes and gone down [136] The Last Red Cargoes the river to the mouth of the Slough, and thence had gone over into Wisconsin and were comfortably encamped on the islands and shores of the river, but were nearly starved. They promised to return to their camp the next day in their canoes. About ten o'clock the next day those on watch saw them coming out of the head of the Slough some three miles above the steamboat landing. It was one of our beautiful summer mornings, with not a ripple on the water; and when these two thousand men, women, children, and dogs, passed down, floating without even using a paddle, except to keep in the stream, all dressed in their best, they presented such a picture as I have not seen equaled since. They were disposed to show themselves at their best. Lieut. McKenny met them at their camp with provisions, and the old status quo was reestablished." The Winnebago were fearful lest the Sioux should ob- ject to this removal into their country, and so it was decided to send the Dr. Franklin to St. Paul for the pur- pose of picking up the principal Sioux chiefs to meet the Winnebago in council. When the Sioux were gathered together they presented a colorful spectacle. Each chief was fitted out from head to foot with a new suit consist- ing of blue frock coat, leggins, moccasins, silk plug hat, white ruffled shirt, and a small American flag. After sev- eral days of orations the Winnebago finally agreed to go. Several trips were required to remove the whole tribe and its equipment. ^^® But some of the Indians were obdurate and steadfastly refused to leave their homes and migrate with the rest of [137] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi the tribe. An old Winnebago settled on the bank of the Wisconsin River, denied any relationship to his tribe, and presented three land office certificates for forty acres of land. Despite every effort on his part to remain behind, the Dr. Fraftklin carried him northward.^" During the exodus the newspapers in the mining dis- trict were filled with reports of the progress of the Dr. Franklin. Charges were made that the Winnebago were carried back and forth several times and the government assessed with the cost. The Indians, it appears, enjoyed the novelty of the steamboat trip : it was said they rode up the river, disembarked, sprang into their canoes, and paddled back to Wabasha, a distance of over one hundred miles, in order to enjoy the excellent food and accommo- dations of the steamboat. Some of the Indians, however, remained behind; in 1849 the Senator picked up at Prairie du Chien one hundred Winnebago who had refused to leave the preceding year. They were a motley array of braves, squaws, papooses, lean and battered ponies, dogs, traps, and tin kettles. When the Senator reached St. Paul the squaws set to work un- loading the goods while their indifferent braves looked on. The following spring Governor Alexander Ramsey was again bitterly assailed for estimating the cost of removing the Winnebago at $5000 and then demanding $100,000.''* Following the uprising of the Sioux in 1862 the govern- ment contracted with the Minnesota Packet Company to remove some of the Indians from Mankato to Fort Snell- ing. Captain Joseph B. Wilcox was sent by the packet [138] The Last Red Cargoes company with the steamboat Flora to transport the In- dians. Commodore William F. Davidson also contracted to remove a part of the Sioux on the Favorite. At Mankato the Flora took aboard several hundred Sioux with their camp equipment and headed down the Min- nesota. Near Carver she struck a piling that had been driven into the river for bridge purposes and sank in about three feet of water. The Flora was an open hull boat, and much of the Indian equipment which lay in her hold was damaged. Since there were no siphons in those days the ship's carpenter had to repair the break as best he could with his men working up to their waists in water in the hold of the boat. The hole was finally patched and the crew commenced bailing out the water. This was slow work. Captain Wilcox asked the Indians to help, but they refused. "Bill" True, the engineer on the Flora, believed he could frighten the Sioux into helping. He ordered the firemen to raise steam in the boilers, and motioned to the Indians to watch him as he dramatically lifted the safety valves. The Sioux trembled, but remained firm. Not to be denied. True again appealed to the Great Spirit and opened the mud-drum valves which roared so hideously and shook the Flora from stem to stern so violently that the Sioux capit- ulated and set to work with their huge camp kettles. They soon tired, however, and it was not long before the braves were seen signaling their squaws to take their places. The squaws bailed with a will while their dusky mates looked on approvingly. The Flora was soon able to steam [139] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi to St. Paul where the Indians were landed temporarily/^^ From St. Paul, the Northern Line contracted to carry the Sioux down the Mississippi to Davenport where they were taken to Camp McClellan and occupied a part of the area later known as Camp Kearny. Here they remained until March 29, 1866, when they were ordered removed to Fort Randall, Nebraska. This was perhaps the last time a large body of Indians was transported by steamboat down the Mississippi River.^^" The removal of Indian tribes elicited considerable com- ment in the local press. News of the arrival of a steamboat at a river town with its picturesque red cargo was the signal for a rush to the levee. Fifteen years after their removal into Minnesota a por- tion of the Winnebago were transported to Fort Randall in Nebraska. It was a scant two hundred miles overland in a southwesterly direction to the new home, or no far- ther than the Winnebago might go on a summer's hunt. It was well nigh ten times as far by steamboat down the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers and up the Missouri. But the Winnebago enjoyed the easy motion and good food of the steamboat, and so the government agreed to transport them in this way. Proceeding down the Minnesota River from Mankato, the Winnebago boarded the steamboat Canada at St. Paul. A local editor has left this impression of the Winnebago: "Their looks indicate anything but the 'good Indians' that we read about in missionary works, and it is probable that Satan would not have great difficulty in selecting and [140] The Last Red Cargoes officering at leasf a full company, who would be admirably adapted for his body-guard. It is very charming, indeed, to read in Hiawatha verse of the 'noble Indian,' but we ac- quit Longfellow of any intention to personify the Winne- bagoes. He must have alluded to some tribe now extinct, as that class of Indians don't roam in this region at pres- ent. — The only nobility we could discover consisted of half-dressed bodies with ugly, devilish faces, hideously daubed with paint. "As usual, the squaws were occupied with housework, washing, cooking, &c., while the men and boys participated in various kinds of amusements, a large number being industriously engaged in doing nothing. The 'moccasin game,' as it is called, was their favorite sport, though oc- casionally a deck of cards would be called into requisition to while away the hours. We saw none of the devotional exercises for which the Sioux are so celebrated, and fear that they were not able to bring their religion away from the reservation. "Near the centre of the encampment they had placed a young sapling and fastened to this the keep-sakes that had been captured from the Sioux who were murdered by them last week. They consisted of two scalps stretched upon hoops and attached to long poles, the skins of fingers with nails pendent, tufts of hair, pieces of flesh, &c., fast- ened upon bushes, all ornamented with fancy colored bits of cloth. Some of the half breeds and 'good Sioux' who are at the Fort examined them and gave it as their opinion that the scalps were taken from Sioux who were living [141] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi with the Winnebagoes, as those upon the plains never wear such short hair. They looked savage when viewing the relics of their brethren and vow vengeance. "During the forenoon they participated in one of their grand scalp dances, forming a circle about the sapling, the men beating upon drums and sticks, while the squaws carried the scalps and other relics, and all shouted and sung their wild war cadence as they moved in the 'misty maze of the dance'." ^*^ There were 756 Winnebago aboard the Canada when she arrived at Davenport. An editor who visited the boat while in port described them as a "squalid, wretched look- ing set" of "Injins". Unfortunately history has not left a record of the Winnebago opinion of the citizens of that thriving Iowa community.^*^ The removal of whole tribes does not compare in im- portance with the transportation of delegations or the J delivery of annuities. The three combined, hov/ever, were a constant source of profit to steamboats. When the sea- son was dull in the settled areas below the lead mines or when competition became keen, a tramp voyage to Fort Snelling or the tributaries of the Mississippi always brought with it a handsome return. Furthermore, captains became familiar with the channel of the Mississippi and its tribu- taries — a fact which was to stand them in good stead a little later. More important still, Atwater and other In- dian Commissioners wrote glowing accounts of the rich lands of the Upper Mississippi which were eagerly read by the discontented in the more settled areas of the United [142] The Last Red Cargoes States. It was such accounts that turned the tide of im- migration northward. The news that the Indians had been removed from this region so suited to agriculture and in- dustry also encouraged white settlement. [143] 18 Facts, Jrigiires, Jrnirs, ancl jBuirialo IvoDes The fur trader on the Upper Mississippi created a lucra- tive steamboat traffic. Supplies and equipment for traders and goods to be used in the Indian trade formed the prin- cipal upstream cargo, while large quantities of furs and peltries were shipped downstream. In 1822 the United States factory system was abolished. A St. Louis news- paper noted a marked activity in the fur trade : "Those formerly engaged in it, have increased their capital and extended their enterprize, many new firms have engaged in it, and others are preparing to do so. It is computed that a thousand men, chiefly from this place, are now em- ployed in this trade on the waters of the Missouri, and half that number on the Upper Mississippi." ^** Trading posts were planted at strategic points along the Upper Mississippi and its tributaries. Those on the Mis- sissippi were usually established at the confluence of a tributary stream, such as the Des Moines, the Skunk, the Iowa, the Rock, the Fever, the Wisconsin, the Chippewa, and the St. Peter's rivers. Late in the fall of 1824 Thomas Forsyth, Indian Agent at Rock Island, appointed six li- censed traders in his district; David G. Bates and Amos Farrar were granted permits to trade with Sauk, Fox, and Winnebago Indians at the Fever River settlements; Russell Farnham received a license to trade with Sauk and Fox at [144] Facts, Figures, Furs, and Buffalo Robes Flint Hills on the site of Burlington, Iowa; Maurice Blon- deau procured the right to traffic with the same Indians at Dirt Lodge on the Des Moines River; George Davenport obtained the privilege of bartering with the Sauk, Fox, and Winnebago at Rock Island; and Antoine Gautier, at the special request of the Winnebago, was located at a point fifty miles east of Davenport's post on the Rock River."'' Few places exhibited a greater activity "than the region about the Falls of St. Anthony. In 1826 Lawrence Talia- ferro, Indian Agent at Fort Snelling, reported that he had made seven locations on the waters of the Mississippi alone : "one at the mouth of Chippeway River, one at the Falls of S'. Croix, one on Crow Island, one at Sandy Lake, one at Leaf Lake, one at Leach Lake and one at Red Lake." At the same time ten other posts of the Columbia, the Cheyenne American, and the American Fur companies were located at strategic points within Taliaferro's juris- diction. Fort Snelling served as the entrepot for most of these posts, and from there the seasonal catch was shipped downstream."* Each decade witnessed the abandonment of posts along the Mississippi as the northerly tide of immigration grad- ually pushed back the fur traders. By 1829 the country which Giacomo C. Beltrami described as wasteland in 1823 '^ seemed to Caleb Atwater to be growing populous. What was considered a wilderness by Captain Frederick Marryat in 1837 had become a thriving settled area when Fredrika Bremer visited it in 18 51. By the turn of the half century [145] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi the posts which formerly extended from Galena almost to St. Louis had disappeared. St. Paul and Prairie du Chien alone remained the chief fur centers on the Upper Mis- sissippi.^*' Abundant and colorful information about Upper Mis- sissippi steamboats is entombed in the correspondence between Hercules L. Dousman and Henry H. Sibley. The former was born at Mackinac in 1800 and educated in New Jersey. He entered a mercantile house in New York in 1818, but returned to Mackinac two years later to assist his father who was a fur trader. In 1826 he removed to Prairie du Chien and became an agent of the American Fur Company and a partner of Joseph Rolette. When the latter died in 1844, Dousman put the final stamp on his reputation as a shrewd business man by marrying his part- ner's widow. Steamboats puffed up to the wharf at Dous- man's home, "Chateau Brilliante", discharging cargoes of goods and luxuries for Wisconsin's wealthiest citizen be- fore the Civil War. Dousman was the outstanding repre- sentative of the American Fur Company on the Upper Mississippi.^** Sibley, the other representative of the American Fur Company, was located after 1834 at Mendota directly across the Minnesota River from Fort Snelling. He played an important role in the district about the Falls of St. Anthony. Franklin Steele, Joseph Laframboise, Martin McLeod, Alexis Bailly, and Norman W. Kittson also were important characters in the fur trade of this district. Dousman, Sibley, and Steele were especially interested in [146] Facts, Figures, Furs, and Buffalo Robes encouraging steamboating : each held shares in Upper Mississippi craft.'*" While no record is known which would indicate that the Virginia and the Rambler in 1823, or the Maiidan and the Indiana in 1824, carried the employees or cargoes of the fur companies to the Upper Mississippi, it is altogether possible that they did. On April 2, 1825, Captain David G. Bates took the Rufus Putnam to Fort Snelling. Four weeks later this craft carried goods to the Columbia Fur Company's post at Land's End, about a mile above the fort on the Minnesota River. The Rufus Putnam is the first steamboat known to have carried such supplies up- stream to Fort Snelling, as well as the first to ascend the Minnesota River.''° St. Louis was the entrepot for the fur trade on the Upper Mississippi, as well as on the Missouri. "The Amer- ican Fur Company", noted Atwater in 1829, "have here a large establishment, and the furs, skins and peltry cannot amount to less than one million dollars annually, which are brought down the Mississippi and Missouri rivers . . . The Indian goods sold by this company, all come from Eng- land, and are of the best quality." ^^^ Not all the furs from the Upper Mississippi, however, went to St. Louis. Before 1840 the trading posts below Prairie du Chien shipped their pelts downstream, but the seasonal catch of the American Fur Company on the Wis- consin and Minnesota rivers was concentrated in Dous- man's warehouse, counted and sorted, loaded on keel or Durham boats, and forwarded to New York by way of [147] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi the Wisconsin and Fox rivers and Green Bay. This was a difficult course to travel, for the boats were so badly bat- tered by snags and sandbars on the Fox and Wisconsin rivers and from being dragged across the portage at Fort Winnebago that they were generally worthless at the close of the first season. Provisions were often wasted and spoiled. The route lessened the receipts of Upper Missis- sippi steamboats, since they usually carried the furs only from St. Peter's at the mouth of the Minnesota River to Prairie du Chien and were obliged to depend on lead and miscellaneous cargoes of freight for the remainder of the trip to St. Louis. Each year it became more apparent to traders on the Upper Mississippi that St. Louis was the logical point from which to ship furs eastward. In 1835 Dousman informed Ramsay Crooks, president of the American Fur Company, that it was almost impos- sible to ship pelts by way of Green Bay because of the damage to the furs and the great expense involved in trans- porting them over this route. To reduce the cost of transportation, Dousman proposed that Prairie du Chien be made the entrepot for the inspection of furs, that he be granted the "privilege of the St. Louis markets, previous to sending them on to New York", and that Crooks should set a fair price on the furs shipped to him. No immediate action was taken on this proposal, but the subject was revived each year. In 1838, for example, Dousman urged Crooks to ship trade goods by way of St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and the Pennsylvania Canal and rail- road; and he recommended that certain heavy articles be [148] Facts, Figures, Furs, and Buffalo Robes purchased in St. Louis. Dousman considered the New Or- leans route too long; and he asserted that "from Green Bay here the conveyances are so uncertain that it will not do to trust to them." As the traffic on the Upper Mississippi increased, ship- ments to St. Louis by steamboat became more certain and the wisdom of Dousman's suggestions was soon recognized. Bundles of furs were a part of almost every steamboat cargo after 1840. The Malta left St. Peter's on June 8, 1 840, in command of William P. Gorman, with ten packs of skins for St. Louis. According to a bill of lading signed by E. F. Chouteau, clerk of the Malta, the downstream tariff was a dollar a pack.^^' Since the traffic above Galena occasioned by the pres- ence of Indians, fur companies, and military posts was small, it rarely warranted the services of more than one or two boats. Moreover, a goodly portion of the supplies for the Upper Mississippi Valley was taken from St. Louis and the Ohio River by transient craft, although regular boats plying between Galena and St. Louis captured an occa- sional cargo. Such a consignment was carried by the Bellview to Sib- ley in 1836 for the Sioux Outfit. Besides the customary assortment of blankets, cloth, and strouding, the Bellview took to the Upper Mississippi a number of other items of dress, including three blue cloth frock coats and six pairs of cloth pantaloons, presumably intended for some of the notable Sioux chiefs. Then there were also aboard two dozen common horn combs, a dozen dressing combs, 1600 [149] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi pairs of earbobs, 400 large and 2000 small common broaches, 160 pierced broaches, 14 bunches of garnets, 27,000 white and 25,000 black wampum, 14 pairs of arm bands, and 1 5 pairs of wrist bands. Hunting and war equipment included 20 North West guns four feet long, 10 North West guns three and one- half feet long, 16 kegs of gunpowder, 3000 percussion caps, 5 3 pigs of lead, 6 dozen cartouche knives, and 24 dozen scalping knives — the latter possibly to be used on the crowns of luckless Chippewa braves. Firewater, in the form of a basket of champagne, four kegs of Spanish Brown, and five gallons of old port wine, probably dis- appeared all too soon. Four kegs and three boxes of tobac- co may have enabled the Sioux to spend many hours in reverie over the delightfully "civilizing" sensations result- ing from an intimate and perhaps too liberal use of the wines. Foodstuffs included 18 barrels of pork, 25 barrels of flour, 2 kegs of lard, 3 barrels of New Orleans sugar, 50 bags of corn, a chest of tea, and 12 bags of peas. The mis- cellaneous material included 12 boxes of soap, square irons, nail rods, flat irons, steel, a set of wagon harness, 4 kegs of white lead, a stove and pipe, a barrel of linseed oil, 10 bars of iron, an ox plough, 4 kegs of nails, 5 brass kettles, a coil grass rope, and a trunk.'" The cost of transporting such consignments from St. Louis to Prairie du Chien and St. Peter's on Upper Mis- sissippi steamboats was slight compared with the expense incurred in bringing the goods to St. Louis. Although [HO] Facts, Figures, Furs, and Buffalo Robes trade goods were less bulky than food supplies, the amount paid for importing goods from England to Prairie du Chien almost equaled the original price of the goods in England. In 1835, for example, the cost of a single shipment of goods in England was $11,238.53. The itemized bill for conveying this merchandise from England to Prairie du Chien was as follows : packing, shipping, and other charges, $93 5.29; exchange and insurance to New York, $1,241.49; duties and other charges in New York, $5,228.95; com- mission at five per cent, $904.94; freight to New Orleans and charges there, $204.8 5; freight to St. Louis and charges there, $229.50; freight to Prairie du Chien, $105.78; and the total, including five per cent interest, was $9,050.80. When the goods reached Prairie du Chien the cost was $20,289.33, or almost double the original price.^" The tariff on the English goods shipped from St. Louis to Prairie du Chien was slightly more than a hundred dol- lars. But imported trade goods were insignificant com- pared with the commodities such as flour, sugar, corn, dried fruit, meats, liquor, powder, and lead (all products of the Mississippi Valley) which made up the bulk of the shipments. Steamboats obtained a generous return on freight of this kind, since charges of a dollar and more per hundred pounds was the general rule.^^" After goods arrived at Prairie du Chien, Dousman took the portion belonging to his outfit and forwarded the re- mainder to Sibley at St. Peter's. In 183 5 Captain Joseph Throckmorton carried Sibley's supplies upstream on the [151] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Warrior. Foodstuffs aboard included 33 barrels of New Orleans sugar, 12 kegs of lard, 11 barrels of molasses, a barrel of dried peaches and another of apples, 2 bags and 12 sacks of coffee, a barrel of crackers, a box of bacon hams, 10 shoulders of bacon, 33 barrels of "One Hog Pork", 200 sacks and 400 bushels of corn, and 4 barrels of salt. Two dozen bales of blankets, strouding, and pieces of gaudy colored cloth were also stored aboard. The cargo included 2 "Chiefs Guns", 10 North West guns, 129 kegs of gunpowder, 170 pigs of lead, 310 rat traps, and 36 beaver traps. A box of Cavendish tobacco, 2 boxes and 2 kegs of common plug tobacco, 4 boxes of British soap, 6 boxes of glass, 12 barrels of porter, 10,000 pine shingles, a barrel of tallow, 5 demijohns of sperm oil, a crate and a cask of tinware, a bundle of square irons and another of round irons, and a bundle of German steel made up the miscellaneous articles that were shipped to Sibley on the Warrior in 1835.''' After the trip of the Rufus Putnam in 1825, the ar- rival at Fort Snelling of the first steamboat of the season was awaited with impatience. Under date of March 31, 1826, Taliaferro noted that the weather was moderate and the ice firm. Six days later the ice was still thick but weak. Flocks of wild geese flew honking over Fort Snelling on April 14th, but the ice remained intact despite a twelve foot rise in the river. The following day the Minnesota River broke up, but the Mississippi remained firm. A bateau carrying peltries, the first boat of the season, ar- rived from Lac qui Parle on April 17th. With the Missis- [152] Facts, Figures, Furs, and Buffalo Robes sippi twenty feet above its normal level, the ice finally started out from above Fort Snelling on April 21st, sweep- ing away the crude huts that stood clustered along the bank. A second bateau arrived from the Minnesota River on April 26th; but still no steamboat appeared. Finally, on May 2nd, the steamboat Lawrence (Captain D. F. Reeder commanding) arrived with a heavy cargo of freight and a considerable number of passengers.*" Steamboat captains (whether they were the first to ar- rive, the last to depart, or simply made flying mid-season trips) were always held in high regard by the pioneers — especially on the fur-trading frontier. If a captain arrived twice during a season he was welcomed as a friend; if he made several trips he was looked upon as a brother; and if he appeared in the trade two successive seasons he was al- most deified. Such men as Daniel Smith Harris, Joseph Throckmorton, John and George W. Atchison, David G. Bates, James Lafferty, Orrin Smith, and Hiram Bersie made several trips during the course of a season or plied in the trade more than one year. By 1850 Harris and Throck- morton had each averaged about fifteen years on the Up- per Mississippi, and the combined record of the Atchison brothers was equally good.^^® Before the creation of Minnesota Territory in 1849, ar- rivals of steamboats at Fort Snelling were extremely irreg- ular; while the arrivals at Prairie du Chien were likened by a settler to "angel's visits, 'few, and far between'." The scarcity of cargoes often led captains to demand exorbitant rates : in 1840 Dousman "blackguarded" Captain James [H3] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Laflferty for charging Sibley excessive freight rates for goods shipped on the Omega. Trips were made only when a sufficient cargo was offered. In 1844 forty-one craft reached Fort Snelling, while in the five years preceding 1849 an average of forty-four boats docked there. The exact number of trips to St. Peter's between 183 5 and 1844 is unknown, but it is not likely that the average was more than twenty-five a year.''^* When Stephen R. Riggs, a missionary to the Sioux, ar- rived in St. Louis in 1837 he was told that less than a half dozen craft reached Fort Snelling each season. Riggs was horrified to learn that the steamboat Vavilion left St. ^ Louis every Sunday : he hoped to avoid breaking the Sab- bath by boarding a boat at Alton. When the Olive Branch arrived he took passage on it. Saturday night found the Olive Branch near Davenport, and Riggs, refusing to trav- el on the Lord's Day, got off and spent the night in a room where his slumber was broken by intermittent vol- leys of profanity from an adjoining "doggery". The mis- sionary reached Galena without mishap; but there he was forced to await the arrival of a boat destined for Fort Snelling. The Pavilion arrived at Galena on a Saturday night, where fervent prayers, coupled with a dearth of freight, held the boat over until Monday. The remainder of the journey was made by the missionary without in- terruption. ^*'° Some regularity of service might have been attained had one or two boats taken over the trade of the Upper Mis- sissippi and transient craft remained below. Since, how- [154] Facts, Figures, Furs, and Buffalo Robes ever, captains of "tramp" vessels were not imbued with any such altruistic spirit, much rivalry resulted. The American Fur Company was interested in encouraging regular service, and so found it necessary to make a choice of captains. Both Throckmorton and Atchison were of a temperament more tractable than that of the fiery "Smith" Harris, and the lion's share of the fur trade traffic went to them. This was a bitter blow for Harris; but he continued in the trade throughout the forties with the Otter, the War Eagle, the Senator, and the Dr. Franklin No. 2. His skill and daring, his genial disposition, and his dogged and often ruthless determination in the face of competition were a constant source of annoyance to his competitors. During the forties Throckmorton ran the Malta, the General Brooke, the Nimrod, the Cecilia, and the Cora, while John Atchison commanded the Lynx and the Highland Mary. Throckmorton withdrew from the Upper Mississippi in 1848 and Atchison died of cholera in St. Louis two years later.^*^ For four or five months each year the Mississippi froze over, leaving the fur traders almost completely isolated in their frozen northland until the following spring. When- 7 ever the steamboats failed to bring them their winter sup- plies the plight of the fur traders became desperate. The importance of steamboats to the fur-trading fron- tier is graphically revealed in a letter of Dousman dated November 20, 183 8, and replying to Sibley's plea for aid. "I sent off another Boat with Provisions for you on the 6th Inst but the Ice commenced running in the river the Steamboating on Upper Mississippi next day & they only got a few miles above Painted Rock — [mouth of Yellow River] the cold weather came on so suddenly that the Boat could not even get back here and she now lies frozen up a few miles above this place — from below I hear that the Burlington left St. Louis on the 2nd Inst with our supplies & that the Ariel would meet her at the Lower Rapids to bring the loading here & St. Peters if the weather permitted — how far the[y] got up we have not learnt — the[y] have not yet reached Du Buque as we have heard from there — the River is now completely closed so as to preclude all hope of see- ing a Boat here this fall — Horses now cross the River on the Ice and the weather continues cold. We are not the only persons who have been disappointed by the extreme low water on the Rapids & the Winter closing in on us So early and unexpectedly — there is not a pound of Pork, Sugar, Tea, Coffee, Lard, Butter for sale in this place — all the merchants are entirely destitute of groceries & have all been caught with their supplies on the way up — Ga- lena, Dubuque &c are even worse off than this place — the People in the mining country will have to kill all their Cattle & eat Corn Bread — luckily the Corn Crop is good this year — I was fortunate in getting from the Winne- bagos 250 Bbls Flour which they did not want till Spring, as otherwise we should have actually been in a starving condition at this time — You will see that I had put on board of the two Boats near 100 Bbls out of this quantity for you — You will naturally enough say, all this does not fill our Bellies".^^' [156] Facts, Figures, Furs, and Buffalo Robes Since the fur-trading frontier was dependent upon the steamboat, Dousman, Sibley, and other members of the American Fur Company did not hesitate to assume heavy financial interests in the Upper Mississippi craft. Perhaps the earliest boat in which the fur company had an interest was the Biirlingtou, which was built at Pittsburgh in 1837. She was owned by Throckmorton, Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and the firm of Hempstead and Beebe — all of St. Louis. These men, with Captain George McNeil and Isaac New- ton Waggoner who hailed from Illinois, had an interest in the Ariel, also built at Pittsburgh in 1837. Two years later the Malta slid from the "ways" at Pittsburgh. She was owned by Throckmorton and Chouteau.^^^ Dousman seems to have taken his first financial interest in an Upper Mississippi steamboat in 1840, when he and Throckmorton bought the 107-ton Chippetva. In 1844 Sibley, Franklin Steele, B. W. Brisbois, and Captain Wil- liam H. Hooper each owned an eighth in the Lynx\ Dous- man possessed the remaining half. The American Fur Company held an interest in the Nivirod and the General Brooke, but Throckmorton was the sole owner of the Cecilia and the Cora. In 1850 Brisbois, Dousman, and Henry M. Rice of St. Paul had a part interest in Captain Orrin Smith's Nominee.^^* Dousman continued his inter- est in Upper Mississippi steamboating until his death. In 18 57 he owned a hundred and sixty shares of stock in the Prairie du Chien, Hudson, and St. Paul Packet Company, and was making payments on three hundred additional shares. The members of the Northern Outfit were in- [157] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi strumental in organizing the Minnesota Packet Company, which twenty years later absorbed almost all the other steamboat lines on the river.'"^ Throckmorton was a great favorite with the agents of the Northern Outfit. In 1839 Dousman notified Crooks that he had authorized Throckmorton to draw on him for a thousand dollars.^*"* Six years later he wrote Sibley that Throckmorton (then in command of the General Brooke) wished to form a steamboat line between St. Louis and Fort Snelling with Captain John Atchison of the Lynx. "I am in favor of it", concluded Dousman, "& shall en- courage him to do so, as it will be of benefit to the Outfit & hurt the Harris's which I desire very much. I want you to give Throckmorton a part of your Freight so as to encourage him to run regular. He is just off and I have not time to say more at present." ^®^ Atchison was also a favorite with the fur company, al- though he was by no means so popular as Throckmorton. In 1845 Dousman wrote Sibley that Captain Harris had just gone up to St. Peter's with the Otter and urged him to restrain his people from buying anything from this boat, as Atchison had left St. Louis with the Ly?ix and would arrive shortly with "every thing you stand in need of." ''' It is not likely that either Dousman or Sibley, anxious as they were for supplies from below and news from the outside world, would expect Atchison or Throckmorton to make a trip when no freight was offered. Nevertheless, the opening of spring navigation always found the two [158] Facts, Figures, Furs, and Buffalo Robes traders hopefully awaiting the arrival of their yearly ship- ment of supplies. In the spring of 183 8 Dousman wrote Sibley that Throckmorton was at Prairie du Chien with the Bjirlingfoii, that he had just left for below to procure a cargo of supplies for Sibley, but that none of the reg- ular spring stock had come up. The following April he informed Sibley that the Ariel was expected shortly with all their goods and provisions.^*'^ Sometimes it was neces- sary to offer special inducements to persuade a captain to make a trip.^^° Competitors of the American Fur Company often sent buyers north to attempt to break the company's monopoly. On such occasions steamboat captains often carried letters warning members of the Northern Outfit of the presence of such buyers. In 1844 S. W. McMaster gave Captain Harris a note for Franklin Steele informing him that com- petitors were going up on the Offer for the purpose of buying furs and advising him of a rising market in which most furs had gone up fifty to a hundred per cent.^^^ It would be impossible to estimate the earnings of steam- boats directly engaged in the fur trade. Governed largely by the amount of freight on hand, the stage of the water, the season of the year, and the number of craft in the trade, rates varied greatly; but as a rule they were high. Before 1850 the cost of transportation between Galena and Fort Snelling was generally higher than it was a dec- ade later between St. Louis and St. Paul. Charges from Galena upstream were seldom less than fifty cents a hun- dred pounds; usually more was asked. In 1840 the Mai fa [159] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi demanded a dollar a barrel for transporting five barrels of beer from Prairie du Chien to Fort Snelling. The Demoine charged seventy-five cents a hundred pounds for trans- porting the freight of the Ag72es from Galena to St. Peter's. In June, 1845, the Otter carried a trundle bed, a tin boiler, and a musket bar for one dollar. Captain Throckmorton in October of the same year conveyed six kegs of powder from Galena to Fort Snelling on the Ce- cilia at the rate of a dollar per keg. Captains sometimes collected the amount due on an article as well as the regular transportation fee. In 1845 the Agnes took 75 kegs of butter from Louisiana, Missouri, to St. Peter's at the rate of $1.75 per hundred pounds. Clerk B. F. Wood was required to collect $1,375.00 from Franklin Steele in payment for the butter. A sum of $205.82 was paid Captain W. P. Gorman of the Chippewa for 4989 pounds of miscellaneous freight, 16 pigs of lead, 5 barrels of apples, and the passage of a man and servant from St. Louis to St. Peter's. Pound freight was trans- ported at the rate of $2.50 per hundred.^^' Despite such exorbitant prices, Upper Mississippi steam- boats did not always reap rich profits. In 1844 the Lynx netted only $161.04 for the season, after deducting losses sustained by injury to the boat. The following year, how- ever, the same boat earned $11,194.73 with a considerable amount still due her from tardy shippers. This was prob- ably near the average yearly earnings. Since the fur com- pany had a seven-eighths interest in the Lynx, it shared in the dividends. While Captain John Atchison delayed in [160] Facts, Figures, Furs, and Buffalo Robes apportioning the earnings of the Lynx, Dousman frequent- ly suggested to Sibley that a final settlement be made. This misunderstanding was a subject of much written and verbal controversy over a period of several months.''' Important as was the Mississippi traffic in furs, it never- theless dwindles into insignificance when compared, both in value and bulk of shipments, with the lead trade. Neither was it as profitable as the government shipments to the Indian and military frontiers. Then, too, the shipment of a large portion of the furs by way of the Wis- consin and Fox rivers and Green Bay route deprived steam- boats of a considerable cargo. The fur trade, however, was significant because it offered a supplementary cargo to the stores shipped by the government to the Indians and troops of the Upper Mississippi. Likewise the financial encouragement of the American Fur Company was of importance, supplying a subsidy that neither the Indian nor the military frontier offered to steamboat captains. Finally, it should be pointed out that the considerable \ stimulus given by the fur trade to steamboating on the Upper Mississippi and its tributaries contributed to the spread of general information about the region. This in turn played its part in attracting the settlers and immi- grants who were soon to transform the fur-traders' fron- tier into an agricultural and industrial domain. [161] 19 Freiglit lor Red jRiver Oxcarts More unique than the Upper Mississippi fur traffic was the trade which resulted from the planting of a settlement on the Red River of the North by the Earl of Selkirk. In 1811 this philanthropic Scotchman acquired from the Hudson's Bay Company a tract of about 116,000 square miles. Here in the immense inland empire, known as As- siniboia and comprising roughly Manitoba and the north- ern part of Minnesota and North Dakota, Selkirk planned to establish colonies of evicted Scotch peasants. On Au- gust 30, 1812, an advance guard of Scotch, with a few Irish, arrived at the confluence of the Assiniboine with the Red River, where Winnipeg now stands. The colony grew despite many hardships and adversities. By 1821 a com- pany of Swiss mechanics and tradesmen had been induced to seek their fortunes in this frontier land. A more remote site for a settlement could scarcely have been chosen. Fully five hundred miles from the Falls of St. Anthony, the Selkirk colonies were so isolated that the Upper Mississippi offered the best means of transportation to and from the outside world. When news of the arrival of the steamboat Virginia at Fort Snelling reached these lonely colonists it was hailed with delight.^^* As early as 1819 a party of men had left the Selkirk settlement for Prairie du Chien to buy seed grain. After [162] Freight for Red River Oxcarts making the desired purchases they began their homeward journey on April 20, 1820, in three Mackinaw boats loaded with two hundred bushels of wheat, a hundred bushels of oats, and thirty bushels of peas. Ascending the Minnesota River to its source, they dragged their boats and supplies over the portage to Lake Traverse, descended the Bois des Sioux and Red rivers, and reached the Selkirk colony sometime in June/^" The advent of the Virginia on the Upper Mississippi in 1823 ushered in a new era for the Red River settlements. When the Rambler left St. Peter's in 1823 she took down two Swiss families from the Selkirk colony to St. Louis. They had left because of the constant dread of Indian attack and the severe winters and short summers; but with uncanny foresight they prophesied the development of a lucrative steamboat traffic in provisions from St. Louis to be exchanged for furs and peltries. A herd of two hun- dred cattle had been driven to the Red River settlement in 1823 and sold for six thousand dollars. The drovers made the round trip in five months."* The people in the Red River area drew a large portion of their incomes from furs and peltries — especially from buffalo hides. Indeed the prowess of the Pembina group in the chase became proverbial : they were often referred to as the Red River hunters. Fort Snelling, and later St. Paul, became the entrepot for the Red River Valley trade. Heavily loaded with the spoils of the chase, long caravans of oxcarts jolted southward each spring to the head of navigation, there to await the arrival of supplies on Upper [163] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Mississippi steamboats. Several months were required to make the round trip overland. The creaking of the lum- bering oxcarts could be heard for miles. On July 10, 1847, a caravan of 120 carts arrived at St. Paul in single file, "wearily moving along by the moonlight". The caravan had been nineteen days on its way through a region abounding with buffalo : and so the hunters had a choice assortment of "well dressed" buffalo robes which they sold in St. Paul by the lot at $3.50 each. The caravan re- mained in St. Paul several days awaiting the arrival of a steamboat load of flour and groceries.^" Before 1850 St. Louis, Galena, and Dubuque were term- ini for the trade of the Red River Valley. Galena fur- nished goods valued at fifteen thousand dollars to the settlements in 1848. At the same time the traders from the Red River were urged to take buffalo packs farther south if Henry Sibley and Henry Rice did not offer fair prices. In 1849 the steamboat Senator arrived at Galena with a hundred packs of buffalo robes from the Red River hunters.'" In 1853 it took thirty-two days for a caravan of 133 oxcarts to make the journey from "Grant Cote" in Pem- bina County to Traverse des Sioux. Norman W. Kittson, Joseph Rolette, and Peter Hayden were among the traders who went to Mendota on the Clarion; Charles Cavileer, the United States collector at Pembina, also was a pas- senger. Kittson had over four thousand buffalo robes as his share of the spoils of the chase. The number of buffaloes on the plains (said to be unprecedented) seemed almost [164] Freight for Red River Oxcarts to verify the Indian theory that they sprang from out of the earth.''" After 1850 St. Paul sought a complete monopoly of the Red River trade. The Minnesota Democrat of July 22, 1851, complained bitterly of a duty of twenty or thirty per cent on goods of the Red River settlers and urged that it be speedily removed or a valuable trade would be lost. Interest in the Red River country became national in character; and during the winter of 1857-1858 arrange- ments were made with the U. S. Secretary of the Treasury to enable the Hudson's Bay Company to ship its goods in bond through the United States to St. Paul. The St. Paul Chamber of Commerce paid Anson Northup two thousand dollars for putting a steamboat in operation on the Red River in 1859. At the same time the Hudson's Bay Com- pany asked Burbank and Company of St. Paul for aid in transporting across the Minnesota country one hundred and twenty tons of goods from England and thirty tons of tobacco, sugar, and other commodities from New York. Two hundred tons of freight were carried by the steam- boat Enterprize on the Mississippi to St. Cloud, whence it was teamed to Georgetown and thence taken on the Red River to Fort Garry on the Anson Northup. In 1862 the Enterprize contracted to carry seven hundred tons of freight for the Hudson's Bay Company from St. Paul to St. Cloud.^^° Steamboats on the Upper Mississippi continued to trans- port goods destined for the Red River country after the Civil War. An item in a Dubuque newspaper in 1866 [165] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi reads : "There is stored in the depot at Dunieith, 1,600 packages of goods for the Hudson Bay Company up the Red River, in the British American possessions. They are the neatest and best done up packages ever seen in that depot, and Americans could learn something by inspecting them. They consist of teas, sugars, dry goods, clothing, hardware, shot, and a general assortment of articles of use for the comfort of men. An agent accompanies them on their transit, pays the freight bill over each road, in British gold, sees that they are not molested, and keeps the articles together. They were shipped from London to Halifax, from thence to Dunieith, and will be shipped this week to St. Paul on a packet. Each package has the duty stamped upon it, and is covered with sealing wax to detect fraud, and all packages encased with cloth are bound firm- ly with cords tied in a flat knot and the ends connected together with lead. Any of the goods could be bought in Dunieith or Dubuque for half what the freight has cost." Later an additional shipment of one hundred tons of goods arrived at Dunieith, destined for the Red River country.^^^ Although the Red River freight transported by Upper Mississippi steamboats was of little consequence when compared with the traffic in lead or grain or with the passenger trade; it made, nevertheless, one of the most picturesque of steamboat cargoes by virtue of its nature and destination. [166] 20 Ofeamlbofiiils on Clip MUlii fi'iry Fromiier Shortly before the opening of the War of 1812 the Sauk and Fox Indians were at war with the Winnebago, and the life of every fur trader was endangered. Robert Grant, a friend of the Sauk and Fox, made his headquar- ters at Prairie du Chien but traveled much through the lead district. Seldom sleeping two nights in the same place. Grant traversed the hilly, heavily wooded country in quest of furs. Stream and forest supplied this self-reliant trapper with food prepared in a brass bowl tucked unceremonious- ly under his fur cap when not in use. One day Grant met a party of Winnebago who instantly recognized him as a friend of the Sauk and Fox. Grant fled, but was overtaken by a Winnebago who drew his tomahawk and struck a terrific blow on Grant's head. A sharp, metallic click was the only result. Sensing the situa- tion, the hardy pioneer calmly turned around and con- fronted the astonished Indians who recoiled in terror cry- ing "Manitou! Manitou!" Henceforth Grant went his way unmolested. Grant County, Wisconsin, bounded for sixty miles along its western border by the Mississippi, is named in honor of hard-headed Robert Grant.^^^ Long before the arrival of the first steamboat, the con- stantly recurring outbreaks between the various Indian tribes and friction between Indians and fur traders made [167] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi necessary the erection of military posts at strategic points along the Upper Mississippi/*^ As early as 1808 the first American fort on the Upper Mississippi had been erected in what was to become Iowa. It was named Fort Madison but was abandoned and destroyed during the War of 1812. At the conclusion of that struggle, three new forts were erected along the Upper Mississippi. Fort Edwards was constructed on the east side of the Mississippi at the mouth of the Des Moines River near the foot of the Lower Rapids. Fort Armstrong was situated on Rock Island at the foot of the Upper Rapids. Fort Crawford was located on the outskirts of the little French village of Prairie du Chien, six miles above the junction of the Wisconsin and the Mississippi. In 1819, Fort Snelling was buUt on a tow- ering bluff on the west bank of the Mississippi at its junc- tion with the St. Peter's or Minnesota River : a site almost seven hundred miles from what was to be its chief source of supply and reenf orcement — Jefferson Barracks, Mis- souri. Equally dependent on the Upper Mississippi steamboats were the posts situated on the various tributaries of the Mississippi. The second Fort Des Moines (at the Raccoon Fork of the Des Moines River) , Fort Atkinson in north- eastern Iowa, Fort Ridgely and Fort Ripley in Minnesota, and Fort Winnebago in Wisconsin were important military posts in the period which preceded the Civil War.^®* Ap- proximately four decades intervened between the erection of Fort Armstrong and Fort Crawford and such posts as Fort Ridgely on the Minnesota River and Fort Ripley on [168] Steamboats on the Military Frontier the Mississippi River above the Falls of St. Anthony. As the Indian and fur trader frontier receded before the on- coming waves of immigration, the military frontier fol- lowed and the distance which steamboats had to travel was consequently increased. The presence of troops on the frontier gave steamboat- ing its initial impetus. Both the Virginia and the Rambler carried public stores as far north as Fort Snelling in 1823. Prior to this time keelboats were used to transport troops and supplies to the newly erected forts. To complete the entire journey upstream to Fort Snelling (the most remote point on the Upper Mississippi) the keelboat sometimes took only forty days, but often as many as sixty were required. As early as 1819 the War Department ordered Major Thomas Forsyth to ship $2000 worth of goods by steamboat to the Sioux Indians above Prairie du Chien in payment for the site on which Fort Snelling was to be established. But at that time it was believed that the rapids could not be navigated by steamboats, and so keel- boats were used. By the summer of 1826 fourteen steam- boats had followed in the wake of the Virginia and the Kambler : each had ventured northward primarily because of the trajS&c in troops and military supplies.^^^ The advent of the steamboat on the Upper Mississippi was of strategic importance to the government. Trans- portation by keelboat had been slow, uncertain, and expen- sive; and the risk was great. For example, in 1819 James Johnson charged three cents per pound to transport goods from Bellefontaine, Missouri, to Fort Crawford. At [169] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi $3.00 per hundred the 389,946 pounds (194 tons) netted $11,699.28. Despite the fact that St. Peter's was only two hundred miles farther upstream the rate from Bellefon- taine to that place was seven cents per pound : $9,810.50 was paid for the transportation of seventy tons of provi- sions to that post. This was more than seven times the usual charge later made by steamboats.^®® Steamboats on the Upper Mississippi were afforded .sev- eral ways of reaping profits. Scientific and exploring expeditions were generally dependent on steamboats for transportation of equipment and supplies. Three years before the voyage of the Virginia, the steamboat Western Ejigineer had ascended the Upper Mississippi as far as the present site of Keokuk. This was not only the first steam- boat to ascend to the Lower Rapids; she was also the first steamboat to ascend the Mississippi on a scientific expedi- tion.^" Despite the expenses incurred, scientific expeditions were frequently undertaken. Indeed, the same year (1820) that the Western Engineer was ascending the Upper Mississippi to the Des Moines Rapids, Henry R. Schoolcraft set out in a canoe to discover the source of the Mississippi. In 1823 William H. Keating led a division of one of Stephen H. Long's expeditions down the Wisconsin in keelboats and^up the Mississippi to the source of the St. Peter's River. ;' Engineers were constantly dispatched to make surveys, soundings, and maps of the river, and for these equipment was provided./ The Upper and Lower rapids were especially troublesome : in 1837 Lieutenant [170] Steamboats on the Military Frontier Robert E. Lee was sent to report on the best means of eliminating them.^" In 1852 a Dubuque newspaper announced the departure of the steamboat Lamartiue with a large party of surveyors employed in establishing the northern boundary of Iowa. The men were under the personal direction of Captain Andrew Talcott who performed his work under instruc- tions from the United States Surveyor General for Wis- consin and Iowa. The Lamartine carried the surveyors, with supplies suflScient for six months, to Lansing in Alla- makee County. Active field operations began at the monument "heretofore established by Captain Lee a few miles from Lansing." It was expected that with "great exertions" the survey might be completed that very sea- son. When the northern route for a transcontinental railroadX "%> was surveyed by Isaac I. Stevens in 1853, steamboats car- ried members of the expedition, scientific equipment, food, clothing, and scores of draft animals to St. Paul. Stevens arrived at St. Paul on May 27, 185 3, on board the Nominee^ having purchased all the draft mules offered in the ports along the way. Such expeditions offered a lucra- tive income to steamboat captains.^®" Another source of profit came from the frequent tours of inspection of the various military posts. In the spring of 1824 Brigadier General Winfield Scott left St. Louis for the Upper Mississippi on the steamboat Man dan (Cap- tain William Linn commanding) . It was on this trip that Scott recommended that the name of Fort St. Anthony be [171] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi changed to Fort Snelling. Six weeks later the Mandan returned to St. Louis in sixty-two and one-half hours running time. Captain Linn expressed the belief that he could make the round trip of fifteen hundred miles in ten days. Shortly afterwards the Mandan ascended the Mis- souri River to Fort Atkinson. Jefferson Barracks was the entrepot for such expedi- tions. The trips were made when a good stage of water was assured. In the fall of 1831 Brigadier General Henry Leavenworth and his officers (having completed their in- spection of the posts on the Upper Mississippi) left St. Louis on board the Enterprise for Cantonment Jesup near Natchitoches, Louisiana. Though the number of passen- gers carried was small, such trips afforded a welcome addi- tion to the business of the Upper Mississippi steamboats.^^^ / Troops escorted Indian delegates to treaty grounds and conducted tribes to new reservations^ Bound for the conference at Prairie du Chien, a detachment of troops under Colonel Willoughby Morgan accompanied the three hundred Indians on board Captain Butler's Vianet when she arrived at Galena in 1830. Dragoons and regulars were aboard the T)r. Franklin as she steamed back and forth from Wabasha's prairie to St. Paul during the re- moval of the Winnebago in 1848. Troops were also aboard the Excelsior when she conveyed the lower tribe of Sioux to Traverse des Sioux in 1851. After the massacre at New Ulm, Minnesota, in 1862, a heavy military force escorted the Sioux prisoners down the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers to Davenport."^ [172] Steamboats on the Military Frontier Surveys and scientific expeditions, tours of inspection and military escorts for the red man, all afforded profitable returns to the enterprising steamboat captains. More im- portant, however, was the transportation of troops in time of war, the yearly movement of troops from post to post during times of peace, and the transportation of supplies and equipment. From these three sources steamboat cap- tains secured their richest gains. [173] 21 YV ars and Rmimors oi VV ar The transportation of troops by steamboats during war times was usually more profitable than during times of peace, because the work was done under pressure when no l^ime could be lost in obtaining competitive bids. The first military sortie transported by steamboat occurred in July, 1827, when the Hamilton, the Indiana, and the Essex departed from Jefferson Barracks with a detachment of five hundred soldiers under Brigadier General Henry At- kinson to chastise the Winnebago for attacking white settlers. The progress of this formidable flotilla up the Mississippi was interrupted by the low stage of water at the Des Moines Rapids; the remainder of the journey was made by keelboat. Four years later (in 1831) six com- panies from the Third and Sixth Regiments left Jefferson Barracks on Captain James May's Enterprise to quell dis- turbances of Sauk, Fox, and Winnebago Indians at Rock _Island.^" In addition to serving the nation well during minor disturbances, Upper Mississippi steamboats played an im- portant role in three major conflicts — the Black Hawk War, the Mexican War, and the Civil War. During the Black Hawk and Mexican wars the Mississippi was the chief avenue of transportation and communication; while throughout the Civil War steamboats conveyed thousands [174] Wars and Rumors of War of troops to the war zone and brought back the wounded. / With the outbreak of the Black Hawk War in 1832 the Indian question became a national problem. Steamboats were promptly pressed into the service of the government. Early in April, 1832, the Sixth Regiment of United States Infantry left Jefferson Barracks on board the Enterprise and the Chieftain, with strict orders to force the Sauk and Fox to surrender the murderers of twenty-eight Menom- inee Indians in the village of Prairie du Chien. Undeterred by this movement. Black Hawk and his followers started up the Rock River where the defeat of the militia at Still- man's Run was followed by Governor John Reynolds' proclamation asking for two thousand mounted volun-' teers. Thoroughly aroused by this reverse, both State and national governments moved frantically to crush the up- rising.^^* Throughout the hostilities, conflicting reports trickled into St. Louis from steamboats running on the Illinois and Upper Mississippi rivers : crowds lounged about the levee awaiting each arrival. Anxious wives and mothers lingered patiently, hopeful for news from passengers and news- papers brought down on the steamboats. Captains and clerks, always extolled for their kindness and gentlemanly virtues, became more popular than ever. While the pilots received fabulous salaries, the lowly clerk received the plaudits of the press. Editors spared neither space nor ink in extolling him.^^" Steamboating was not without its attendant thrills in [175] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi those days. Dangers of snags, explosions, or fires now be- came of secondary importance. Passengers and crews lived in constant fear of attack by bands of Indians. While making her way downstream from Galena to St. Louis the steamboat Dove was suddenly attacked by Indians hidden along the bank of the river. Her sides and upper works were splattered with lead, but she managed to run safely through the gauntlet of fire without serious injury. Pilot- ing under such conditions became a real art. To lose one's head and run the boat on a sandbar or into the bank might easily invite a massacre. Throughout the struggle, how- ever, pilots and captains exhibited a skill and daring indi- cative of the character of the men who operated Upper Mississippi steamboats.^^° That steamboating was perilous in war times is revealed by the fact that fewer boats ventured on the Upper Mis- sissippi during the year 1832. But the services of the steam- boat Warrior during the Black Hawk War entitle her to be ranked among the dozen most historic boats to ply the waters of the Upper Mississippi. Launched at Pittsburgh in the summer of 1832, the Warrior was commanded by Joseph Throckmorton. A veteran of four years service on the Upper Mississippi, Throckmorton brought the Warrior and her safety barge to St. Louis in mid-summer of 1832, and set out immediately for the war zone.^" The Warrior arrived at Prairie du Chien just as Black Hawk and his band were retreating toward the Mississippi. She was pressed into service and Throckmorton was given orders to patrol the river above the fort to prevent the [176] Wars and Rumors of War Indians from crossing. Lieutenants James W. Kingsbury and Reuben Holmes, with a detachment of fifteen regulars and six volunteers, were sent aboard; and a small six- pounder was placed on the bow. The Warrior first steamed north to Wabasha's village where about one hundred and fifty Winnebago Indians were enlisted to help patrol the river. Proceeding down- stream Throckmorton reached the spot where De Soto now stands just as Black Hawk and his warriors were pour- ing out through the hills to the river. A white flag was raised by Black Hawk, and Throckmorton was invited to land. Fearing treachery upon the part of the wily Sauk chief, Throckmorton refused to leave the boat. Black Hawk in turn refused to board the Warrior; whereupon hostilities began. During the brief engagement the In- dians fired hundreds of shots, only sixty of which reached their mark. One white man was wounded. Four shots of grape sent the Indians scurrying for shelter. Having halted the retreat of the Indians the Warrior steamed down to Fort Crawford for a fresh supply of fuel. While this brief skirmish was of no great significance in itself it served to check the Indians sufficiently to allow the troops to come up a little later and completely rout them at Bad Axe. Shortly afterwards the Winnebago Indians captured Black Hawk and brought him to Prairie du Chien whence he and eleven of his warriors were taken down to Jefferson Barracks on the steamboat Wiuuebago.^^^ Throughout the Black Hawk War the picturesque com- manders and their forces used steamboats. Inscribed in the [177] Steamboating on Upp>er Mississippi cabin registers of such boats as the Chief tain, the Dove, the Enterprise, the Warrior, the Winnebago, and the William Wallace, were the names of Colonel Zachary Taylor, who was to become President of the United States, and Lieu- tenant Jefferson Davis, who achieved the same distinction in the Confederacy. After the battle of Bad Axe, Brigadier General Henry Atkinson took passage on the Warrior to Jefferson Barracks; while Brigadier General Winfield Scott in forwarding Atkinson's two reports of the battle, dated the letter "steamboat Warrior, near Galena, Aug. 10".^*° There were other wars. On May 15, 1846, the Tempest whisked up to the Galena levee with news of the outbreak of the Mexican War. The /. M. White had brought this news from New Orleans to St. Louis, whence the Tempest had steamed upstream to spread the news throughout the Upper Mississippi Valley. Four days later the Ked Wtng brought newspaper accounts of the destruction of Mata- moros and the killing of seven hundred Mexicans; while the Atlas, the Uncle Toby, and the Prairie Bird arrived almost in her wake with further dispatches. Since the telegraph did not reach the Upper Mississippi around Galena and Dubuque until 1848, and since the railroads were not destined to reach Chicago from the East for another six years, the Upper Mississippi Valley relied on the steamboat to transmit the latest news from the front. Many river towns had contributed young men to the struggle, and so the levee was constantly thronged with people awaiting the arrival of steamboats. There was gen- [178] Wars and Rumors of War eral rejoicing at Galena when in the spring of 1847 the War Eagle came snorting up the Fever River with news of Major General Zachary Taylor's victory at Buena Vista.""* The outbreak of hostilities with Mexico demanded a hasty concentration of troops throughout the Mississippi Valley. Steamboats were immediately pressed into service. Almost every downstream craft was crowded with reg- ulars and volunteers. Early in June, 1846, the dragoons stationed at Fort Crawford and Fort Atkinson passed down on Captain Throckmorton's Cecilia. Shortly afterwards volunteers from Galena and Jo Daviess County, composed chiefly of young miners, departed for Alton on the St. Anthony. During the winter it was necessary for troops to march overland; on February 2, 1847, a company of weather-beaten but healthy soldiers arrived at Galena after a four hundred mile tramp from St. Peter's. Spring brought a revival of traffic on the river : Cap- tain John H. King recruited sixty-four men in Galena and departed immediately on the War Eagle. Two weeks later one hundred Illinois volunteers left Galena and Sa- vanna for Cairo. Of the sixty and more craft which plied the Upper Mississippi during the period of the Mexican War, few failed to secure a fair share of the troops and supplies moving southward. ^°^ During the winter of 1860 the importance of the impending struggle to Upper Mississippi steamboats was quickly recognized. Eastern newspapers sympathized with the northwestern States because they felt that the Con- [179] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi federates would close the Mississippi River and prevent western products from moving southward. But a Du- buque newspaper editor thought this unlikely : he believed that the South would grant free trade at both New Or- leans and Mobile, which was exactly what the East did not want. A week later the same editor observed that the prospect of being blocked by the South was a problem of less importance for Senator James W. Grimes and other Iowa Congressmen to solve than was the urgent need of appropriations for improving the Upper and Lower rapids.""' Excitement was at a fever pitch during the early days of the Civil War. Galena citizens were thoroughly alarmed when the steamboat La Crosse arrived at their levee with 224 kegs of powder from the Platteville powder mills, presumably destined for Pike's Peak. Fearful lest the pow- der should fall into the hands of Confederates at Hannibal or St. Louis, the mayor of Galena forbade the captain of the La Crosse to take it downstream. This was in accord- ance with the Illinois Governor's telegram to "detain it by all means". A little later the powder was ordered to be forwarded to La Salle, Illinois.""^ Thousands of regulars and volunteers were transported by steamboat during the Civil War. Generous quotas of troops were contributed by the various towns along the Mississippi and its tributaries as far north as St. Paul. Late in April the Sucker State left Dubuque with a dozen members of the Governor's Greys on board; while her sister ship, the Hawkeye State, carried a portion of the First [180] Wars and Rumors of War Iowa Regiment from Davenport to Keokuk. Eight boxes of uniforms for the Dubuque "Greys" were shipped to Keokuk on board the Key City. Early in June the Canada passed Dubuque with three hundred recruits from Mc- Gregor. On her next trip she brought three companies of volunteers from further upstream. Met at the levee by the Dubuque volunteers, they made a "grand appearance" parading through the streets. Shortly afterwards the Washington Guards of Dubuque, the Pioneer Greys of Black Hawk County, and the Union Guards of Butler County left Dubuque on the Key City. Throughout the season the Jea/iie Deans, the Denmark, the Henry Clay, the Pembina, the Bill Henderson, and two score other craft took companies of volunteers to the various points below. So gratifying were the returns from such employment during the first few months of the war that the Northern Line Packet Company of St. Louis did an unprecedented thing : it reduced the fare for transporting troops !'°* A unique upstream traffic developed during the early months of the Civil War as steamboats brought north- ward hundreds of Southern refugees. A Davenport editor noted : "Coming in from the South yesterday afternoon the steamer Key City came up loaded to the guards with Southern passengers fleeing from the wrath to come. They were mostly of the laboring class, and probably some of those which left this country for the South when hard times came on here. The Key City left not less than one hundred men, women and children at the levee. Every [181] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi boat coming up brings along good numbers of Southern folks. Capt. Marden [Worden] says he left about fifty at Muscatine on this trip up. A few weeks of such arrivals will make change in our population. We are glad to see it. This is the country for the laboring people — and we wel- come them back to Iowa soil where there is abundant chance for them to earn an honest living and something besides. Unless martial law goes into effect soon on the Lower Mississippi, our city and other cities along the Iowa shore will receive large additions to their population in the course of a few days. The arrival yesterday was made up of hardy looking chaps with their families and household goods. Let them come. They are all wanted here." '"^ Despite the activity in transporting troops, the war had at first a depressing effect on steamboating. In comment- ing on an item in the Keokuk press the Dubuque Herald of June 2, 1861, declared that a similar situation would soon exist all along the river if the war continued. The Keokuk dispatch commented: "To sustain a river news column with the business that's now doing and the number of boats running, would be an impossibility. If our soldiers were not daily exercising on the Levee we would see grass grow there in abundance. The public can judge what business there is when six reg- ular liners do the whole of it from St. Louis to the upper Lakes. Only for the mail the Keokuk and St. Louis Packet could not make expenses to run one boat and make weekly trips. The Northern Line boats bring up a great many passengers but little freight, and their return freights are [182] Wars and Rumors of War equally meagre, and totally destitute of passengers. Pro- duce finds no outlet below us, and merchants just order sufficient to keep their stock assorted." So many steamboats lay idle at the various ports that the Dubuque Herald of June 11, 1861, proposed that an excursion be run to Keokuk to allow the relatives and friends an opportunity to visit the three hundred volun- teers encamped at that point. Navigation slowly revived as the summer wore on : a better stage of water and the movement of grain south- ward once more called steamboats into action. Captain Datus E. Coon's company of sixty-five cavalrymen was given a rousing farewell when the Denmark departed from Dubuque in August. The cheers of the company from the hurricane deck of the Denmark were heard on the bluffs of the city half a mile distant. "°® In November, 1861, a flotilla of steamboats carried the Third Regiment of Minnesota Volunteers southward from St. Paul. Throngs of cheering people gathered at the various towns along the Mississippi to see the troops. The levee at Red Wing was "jammed" with the largest crowd that ever gathered there. Each boat was greeted with cheers and salutes. When the steamboat with the Goodhue County volunteers arrived, an immense bonfire was lighted near the point where the boat landed. The soldiers were allowed half an hour ashore, which was spent in hur- ried greetings and farewells to relatives and friends.'"^ Keokuk was a grand rendezvous for the army during the Civil War : scores of steamboats departed from this [183] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Iowa town for St. Louis and points below. In addition to receiving raw recruits from the various points above, Keo- kuk almost daily dispatched companies southward aboard such boats as the Jeanie Deans, the Die Yernon, the Han- nibal City, and the Jennie Whipple.'°^ The first casualty for the Seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry occurred while the Jennie Whipple was en route from Keokuk to St. Louis : during the night a member of Company A while sleeping rolled off the boat into the river and was drowned.^"" When the South finally blocked the Mississippi a severe blight was cast on the commerce of Keokuk, Davenport, Dubuque, and other upriver ports. Davenport chronicled 73 steamboat arrivals in March and 134 in April, 1861. By the latter part of April, however, freight became so scarce that even such regular steamboats as the Denmark and Henry Clay laid up until times became better. Early in May business was described by a Davenport editor as "extremely dull and unprofitable". It was believed that a "general stagnation in freight" would follow for an indeterminate period. "The eflFect this will have on pro- ducers, shippers, grain and produce dealers, and business generally will be ascertained too soon, and its realization will be anything but agreeable." *^° The resentment of northern towns grew more bitter with each passing month. As early as May, Captain J. W. Parker of the steamboat Canada reported that the mayor of Burlington had issued a proclamation compelling all steamboats to hoist the stars and stripes when passing that [184] Wars and Rumors of War city. The same hatred was manifested in the South where the captain of the Adelaide Bell sued the editors of the New Orleans Crescent for $50,000 damages for alleging that the boat had unfurled a "Black Republican flag". By July of 1861 it was announced that 20,000 steamboatmen were out of work at St. Louis.'^^ The departure of cheering volunteers was in sharp con- trast to the return of the sick and wounded, the dying and the dead. A single illustration will suffice. The fron- tier State of Iowa furnished 78,000 men out of a popula- tion of less than 700,000. This represented half the able bodied men in the State, or more than Washington had in his armies during the American Revolution. Twelve thousand lowans were killed in the Civil War, or almost one-fourth the total losses of the United States during the World War. In addition, nearly nine thousand were wounded in battle and almost ten thousand were dis- charged because of ill health. Steamboats bound upstream during the Civil War carried gruesome cargoes as mute evidence of the bloody struggle that was being enacted to prove that all men are "created equal".^^~ On April 19, 1862, the steamboat Express arrived at Keokuk with about 300 sick and wounded soldiers, in- cluding four who had died en route. Four days later the D. A. January came up with 300 wounded; and a month later the same steamboat put into port with 311 more. In three trips the City of Memphis brought 928 sick and wounded soldiers to Keokuk. When the steamboat Deca- tur docked in mid-July, Keokuk had opened its fourth [185] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi hospital in a public school house. Twice within a week in October the Fanny Bullitt arrived carrying almost 700 patients. By the close of the year 1862 it was estimated that more than seven thousand men were being treated in Keokuk. The same scenes were reenacted in 1863 : the Diligent, the Schuyler, the Glasgow, the Sunnyside, and the Gladiator, came in jammed to their guards with the sick and wounded. On December 24, 1863, the record showed that 7396 sick and wounded soldiers had been brought by steamboats from the South to Keokuk. Of these, 617 had already died.'^^ Early in April, 1863, the regular Keokuk packet Sam Gaty, while carrying government supplies and passengers up the Missouri River, was overtaken by a band of fifty- six guerrillas at Sibley's Landing, thirty-seven miles below Kansas City. Led by George Todd, Dick Yager, and Cole Younger, the guerrillas ordered the pilot to land his boat, threatening to fire into her if they were not obeyed. Since the Sam Gaty was only fifty feet from shore, the pilot was compelled to "round to" and land his boat. The offi- cers and passengers left the following composite picture of the episode: "They ordered the Captain ashore, and then rushed aboard, presenting pistols to the heads of the passengers and demanding all their money and valuables. They drove all the soldiers and negroes ashore, killing nine negro men, two soldiers, and wounding a third, who escaped to In- dependence. They then rifled all the baggage and public [186] Wars and Rumors of War and private property, exchanged coats and hats with some of the passengers, and ordered all the women and children ashore, with the intention of burning the boat, but were finally prevailed upon by the Captain to spare her on con- dition that all the government freight would be destroyed, which was consented to. "The crew and passengers were compelled to assist in throwing overboard 300 sacks of flour, 48 wagon-beds and considerable private property. The boat was then re- leased and allowed to proceed on her way up at 8 o'clock in the morning." The guerrillas had intended to capture the Sam Gaty at Napoleon; but having arrived too late, they chased her all the way to Sibley's Landing. Fully $2285 was taken, of which $600 belonged to the boat. One passenger lost $1000.''^* Upper Mississippi steamboats did heroic work during the Civil War. Many of the boats were requisitioned into service by the government. In this group were such well known steamboats as the Kate Cassel^ the Jennie Whipple^ and the Ad Hine. In this way transportation was often crippled — at least temporarily. There was general re- joicing when General Grant permitted the Jennie Whip- ple to continue plying between Fort Madison and Rock Island.'^' The news of the surrender of Vicksburg was hailed with delight. "The Father of Waters flowed peacefully to the sea, free and untrammelled", wrote Admiral David D. Porter. "The great chain of slavery was broken, never to [187] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi be again united. The work of setting free the great artery of the North and South, so essential to our nationaUty, had been accomplished, and the foul blot of human slavery had disappeared forever from our escutcheon. The squadrons of the Upper and Lower Mississippi had shaken hands in New Orleans, and the great highway between Cincinnati and the Queen City of the South was once more open to the commerce with the North and with foreign coun- tries." "« By 1864 the movement of steamboats was again in full swing up and downstream. On April 18th more than one hundred soldiers from the Keokuk hospitals left on the steamboat Lucy Bertram to rejoin their regiments. Nine days later the Die Yernon took the Fifteenth Iowa to the front ; and a month later the Lucy Bertram took the Forty- fifth Iowa Regiment downstream. On July 10th the Kate Kearney arrived with over a hundred invalid soldiers. Throughout the year steamboats brought wounded sol- diers to Keokuk and the ports above. They departed with fresh troops for below.*^^ At the close of the war the reception accorded the war- weary troops was as heart-felt as it was tumultuous. Joy reigned supreme in the various Upper Mississippi ports. Cannon roared, bands blared, and flags waved as the boys in blue marched firmly down the stage of the steamboat. But their thinned ranks left many a welcoming eye tear- dimmed for those who would not return. As troop trans- ports and hospital boats, as conveyors of ammunition and supplies, and as auxiliary forces in the battles which re- [188] Wars and Rumors of War opened the Mississippi to commerce, Upper Mississippi steamboats had played a dramatic role. With the return of peace, commerce, industry, and agriculture resumed their normal place in the life of the people. The Mississippi River again furnished a peaceful waterway from St. Paul to the Gulf of Mexico. [189] 22 M-Ovcmenf of 1 roops m JPeacc 1 imies The movement of troops during times of peace was more profitable to steamboats than in times of war, when viewed over a period of three or four decades. Before the voyage of the Virginia troops had been transported by keelboat — a method which was as costly as it was slow. Thus, in 1821 it took the keelboat James Ross sixteen days to convey a detachment of the Fifth United States Infantry from Prairie du Chien to St. Peter's. Although no rapids im- peded its progress the keelboat averaged but thirteen miles per day for the two hundred and twelve miles between Fort Crawford and Fort St. Anthony."^® Keelboats generally descended the river with great facil- ity. On October 13, 1821, the Saiicy Jack left St. Peter's with Colonel Snelling on board. Gliding along at a rate of eight miles an hour, the Saucy Jack traveled throughout the night and by sunrise reached the foot of Lake Pepin, a distance of eighty miles. Four days were required to reach Prairie du Chien. This exceptionally good time meant that wind and water were favorable. The Saucy Jack probably consumed about sixty-five hours running time, so that the average rate of speed was approximately three miles per hour downstream. Three years later (in 1824) the steamboat Mandan ran from St. Peter's to St. Louis in sixty-two and one-half hours running time, an [190] Movement of Troops in Peace Times average of almost twelve miles per hour downstream.^'" That keelboat transportation was unsatisfactory as well as costly and slow is demonstrated by the efforts of a cele- brated army officer to facilitate the transportation of troops and supplies. A new type of boat, invented by Brigadier General Henry Atkinson in 1824, made the trip from St. Louis to St. Charles on the Missouri River in two days or half the time usually consumed by the keelboat. It was estimated that General Atkinson's boat could average twenty miles a day, and make thirty in an emer- gency. A description of Atkinson's strange craft has been preserved: '^° "The machinery consists of a shaft, thrown across the centre of the boat, with a water wheel at each end — a five feet cog wheel in the centre of the shaft, and put in motion by another cog wheel, three feet four inches, rest- ing on an iron shaft, which supports a fly wheel at one end, of eight feet in diameter. The fly and small cog wheel are moved by a crank, projecting from an arm of the fly wheel, with two pitmans, which are impelled by soldiers, seated on from eight to ten benches, four abreast, with a succession of cross bars before each bench, contained in a frame that moves on slides, with a three feet stroke of the crank. The men are comfortably seated under an awning, sheltered from the sun and rain — the labor much lighter than rowing with a common oar, and the boats are propelled with a velocity sufficient to stem the most rapid current of the Missouri." After the successful navigation of the Upper Mississippi [191] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi by the Virghiia it was only on rare occasions that the army resorted to keelboats and similar craft. Thus, in 1826, thirty-five keelboats arrived at St. Louis from Green Bay bringing the Third Regiment of Infantry. During the driest season the flotilla had to portage only twenty-five hundred yards between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. Again, the low stage of water in 1827 forced the troops under Brigadier General Atkinson to disembark from the steamboats Missouri and Illinois at the foot of the Lower Rapids and complete the remainder of the journey to Prairie du Chien by keelboat. With only a few such ex- ceptions the transportation of troops after 182 5 was ac- complished by steamboat.'"^ Attacks were often made in Congress against the ex- penditure of large sums yearly for transporting soldiers from post to post; but Major General Jacob Brown warm- ly defended the policy. He asserted that the army looked to the government for "justice and impartiality" in the distribution of troops, some of whom would (if no changes were made) be located in unhealthy surround- ings for long periods with no hope of a transfer. The oc- casional movement of troops was also necessary for the "preservation of discipline and efficiency": it was held that the morale and general condition of the troops was kept at such a high level that the good results more than compensated for the expenditures involved in transporta- tion."" Despite these occasional outbursts in Congress the move- ment of troops continued, and the steamboats reaped rich [192] Movement of Troops in Peace Times profits. The steamboats Missouri and Illinois were particu- larly busy in the spring of 1828 transporting troops to the various military posts on the Upper Mississippi and Mis- souri rivers. When the season came to a close four com- panies of the First United States Infantry had been trans- ferred to Fort Crawford and four additional companies from the same regiment had been carried to Fort Snelling. At the same time eight companies of the Fifth Regiment were taken from these two posts. Two companies of the Third United States Infantry were left at Fort Armstrong and the two seasoned companies of the Fifth removed. The steamboat Illinois ascended the Missouri River for Cantonment Leavenworth where eight companies of the Third Infantry were posted under Colonel Henry Leaven- worth."'^ In 1837 the entire First Regiment of Infantry stationed at Fort Crawford and Fort Snelling was ordered south to the Red River where a half dozen regiments had already been concentrated."* Two years later the Pike arrived at Galena bound for Fort Snelling with eighty new recruits from Covington, Kentucky. Shortly afterwards the Pike returned to Prairie du Chien to pick up one hundred troops destined for Fort Snelling. At that time there were two hundred soldiers at Fort Crawford and three hun- dred at Fort Snelling."'* Steamboats engaged in conveying troops on the Upper Mississippi occasionally met with accidents, but the cas- ualties were only minor in character. In April, 1842, the Illinois sank on the Lower Rapids while ascending the [193] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Mississippi with troops from Jefferson Barracks. At the same time the Galena passed upstream with 358 soldiers on board, 130 of whom were destined for Fort SneUing while the remainder were to be discharged at Fort Craw- ford. The Galena broke her machinery on the way up, and blew a cylinder while bound downstream. She was towed from Galena to St. Louis by the New Brazil. On April 27, 1865, the Sultana exploded on the Lower Mis- sissippi with a loss of 1 647 lives — the worst disaster ever to befall a steamboat on western waters. Most of those aboard were exchanged Union soldiers who were home- ward bound."" The profit reaped by steamboats transporting soldiers in time of peace sometimes exceeded that gained from the regular passenger trade. The Canada passed Dubuque in July of 1860 with the largest load of the season : she had on board deck passengers who had paid $ 1 672 in fares and cabin passengers whose fares amounted to $2000; and at the same time towed two barges loaded to the water's edge with freight. On her way up from St. Louis the Canada was obliged to refuse both freight and passengers at every port below Dubuque. Most of her passengers were United States troops bound for some point upstream."^ Two factors are essential in estimating the cost of trans- porting troops during the times of peace preceding the outbreak of the Civil War : the number of troops, carried and the distance traveled. Although the exact number of soldiers conveyed is not known, it would seem fair to as- sume that on an average at least five hundred troops were [194] Movement of Troops in Peace Times moved about each year to the half dozen posts in existence at one point or another throughout this period. In estimating the distance traveled one must take into consideration the fact that the steady influx of immigrants swept back the frontier line. Fort Edwards, two hundred miles distant from St. Louis, was the post closest to Jef- ferson Barracks in 1823 and was beyond the settled area. By 1861 Fort Snelling was the fort on the Upper Missis- sippi nearest to Jefferson Barracks; while Fort Ripley and Fort Ridgely were located on the outer fringe of settle- ment. With this in mind the average distance traveled was possibly about six hundred miles. If the government were to pay Upper Mississippi steamboats $40 a round trip fare, it would expend approximately $20,000 annually for transporting five hundred soldiers six hundred miles. At this rate about three quarters of a million dollars might well have been expended in transporting troops by steam- boat in the decades preceding the Civil War."^ [195] I ransporiaf ion oiF oiippiies More prosaic than the movement of troops, but equally important, was the transportation of supplies and equip- ment to the various posts on the Upper Mississippi. Each year newspapers carried advertisements inviting merchants to submit bids for furnishing huge quantities of pork, flour, whiskey, beans, soap, candles, vinegar, and salt to the forts on the frontier. Separate bids were also solicited for furnishing fresh beef on the hoof. Sometimes the cattle were driven overland, but usually they were transported northward in pens constructed on the lower decks of steamboats. Even though such stock was not seen, its presence was otherwise noticed by the deck and cabin pas- sengers who were forced to locate near the cattle pen. In 1823 the Missouri Republican advertised for bids for the posts at New Orleans, Pensacola, Baton Rouge, Natchitoches, Fort Smith (Arkansas), Council Bluffs, Green Bay, Saginaw Bay, Superior, Mackinac, Pittsburgh, Niagara, Fort Edwards, Fort Armstrong, Prairie du Chien, and St. Peter's. The provisions were to pass St. Louis for their ultimate destination by April 15, 1824; and if destined for posts above St. Louis, such as St. Peter's, they were to be aboard the boat and ready at that time. A definite time limit was set for final delivery at each post. Thus, Fort Edwards and Fort Armstrong were to receive [196] Transportation of Supplies their goods by May 15th, Fort Crawford by June 1st; while June 15 th was set as the date for final delivery at St. Peter's.'-'^" The amount of provisions and supplies was of course governed by the number of troops at each post. In 1824 Fort Edwards received 60 barrels of pork, 125 barrels of fine fresh flour, 700 gallons of good proof whiskey, 5 5 bushels of good sound beans, 880 pounds of good hand soap, 220 pounds of tallow candles with cotton wicks, 14 bushels of salt, and 225 gallons of cider vinegar. The con- signments that year for the posts above were as follows: ^^° Armstrong Crawford Snelling Pork (barrels) 60 120 360 Flour (barrels) 125 225 750 Whiskey (gallons) 700 1400 4200 Beans (bushels) 55 110 330 Soap (pounds) 880 1760 5280 Candles (pounds) 430 860 Salt (bushels) 14 28 84 Vinegar (gallons) 225 450 1350 Similar announcements were made in succeeding years. The Missouri Republican of July 26, 1827, requested bids for supplies and provisions for Upper Mississippi posts; and on October first the same paper called for separate and sealed proposals for furnishing 3 5,000 pounds of fresh beef to Fort Snelling, 30,000 to Fort Crawford, and 15,000 to Fort Armstrong. The beef was to be delivered on the hoof before June 1, 1828. Early each spring Upper Mississippi steamboats began [197] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi transporting military supplies. On April 1, 1824, Captain William Linn, commanding the Mandan, arrived at St. Louis from New Orleans. After spending five days in port loading a cargo of military supplies, the boat de- parted on April 5 th for St. Peter's with her guards drip- ping. She returned to St. Louis on May 17th, having taken forty-two days for the round trip. A low stage of water on the rapids, an ice-locked Lake Pepin, some unforeseen engine trouble, or a channel studded with sandbars must have delayed the Mandan on her voyage upstream, since she required less than three days running time to return. On her way down she met the Indiana bound for St. Peter's with a cargo of provisions and supplies from Louis- ville. The Indiana left St. Louis on May 13th, commanded by S. Craig, and returned on June 5, 1824, having con- sumed twenty-three days in making the round trip. The Virginia had taken twenty days to complete the journey upstream the previous year. Low water made the passage over the rapids difficult and often dangerous. The time of arrival and departure of steamboats was extremely uncertain under such con- ditions, since their speed was reduced by one-half; while the delay occasioned by sandbars tended to quadruple the time of a trip. Early in April, 1824, the Indiana carried military supplies to Fort Edwards. It took sixteen days to complete the round trip of four hundred miles. Late in June she departed for the same post with an immense cargo and returned in six days! On a previous voyage, the Indiana had made the run to Fort Armstrong and back [198] Transportation of Supplies to St. Louis in the astonishing time of five days, running two hundred miles farther and picking her way up and back over a fourteen mile stretch of the Lower Rapids! ''^ By July 31, 1824, four steamboats (the Virginia, the Rambler, the Mamlati, and the hidiaua) had visited Fort Snclling. Two years later, under date of May 17, 1826, Major Lawrence Taliaferro recorded three of these to- gether with the General Neville, the Rufus 'Putnam, the Lati/rence, the Scioto, the Eclipse, the Josephine, the Ful- ton, the Red Rover, the Black Rover, the Warrior, the En- terprise, and the Volant. Most of the goods received at Fort Snelling on these steamboats consisted of supplies and provisions for the military. Taliaferro notes that the steamboat Scioto arrived on Friday, May 26, 1826, with public stores and some Indian goods for him and the Co- lumbia Fur Company. Among the passengers were Mr. Langham, the Sub-Agent at St. Peter's, and Major John Fowle of the Fifth Infantry. The Scioto left for Prairie du Chien the next day to bring up the balance of the pub- lic stores : she returned on June first, having made the round trip in six days."^^ During the thirties the steamboat Warrior (Joseph Throckmorton commanding) was one of perhaps a dozen craft that carried large quantities of military supplies to Fort Snelling and the various posts on the Upper Missis- sippi. "These supplies", as Colonel John H. Bliss later recalled, *'were chiefly clothing, salt beef and pork, flour and beans." Bliss, as a lad of nine, had accompanied his father. Major John Bliss, to Fort Snelling. He relates that [199] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi besides the regular supplies for the post the steamboats carried also the personal luxuries of the officers of the post. In 1832, for example, before setting out for Fort Snelling, Major Bliss, the newly appointed commandant, purchased "quantities of hams, dried beef, tongues, rice, macaroni, family groceries in general, furniture, crockery, and what in these days would be considered a huge supply of wines and liquors". After leaving the port of St. Louis, young Bliss recalls stopping at "Hannibal, Quincy, Des Moines [Rapids] and Galena, all very small places". At Prairie du Chien he found Colonel Zachary Taylor in command of Fort Craw- ford. At that time Colonel Taylor was very much upset because a dashing young army officer. Lieutenant Jeffer- son Davis, was "violently in love" with his daughter Sarah Knox. Old "Rough and Ready", it seems, " 'would none of it' — he did not like a single bone in his [Davis'] body." His objections, however, seem to have been no more effec- tive than those of modern parents. Before leaving Prairie du Chien, young Bliss relates that all "available space" in the Warrior was "filled with cord wood, and when that gave out we were obliged to lay by and cut fresh supplies, for not a house or a white man did we see until our arrival at Fort Snelling, so the trip of course was a long one ... At Lake Pepin, on account of a heavy wind, we were obliged to tie up for nearly two days in sight of 'Maiden Rock,' or 'Lovers' Leap,' as in those days it was unromantically called. I shall never forget the clear transparency of the waters, and beautiful wild shores [200] Transportation of Supplies of that lovely river, long before its charms were ruined and outraged by hard practical civilization. On our way we overhauled and took on board a canoe with five sol- diers, conveying the monthly mail to Fort Snelling, and thus saved the boys many a weary pull. A sight never to be forgotten was when on turning a point in the river there suddenly appeared, a mile or so before us, the im- posing and beautiful white walls of Fort Snelling, holding, as though by main force, its position on a high precipitous bluff, and proudly floating the stripes and stars. It was a fortified oasis of civilization in a lovely desert of bar- b>> 'jas arism. According to an estimate made by Secretary of War William Wilkins on March 22, 1844, the public property transported annually on the waters of the Upper Missis- sippi was valued at $272,213.90. The clothing and quar- termaster's stores furnished annually to the troops on the Mississippi and its tributaries above the mouth of the Missouri amounted to $25,000. Clothing and equipment for Fort Snelling was valued at $4,041.93; for Fort Craw- ford $5,389.24; for Fort Des Moines $3,579.78; for Fort Atkinson $3,579.78; and for Fort Winnebago $1,347.31; or a total of $17,938.04. The quartermaster's stores for the same posts amounted to $7,061.98. Small arms, am- munition, and paints for gun carriages, to the amount of $5,910.00, were also sent to the companies stationed at Fort Atkinson, Fort Des Moines, and Prairie du Chien in 1844. The quantity and value of the subsistence shipped to the same posts in 1 844 were as follows: [201] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^ Bulk _. Post Companies „ value IN Barrels Fort Snelling 3 822 $ 5,992.30 Fort Crawford 4 1073 7,481.40 Fort Atkinson 2 530 3,757.40 Fort Des Moines 2 530 3,791.20 Fort Winnebago 1 270 2,371.60 Total 12 3225 $23,393.90 In concluding his report, Commissioner of General Sub- sistence George Gibson complained bitterly that the rapids made it necessary to ship a whole year's supply early each spring during a good stage of water."* While steamboats continued to be actively engaged in transporting troops and supplies in the decade before the Civil War, their trips were confined chiefly to Fort Snell- ing and the posts above. Destined for service among the Indians on the Des Moines River where Fort Clarke was being established, 150 soldiers embarked from Fort Snelling on the Highland Mary in May of 1850. Three years later the Ben Campbell arrived at St. Paul with a cargo of five hundred tons of freight, most of which was consigned to the government. Fort Madison and Burlington provided these goods — the largest cargo to reach St. Paul that season. On August 1, 1857, the Northern Light came booming up to the St. Paul wharf with Company L of the Second ArtUlery in command of Major William (?) Fiays. The troops had traveled sixteen hundred miles in six days, "giving a fair impression of the celerity with which troops [202] Transportation of Supplies can be concentrated in exposed parts of the country, by means of railroads and steamboats." '^'^ It would be difficult to overestiniate the relative im- portance of the trade for which the presence of the mili- tary was responsible. In 185 3 the St. Paul trade in gov- ernment supplies actually exceeded that of supplying goods to settlers."^^ Although the exact amount is not known, the receipts from transporting supplies was per- haps as great as those derived from conveying troops during times of peace; so one might estimate that approx- imately $1,500,000 was earned by steamboats engaged in this work. An additional sum of $500,000 was probably netted during the Black Hawk War, the Mexican War, and the Civil War. The total income from transporting scientific expeditions, assisting in engineering projects, and conveying United States Army officers on tours of inspec- tion of the military posts was perhaps $750,000. The commerce arising from the military frontier before the close of the Civil War may have yielded Upper Mis- sissippi steamboats almost $3,000,000. While the trade arising from the Indian and the fur trader did not equal this steady traffic in military forces and supplies, the three combined were significant factors in stimulating steam- boating on waters far beyond the settlers' frontier. [203] 24 Pigs of ILeaa The fabulous wealth of John Jacob Astor, the boundless energy and endurance of Manuel Lisa, and the matchless strength and courage of hairy-chested Hugh Glass are dramatic chapters in the epic of the American fur trade. No less colorful are the exploits of William Becknell and Josiah Gregg in the Santa Fe trade. But the story of the lead traffic on the Upper Mississippi has yet to be told. Even that prince of raconteurs, the benevolent, kindly George Merrick, failed to chronicle the hardworking, tur- bulent steamboatmen who plied in the lead trade for a quarter of a century. The lead miners, like the men on the fur-trading fron- tier, were "laughers at time and space". Fully a decade before the northern half of Indiana and Illinois began to receive settlers, lead miners formed an island of population far beyond the fringe of settlement. Lead was found in abundance in northwestern Illinois, southwestern Wis- consin, and in that portion of eastern Iowa immediately adjoining these two States. More precisely, it was found in what are now Jo Daviess and Carroll counties in Illi- nois; Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette counties in Wisconsin; and Dubuque County in Iowa."" The first white man known to have mined lead in the Upper Mississippi Valley was Nicolas Perrot. This French [204] Pigs of Lead soldier had been named "Commander of the West" in 1685; and it was at the urgent request of the Miami In- dians in 1690 that he had hastened to the lead mines. A century later (in 1788) Julien Dubuque secured permis- sion from the Fox Indians to work the mines west of the Mississippi. When Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike arrived at these mines in 1805, Dubuque told him that he manufac- tured from 20,000 to 40,0000 pounds of lead yearly. Pike considered this a very low estimate and thought that the wily Frenchman was merely trying to keep secret the real wealth of his land."^^ At the time of Dubuque's death in 1810 the Fox Indians were melting 400,000 pounds of mineral annually at Fever River. That same year Henry Miller Shreve won for him- self the distinction of being the first American to take a barge of lead out of Fever River. Five years later there were twenty rude Indian furnaces in the neighborhood of Galena. In 1816 the first flatboat cargo of lead to emanate from the Fever River mines was sent to St. Louis by George Davenport; and by 1821 it was not an uncommon sight to see these unwieldy craft heavily laden with lead slowly making their way down the Mississippi.'^^ The movement to the lead mines in the vicinity of Galena had begun as early as 1819. A government agent was soon appointed to supervise the district. When the Virginia arrived at the mines in 1823 the region was still in a wild state, populated only by Indians roaming about at will. In the Iowa country they held undisputed sway; while in the Wisconsin and Illinois areas all land north of [205] V Steamboating on Upper Mississippi a line drawn due west from the southern tip of Lake Michigan to the Mississippi belonged to them — with the exception of one or two small tracts in the vicinity of Prairie du Chien and Chicago. In 1828 the right to the lead district was secured from the Indians for a considera- tion of $20,000. Then, in the following year at Prairie du Chien, the whole territory east of the Mississippi River between the Rock and Wisconsin rivers was ceded to the United States by the Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Winnebago Indians. Finally, the last Indian barrier to the settlement and development of the entire lead region was removed by the Black Hawk Purchase of 1832.^*° The establishment of a government mineral agent at Fever River was the signal for a slow but steady influx of squatters from Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and south- ern Illinois. While many of these pioneers came up the Mississippi in keelboats, a considerable number came over- land from the South through Fort Clark (Peoria) , Illinois. The first mining lease was granted on January 4, 1822. Later in that same year three more leases were granted. Nine leases were given in 1823. At the same time those who operated without license could be numbered by the score. As a rule the lessee was granted 160 acres for the period of three years, during which time the government was to receive one-tenth of all the mineral mined. This was reduced to five per cent in 1830. But the whole system proved very unsatisfactory, and by an act of Congress of July 11, 1846, the lands were brought into the market and sold. [206] I Pigs of Lead From the very start, the growth of population in the mining region was phenomenal. On July 1, 1825, there were 100 miners at the Fever River mines. On August 31, 1826, there were 453, with the number steadily increasing. The population of Galena alone (in 1830) was almost 1000; while that of the surrounding lead district was about 10,000. Of the total population of 11,683 in Wis- consin in 1836, 5234 were in the lead district. The popu- lation of the whole lead mining region that year was about 16,000. The paralyzing elQfect of the tariff law of 1829 upon lead production makes this growth all the more re- markable.'*^ The history of lead mining from 1823 to 1848 may be divided into three distinct stages. The period from 1823 to 1829 is one of beginnings in which the whole mineral region witnessed a rapid and steady growth both in popu- lation and in production. A period of decline and uncer- tainty is noted from 1829 to 183 5, with the production far below normal but with a steady influx of people to the district. The years 1835 to 1848 may be termed the stage of greatest activity when the annual production rose from 11,000,000 to 5 5,000,000 pounds with a total valuation ^ of $1,654,077.60.'" Enthusiasm was at a fever pitch as production rose by leaps and bounds. In 1824 it appears that 175,220 pounds of lead were taken from the mines; but by 1829 the amount had increased to 13,994,432 pounds. The total production down to March 31, 1829, was 31,764,862 pounds. Then a deep gloom shrouded the mineral region: [207] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi the unfavorable tariff of 1829, together with a glutted market, led to a period of depression. Both miners and steamboat captains felt the withering effects of hard times. But one man, at least, retained his enthusiasm. Hidden away in a yellowed lead book for the years 1828 to 1830 appears the following wager between John Atchison, noted lead miner and steamboatman, and Colonel William S. Hamilton, the son of Alexander Hamilton, who was min- ing lead near present-day Wiota, Wisconsin: A Bett between J. A. [John Atchison] & W S H [WiUiam S. Hamilton] of a suit of Cloaths for [from] Head to foot that there will not be 6,000,000 of Lead made at Fever River Lead mines. J. A. affirmative The records do not tell whether Colonel Hamilton paid the "bett"; but in 1829 and 1830 the production of lead far exceeded the amount in the wager.'*^ The total amount of lead produced from 1829 to Sep- tember 20, 1834, was 34,901,205 pounds. Had conditions been more favorable, the same proportionate increase in production prior to 1829 would have made this amount close to 100,000,000 pounds by the end of 1834. After 1835 the production of lead steadily increased : the total lead mined to 1844 was 192,000,000 pounds; and in the following four years the total equaled 204,000,000 pounds — an amount almost equal to that produced during the preceding twenty years. Within the brief space of a quarter of a century approx- imately 472,000,000 pounds (6,728,000 pigs) of lead had been mined and shipped down the Mississippi River — [208] Pigs of Lead cargoes which must have brought much gain and comfort to steamboat captains and owners. The value of the lead mined from 1841 to 1848 was $8,676,647.39; while the total of the lead mined throughout the quarter century- was approximately $14,178,000. Compare this with the trade in furs and produce. In 1848 the value of the fur trade at St. Louis was estimated at $300,000, while the value of the produce on the Santa Fe Trail amounted to $500,000. For the year 1847 alone, the total value of lead mined was $1,654,077.60."* No other single factor dur- ing the quarter century between 1823 and 1848 was so important in developing steamboating on the Upper Mis- sissippi as the shipment of lead. < [209] 25 1 lue JPever IxiTcr Sctoement Early in the month of April, 1823, a band of forty- three men, women, and children, with three dogs, assem- bled on the levee at Cincinnati. Led by Moses Meeker, an enterprising lead manufacturer and mining prospector, they were prepared to board the keelboat Colonel Bom- ford headed for the Fever River lead mines eleven hundred miles distant. During the preceding winter they had pur- chased their supplies, which all together totaled fully seventy-five tons of freight. Meeker's outfit alone had cost $7000. Everyone waited patiently while the last of the trap- pings were safely stored in the hold of the keelboat. Flushed and stimulated by a liberal draught of whiskey (the usual prelude to a day's work) each rugged boatman stood nonchalantly at his post on the runway with pole "set" awaiting the signal of the captain or steersman. Finally all was in readiness. The last passenger had scram- bled hastily on board. As the poles of the boatmen bit deep into the river bottom the Colonel Bomford slipped slowly from its moorings and glided downstream. Among the passengers was one James Harris. He was accompanied by his son Daniel Smith Harris, a pleasant-faced youth of fifteen who was destined to become the most picturesque of Upper Mississippi steamboat captains. [210] The Fever Raver Settlement Propelled by the skill of the boatmen, the Colonel Bom- ford sped down the Ohio River. Numerous villages dotted the banks and newly erected, rough-hewn farmhouses studded the shores. But the country became more sparsely populated as the keelboat proceeded up the Mississippi. At Grand Tower, about eighty miles above the mouth of the Ohio River, the steamboat Virginia passed the Colonel Bomford. Meeker tried to get the Virginia to tow his keel- boat, but Captain John Crawford refused because the swift current often brought his own craft to a standstill. Despite these difficulties the Virginia was able to complete her trip to Fort Snelling, return to St. Louis, reload, and steam northward again before the Colonel Bomford reached Fever River.^" At that time St. Louis, with its five thousand nonde- script inhabitants, was the point of departure for all expeditions destined for the Missouri, the Illinois, or the Upper Mississippi. At Hannibal (which was to become the boyhood home of Mark Twain) a solitary backwoods- man deserted his shack and boarded the Colonel Bomford. Quincy, Illinois, boasted of one lone settler (John Wood) who subsequently became Governor of Illinois. With the exception of a few government posts and fur-trading establishments the country above St. Louis was uninhab- ited by white men. From dawn till dusk the crew of the Colonel Bo tn ford toiled up the broad expanse of the Mississippi, sometimes pushing with their poles and at other times pulling the boat along by means of the brush growing along the bank. [211] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi This latter method of making headway was called "bush- whacking". When these methods failed the crew resorted to "warping" to stem the swift current : a rope was at^ tached to a tree or anchor some distance ahead, and then each boatman would grasp the rope, or warp, as it was called, and walk to the stern, pulling as he went. As each man reached the stern he would "break off" and run to the bow for a new grip. In this fashion the men continued until the tree or anchor was reached. It was hard work, and progress was so slow that dusk frequently found the boat barely out of sight of the previous night's stop. Oc- casionally a breeze would enable the boat to sail for a few miles; but since the wind did not shift with the bends of the river such respites from labor were all too brief. It took thirty-one days for Moses Meeker and his companions to travel the four hundred miles from St. Louis to Galena — an average of but thirteen mUes a day, or less than one mile per hour.'*® When the Colonel Boinford arrived at Fever River with her passengers there were less than one hundred miners and traders and only one white woman at this pioneer settlement. Prominent among the settlers were Dr. Sam- uel C. Muir, Thomas H. January, Amos Farrar, Jesse W. Shull, Francois Bouthillier, A. P. Vanmatre, David G; Bates, James Johnson, and John and Cuyler Armstrong. The real beginning of Galena is usually associated with the advent of the Meeker colony at the Fever River mines. The increase in population and in the production of lead at the Fever River settlement had a pronounced effect [212] The Fever River Settlement upon the number of steamboats arriving at the lead mines. During the course of the year 1823 the Virginia made three trips above the rapids. Late in the same year the Rambler (Captain Bruce commanding) after making a hasty trip to St. Peter's returned to St. Louis early in September. The Virginia and the Rambler are the only boats known to have passed the rapids that year : their trips mark the beginning of steamboating on the Upper Mississippi."*" During the next three years only a small quantity of lead was produced and steamboats plying the Upper Missis- sippi were engaged chiefly in transporting troops and sup- plies. Indeed the steamboats usually carried only such lead on their downstream trips as keelboats were unable to move. In 1824 only 175,220 pounds had been mined; and this had increased to but 95 8,842 pounds two years later. Prior to the year 1827 scarcely a dozen different steam- boats frequented the waters of the Upper Mississippi, and not one of the number was engaged solely in the lead trade.^^" But Moses Meeker and other enterprising lead miners were not long in realizing the retarding effect of so fore- boding a name as Fever River. Despite their efforts to point out that Fever was really a corruption of the French word Febre, meaning bean, the story persisted that a band of Indians had perished miserably of the smallpox at that point. Even Beltrami alluded to the stench around the lead mines. Considerable alarm was therefore manifested when a post office was established on June 4, 1826, and [213] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi called "Fever River". The following year the name was changed to Galena after the mineral deposits found there. Prior to 18 50 no other Upper Mississippi town was more widely known than Galena — the metropolis of the min- eral region."*" [214] 26 Xlie P^ort of Cjialcna A wrLD STAMPEDE foF the Fever River lead mines began in the spring of 1827 : the traffic at the St. Louis levee was immense. By March 15 th one steamboat had already left for the mines, three were advertised, and it was estimated that at the rate people were pouring into the city several thousand would head northward before navigation ceased. By the close of the week ending April 19th, restless knots of determined men thronged the levee, anxious to reach the mines and try their fortunes. Prominent among the men who arrived in Galena in 1827 were H. H. Gear, John G. Hughlett, Horatio Newhall, James G. Soulard, Thomas Ford (a future Governor of Illinois) , John Atchison, Wil- liam Hempstead, D. B. Morehouse, and Lucius and Ed- ward Langworthy."*" The influx of lead miners was reflected in the number of steamboats engaged in the trade. The hidiana and the Shamrock arrived at St. Louis on April 19th heavily freighted with lead. Several keelboats arrived the same day with similar cargoes. Before the close of navigation al- most 7,000,000 pounds of lead had been mined and trans- ported down the river. During the season the steamboats Lexington, General Hamilton, Indiana, Lawrence, Mexico, Muskingufn, Mechanic, Pilot, Shamrock, Scioto, St. Louis and Galena Packet, and Velocipede had visited the Upper [2in Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Mississippi, and practically all of them had plied fairly regularly in the lead trade. This was a larger number than had visited the Upper Mississippi during the preceding four years."^ Galena became the great entrepot for the lead traffic. St. Louis lay over four hundred miles downstream, and Fort Snelling nearly three hundred miles above. On July 8, 1828 (more than five years before Chicago was born and could boast its first newspaper) , citizens of Galena were reading the first issue of the Miner's Journal. The aston- ishing growth of this rough little mining community was aided by the number of steamboats in the trade."^ In 1828 and again in 1829 some 13,000,000 pounds of lead were produced. Galena already boasted a weekly paper and seven hundred aggressive pioneers. "There are forty- two stores and warehouses; twenty-two porter cel- lars and groceries; a goodly number of lawyers and physi- cians, and a general assortment of mechanics, &c. The number of dwelling houses and stores is 195; and 46 new buildings are going up. There have been 75 steamboat and 38 keel boat arrivals since 1st. March. Almost eight million pounds of lead were exported during the year end- ing 1st of June last. The population in the neighborhood of the mines is estimated at 10,000." "'' Goods were con- stantly being dumped upon the Galena levee by incoming steamboats; and a cargo of lead was soon loaded aboard each one, sinking the boat to her guards. Five steamboats heavily laden with lead left the city in one day during the month of March, 1828.*" When the season came to a close [216] The Port of Galena almost one hundred trips had been made to Fever River."" About the same number of steamboats appeared in the lead trade during 1829. By the end of that year approx- imately thirty different boats had visited the mineral re- gion since the trip of the Virginia. Many of these had gone as far north as Prairie du Chien, and even to St. Peter's. During the period from 1823 to 1829 inclusive, approx- imately three hundred trips had been made by steamboat to the Upper Mississippi. Between October 1, 1823, and July 1, 1824, there had been only fifty-one arrivals at St. Louis from all ports on western waters; while during the year 1828, some ninety-nine steamboat arrivals were re- corded at the lead mines."''*' From 1830 to 1834 the unfavorable tariff held down lead production, but despite this fact there was an average of about eleven different steamboats each season. During the Black Hawk War only six boats ventured above the Upper Rapids into the war zone. The defeat of Black Hawk at Bad Axe brought more promising conditions, and the number quickly rose to eighteen the following year. In 1834 there were 127 steamboat arrivals at Galena; while Cassville chronicled 52 the same year. The Galen- ian, the O'Connelly the Olive Branch, the Warrior, the William Wallace, the Winnebago, the Wisconsin, the Vet- eran, the Yellowstone, and the Springfield appeared in the trade that year. Approximately 35 steamboats made about 5 50 trips during this period; while from 1823 to 1834 in- clusive, about 65 steamboats made approximately 850 trips above the rapids."" [217] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi In 183 5 a Galena editor complained of the difficulty of keeping a correct list of boats; but 176 steamboat arrivals were chronicled for the season. Seven boats were plying regularly in the trade, with no serious accidents during the season of navigation. Emigrants from below were highly pleased with the upward trip and were loud in their praise of the splendid facilities afforded.''^ With the exception of periods of extreme low water, the number of steam- boats continued to show a healthy increase after 183 5. So dependent was the lead district upon the steamboat for its supplies that after the long winter months the open- ing of navigation was awaited with impatience. There was much discussion and wagering as to the exact date when the ice would break up. Not infrequently the local paper would entertain hopes for the great day late in Jan- uary. From the middle of February the weather condi- tions were watched with eager eyes. "Contrary to our expectations", observed the North- western Gazette and Galena Advertiser of April 1, 1837, "the River opened earlier this season than usual. On Tues- day afternoon, the 28th [of March], the joyful cry of 'a boat! a boat!' was echoed through town, making glad the hearts of our citizens — sure enough, upon casting our eyes down the river, the splendid steamer Palmyra, Capt. Gleim, was observed booming her way up to town laden with freight and passengers. Immediately in her wake came other boats thick and fast — the next was the Du Buque, Capt. Atchison — the Pavillion, Capt. Laff erty — the Adventure the same evening and the Emeral[d] the [218] The Port of Galena morning after. The arrivals have filled our town with peo- ple, and gives a very animated appearance to Galena." Thirty different steamboats appeared in the trade dur- ing 1837 (a number equal to the total during the first seven years of steamboating on the Upper Mississippi), while the total arrivals for that year exceeded by fifty the total from 1823 to 1829.'" By 1847 approximately forty different steamboats were visiting the lead mines, thirty of which were regulars in the trade. In that year, nine steamboats arrived at the Galena levee on June 29th; during the week a total of twenty arrivals were registered; and thirty-two different boats were recorded by the end of June. A total of 662 steamboats docked at St. Louis from the Upper Mississippi in 1846 — fully one-fourth of the total reaching that port. During the same year 395 steamboats came from New Orleans and the Lower Mississippi River, 420 from -^ ^ ' the Ohio, 446 from the Illinois, 25 6 from the Missouri, ^ while 232 arrived from other ports. In 1847 the total Z ■'^ from the Upper Mississippi was 717, with the same approx- imate ratio to the other ports and rivers. An aggregate of 697 steamboats reached St. Louis from the Upper Mis- sissippi in 1848.''° Thus, within the brief space of a quarter of a century the activity of steamboats on the Upper Mississippi River far surpassed that of either the Ohio or Lower Mississippi rivers when measured by the total arrivals at St. Louis from the port of Galena. Not all the steamboats listed in the last figures came to [219] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Galena : a few were employed in plying between St. Louis and Keokuk or points below the Upper Rapids. The great majority, however, represented steamboats which had run as far north as Galena, Dubuque, Potosi, and Cassville, and were engaged in the lead trade. Thus, the total number of boats reaching Bloomington, now Muscatine, in the Territory of Iowa during the first week in May, 1846, was nineteen. Of this number one was engaged between St. Louis and St. Peter's, three were in the St. Louis and Bloomington trade, while fifteen were plying between St. Louis and the Galena lead district. The total arrivals and departures from Bloomington during the month of May numbered 124, of which approximately 100 risked both the Upper and the Lower rapids in order to engage in the lead trade.'" In 1847 the number of boats regularly visit- ing the mining region was thirty. During the period from 1823 to 1848 approximately 365 different steamboats made their way above the Lower and Upper rapids. About 200 of these had been engaged primarily in transporting lead; while the remainder, which included either transient or excursion boats, must have carried a fair proportion of the lead on their downstream trips. During this same quarter of a century approximate- ly 7645 trips were made to the lead mines of the Upper Mississippi by steamboats.^^" While the activity on the Upper Mississippi was greater than that on either the Lower Mississippi or any of its tributaries, the tonnage of boats on the larger waterways was greater. The impediment which the rapids presented [220] The Port of Galena during low water was an important factor in governing the size of the boats in the Upper Mississippi trade. The average tonnage of the first fifty-one steamboats built and documented on western waters up to 1819 was 198. The smallest of this group was the Pike of 31.76 tons; while the largest was the CoJuttibus of 450 tons.'"®* A list of twenty-two steamboats which engaged in the Galena trade during the years 1841 to 1843 inclusive shows a tonnage varying from 92 to 200, with an average for the total number of 129 tons. The Agnes, the Offer, and the Jasper varied from 92 to 98 tons, while the Netv Brazil and the Amaranfh measured 200 tons each.'*'* Thus, the Upper Mississippi steamboats of the early forties actually showed a decrease, both in average ton^ nage and size, over the boats which plied the Ohio and ,/ the Lower Mississippi Biver a quarter of a century before. On the other hand, a list of 146 steamboats which docked at St. Louis during the year 1848 reveals ten boats whose tonnage exceeded 500. The Autocrat was of 847 tons bur- den, the Missouri of 886 tons, while the Sultana measured 924 tons. These figures indicate that a steady increase in the size of steamboats had taken place on the Ohio and the Lower Mississippi. Forty-five of the 146 steamboats which landed at St. Louis in 1848 were either regular or transient visitors to the region above the Upper Rapids. They ranged in size from the little Vearl of only 64 tons to the Highlander of 346 tons, with an average tonnage for the group of 160.'" The higher average is due to the greater size of the tran- [221] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi sient steamboats which were able to visit the Upper Missis- sippi during seasons of high water. But for most practical purposes the boats which averaged about 140 tons were best suited to the lead-carrying trade. Keelboats were used in order to facilitate the passage of steamboats over the rapids and also to increase their carry- ing capacity. These were lashed to the sides or bow of the steamboat, and while they impeded the speed and added to the difficulty of piloting, these disadvantages were more than counterbalanced by the additional cargoes carried. Almost all captains engaged in the lead trade made use of keelboats, especially when the water was low or when the amount of freight required an increase in the carrying tonnage. Keelboats usually bore names. In May, 1826, the ar- rivals of the John AdamSy the Belvidere, and the Rock Island were chronicled at St. Louis. These engaged in the Fever River trade in competition with the few steamboats which then visited the mining region. Early in the spring of 1828 a steamboat successfully towed two keels of forty tons burden — a feat heralded with joy by the St. Louis paper, which immediately urged the improvement of the rapids as a further aid to steamboating. This event was the final blow to keelboating, and in July of that year the Belvidere was listed for sale at a low price.'®® On June 7, 1827, the steamboat Indiana advertised its regular departure for Fever River during low water on Sunday morning of each week, emphasizing the fact that a sufficient number of keels would be on hand to transfer [222] The Port of Galena passengers and cargo from the Lower Rapids to the min- ing region. On February 1, 1827, Captain John Newman of the Indiana was the first to advertise a steamboat for the lead mines."**^ A distinct innovation on the Upper Missis- sippi was noted the same year when Captain S. Shallcross of the steamboat St. Louis and Galena Packet advertised his boat for Prairie du Chien with the safety barge Lady Washington. The latter drew but eleven inches light. "^* On March 4, 1828, Captain Culver of the steamboat Missouri advertised for Fever River with a safety barge which allowed him to carry and tow 200 tons and run light on twenty-two inches of water.'*'"' A third safety barge was introduced in 1832, when Captain Joseph Throck- morton brought out the steamboat Warrior and safety barge."" While the safety barges were introduced primari- ly because of the large number of steamboat explosions which were occurring on western waters, they fill an important place in the evolution of Upper Mississippi steamboating since they demonstrated the value of flat- bottomed boats as a means of overcoming the dangers of navigating the rapids. Despite the precautions on the part of steamboat cap- tains many keelboats were lost on the Lower and Upper rapids. In 1842 the steamboat New Brazil sank two keels of lead on the Sycamore chain of the Upper Rapids, and the Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser bitterly complained that the losses incurred would have sufficed to improve the entire rapids."^ In July, 1846, the Fortune sank a keel with 1800 pigs of lead at the mouth of Fever [223] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi River in eighteen feet of water."" In April, 1848, the barge of the steamboat Montauk sprang a leak on the Up- per Rapids and damaged about $25,000 worth of goods.""' While accidents such as these were common, the keels not only increased the carrying capacity of steamboats but also served as a means of protection to the latter. Nearly 400 tons of lead left Galena in 1839 — carried by the steamboat lone and her three keelboats."* Such cargoes often paid the cost of a steamboat in one round trip and helped to make up the deficit incurred when keels were sunk on the sharp-toothed rocks of the rapids. By the mid- dle of the century, the keelboat was discarded and the barge took its place as the auxiliary of the steamboat. But Galena's days, like those of the keelboat, were num- bered. As early as 1848 a Galena editor had pointed out that the Fever River must be improved or other cities would get Galena's trade. The rapid flow of settlers into the Upper Mississippi Valley was calling for larger steam- boats and it was becoming increasingly difl&cult, if not im- possible, for steamboats to squirm up the narrow Fever River.-'' When Mrs. Elizabeth Fries Ellet arrived at Galena in 1852 she described it as a "rough-looking place 'jammed in' between rocky hills" with houses looking "like a drove of sheep going down to water." According to Mrs. Ellet: "It was a novel amusement in the evenings to sit by the window and see rushing under it, with the noise made by the Western high-pressure boats, steamers so large as ap- parently to fill up the little river that skirts the city, and [224] The Port of Galena is now shrunken by the drought into half its accustomed 1*^ >> 276 units. The arrival of the railroad at Galena in 18 54 brought momentary prosperity; but its construction to the Mis- sissippi opposite Dubuque the following year was the death blow to any hopes Galena may have entertained for her future growth and prosperity."" After the turn of the half century Dubuque surpassed Galena. Nor did the "Key City" of Iowa let Galena forget this fact. In 185 8 a Dubuque editor referred to Galena as the "Niobe of the West", pointing out that Dubuque was shipping to Galena on the Galena packets because the St. Louis boats found it "inconvenient to go out of their way in order to reach Galena." '^^ Two years later (in 1860) Dubuque poked more fun at Galena and branded her as an "inland town" because the steamboat W. L. Etuing had been "unable to get up the Fever River on account of the mud." At a meeting of the Dubuque city council a sug- gestion was made in the form of a resolution that the bed of Fever River "be plowed up and potatoes planted." It is asserted this resolution would have passed had not some- one in the council chamber remarked that the ground was too dry.'^ To such an end came the "Port of Galena". Once ac- claimed as the mighty commercial emporium of the north- west, the home of General Ulysses S. Grant and eight other Civil War generals, the community made famous by the visits of Abraham Lincoln and Jenny Lind, the chief port of call for scores of steamboats from points as far flung [225] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi as Pittsburgh and New Orleans, this once flourishing metropolis of 9241 souls had dwindled to 3878 inhabitants by 1930. Like many another mining community Galena today finds her greatest comfort in a glory that is past. Such dreams must be as pleasant as her history was great. ^^° [226] 27 ofeannDoai JDonanziris Steamboating on the Mississippi under a blistering hot sun was not always pleasant. Frederick Marryat knew something about the trials of steamboat captains. This adventurous British sea captain and author, who traveled several thousand miles aboard steamboats on the western waters, arrived in the mineral region on the Burlington in 1837. Of steamboating in the summer time the observative Marryat records : "I have often heard the expression 'Hell afloat' applied to very uncomfortable ships in the service, but this metaphor ought to have been reserved for a small high pressure steam-boat in the summer months in Amer- ica; the sun darting his fierce rays down upon the roof above you, which is only half-inch plank, and rendering it so hot that you quickly remove your hand if, by chance, you put it there; the deck beneath your feet so heated by the furnaces below that you cannot walk with slippers; you are panting and exhausted between these two fires, without a breath of air to cool your forehead. Go for- ward, and the chimnies radiate a heat which is even more intolerable. Go — but there is no where to go, except overboard, and then you lose your passage. It is, really, a fiery furnace, and, day or night, it is in vain to seek a cool [227] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Galena, it is said, became infernally hot in the summer. Particularly in July and August the life of a roustabout became well-nigh intolerable. Pigs of lead piled along the banks of the Fever River were exposed to the merciless rays of the sun. These became so hot it was impossible to pick one up and the luckless rousters would, instead, go into the warehouses and shoulder a seventy pound ingot that had lain in the shade. "He would start on the run for the boat, but the lead would melt and run down his back so that when he got on board he would have to cool the lead, after which the engineer would cut it off his person with a cold chisel." '*' I — Despite the torrid weather the lead traffic afforded a veritable bonanza in freight earnings for steamboat cap- tains. Sometimes a single trip paid for the original cost of a steamboat. On the other hand, unforeseen circumstances sometimes made the labors of a whole season profitless. For one thing the earnings of steamboat captains were depend- ent upon freight rates that were constantly fluctuating. These rates were governed in the main by four factors: the amount of freight on hand, the number of steamboats in the trade, the stage of the water, and the season of the year. The first two factors were subject to competition and the law of supply and demand. With a plentiful supply of lead on hand and a good stage of water, the regular boats usually charged a rate sufficiently high to yield a handsome return. Thereupon transient, or "wild boats" as they were commonly called, would put in an appearance and seek [228] Steamboat Bonanzas to capture a share of the trade. So long as freight was plentiful and competition did not prevail, the traffic re- mained normal. But when freight became scarce either the regular or the "wild boats" would begin to "cut un- der". Cut-throat competition would then become the order of the day; and a season which might have started out with a normal downstream tariff of twenty-five cents per hundred pounds would soon find the rate as low as five or six cents per hundred. While this price was ruinous to steamboat owners, it was hailed with joy by the shipper who pocketed the savings. On April 15, 1843, for in- stance, the rate was eighteen cents per hundred pounds. By June 1 5 th it had dropped to the low figure of six and one-fourth cents. *^^ The St. Louis Reveille comments that "During the last three years, there has been a regular declension in the rates of freight to this port, from above. In 1841, ninety-tico cents per 100 lbs. were paid for freight on lead from Galena, and now, we hear of lots being brought from Ga- lena for three cents." '^* For a period of two months, the rate per hundred pounds averaged less than eight cents."*' The captains and owners who had the most capital sur- vived, but their less fortunate competitors were either bought out or wisely withdrew from the trade. After such withdrawals the old rates were immediately resumed. Nor was competition limited merely to rate wars. Riv- alry often became so intense that serious altercations some- times put the lives of innocent people in danger. In Octo- ber, 1843, the whole lead district was aroused by a quarrel [229] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi between two regular participants in the trade. During the season a feud had existed between Captain Thomas Cul- bertson of the steamboat Potosi and Captain Charles Ross of the St. Louis Oak, and each trip served to increase the bitterness. Late in September the two boats left St. Louis for Galena only a few hours apart. They did not enter a port together until Montrose, Iowa, was reached. Between Montrose and Savanna, Illinois, the Potosi passed the St. Louis Oak several times. By the time Muscatine was reached, both captains realized that it would be a lively port-to-port race and that the first boat to arrive would secure the lion's share of the freight and passengers. A desperate contest ensued, in the course of which the passengers of both steamboats crowded the decks and urged the crews of their respective ships to redouble their efforts. About thirty-five miles below Galena the St. Louis Oak, while endeavoring to pass her rival at a bend in the river, rammed the Potosi, tearing away her wheel and a part of her guards. Proceeding en her way, the St. Louis Oak reached Galena first and departed downstream before the badly crippled Potosi came into port. The incident created much bad blood between the partisans of the two boats and brought about an exchange of bitter recrimina- tions in the press."^*' The third factor influencing freight rates was the stage of the water. The average downstream rate from Galena to St. Louis, over a period of eight years from 1836 to 1843, was thirty-two cents per hundred-weight. The up- stream rate during the same period averaged sixty-three [230] Steamboat Bonanzas cents. Six of these years were normal, with the rate averag- ing around thirty-two cents for the season; only the stage of the water and the season of the year caused any devia- tion from that figure. In 1839, however, the water in the Mississippi was very low, and the average downstream rate was fifty cents per hundred for the year, while the upstream figure reached one dollar per hundred. The highest rate that year for shipment from Galena to St. Louis was about eighty cents, with $1.50 prevailing for upstream freight."^^ The chief difficulties in navigating the Mississippi dur- ing low water were the cost of lighting the cargo over the rapids and time spent on sandbars in the river and the reefs of the rapids. "The river has risen 15 inches in the last 48 hours", noted an editor in the spring of 1847. "Several boats have been stuck fast on the rapids for a number of days. They will now be able to get off, like- 2y» 288 j)m.jj^g 1q^ water the rapids at times became so treacherous that even the cost of lighting did not always save the steamboat from being grounded indefinitely or from being sunk by some hidden rock. In July, 1846, the Sahtt Anthony struck a rock on the Lower Rapids and was sunk. The War Eagle experienced the same misfortune on the Upper Rapids, but was raised after much difficulty and towed to Rock Island for repairs."*® When two such accidents occurred within the space of a week, the larger boats usually withdrew from the trade and awaited a more favorable stage of water. The final factor which might affect freight rates was the [231] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi season in which the shipment was made. A sHghtly higher price prevailed during the first month in spring when navigation opened. This was due to the unusually large amount of lead left over from the preceding fall or mined during the winter months. The spring thaw, with the con- sequent rise in the river, sent the price slowly down, al- though the fluctuation during the first three months of navigation was comparatively small. During August and September the low stage of the water brought out the much-feared sandbars and the navigation of the rapids became so difficult that the freight rate rose rapidly. A slight drop in October, during the fall rise in the river, was followed by extremely high rates as the season of naviga- tion came to a close in November or early December. Last-minute shipments were hurriedly sent on their way, while belated travelers scurried home before the river should freeze. At such times the freight and passenger charges often reached fabulous figures — frequently ex- ceeding the low water rates. Over a period of four years, the average rate in the month of November was higher than for any other month of the year. In 1841 the down- stream rate from Galena to St. Louis went as high as sixty-five cents per hundred-weight, or double the average charge for the season."°° The Otter (Captain Daniel Smith Harris commanding), the last boat to depart that year, left the Galena levee on November 22nd. ^^^ Late in November, 1845, the Iron City battered her way up the ice-choked Mississippi and succeeded in gaining the port of Galena. The cargo was quickly discharged, and at eleven [232] Steamboat Bonanzas o'clock on the night of November 23rd, the vessel de- parted. In the face of a biting wind she succeeded in plowing her way through a thin layer of ice on Fever River and entered upon a mad race with the weather for warmer and friendlier waters.'^" With such conditions and the great risks which steam- boat captains ran in making these hazardous trips, it is no wonder that freight rates reached high levels. Dangers from ice and the extravagant (though justifiable) wages demanded by crews in making the last trip of the season, together with the possibility of not completing the voyage, served to make the late season charges very high. The returns reaped in transporting lead from Galena to St. Louis from 1823 to 1848 were enormous. With a knowledge of the amount of lead shipped and complete statistics on freight rates and averages for most of the years, a fairly accurate estimate of these receipts can be made. In 1826 a shipment of 150,000 pounds of lead was x' made from Galena to St. Louis for $600 which was forty cents per hundredweight,*^^ The total amount of lead mined that year was 1,560,534 pounds; so that at the above rate the total receipts of the boats engaged in the traffic during the season were about $6000. The average rate for the period from 1823 to 183 5 is not known, but it is safe to estimate it as slightly higher than that of the following eight years. The total receipts for the period must have been around $227,000.'" During the years 1836 to 1843, inclusive, the average rate was thirty-two cents per hundredweight, and the [233] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi total amount shipped was 192,000,000 pounds. The re- ceipts for these years, therefore, amounted to about $526,000. From 1843 to 1847 inclusive, the receipts on the 204,508,400 pounds shipped were $511,000, or an average yearly revenue of over $125,000. A total of $1,250,000 is a fair estimate of the amount paid to steamboat captains for hauling lead from Galena to St. Louis during the first quarter of a century of steamboating on the Upper Mis- sissippi."^' The profits reaped by steamboat captains for a single trip were often immense. Early in 183 5 the Wisconsin (Captain Henry Crossle commanding) arrived at Galena heavily laden with freight and passengers. She had two keels in tow, and after discharging a considerable amount of freight on the way up carried 234 tons of freight and 130 passengers. The Wisconsin departed downstream with a cargo consisting of 9000 pigs of lead. The Heroine (Cap- tain Orrin Smith commanding) also brought up a large freight cargo and some 300 passengers. The Heroine broke her shafts just below the mouth of Fever River and had to be towed up by the Wisconsin.'^^ The following summary of the earnings of the steamboat lone for a single trip is preserved : "She arrived here with three keels in tow, and with 240 tons freight, having dis- charged 110 tons on her way. The probable amount re- ceived for freight on her trip up, after paying expenses and dividing with other boats, was about $5,000. This morning the lo7ie leaves for St. Louis, with her three keels loaded with near 400 tons of lead, and one hundred thou- [234] Steamboat Bonanzas sand dollars in specie. Her freight-bills will amount to $5,200 more.'"" Perhaps one of the largest freights ever carried by a steamboat on the Upper Mississippi during this period was that of the Amaranth in command of Captain George W. Atchison. This boat left the Galena levee on May 1, 1843, crowded with passengers and with a freight of 13,000 pigs of lead amounting to 910,000 pounds or 455 tons. Since the Amaranth was a boat of only 200 tons burden, a trip such as this would ordinarily have brought a profit almost sufficient to pay for its original cost. Unfortunately for Captain Atchison, the freight rate on that day was only fifteen cents per hundredweight. His receipts for the lead alone amounted to $1265 for the trip down. Two months later competition had become so intense that this immense cargo would have netted him less than $500. On the other hand, the same cargo would have netted him $45 50 dur- ing the season of low water in 1839.'®^ The receipts of twenty-two regular and eleven transient steamboats on freight and passengers of all kind for the period from 1841 to 1843 inclusive were $610,000. Of this amount about $236,000 was made by transporting lead, $156,000 by upstream freight (which usually doubled the tariff of downstream freight), and $228,000 in up- stream and downstream passenger traffic. The receipts of steamboats from the lead trade were, therefore, about two- fifths of the total gross receipts. Assuming that this pro- portion held throughout the period from 1823 to 1848, the total revenue of steamboats was about $3,000,000."°' [235] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi In 1841 the Otter (Captain Daniel Smith Harris com- manding) made fifteen trips from Galena to St. Louis, towing nine keelboats up the river during the season. At its close, the receipts were found to be $15,000 from freight and $7000 from passengers. Her small size and light draught enabled the Otter to ply the Mississippi at all seasons of the year; and when navigation finally closed she had cleared an amount equal to over four times her value. During 1842 the Otter made eleven trips, towed six keels, and cleared $13,000 on freight and passengers. The season of 1843 witnessed a period of competition in which freight was carried for less than half the price of former years. The Otter squirmed out of the Fever River nineteen times during the season, with her keels and lower deck creaking under the heavy lead freight and with pas- sengers crowding the upper decks. When the boat was laid up for the winter in the slough near Galena, her profits for the season were found to be only $6000 on freight and $4000 on passengers. Had the rates of 1841 been in force. Captain Harris would have cleared close to $30,000; while a profit of almost $45,000 would have resulted from the low water rate of 1839. During the same season the Iowa, a 112-ton steamboat in command of Captain D. B. Morehouse, made twenty- three trips from Galena to St. Louis, towed ten keels, and cleared $10,000 on freight and $8000 on passengers. From 1841 to 1843 inclusive, the loiva made a total of sixty-two trips, towed thirty-eight keelboats, and cleared $43,000 on freight and $28,000 on passengers.^"* [236] Steamboat Bonanzas A gradual increase in the average number of trips by" steamboats is noted during these years, while the number of keels towed shows a decrease of over fifty per cent. The average receipts for sixteen steamboats during 1841 were about $11,118, while the average trip netted about $1446. Although the length of time taken for a trip varied with each boat, the approximate time required for a round trip under ordinary circumstances was, let us say, eight days. About two days were required for the down trip, four days for the upstream passage, and the remain- ing two days were spent in port loading and unloading cargoes.""' A colorful pageant of steamboats plied between St. Louis and the ports of Galena, Dubuque, Potosi, and Cass- ville in the mineral region. In 1846 fully thirty-eight different steamboats squirmed up the Fever River to Ga- lena; in the following year thirty-seven were recorded. These two years marked the peak when measured by the number of different boats; by 1849 the number of dif- ferent craft had dropped to twenty-eight. In that year the Anthony Wayne, the Cora, the Dubnqite, the Mon- fauk, the Kevenue, the St. Peters, the Time and Tide, and the Senator had been plying three years in the trade; the Bon Accord and the Kcd Wing had seen four years of ser- vice; the War Eagle had snorted up and down the Missis- sippi for five seasons; while the archaic St. Croix and the decrepit, wheezing Uncle Toby had toiled six years in the lead traffic.^"" Their services were manifold : they pro- vided the mineral region with its best means of transpor- [237] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi tation and communication; they left their tribute of passengers and freight at the many river ports along the way; and they provided rich bonanzas to many enterpris- ing steamboat captains. The fortunes reaped in the lead traffic laid the foundation for a still more picturesque pageant of the packets which began in the fifties. [238] 28 Ivace Oorses in the Lead Xraae The names of such steamboats as the /. M. White, the Sulfana, the A. L. Shofwell, the Eclipse, the Natchez, and the Robert E. Lee bring memories of the halcyon days of steamboating on western waters. Their great races, against each other or against time, were talked of throughout the Mississippi Valley : they even attracted national and world-wide attention. The records of fast time established by the boats in the lead trade have been neglected, al- though many of them compare favorably with those of the race horses of the lower river. It was not until the middle forties that steamboats began to reach that point of perfection in construction both of hull and of engine which allow them to be compared with the splendid models of a later day. It was a combination of a famous lower-river and an upper-river boat which established a record from New Orleans to St. Louis to Galena of seven days, three hours, and twenty minutes. In April, 1844, the /. M. White made the run from New Orleans to St. Louis in four days and eighteen hours. The Lewis F. Linn took her cargo and passengers at St. Louis and carried them on to Galena in two days, nine hours, and twenty minutes. Thus the en- tire time was a little more than one week. A little later the /. M. White lowered her time between New Orleans [239] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi and St. Louis to three days, twenty-three hours, and nine minutes — a mark which stood until 1870.^°' Fast time on the Upper Mississippi was inaugurated by Captain Daniel Smith Harris and his long string of race horses. In July, 1836, Harris ran the Frontier from St. Louis to Galena in three days and six hours, having stopped between twenty and thirty hours on the way up. In 1840 the Omega was able to negotiate the distance between the two points in an even three days. The following year, the Indian Queen ran the distance in three days and twelve hours with a keel in tow; while the Little Ben surprised the citizens of the mining community on July 3rd by bring- ing up St. Louis papers of June 29th. The Little Ben^ an Ohio River boat, made the run in two days and twelve hours — the fastest time on record to that date. In the same year the steamboat Iowa, commanded by Captain D. B. Morehouse, made the round trip between Galena and St. Louis in six days and fifteen hours. This feat was beaten in 1845 by Captain Young of tke Monona who made the trip in four days and twelve hours — the fastest time on record.^"* All previous records between St. Louis and Galena were broken in quick succession during a few months of the year 1845. On March 28th Captain Harris's War Eagle arrived at Galena from St. Louis in fifty-six hours, and in the following month lowered this to forty-nine hours. Within a month the St. Croix came panting up to the Galena levee from St. Louis in forty-five hours and forty- five minutes. Undaunted by this feat. Captain Harris set [240] Race Horses in the Lead Trade out from St. Louis almost in the wake of the Sf. Croix and brought his War Eagle to Galena in the astonishing time of forty-three hours and forty-five minutes — a rec- ord which was not surpassed for many years. Some of the passengers on this trip expressed dissatisfaction with the treatment accorded them. Upon inquiry it was found that Captain Harris was considered too parsimonious with the meals, since only one dinner had been served on the trip. Further examinations showed that the War Eagle had left St. Louis after dinner on Tuesday and had reached Galena before noon on Thursday. The disgruntled passengers were immediately informed that if they were traveling for dinners they would have to take a slower boat/"' In May, 1843, the Iowa made the trip from Galena to St. Louis in forty-four hours. This was lowered by Cap- tain Harris and his famous War Eagle in 1849 when the distance was run in thirty-three hours.^°'' Record runs such as these were not the rule, however, for some captains refused to race their boats even though they were capable of making high speed. Most of the boats were comparatively slow, since they were built primarily for the transportation of freight. It was only after the admission of Iowa and Wisconsin as States and the creation of the Territory of Minnesota that the Upper Mississippi steamboats began to reach a point in construction where speed and beauty became as important as capacity. Al- though no hard and fast line can be drawn, it seems safe to say that the turn of the half-century marks this trans- formation period. [241] 29 Rival Xraae Routes Bitter rivalry sprang up as the Great Lakes cities jeal- ously watched the lead traffic glide down the Mississippi to fatten the pocket-books of St. Louis and New Orleans merchants. Because of the high and unstable freight rates and the dangers of ascending and descending the rapids, it was quite natural that a cheaper and more certain route should be sought. Indeed, as early as 1822 a cargo of 12,000 pounds of lead reached Detroit from Green Bay : with the exception of a short portage between the Wis- consin and Fox rivers, it had been transported the entire distance by water.^"^ With the practicability of navigating the Mississippi by steamboat established by the Virginia, agitation began for a general improvement of the channel of the river and for the elimination of the Upper and Lower rapids as obstacles to navigation. In his recommendation to the Secretary of War, Lieutenant Martin Thomas, the Superintendent of Mines, estimated that this work could be done at a cost of not more than $30,000. Not only would these improve- ments be of inestimable benefit in the transportation of lead, but they would also be important in facilitating the movement of troops and supplies. While the strategic im- portance of the latter was not lost sight of, the improve- ment of the rapids was not immediately undertaken.^°^ [242] Rival Trade Routes In 1829, Henry Dodge decided to convey a portion of his lead via the Wisconsin-Fox rivers and Green Bay route. Huge oxcarts were employed to carry the lead from Dodgeville to the Wisconsin River where it was conveyed as far as Fort Winnebago, hauled across the portage, and transported down the Fox River on the little twenty-five- ton steamboat Winnebago Chief to Green Bay/°° Naturally the people of Galena were opposed to this route which, if successful, would have a disastrous effect on their prosperity. "Considerable quantities of lead", said the Miner's Journal of Galena, "have been brought down the Ouisconsin [Wisconsin], in flat-boats, and thence down the Mississippi to St. Louis. Steam boat navi- gation will be difficult in the Ouisconsin river, if not impracticable. The steam boat St. Louis and Galena pack- et, bound for the portage, made an attempt, in April last, to ascend the Ouisconsin; but was not able to make more than 6 or 7 miles up, when she was compelled to return. The river is full of sand bars, and has been somewhat compared to the Missouri, as the channel frequently shifts." ^^° By such unfavorable reports Galena hoped to discourage any attempts to adopt the Wisconsin-Fox route. A further stimulus to this route was given by the erec- tion of a shot tower near Helena on the Wisconsin River. In 1831 it was purchased by Daniel Whitney, a merchant of Green Bay, and held by him until 1836. While it was natural for him to favor this route, a more significant fac- tor was that the older and more strategically located shot [243] / Steamboating on Upper Mississippi tower at Herculaneum, Missouri, controlled the market of the Lower Mississippi Valley. The Green Bay route con- tinued to be favored after the Helena shot tower was purchased by merchants from Buffalo, New York, but the amount of lead sent by this route was negligible when compared with the vast quantities sent down the Missis- sippi. A poor river channel, the circuitousness of the route, and the number of necessary rehandlings doomed it to failure from the start. ^^^ A second route lay by land over rough corduroy roads to Milwaukee. In 1841 the Milwaukee Courier heralded the arrival of four wagons loaded with ten tons of lead from Muscoda, Grant County, Wisconsin. The cost of conveying lead overland had been ninety-three cents per hundred pounds. An additional fifty cents per hundred would be required to ship it by way of the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal to New York. The total cost per hun- dred was $1.50 or $30 a ton, while shipment by way of New Orleans cost around $40 per ton. The wagons had returned loaded with salt which was bought at $2.50 a barrel and sold at the mines for $7 a barrel. No difficulty had been experienced in getting over the roads despite the fact that each wagon contained over two tons of lead. The route was not so favorable, however, as its advocates claimed. It was not until the railroad was built that an overland route gained any share of the trade."" A third route clamored for by Great Lakes cities was the Illinois-Lake Michigan Canal. As early as 1836 Chi- cago had developed a plan to increase her future pros- [244] Rival Trade Routes perity by constructing a railroad to Galena and a canal to connect with the Illinois River. To aid this project 120 merchants of St. Louis and Alton went so far as to sign a contract to import their goods by means of a transporta- tion company which had been formed to develop the new route.^^' The Wisconsin Herald (Lancaster) warmly en- dorsed the Illinois River route — a further mark of the indifference with which towns located almost on the Mis- sissippi viewed that great waterway as a means of trans- portation.^'* The canal was not completed until 1848, but the interest manifested in it for fifteen years prior to its completion and the quantity of goods shipped over- land to and from the Illinois River made it a logical route. By 1848 the number of steamboat arrivals at St. Louis from the Illinois River was almost equal to those arriving from the Upper Mississippi.^'^ Strenuous efforts were made by the lake cities to divert the course of lead eastward over these routes. Milwaukee and Chicago were especially active; but in spite of their best efforts only a very small amount of lead trickled through. On January 21, 1842, Governor James Doty of Wisconsin urged and obtained the reduction of Erie Canal tolls in order to encourage shipments of lead by that route. But even this failed to divert the trade, and the Buffalo Advertiser bewailed the fact that the number of pigs of lead received at that port had dropped from 23,926 in 1844 to 6276 in 1846 and acknowledged that all efforts seemed to have been in vain.^'® Over ninety-five per cent of the lead shipped eastward [245] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi during the period which followed the year 1823 made its way down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, and thence by ocean to the eastern markets. ^^' Notwithstand- ing the objection to high and fluctuating freight rates, the obstructions and difficulties which confronted the steam- boat, and the comparatively short season for transporta- tion, the Mississippi offered the most logical route and the best facilities for transporting the lead output. The influence of the lead mines upon the development of steamboating on the Upper Mississippi in the first quar- ter of a century of navigation on the river is apparent. First, it encouraged the immigration of thousands of hardy and adventurous settlers, most of whom came up the Mis- sissippi from St. Louis to a point far in advance of the frontier line and thereby caused it to be extended. Sec- ondly, the influx made necessary an ever-increasing supply of importations to a region which, for a large part of the period under survey was not self-sufficient. Thirdly, it created an article for exportation which gave to the steam- boat owners approximately two-fifths of the total revenue from upstream trade. Finally, the large number of steam- boats which were required on the Upper Mississippi for the lead trade prepared them for an even more lucrative traffic — the transportation of the steady waves of immi- grants which poured into the region after the creation of the Territory of Minnesota, the commodities required by them for consumption, and the vast quantities of agricul- tural products which found their way to markets down the broad highway of the Mississippi. [246] Rival Trade Routes Had the steamboat failed to establish itself as the dom- inant factor in transportation and in communication with the Upper Mississippi as early as it did, the construction of railroads might have taken place a decade earlier and a picturesque phase of Upper Mississippi Valley life would have been lost to posterity. After 1848 the steamboat was so strongly intrenched in the economic life of the region that it was able to wage a thrilling, albeit a losing, battle against the railroad. [247] 30 . Oatiin ancl tlnie JrasikioiiLalDie 1 oiir Prior to the Civil War no steamboat excursion was so popular as that which George Catlin designated as the "Fashionable Tour". It represented a colorful phase of Upper Mississippi steamboating that stood in sharp con- trast to the drab though lucrative lead trade. George Cat- lin, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1796, studied and practiced law as a young man; but his greatest renown was achieved as an artist. In 1823 Catlin shoved aside his law books and moved to Philadelphia to devote himself to portrait painting in oil and miniatures. During the next five years he painted portraits of such notables as De Witt Clinton and Dolly Madison. Upon seeing a group of red men from the western wilds in Philadelphia, Catlin resolved "to use my art and so much of the labors of my future life as might be required in rescuing from oblivion the looks and customs of the vanishing races of native man in America." Between 1829 and 1837 Catlin was almost constantly in the West, during which time he painted some six hun- dred Indian sketches, including portraits, pictures of vil- lages, domestic habits, games, mysteries, and religious ceremonies of the red men. By exhibiting his original collection of paintings in many cities of the United States and Europe he achieved an international reputation. ^^* [248] Catlin and the Fashionable Tour During the course of his wanderings in the West, CatHn made several steamboat trips on western waters. Thrilled by the wild beauty of the Upper Mississippi, he wrote from Fort Snelling in 183 5 : "The Upper Mississippi, like the Upper Missouri, must be approached to be appreciated; for all that can be seen on the Mississippi below St. Louis or for several miles above it, gives no hint or clue to the magnificence of the scenes which are continually opening to the view of the traveller, and riveting him to the deck of the steamer, through sunshine, lightning or rain, from the mouth of the Ouisconsin to the Fall of St. Anthony." From day to day Catlin stood with eyes transfixed in "tireless admiration, upon the thousand bluffs which tower in majesty above the river on either side". As the enrap- tured artist later relates : "The scenes that are passed between Prairie du Chien and St. Peters, including Lake Pepin, between whose magnificently turretted shores one passes for twenty-two miles, will amply reward the tour- ist for the time and expense of a visit to them. And to him or her of too little relish for Nature's rude works, to profit as they pass, there will be found a redeeming pleasure at the mouth of St. Peters and the Fall of St. An- thony. This scene has often been described, and I leave it for the world to come and gaze upon for themselves; recommending to them at the same time, to denominate the next Tashionable Tour,' a trip to St. Louis; thence by steamer to Rock Island, Galena, Dubuque, Prairie du Chien, Lake Pepin, St. Peters, Fall of St. Anthony, back to Prairie du Chien, from thence to Fort Winnebago, [249] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Green Bay, Mackinaw, Sault de St. Mary, Detroit, Buffalo, Niagara, and home." ^^° But Catlin was not the first to extol the beauties of the Upper Mississippi. The first to visit the Falls of St. An- thony by steamboat and to describe them was Giacomo Constantine Beltrami. Arriving at Fort Snelling aboard the Virginia on May 10, 1823, the picturesque Italian exile and explorer quickly set out to view the scene which Hennepin had described 143 years before. "What a new scene presents itself to my eyes", Beltrami exclaimed. "Seated on the top of an elevated promontory, I see, at half a mile distance, two great masses of water unite at the foot of an island which they encircle, and whose majestic trees deck them with the loveliest hues, in which all the magic play of light and shade are reflected on their brilliant surface. From this point they rush down a rapid descent about two hundred feet long, and, breaking against the scattered rocks which obstruct their passage, they spray up and dash together in a thousand varied forms. They then fall into a transverse basin, in the form of a cradle, and are urged upwards by the force of gravitation against the side of a precipice, which seems to stop them a moment only to encrease the violence with which they fling themselves down a depth of twenty feet. The rocks against which these great volumes of water dash, throw them back in white foam and glittering spray; then, plung- ing into the cavities which this mighty fall has hollowed, they rush forth again in tumultuous waves, and once more break against a great mass of sandstone forming a little [250] Catlin and the Fashionable Tour island in the midst of their bed, on which two thick maples spread their shady branches." ^"° Perhaps the earliest and shortest pleasure-seeking trip on record to the Falls of St. Anthony was that of the steamboat Lawrence in 1826. With Captain D. F. Reeder in command, this 120-ton craft reached Fort Snelling on the second of May. The following day Captain Reeder invited all the ladies and gentlemen of Fort Snelling to take a pleasure trip to the Falls. The offer was accepted by a large party. Accompanied by a band, the Latcrence steamed up the swift current to within three and one-half miles of the Falls : she did not dare to venture nearer. While some of the party played games, others danced to the music of the military band. Staring Indians came to view the Lawrence with mingled wonder and aston- ishment."^"^ In later years other craft may have ventured near the Falls on similar excursions from Fort Snelling. Before 1850, however, the season of low water (during which ex- cursions were made) together with the swift current and jagged rocks immediately below the Falls forced steam- boats to discharge their passengers at St. Peter's. From there they were carried to the Falls in such vehicles as a straggling frontier community was able to provide. Often an eight mile tramp was made across the plains. Finally, in May of 18 50, the Lamartine (Captain J. W. Marsh commanding) stemmed the Mississippi to Steele's Point, a quarter of a mile below the Falls. Captain Daniel Able followed almost in the wake of the Lamartine with [251] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi the Anthony Wayne^ ascending to the city of St. Anthony, directly at the foot of the Falls. Governor Alexander Ramsey was among the invited guests and a number of notables were picked up at Fort Snelling. The Anthony Wayne employed a band which provided lively dance music throughout the trip. Captain Marsh received a purse of $200 for reaching Steele's Point; while Captain Able rejoiced over a purse of $250 for venturing to the Falls.'^^ Although the Lamartine and the Anthony Wayne demonstrated the possibility of navigating the Upper Mis- sissippi from the mouth of the Minnesota to the Falls during a good stage of water, steamboats continued to discharge tourists at St. Paul. Indeed, in 1854 it was neces- sary to convey twelve hundred eastern visitors to the Falls in every conceivable form of vehicle. Throughout the decade St. Paul mocked the citizens of St. Anthony for claiming to be at the head of navigation.^"^ I Steamboats made occasional trips from Galena, St. Louis, and from points below, but only a few tourists were among their regular passengers. Until the Black Hawk \ War had eliminated the danger of Indian attack, only [transitory voyages were made during the summer months. /Even as late as 183 5 trips were governed by the cargoes /offered. Thus, when Charles Augustus Murray, a noted English traveler, reached Prairie du Chien early in October, he was unable to secure a steamboat passage to the Falls. Murray had to content himself with a hunting expedition from Fort Crawford to the headwaters of Turkey River before descending the Mississippi to St. Louis.^'* [252] Catlin and the Fashionable Tour Generally speaking, however, steamboats arrived more regularly at Fort Snelling after 1832 and a number of pleasure-seekers were usually found on every boat. Col- onel John H. Bliss recalls that whenever the steamboat Warrior appeared she had her hold filled with military sup- plies and her cabins crowded with "delightful and delighted tourists who were making an excursion, considered more wonderful in those days than would be a trip to the Hawaiian Islands now." ^■' On June 24, 1835, Captain Joseph Throckmorton arrived at Fort Snelling with a cargo of supplies and a lively throng of excursionists aboard the Warrior and her safety barge. Among the passengers were Captain William Day, George W. Jones, a member of Congress from the Territory of Michigan, J. Farns- worth and daughter, Mrs. Felix St. Vrain, and the re- nowned artist, George Catlin, and his wife.^'^ If travelers were thrilled by the scenic splendors of the Upper Mississippi, their joy upon reaching St. Peter's was limited only by the brevity of their visit. Most of those who made the Fashionable Tour were obliged — either through their own limited time or the anxiety of the steam- boat captain to depart downstream — to confine them- selves to a fleeting glimpse of St. Anthony and Minnehaha Falls and an even more hurried glance about the fort. To miss a boat prior to 1850 might entail a sojourn of a week or more before another craft appeared. So the joy of the pleasure-seekers was always tempered by the constant dread of failing to hear the last bell of the steamboat, calling belated stragglers aboard. [253] b Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Other excursionists who were fortunate enough to spend several days or weeks about Fort Snelling were amply re- warded. After a day of viewing St. Anthony in all its moods, and another near Minnehaha, the tourist could turn his attention to the activities about Fort Snelling. Officers and soldiers were always communicative (their ladies equally if not doubly so), and so a social hour would quickly run into two. The Indian Agency and the Amer- ican Fur Company post also attracted visitors. Here fur trader and voyageur vied with Chippewa and Sioux in entertaining the pleasure-seekers. The traders always made amiable and valuable guides to some nearby stream or lake where fish might be caught; the Indians were equally delighted to dance, sing, and play their games for a small consideration. The Fourth of July, 1835, was memorable for the ex- cursionists who, with Catlin, awaited the return of the Warrior to Fort Snelling. Major Lawrence Taliaferro, the Indian Agent at Fort Snelling, had informed the Sioux and Chippewa that Catlin was a great medicine man, and he promised to fire the "^/g gun" twenty-one times (the customary salute of the day) if they would come and entertain the tourists with a ball game and some of their dances. Highly flattered by this compliment, hundreds of Indians appeared at Fort Snelling where Catlin presented them with a barrel of flour and a quantity of pork and tobacco. For two hours Sioux and Chippewa exerted every effort to demonstrate to Catlin that they were as skillful at ball [254] Catlin and the Fashionable Tour as any tribe he had ever seen in the West. They then per- formed the beggar's dance, the buffalo dance, the bear dance, the eagle dance, and the dance of the braves which Catlin felt was "peculiarly beautiful, and exciting to the feelings in the highest degree." When Major General Rob- ert Patterson arrived on the Warrior a short time later the games and dances were repeated. "The greater part of the inhabitants of these bands", Catlin records, "are assembled here at this time, affording us, who are visitors here, a fine and wild scene of dances, amusements, &c. They seem to take great pleasure in 'showing off' in these scenes, to the amusement of the many fashionable visitors, both ladies and gentlemen, who are in the habit of reaching this post, as steamers are arriving at this place every week in the summer from St. Louis." ^" Next to the scenery the Indian offered the most inter- esting entertainment and diversion to the visitors, and as late as 1845 a Dubuque newspaper urged the trip as the most convenient and certain way of seeing the red man as he actually lived.^"^ Catlin painted many pictures of the Sioux and Chippewa at their games and dances; of chiefs and warriors; of squaws and papooses; of canoes, snowshoes, and other equipment. Then, while his wife journeyed downstream on the Warrtory he paddled leisure- ly along in a canoe to record with his brush such pictures as the Falls of St. Anthony, Fort Snelling, Maiden Rock, the Winona hills, Capoli Bluff, and Cornice Rocks; Pike's Peak at McGregor; Fort Crawford and the island-studded Mississippi; and Dubuque's grave and the lead mines above [255] StearTfljoating on Upper Mississippi Catfish Creek — a panorama of the Upper Mississippi.^^ The yearly arrival of steamboats loaded with excur- sionists became more marked following Catlin's return to the East from this trip. Early in June, 1836, the Pahuyra arrived at Fort Snelling with a party of pleasure-seekers. A journal kept by one of the party described the scenery en route, the Falls of St. Anthony, and a three mile ex- cursion up the Minnesota River. Two months later Captain Throckmorton carried a pleasure party on board the St. Peters — a 119-ton craft built at Pittsburgh the previous winter. She was owned by Throckmorton and the firm of Hempstead and Beebe of St. Louis. One of the ladies on board the St. Peters wrote a letter to a friend in Buffalo describing the beauties of the Upper Mississippi and the rapid growth of population in the country between Du- buque and St. Louis.^^° By 1837 Upper Mississippi steamboat captains adver- tised excursion trips in the various river towns throughout the summer months. Early in May, Daniel Smith Harris informed citizens of Galena, Dubuque, and Belmont that he would make a trip to the Falls of St. Anthony in the Smelter^ should a sufficient number of passengers present themselves. A week later Captain James Lafferty advised Galenians that he expected to run a similar excursion on the Pavilion. ^^' Despite the panic of 1837 the Fashionable Tour at- tracted hundreds of pilgrims ; indeed their number some- times exceeded the immigrants on board the steamboat. A card of thanks signed by over forty passengers aboard [256] Catlin and the Fashionable Tour the Missouri Fulton commended Captain I. Perrin on the success of the trip and the kind attention and gentlemanly treatment of the officers and the crew. Seven of the signers came from New York State; while Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio were represented by one or more. A number hailed from Illinois. Missouri and Wisconsin Territory were strongly represented. John Plumbe, Jr., claimed by some to be the first man to con- ceive the need for a trans-continental railroad, was among the Dubuque tourists."" Not only did many notable Americans grace the deck of Upper Mississippi steamboats, but travelers from Eng- land, France, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, and other coun- tries were attracted by the tour. The season of 1837 found George Catlin and his wife again with Captain Throck- morton on board the Burlington with Colonel John Bliss and family as fellow pasengers. During the same year J. N. Nicollet, John C. Fremont, Henry Atkinson, and Franklin Steele, together with many other prominent per- sonages took passage with Throckmorton. Captain Fred- erick Marryat, the English novelist and sea captain, also paced the deck of the Burlington. Sweet and serene in the dignity of her eighty years came Elizabeth Schuyler Ham- ilton, the widow of Alexander Hamilton, braving the wilderness with its many discomforts to visit her son, Colonel William S. Hamilton, then located in the Wis- consin lead district at Wiota. Her visit elicited a warm reception wherever the Burlington stopped. Many other notables were carried aboard such craft as the Pavilion^ the [257] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Missouri Ftiltoti, the Irene, the RoUa and the Smelter.^^^ Before 1840 none of the embryo cities above St. Louis had a sufficient number of wealthy citizens capable of chartering a vessel for a private excursion. Since boats were generally limited to a score or two of excursionists, captains reserved the right to pick up such freight and passengers as would not interfere with the comforts of the pleasure-seekers. Even as late as 1847 the Lynx carried a heavy consignment of government supplies and transient passengers along with a merry party from New Orleans. ^^* The decade of the "Fabulous Forties" witnessed many excursions from thriving towns on the Ohio and the Lower Mississippi. In 1840 the Louisville Journal in expressing delight at the prospects of a large and fashionable excur- sion party on the Dayton, declared the trip to be the most interesting in the United States. A similar excursion left St. Louis on the Y alley Forge, the first iron-hulled steam- boat on the Ohio and Mississippi. Built at Pittsburgh in 1839, the Valley Forge was 150 feet long, had a 25-foot beam, a 5^-ioot hold, and measured 199 tons. She was owned by William Robinson, Benjamin Mines, and Reuben Miller, Jr., of Pittsburgh. Thomas Baldwin served as skip- per in 1840. During the same year a large party bound from Pittsburgh to the Falls of St. Anthony stopped at Cincinnati to greet General William Henry Harrison.^" Daniel Stanchfield found St. Louis sweltering hot fol- lowing the sale of a lumber raft in 1847. This pioneer Upper Mississippi lumberman accordingly joined a merry party from New Orleans aboard Captain John Atchison's [258] Catlin and the Fashionable Tour Lynx. A brass band entertained the excursionists by day, while an orchestra provided excellent music for dancing at night. At Fort Snelling the group was met by Franklin Steele with carriages for transporting the party across the plains to the Falls where the steward of the Lynx served a tempting dinner on the grass. The ladies had also pre- pared delicacies which were distributed to the tourists. Wines flowed freely for two hilarious hours when a storm sent the excursionists racing for shelter beneath the ledge of Minnehaha Falls.^'^ While steamboats brought tourists from points as wide- ly separated as Pittsburgh and New Orleans, the budding towns along the Upper Mississippi began to contribute a greater volume of passengers each year. By carefully ad- vertising excursions several weeks in advance in such towns as Alton, Clarksville, Louisiana, Hannibal, Quincy, Keo- kuk, Fort Madison, Burlington, Muscatine, Davenport, Rock Island, Clinton, and Galena, the captains engaged in the trade usually made several profitable voyages each 337 season. Newspaper editors, with personal motives often out- stripping their civic pride, encouraged their readers to patronize certain boats making excursions. Thus, when Captain Orrin Smith announced in the lotc'a Neivs that the Brazil would leave Dubuque for St. Peter's on June 10, 1838, an editorial in the same issue praised Captain Smith and recommended the Brazil to all. A little later, after the Brazil had steamed past Dubuque on her way to the Falls, the editor spoke wistfully of the gay crowd aboard, [259] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi the music and dancing, the "splendor" of the new boat, and expressed a hope that an invitation might be extended to him for a similar frolic. "Who'll invite us to take a trip . . . don't all speak at once", this weary editor pined. "Yet the first one who asks us is a gentleman of the pure water, and a scholar and a dancing master into the bar- gain." If the lavish use of printer's ink was any induce- ment, he probably received an invitation.^^^ In later years many steamboats paddled northward with gaily attired vacationists promenading their decks by day and dancing, visiting, and courting by night. The Rosalie, the Knickerbocker, the Malta, and the Brazil announced trips from Galena in 1839; while the Malta, Loyal Hanua, Brazil, lone. Monsoon, and Valley Forge ran similar notices during the year following. Within the space of three weeks in 1845 the Lynx (Captain John Atchison com- manding) , the St. Croix (Captain Hiram Bersie command- ing) , the Iowa (Captain D. B. Morehouse commanding) , and the War Eagle, commanded by Daniel Smith Harris, advertised trips for the Falls. Crowded with happy ex- cursionists, the War Eagle and the Time left the mouth of Fever River and proceeded briskly upstream with their bows lashed together.'^® Little attention was paid to passenger accommodations until the late thirties, for steamboats were engaged pri- marily in hauling lead, supplies for military posts and Indian agencies, goods for the fur traders, and such cargoes i^s the steady infiltration of immigrants required. Strange M. Palmer described the steamboat Adventure bound for [260] Catlin and the Fashionable Tour Prairie du Chien in 1836 as "a very small, dilapidated and filthy boat". Measured by the standards of that day, how- ever, most captains probably tried to keep their boats clean and comfortable.^**^ The regular upstream craft upon which Theodore Ro- dolf, a pioneer in the lead region, found himself in 1834 was "a high-pressure steamer, whose puffing could be heard miles ahead. The cabin was plainly but substantially fur- nished, and kept very clean. There were no state rooms; but two tiers of bunks, containing the beds, ran along the side of the boat and were separated at night from the saloon by curtains. The fare was substantial, plentiful, and good, and the officers were pleasant and gentle- manly." '*' No factor was so important in bringing about a change in steamboat accommodations as the "Fashionable Tour" which George Catlin had urged Americans to make in 183 5. Realizing that most tourists would patronize those boats which offered the best facilities, Captain Daniel Smith Harris and his brother Robert Scribe Harris built private staterooms in the Smelter — a speedy side- wheeler launched at Cincinnati in the spring of 1837. She was described as the fastest, the most luxurious, and the largest craft on the Upper Mississippi. According to W. H. C. Folsom the Harris brothers were "greatly delighted in her speed, decorated her gaily with evergreens, and [when] rounding to at landings, or meeting with other boats, fired a cannon from her prow to announce her imperial presence." "^ [261] J Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Two years later the Harris brothers (Smith and Scribe) brought out the Pizarro, a 107-ton craft built at Cincin- nati at a cost of $16,000. While her cabin was not so spa- cious as those in some of the other crafts, this boat was "commodious" and had the usual staterooms. She also boasted a fire engine and hose attached to her main engine and ready for imm.ediate use in case of fire.^*^ Captain Orrin Smith was also responsible for many im- provements in steamboat architecture. In 1838 he brought out the Brazil "completely fitted up with staterooms, two berths in each, with doorways leading both into the cabin and out upon the deck." The rooms were said to be suffi- ciently spacious, and each had a "wash-stand and other necessary articles of toilet", besides the regular "sleeping apparatus". When the Brazil struck a rock on the Upper Rapids in the spring of 1841, Smith built the light draught New Brazil at Cincinnati. She was 144 feet long, had a 22-foot beam, a 5 -foot hold, and measured 166 tons. Her cabin contained 30 staterooms, and her 22-foot pad- dle wheel was propelled by a double engine with three boilers.^" Always a leader in new ventures. Captain Joseph Throck- morton is credited with introducing spring mattresses on his beautiful $18,000 craft, the Malta. Launched at Pitts- burgh in 1839, the Malta was 140 feet long, had a 22-foot beam, a 5 -foot hold, measured 114 tons, and had i lire pump and hose attached to her double engine.^*' A novel improvement, generally adopted by other cap- tains, was introduced in 1845 by Robert A. Reilly of the [262] Catlin and the Fashionable Tour Wiofa. Instead of locating the stairs which led to the boiler deck on each side of the boat, as was customary in all the old side-wheelers, Reilly had a flight placed in front. The Wiofa was built at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, in 1845, and was owned by Captain Reilly, Henry Corwith, and William Hempstead of Galena. She was 170 feet long, twenty-five feet and six inches broad, five feet and three inches hold, and had a displacement of 219 tons. Her two engines had three boilers, each twenty-six feet long and forty inches in diameter; the cylinders were eighteen inches in diameter and had a seven foot stroke; and her wheels were twenty-two feet in diameter with ten foot buckets.'" Although steamboat captains felt they were keeping apace with the times some of the traveling public did not think so. As late as 18 52 a Minnesota editor complained : "One of the first reforms needed on steamboats in the west, is good comfortable beds, with so much clothing that you do not have to spread a newspaper over you at night, to prevent freezing. Why should a boat spread an extra table and fine carpets, and then send a poor fellow to a hard straw mattress, to shiver all night and take a severe cold, under a dirty sheet and a narrow comforter?" ^" Increasing competition forced captains to offer still other inducements. By the middle of the century few steamboats dared compete without the aid of a band or orchestra — usually comprised of cabin boys, deck hands, and roustabouts. These were modestly heralded as the finest musicians on the Upper Mississippi and equal to any [263] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi in the United States. Stewards were ever mindful that tables must be suppHed with the best that money could buy, and vacationists soon learned which craft served the best meals. Furthermore, excursionists liked nothing bet- ter than a chance to prowl about historic or legendary spots, such as Maiden Rock. Tourists who were so in- clined had numerous opportunities, since steamboats "wooded up" about every thirty miles. Besides a Sunday lay-over at St. Peter's, Captain Hiram Bersie promised that the SL Croix would stop at points of interest on the down- stream trip.^** A typical notice apprised the citizens of Dubuque of such an excursion in 1845.^" PLEASURE EXCURSION From Dubuque to St. Peters and The Falls of St. Anthony. Passenger Steamer WAR EAGLE D. S. Harris, Master Will leave for the above and intermediate Ports on Friday the 27th inst. at 10 o'clock A. M. The War Eagle is a new and Splendid Boat, and will be two weeks making the trip. Capt. Harris intends to make a pleasure excursion in reality, and will stop at all places of curiosity or amusement as long as the passengers may desire. A Band of Music will be on Board. Strangers and Travelers will have a fine opportunity of visiting one of the most beautiful and romantic countries in the world. For Freight or Passage, apply on Board. For more than a generation the pioneers of the Upper Mississippi Valley enjoyed steamboat excursions to the [264] Catlin and the Fashionable Tour Falls of St. Anthony. In 1849 the Clermont carried a ^ large pleasure party upstream from Quincy. Two years later the Die Vernon ran several excursions to the Falls from St. Louis. Commenting on these excursions a Galena editor pointed out that such a "summer jaunt" answered the onerous problems of those harassed as to where to go on a vacation. In 1853 the Die Vernon, the New St. Paul, and the Dr. Franklin arrived at the St. Paul levee with merry excursionists who were carted off to the Falls in buggies. Captain Preston Lodwick invited the leading citizens of St. Paul to join his party aboard the Dr. Frank- lin for two hours of recreation and dancing. Four years later (in 18 57) the masters of the Henry Clay and Northern Belle brought pleasure parties from St. Louis and Dubuque and tendered a "grand ball" for the principal citizens of St. Paul while in port. The Har- inonia, the Rescue, the Rosalie, the Orb, the Sam Young, the Conewago, the Denmark, and the Key City were only a few of the boats that gladdened the hearts of excursion- ists that year. In good times and bad, the Fashionable Tour provided an enjoyable and inexpensive outing for travelers on Upper Mississippi steamboats.^^° [265] 31 Tlie In) est J^wton vs. die T>ie Vernon An era of intense rivalry began in 1848 and did not end until the Minnesota Packet Company was formally or- ganized at the close of the season of 1852.^'^ The Fashion- able Tour became more popular each year for vacationists who found traveling on steamboats cheaper than living in hotels. "The boats continue to come loaded with pas- sengers, many of them seeking only recreation", declared a St. Paul editor in 1852. "Boats are crowded down and up. Some travel for the sake of economy and save the expense of tavern bills at home. Who that is idle v/ould be caged up between walls of burning brick and mortar; in dog-days, down the river, if at less daily expense, he could be hurried through the valley of the Mississippi, its shores studded with towns and farms, flying by islands, prairies, woodlands, bluffs — an ever varied scene of beau- ty, away up into the lands of the wild Dakota, and of cascades and pine forests, and cooling breezes?" "" Nor was rivalry limited to the packets running above Galena. During the summer of 1852 the Keokuk Packet Company extended its operations to Galena and occa- sionally ran an excursion to the Falls. Realizing that a death struggle was in the offing for its boats — the Nom- inee^ the Ben Campbell, the Dr. Franklin No. 2, and the Black Hawk — the Minnesota Packet Company invited [266] The West Newton vs. the Die Vernon Daniel Smith Harris to join their Hne with his speedy West Newton. It was a wise move, for in addition to being the most popular skipper on the river, Harris was a skillful pilot, a demon in competition, and, what was most im- portant, he was perhaps the only man whose boat could always be counted on to out-race an opponent."^ Pitted against the West Newton was the Die Vernon, floating palace of the Keokuk Packet Line and, perhaps, the fastest craft on western waters. Built at St. Louis in 18 50 at a cost of $50,000, the Die Vernon was 25 5 feet long, thirty-one feet two inches beam, five feet nine inches hold, and measured 45 5 tons. She had over 100 berths and was more than a match for any boat owned by the Minnesota Packet Company."* The round-trip fare on the Die Vernon for the excur- sion was fixed at $25. There was no free list : even Com- modore John S. McCune and the directors of the line paid their passage. An "army" of waiters was hired, and the steward was ordered to spare no luxury, including Long- worth's Sparkling Cabinet and Still Catawba wine. A brass band was to render martial music — especially when in port or in passing rival boats. Twenty-five firemen were shipped aboard the Die Vernon to ensure hot boilers. The ever watchful steward had a barrel of old butter — presumably for soap grease — but actually for extra fuel should the emergency arise."' Late Monday afternoon, June 13, 1853, the Die Vernon, commanded by Rufus Ford, left St. Louis as handkerchiefs waved and the band blared "Yankee Doodle". Alton was [267] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi passed in record time. Every craft below Keokuk gave the boat a brush just to see her run. And run she did. The Lower Rapids were crossed on Tuesday afternoon. Twen- ty-five cords of white oak were taken aboard at Bellevue on Wednesday afternoon. At dusk she came snorting up the Fever River to Galena where the West Newton lay awaiting her arrival. Captain Harris did not conceal his intention of either outstripping the Die Nernon or of blowing up his boat in the attempt. All the tar and rosin in Galena was aboard the West Newton, and every wood boat for 150 miles up the river was pledged to sell only to him. Galenians oflFered bets at heavy odds that the West Newton would pass the Die Vernon under way and lead her to St. Paul. When the Die Vernon backed out of Fever River the West Newton followed, "blowing off steam and making more noise than a stalled freight train", intent on passing her rival on the Mississippi before she was fairly under way. But half the "niggers" on the Die Vernon were hang- ing on the safety valves and Captain Ford had the boilers so hot that his boat led the way to Dubuque. The Die Vernon stopped a few moments at Dubuque, but the West Newton continued upstream and was soon out of sight. It was evidently Harris's intention to lead the way to Lake Pepin, one hundred and ninety miles above, and there await the Die Vernon for a twenty-two mile race through the lake. It would then be but fifty-five miles to St. Paul with the victory in favor of the winner through Lake Pepin. [268] The West Newton vs. the Die Vernon Captain Ford tarried but a moment in Dubuque, hoping to pass Harris within a few hours. Despite the fact that her twenty-five firemen worked frantically throughout the night and were plied with "whisky toddies to assist them in making steam", the West Newton was not sighted until after breakfast the following morning a short dis- tance above La Crosse. A bitter race ensued. The Die Vernon fairly trembled under the terrific pressure of steam, but she slowly closed the gap between the two boats until only a few scant yards separated them. According to a passenger aboard the Die Vernon, the West Newton was finally forced to land to keep from being passed under way, a fact which Harris's friends vigorously deny. Be that as it may, the Die Vernon did pass the West Newton, and, what was worse, for it was still anybody's race, she obtained through the connivance of Louis Robert, at that time master of the Greek Slave and a bitter enemy of Captain Harris, possession of two wood flats loaded with choice dry fuel for the West Netvton. Harris drew abreast of the Die Vernon while she was towing the flats; it was then that the crew quickly tossed the wood aboard and cast the flats loose before the West Neivton was able to forge ahead. It is perhaps as well that history does not record Captain Harris's remarks when he learned how Louis Robert had tricked and probably beaten him."* While he ran a gallant race against a boat which was much faster than his own, Harris took the defeat bitterly and departed from St. Paul without leaving the hurricane deck. The Die Vernon made a record run of eighty-four [269] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi hours counting all stops from St. Louis to St. Paul. Her time from Dubuque was twenty-eight hours for 265 miles or nine and four-tenths miles per hour upstream. The West Newtoit averaged nine and one-tenth miles per hour upstream from Galena to St. Paul, covering the 288 miles in thirty-one hours and forty-six minutes. She returned to Galena in twenty-one hours and seven minutes, averaging thirteen and seven-tenths miles per hour downstream.^" It was left for the pious and temperate Nominee^ com- manded by Russell Blakeley, to take the measure of the Die 'Vernon and avenge the defeat of the West Newton. While the St. Louis excursionists were celebrating their victory at Maiden Rock with Sparkling Cabinet and Still Catawba, the Nominee hove in sight and blew a shrill challenge. Although her owner, Orrin Smith, was a strict Sabbath observer and follower of the Maine Law, the Nominee was a fast boat and led the Die Yernon all the way, disappearing around the bend at Catfish Creek as the latter reached Dubuque. Despite the fact that the Keokuk Packet Company received almost $4000 in cabin passages, the excursion of the Die Yernon left a deficit of $1100. The spirited fight of the Minnesota Packet Company forced a compromise, and when the season of 1854 opened its boats carried the celebrated excursion of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad — probably the most colorful gathering of notable Americans that had assembled in the West before the CivJ War."' [270] 32 XLe GranJ Kxcursion of 1854 The first railroad to unite the Atlantic with the Mis- sissippi River reached Rock Island on February 22, 1854. To celebrate this event leading citizens of the country were invited by the firm of Sheffield and Farnam, contrac- tors for the construction of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, to participate in a joint railroad and steamboat excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony. The response was so hearty and the requests for passes were so numerous that the Minnesota Packet Company was obliged to increase the number of steamboats chartered from one to five."® So lavish were the preparations that an eastern paper declared the aflfair "could not be rivalled by the mightiest among the potentates of Europe." The account continues: "Without bustle or noise, in a simple but grand manner, like everything resulting from the combined action of liberty and association — guests have been brought hither free of charge from different places, distant thousands of miles, invited by hosts to them unknown, simple contrac- tors and directors of railroads and steamboats." ^*'° John H. Kinzie was chairman of the reception commit- tee in Chicago, where the Tremont House served as head- quarters for the assembled guests. There, Millard Fill- more, a President by accident, met Samuel J. Tilden, who later failed by accident to achieve the presidency. Prom- [271] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi inent western leaders such as Ninian Edwards (former Governor of Illinois) and Edward Bates of Missouri (later Attorney General in Lincoln's cabinet) exchanged views with notable Easterners such as John A. Dix, John A. Granger, J. C. Ten Eyck, and Elbridge Gerry. Francis P. Blair of Maryland greeted his son, Francis P. Blair, Jr., of St. Louis. New Haven and Yale University sent Profes- sors Benjamin Silliman, A. C. Twining, Leonard Bacon, and Eleazar Thompson to match wits with Judge Joel Parker of Harvard and Professor Henry Hubbard of Dart- mouth. George Bancroft, a Harvard graduate and already a national historian, accepted an invitation to make the "fashionable tour": he was repeatedly called upon to ad- dress the crowds which gathered to greet the Easterners. Catherine M. Sedgwick was one of the more notable wom- en to make the trip.^^^ No profession was so ably and numerously represented as was the press. Almost every metropolitan paper of the East had sent a writer to accompany the excursion. Charles Hudson of the Boston Aflas and Thurlow Weed of the Albany Evening Journal were seasoned and national- ly known editors. Samuel Bowles of the Springfield R^- publican and Charles A. Dana of the New York Tribune were at the threshold of long and famous careers. Hiram Fuller of the New York Mirror, Epes Sargent of the Boston Transcript, Charles Hale of the Boston Advertiser, and W. C. Prime of the New York Journal of Commerce were other eastern reporters. The West was represented by such editors as William Schouler of the Cincinnati Gazette and [272] The Grand Excursion of 18 54 C. Gather FKnt from the staff of the Ghicago Trihune^'^' Early on the morning of June fifth the excursionists assembled at the Rock Island station in Ghicago. Shortly after eight o'clock two trains of nine coaches each, gaily decorated with flowers, flags, and streamers, and drawn by powerful locomotives, left the city. Speeches, military parades, and the discharge of cannon greeted the excursionists on every hand. A free lunch was dis- tributed at Sheffield, Illinois. Notwithstanding frequent stops, the trains reached Rock Island at 4 P. M. There the Golden Era (Gaptain Hiram Bersie commanding), the G. W. Spar-Hawk (Gaptain Montreville Green commanding) , the Lady Franklin (Gaptain Le Grand Morehouse commanding) , the Galena (Gaptain D. B. Morehouse commanding), and the War Eagle, in com- mand of Daniel Smith Harris, lay waiting to take the excursionists aboard.'^^ So large was the number of unexpected or uninvited guests that the five boats were quickly jammed, and it was necessary to charter two additional craft — the Jenny Lind and the Black Hawk. But accommodations still proved insufficient. According to Dana "state-rooms had been allotted at Ghicago, where the names had been reg- istered; but many of the tickets had been lost, and many persons had none at all. Besides there had been some errors — husbands and wives were appointed to different boats, and several young fellows were obliged to part from the fair ladies about whom they had hitherto re- volved with the most laudable devotedness." The lack of [273] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi berths caused fully one-third of the guests to renounce the steamboat trip and return to Chicago. Despite this fact at least twelve hundred remained aboard the boats, where they were served a "sumptuous feast" that was said to equal any afforded by the best hotels in the country.^^^ After listening to brief speeches at Rock Island and Davenport (including two addresses by Fillmore on inter- nal improvements and the Great West) , the passengers were entertained with a brilliant display of fireworks from Fort Armstrong. Bells rang and whistles sounded as the boats, decorated with prairie flowers and evergreens, left Davenport at ten o'clock "and sailed with music on their decks, like birds by their own song, lighted by the moon, and saluted by the gay fireworks from the Old Fort." Captain Harris led off with the War Eagle; while the Golden Era, with the former President aboard, brought up the rear.^°^ Everyone was delighted with the bright moonlight and the refreshing river breeze which greeted the boats as they puffed upstream against the powerful current. Shortly after midnight a violent thunderstorm occurred. Accord- ing to one passenger : "Impenetrable darkness enshrouded us, and nothing could be seen of our fleet of seven steamers, save the lurid glare of their furnaces shining upon the agitated waves, and their red and blue lights suspended from their bows. A sudden flash of vivid lightning would illumine the entire scene for a moment, and then as suddenly would it be blotted from view. At such moments, so intense was the light, and so vivid the [274] The Grand Excursion of 18 54 impression produced, that each separate leaf upon the trees on shore, each crevice in the bank, the form of each steamer, and even the countenances of those upon the guards, could be seen as plainly as if printed upon a can- vas." After a few hours the storm subsided and the weary travelers were soon lulled to rest/"" The night was spent with varying degrees of comfort, for many of the young men were obliged to "rough it" on mattresses on the cabin floors. But none of them was heard to complain; Miss Sedgwick praised them for their good-natured and manly attitude. Another passenger, less optimistic, declared : "Through the whole trip many gentlemen who should by all means have had comfortable places have had no opportunity to sleep, except on mat- tresses on the cabin floor. As these could never be laid down before midnight, and must be removed before 5 o'clock in the morning, and were never very favorable to repose, their occupants have had but from two to four hours sleep at night, while sleeping by day was even more out of the question." ^" Dawn found the boats a few miles below Bellevue, whence the War Eagle led the fleet booming up Fever River to Galena. A trip to the lead mines was followed by a picnic dinner in the woods. "Wines of Ohio and of France stood upon the board, sparkling Catawba the fa- vorite, and glasses were drained to the health and prosper- ity of Galena and its citizens." Dana noted with regret "that total abstinence is not the rule of the Mississippi Valley, everybody feeling it to be a sort of duty to temper [275] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi the limestone water of the country with a Httle brandy, or other equally ardent corrective." ^^^ After leaving Galena the boats proceeded to Dubuque where, despite a heavy downpour, they were met by a throng of people. Fillmore, Silliman, Bancroft, Bates, Hudson, and others addressed the citizens of Dubuque. La Crosse was described by Dana as "a wooding-place on the eastern shore, with two or three frame houses." A dozen excursionists climbed a lofty cliff overlooking the embryonic settlement while the boats were "wooding up". According to Dana "Wide prairies, marked by Indian trails, or dotted with the plowed patches of here and there a chance settler, interrupted by oak forests, or by inland ranges of lower bluffs and knolls, made up the scene, with the river, its shores and islands, for the center of the whole." '"' \ Frequent landings were made at the scattered settle- ments along the river, and wherever the boats stopped to "wood up", the excursionists invariably trooped ashore. ^ "Our light boats", notes Miss Sedgwick, "skimmed the sur- face of the water like birds; and, with the ease and grace of birds, they dipped down to the shore, and took up their food, their fiery throats devouring it with marvellous rapidity." The process of "wooding up" always attracted the attention of passengers who were not inclined to go ashore and wander about. President Fillmore's daughter (while her steamboat was "wooding up" at Trempealeau) mounted a horse and scaled that "mighty rampart". Her appearance at the summit was greeted with a salvo of [276] The Grand Excursion of 18 54 steamboat whistles and the prolonged cheers of those aboard.^'" Amusements aboard the boats were as varied as human ingenuity could devise. Racing was prohibited; but the boats were often lashed together, and passengers enjoyed the opportunity of visiting with old friends and making new ones. Promenading on deck and allowing the ever- changing landscape on shore to "daguerreotype new pic- tures on the mind" formed the principal pastime for most of the travelers. When the boats were lashed together "dancing in one cabin would draw together the dancers or a conversazione in another, the listeners and talkers." Slavery was probably the chief topic of conversation, for the Kansas-Nebraska bill had just been passed, and abolitionists were deeply aroused by the Boston slave case as a result of which a Negro named Burns had been sent back into slavery. The closing of stores in Boston, the hanging of eflSgies, the tolling of bells, the festooning of buildings in black, and the floating of the flag with the Union down were events that doubtless made the Boston newspapermen (Hale, Sargent, and Hudson) centers of at- traction. The Austrian alliance, reciprocity or annexation with regard to Canada, and the influence of the discovery of gold in California and Australia in maintaining high prices elicited editorial comment in the New York Tribtuie of the day. Rioting of native Americans and Irishmen in Brooklyn, and the wreck of the Powhatan with a loss of over three hundred passengers were news items featured in the newspapers. The scientifically inclined probably [277] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi found special interest in such inventions as a compact and almost frictionless steam engine, Ralston's portable saw- mill, a new patent for making nails, and gas for country use — all of which were on display at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in New York. The distinguished Yale scientist. Professor Silllman, had a large audience one evening; but Dana was "attracted by gayer sounds from another boat" and was unable to report Silliman's speech to the readers of his paper."'^ When Lake Pepin was reached at eleven o'clock on Wednesday night four boats were lashed together; and they then proceeded upstream shooting brilliant shafts of light that streamed and danced on the waters and shores of the lake. The remainder of the night was spent in "dancing, music, flirtations, et ceteraJ'^ "" Then as now there were romantic souls who found their greatest joy on the upper deck with only the moon to disturb a tryst. A mock trial was held in the cabin of the G. W. Spar- Hawk one rainy and disagreeable evening. Schouler of the Cincinnati Gazette was tried for assault and battery on the person of Dr. Kennedy. The prisoner pleaded not guilty, and Moses Kimball of Boston was selected to de- fend him. Prime of the New York Journal of Commerce acted as prosecutor. Both Kimball and Prime appeared be- fore the court heavily armed with dueling pistols and bowie knives. The closing speech of Kimball lasted three- quarters of an hour and was listened to with profound attention. Both attorneys attempted to bribe the jury. Happily the evidence showed that the plaintiff had been [278] The Grand Excursion of 18 54 injured when a berth broke down while both he and the defendant were asleep. The case was promptly dis- missed."^ The appearance of the fleet when it rounded the bend below St. Paul was described as "grand beyond precedent". The steamboats approached like an armed squadron taking its position in line of battle. "Two full bands of music were on board, both of which struck up lively airs as the boats neared the landing. This, with the rays of the bright June sun which broke forth in all his glory after three days* storm; the animation of the company on board the boats, and the enthusiasm of the assembled hundreds on shore and on the decks of the Admiral, then lying at the landing, produced a scene of excitement which St. Paul has never before witnessed, and perhaps will not again for many years." "^ Although little more than six years old, St. Paul boasted six thousand inhabitants and made a fine appearance from the decks of the approaching vessels. According to Dana there were "brick dwellings and stone warehouses, a brick capitol with stout, white pillars, a county court-house, a jail, several churches, a market, school-houses, a billiard- room, a ten-pin alley, dry goods' stores, groceries, confec- tioners and ice-creamers, a numerous array of those establishments to which the Maine law is especially hostile, and a glorious, boundless country behind." "^ Shortly after the excursionists arrived they were bun- dled into every conceivable class and variety of vehicle and trundled away at various rates of speed to the Falls [279] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi of St, Anthony. Three prominent New York editors were seen perched precariously upon a one-horse water cart. The editor of the Galena Jejfersonian declared that "The 'March to Finley' was nothing compared to our mot- ley cavalcade. Here was a Governor bestride a sorry Rozinante of which even the Great Don would have been ashamed; here an U. S. Senator, acting the part of foot- man, stood bolt upright in the baggage boot of a coach, holding on by the iron rail surrounding the top, here the historian of which the country is justly proud, squatted on his haunches on the top of a crazy van, unmindful of everything but himself, his book, his hat and spectacles; there a hot house flower, nursed in some eastern conserva- tory, so delicate and fragile that a falling leaf might crush it, but a beautiful specimen of the feminine gender, with- al, would be seated over the hind axle of a lumber wagon, supported on either side by opera glass exquisites, who only wondered 'why the h — 1 the people in this country didn't send to New York for better carriages.' " ^'^ After viewing the Falls of St. Anthony, the excursionists visited Lake Calhoun, Minnehaha Falls, and Fort Snelling. In the evening a reception was held in the Capitol, where Henry H. Sibley welcomed the visitors. Fillmore thanked the citizens of St. Paul for their cordial reception, and pointed out the significance of the city as a central point on one of the routes leading from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Bancroft responded on behalf of the railroad directors and bade Minnesota become "the North Star of the Union, shining forever in unquenchable luster." At [280] The Grand Excursion of 18 54 eleven o'clock the tired tourists returned to the landing, where the boats lay illuminated and with steam hissing from their boilers. Shortly after midnight the fleet cast off from St. Paul, whose hills and lighted windows dis- appeared as the boats rounded Dayton's Bluff.^'^ While speeding downstream at the rate of ten miles an hour, the passengers found time passing all too fast. In addition to the usual dances, lectures, and musical enter- tainments in the cabins, meetings were called for the pur- pose of drawing up resolutions of thanks to the railroad directors and steamboat captains. Not only were many toasts drunk to the directors, captains, and boats, but gen- erous contributions were made for the presentation of loving cups and gold plate to the officers. Fillmore pre- sided over a meeting on the Golden Era where three hundred dollars were raised to purchase a silver pitcher for Captain Bersie."^ According to the Chicago Tribune the pitcher bore the following inscription : "Presented to Hiram Bersie, Master of the Golden Era, by the passengers of that Steamer, on their Excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony, while guests of the Chicago & Rock Island Rail- road Company, as a slight testimonial of their respect and their grateful appreciation of his urbanity, vigilance, and professional abilities, June, 1854." A cup of solid gold, beautifully engraved, was awarded to Henry W. Farnam (then a well-behaved baby in his mother's arms) who many years later became professor of economics in Yale University. John A. Rockwell of Norwich, Connecticut, made the address of presentation, [281] i Steamboating on Upper Mississippi and Professor A. C. Twining responded for the six-months- old infant : "I, Henry W. Farnam, being young in years, and wholly unaccustomed to public speaking, feel incom- petent to discharge in suitable terms the duty imposed upon me on this interesting occasion. When I came on board this boat, it was farthest from my expectation to make a speech. 'Man wants but little here below,' and babies still less. All my wants may be confined within this little cup which you propose to give me. Its contents are a baby's world — his universe. Heaven and earth and ocean plundered of their sweets may be compressed within the golden rim of this little measure. Some babies might cry for joy over my good fortune, but I am as unused to crying as to public speaking. I give you my best smile of thanks for your kindness, while I rely upon my inter- preter for a further and more mature expression of the grateful emotion of my joyful little heart." ^'* Resolutions gave unstinted praise to the lesser officers and to the crews for their efforts to make the travelers comfortable and happy. Miss Sedgwick was delighted with the courtesy of Captain Morehouse and the "civil lads" aboard the Lady Franklin who performed their work as if it was "a dainty task, to be done daintily." Nor did Dana forget Captain Bersie and Clerk Dawley of the Golden Era, whose "many civilities and attentions" were grate- fully acknowledged in the New York Tribune.^^^ The other captains probably received similar recognition from the writers who graced the decks of their boats. The responsibility for providing varied and well-pre- [282] The Grand Excursion of 18 54 pared meals fell upon stewards who never before had been called upon to serve such an array of notable guests. Since the floors of the cabins were covered with sleepers, it was the stewards' duty to awaken them gently and diplomat- ically in order that the mattresses might be removed and the tables set for breakfast by seven o'clock. (No deck hand or roustabout could perform so delicate a task.) Breakfast over, the cooks were given the menu for dinner. Meats and vegetables were prepared in one kitchen, while pastry and desserts were made ready in another. When needed, fish, game, eggs, and vegetables were bought at the various towns along the way. At Trempealeau, two bushels of speckled trout were purchased; the fish proved a rare treat for the excursionists. Supplies of fresh meat (a dozen lambs or pigs) were picked up from time to time. James F. Babcock of the New Haven Palladium de- scribed the meals aboard the Golden Era : "We have had oysters and lobsters daily, though two thousand miles from the sea. These, of course, were brought in sealed cans. Hens, turkeys, and ducks have given their last squeak every morning. Two cows on the lower deck furnish us with fresh milk twice a day. Beets are cooked, and every variety of stuff, and the dessert consists of all kinds of fruits, nuts, cakes, confection ices, and other things too numerous to mention. Such is our daily fare. Then there are meats for supper, with tea and coffee, with toast, dry and wet, cold bread, warm bread, Indian bread, biscuits, rolls, etc." '" The excursionists were never Invited to visit the meat [283] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi and vegetable kitchen, for the scenes enacted there might well have caused a loss in appetite : they were cordially urged to drop into the pastry and dessert kitchen at any time. The number and variety of puddings, pies, ice creams, custards, and jellies was astonishing. Miss Sedg- wick declared : "Morning, noon and night a table was spread, that in most of its appointments and supplies would have done honor to our first class hotels, and its confections would not have disgraced a French artiste with all the appliances and means of a French cuisine. By what magic art such ices, jellies, cakes, and pyramids, veiled in showers of candied sugar, were compounded in that smallest of tophets, a steamer's kitchen, is a mystery yet to be solved." '"' The notables who made the fashionable tour of 1854 were almost unanimous in their praise of the Upper Mis- sissippi steamboats. Only one adverse (but by no means harsh) criticism was made by an anonymous writer in the New York Tribune. He observed : "As the Upper Mis- sissippi must now become a route for fashionable Summer travel, it is only proper to say that those who resort here must not yet expect to find all the conveniences and comforts which abound on our North River steamers. Everything is very plain; the staterooms are imperfectly furnished, but the berths are roomy; the table is abundant, but butter-knives and sugar-tongs are not among its lux- uries. But those who know how to overlook these little deficiencies cannot hope anywhere to behold nature in such multiform loveliness and grandeur as on the waters of [284] The Grand Excursion of 18 54 the Mississippi, between Rock Island and St. Paul, nor in traveling to pass a week or fortnight of more genuine and constant enjoyment." ^*' But sugar tongs or no sugar tongs, the excursion of 1854 was by far the most brilliant event of its kind that the West had ever witnessed. Millard Fillmore declared it to be one for which "history had no parallel, and such as no prince could possibly undertake." Bancroft dwelt at length on the easy and agreeable manner in which more than a thousand people had been conducted a greater dis- tance than from New York to Liverpool. The Chicago Tribune described the trip as "the most magnificent ex- cursion, in every respect, which has ever taken place in America." ''' On June 23, 1854, the New York Tribune urged travel- ers to follow "in the wake of the just completed Railroad Excursion, ascend the Upper Mississippi, the grandest river of the world, flowing for a thousand miles between shores of incomparable beauty — the boundaries of States des- tined to wealth, population and power almost without rivals in the Union." Miss Sedgwick observed that as a result of the completion of the railroad to the Mississippi, "the fashionable tour will be in the track of our happy 'excursion party, to the Falls of St. Anthony.' The foreign traveller must go there, and the song of the bridegroom, to many a 'Lizzie Lee' will be *Ho! for the Falls of St. Anthony.' " ''' In the years that followed, hundreds of excursions were made to this garden spot of the West. Solitary travelers, [285] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi tired business men and their families, private parties, and various religious, political, and social organizations made pilgrimages to this Mecca of the Upper Mississippi. When the Milwaukee and La Crosse Railroad was completed to the Mississippi in 185 8, a similar though less colorful party than that which constituted the excursion of 1854 was conveyed to the Falls aboard the Northern Belle, the War Eagle, and the Northern Light. During the campaign of 1860 William H. Seward ar- rived at St. Paul with Charles Francis Adams and his son Charles Francis, Jr. Upon visiting the Falls, Adams com- plained that the beauty of former years was in danger of being spoiled because the sawmills had drawn off so much water. In the same year the "Governor's Greys", a unit of the Iowa National Guard from Dubuque, generously sup- plied with fiddles and champagne baskets, made the trip upstream on the Milwaukee and downstream on the Northern Belle. Four omnibuses and sixteen carriages were required to convey the "Greys" and their ladies to the Falls. Six years later (in 1866) the Phil Sheridan and the Milwaukee were but two of a score of boats which ran excursions to St. Paul and the Falls of St. Anthony. Prob- ably no other single factor was so important in populariz- ing the fashionable tour with Easterners as was the grand excursion of the Rock Island Railroad in 1854.^*° [286] JVlicI JPieasTures on JPaiaces The floating palaces that churned the waters of the Upper Mississippi provided -a vehicle for fun and frohc. Steamboats had engaged in the (excursion trade from the start. Thus the voyage of the ClevTJtont from New York to Albany in 1807 was an outing as well as a trial run. In 1811 the New Orleans carried excursions out of both Louisville and Cincinnati — Captain Nicholas Roosevelt charging one dollar "per head" for a short run from Cincinnati to Columbia.^^^ Perhaps the earliest excursion on the Upper Mississippi occurred in 1819 when the steamboat St. Louis "gratified the citizens of St. Louis with a sail to the mouth of the Missouri". The company on board the boat is said to have been "large and genteel" and the entertainment provided by Captain Hewes was described as "very elegant".^*^ Al- most every steamboat took one or more parties on a pleas- ure excursion up or down the river during the course of the season of navigation. No holiday was more universally observed on the fron- tier than the Fourth of July. Steamboats played a lead- ing role in the celebration of Independence Day. The first known Fourth of July steamboat excursion on the Upper Mississippi took place in 1828. A committee of Galenians issued special invitations to the leading citizens [287] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi to join an Independence Day excursion on the Indiana. On the morning of July Fourth the Indiana sHpped down the Fever River and steamed proudly up the Mis- sissippi on what was probably the first Independence Day steamboat excursion above Alton. The excursionists dis- embarked at the mouth of the Catfish Creek in the shad- ow of Julien Dubuque's grave. These Galena excursionists were the first white settlers known to have observed the Fourth of July on Iowa soil. The American flag was raised opposite the "tepee" of an Indian maiden in the "aristo- cratic quarter" of the Fox village, which is said to be the first time the Stars and Stripes was floated by private citizens in what is now lowa.^^^ Fourth of July steamboat excursions were always pop- ^ ular on the Upper Mississippi. In 1839 "Many Citizens" of Galena signified by an advertisement their intention of attending a Fourth of July excursion on the steamboat Pizarro from Galena to Cassville. "There will be a splen- did band of music on board the boat, and arrangements will be made for dancing; — four sets of cotillions can be accommodated. A superb dinner will be served up, with the best lemonade and liquors. Every attention will be paid, to make the day one of comfort — and to celebrate the glorious day in a style worthy of the Far West." Tick- ets for the trip cost five dollars.^^'' Steamboat excursions were also sponsored by various civic, political, fraternal, and religious groups. Of these not one was more popular than those held by Sabbath Schools. Frequently Sabbath School excursions were held [288] Mid Pleasures on Palaces on the Fourth of July. Captains reaped rich profits and warm praise — and none more than the skipper of the Uncle Toby who in 1 849 expressed a "willingness" to take the Galena Sabbath Schools to Dubuque free of charge for the Fourth. A local editor observed that such a gen- erous invitation would require more than one boat as both young and old would respond with alacrity.^^^ By 1856 youthful Winona sponsored its first annual Sabbath School outing when it chartered the Tishomingo to run a Fourth of July excursion to Minneiska and pos- sibly to Wabasha. Tickets, which included dinner, were two dollars for single gentlemen or three dollars for a lady and a gentleman. After the expenses were paid the surplus (if any) was to be donated to the various Sunday Schools. The excursionists landed to listen to the reading of the Declaration of Independence and an oration. On the re- turn journey the Tishomingo climbed a sandbar near Fountain City : the Golden State took off her passengers and was then able to pull the "noble" Tish off. A Winona editor heard many complaints about the poor food served aboard the Tishom-ingo.^^' Late in the afternoon of July 4, 1860, some thirty couples of gay young Dubuquers set out for Cassville on the Pe-osta (Captain Tom Levens commanding). A lone Dubuque newspaperman accompanied the merry party. After the heat of the day the evening ride was "heavenly", enriched as it was by the "superb music" of Torbet's String Band. For two hours "fairy feet and lightsome forms moved in harmony with the most magnificent music [289] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ever produced from a conjunct of horse hair and cat gut." The party reached Cassville about ten that evening and marched to the hotel where gay "CassviUians" were danc- ing. "All hands took a cotillion, gave three hearty cheers for the citizens of Cassville and returned to the boat." The "stag at eve" found the return trip a "little different", as the full effects of the moonlight began to be felt by the romantic souls aboard the Peosta. Wistfully, this lone wolf records: "Overcome by the delicious music, the crowd paired off, and in every shaded nook of the boat nestled a pair of turtle doves. More disconsolate and unsettled than Old Banquo in his ghostly life were we thereafter. Did we go forward to see where the boat had reached, we ran afoul of some couple about four feet apart, who of course were looking very stiff and unconcerned as if they had not spoken for a month — if we went aft to smoke a segar and watch the long sparkling wake of the boat, we were sure to be malapropos by again disturbing some cooing harmony — if we went aloft and went around the smoke stack, we again got our foot in it; if we rounded the wheel-house or ascended the texas we were always equally and severely unfortunate". When the Peosta docked at Dubuque at three o'clock in the morning the lone excur- sionist vowed to go prepared in the future "with a remedy against the frightful loneliness of the return." The Fanny Harris took Dubuquers and the Northern Light carried citizens of both Dubuque and Galena on a Fourth of July excursion to CassvUle in 1860. Upon arriv- [290] Mid Pleasures on Palaces ing at Cassville the Reverend Mr. Mason was informed that a pair of excursionists aboard the Fanny Harris "needed his services. He immediately called upon the waiting ones, and was informed that they desired to cement a long existing friendship, by the inseparable process of matrimony. The Squire went ahead, and the couple were speedily reduced to one." A Dubuque editor doubted the wisdom of a man binding himself "with the fetters of matrimony" on a day of "universal freedom" but hoped the "fates" would "avert all harmful results." '"" Fourth of July excursions continued popular after the Civil War. In 1866 the Lansing ran an excursion from Dubuque to Savanna at a charge of only one dollar for the round trip. Steamboats were usually chartered for such occasions. In 1867 the Dubuque chairman of a pros- pective excursion aboard the Itasca was obliged to inform Captain Webb that the party had "played out". It ap- pears that the company asked $400 for the use of the boat and the local committee intended to secure a party of fifty couples at eight dollars per couple. This proved to be too high for most Dubuquers and the contract was cancelled. When the Andy Johnson reached Keokuk in May of 1874 she had less than a hundred aboard from Quincy. The "slim turnout" was attributed to the fact that the weather "was more suggestive of warm stoves and heavy wearing apparel than of steamboat excursions". ^^* A somewhat difiFerent type of excursion was sponsored in 1841 by W. A. Wentworth and P. M. Pinckard, two enterprising Alton citizens. Learning that four negroes [291] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi J were to be hanged "on the point of Duncan's Island, just below St. Louis", Wentworth and Pinckard chartered the steamboat Eagle, "repaired and fitted her up for the occa- sion", and offered for the sum of $1.50 to transport citi- zens to the scene of the gruesome affair. The obliging gentlemen guaranteed to "drop along side, so that all CAN SEE WITHOUT DIFFICULTY" and "reach home the same _>> 395 evenmg . But the excursionists aboard the Eagle were by no means the earliest to witness the hanging of a criminal on the Upper Mississippi. On June 20, 1834, two steamboats brought passengers from Prairie du Chien and Galena to v witness the execution of Patrick O'Connor by the Du- buque lead miners. The steamboats swelled the list of spectators at Dubuque to not "less than one thousand".^^^ Steamboats were also employed in carrying excursionists to fairs and celebrations in nearby river towns. In 1858 Captain R. C. Gray of the steamboat Denmark advertised in a Dubuque paper that he would run an excursion to the Missouri State Fair at St. Louis. A few days later the boat left loaded to the guards with freight and crowded with passengers. The Metropolitan also advertised an excursion for the same fair. Eleven years later (in 1869) Captain Abe Hutchinson of the Phil Sheridan advertised that he would take passengers to the St. Louis Fair at two-thirds the regular rate. "This is an opportunity", an editor re- marked, "that no doubt many will improve." ^'^ In 1 867 steamboats carried excursionists from the various river towns to witness the Independence Day races at the [292] Mid Pleasures on Palaces Dubuque Driving Park. The Davenport brought a merry throng from Davenport; the Bill Hendersojz carried vis- itors from Savanna, Sabula, and Believue; the Bannock City arrived at Dubuque with excursionists from De Witt and Chnton; and the Milwaukee steamed in crowded with passengers from above. Steamboats were important fac- tors in giving Dubuque a larger crowd "than on any previous Fourth for years." In 1868 steamboats were busy carrying passengers to and from the State Fair which was held at Clinton that year.^^^ Despite the sobering effect of the Civil War a Dubuque editor declared that steamboat excursions were "great in- stitutions" and that there were not "half enough of them". Ordinarily no expense or effort was spared to make a steamboat attractive for the occasion. In 1861 the Canada was chartered to take the Catholic Institute of Dubuque to Prairie du Chien on the Fourth. An editor described the Canada as "evergreened and summer-greened until she looked like a small wooded island with an undergrowth of Star Spangled Banners fluttering their little stars and turn- ing their little faces this that and the other way to enjoy the breath of freedom. If the exterior of the Canada is pleasant to see, the interior is beautiful, decorated as the cabins are with evergreens and flags, almost lining the whole interior of the boat. A piano will pour forth its music under the hands of some of the fair musicians who will grace the party, and a vocal concert will be one of the afternoon attractions". Dance music was furnished by the Germania Band. [293] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Some steamboats carried material more exhilarating than flags and evergreens. "The Adelia^\ notes the Dubuque Herald of August 6, 1861, "took a large party to Gutten- burg last Sunday, there being over 400 persons aboard. They consumed fifty half barrels of Lager, two whiskey barrels of Lemonade and twelve hundred pounds of ice, and wanted as much more. The party was too large for the boat, and all whom we have conversed with that went, say they never want to go again. A few got sunstruck, and when the boat was about to land on her return a couple of men walked overboard." Much more decorous was the excursion of a party of teachers from Dubuque v to St. Paul in 1867. If excursion parties were well-behaved the captain would frequently reward his passengers for leaving the boat intact. In 1868 the captain of the War Eagle invited a few couples to remain and participate in "the nicest little impromptu party of the season. Six sets of cotillions took possession of the cabin and danced until two o'clock, to the music of Steward Buckley's band, which has no su- perior, and few equals, ashore or afloat. Capt. Painter with other officers of the boat moved among the guests and did their best to make the party pleasant." ^^^ Politics and politicians were responsible for some steam- boat excursions. On August 25, 185 8, the "spacious and finely fitted-up" steamboat Peosta took a large party of Dubuque citizens on an excursion to Galena to hear Stephen A. Douglas. A fare of one dollar was charged to hear the "little giant" who "personates all the elements [294] Mid Pleasures on Palaces of a masterly intellect, and is also the greatest orator of the United States". In 1860 five hundred delegates from the Chicago Con- vention that had just nominated Abraham Lincoln came all the way by railroad to Dubuque to enjoy an outing on the Mississippi. All political parties joined in welcoming the distinguished visitors who departed the next day on the steamboats Fanny Harris and Alhambra for Clinton.*"" The "Fashionable Tour" to the Falls of St. Anthony formed a unique phase of steamboating and did much to advertise the Upper Mississippi. But the hundreds of ex- cursions which yearly were run from the various river ports afforded captains a richer profit. Socially, as well as economically, steamboats played a significant part in the Upper Mississippi excursion trade. [295] Z4 Sraths of Jc^rjnpire The dramatic migration known as the westward move- ment is a colorful chapter in American history. It took almost two hundred years to plant the thirteen original colonies along the narrow Atlantic seaboard. It took less than a century to span the two thousand miles of trackless wilderness between the Allegheny Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Spurred on by hopes, enthusiasms, and am- bitions that would not brook denial, the rugged pioneers trekked westward. Grim tragedy stalked them every mile of the way. Some who died of cholera on steamboats were flung into the muddy river or left to rot in shallow graves along the bank. Others sprinkled the desert with their bleached bones — a mute but somber warning to those who followed. Not infrequently the spring thaws disclosed the congealed bodies of pioneers who had been caught the pre- vious winter in some snow-clad mountain pass. Only the strong, the resourceful, and the self-reliant were destined to survive in the conquest of a mighty empire. Steamboats played a leading role in the settlement of the Upper Mississippi Valley — itself a distinct segment in the westward movement. Indeed, the growth in popu- lation of the counties adjoining the Mississippi between St. Louis and St. Paul before 1870 presents in miniature the development of the entire Upper Mississippi Valley. Thus, [296] Paths of Empire in 1820 the area around St. Louis was well-populated; by 1830 the frontier line had reached Keokuk; by 1840 it included the mineral region around Dubuque and Galena; and by 1850 it had reached the northern boundary of Iowa. During the fifties steamboats shoved the frontier line a short distance beyond St. Paul. By 1870 a fairly dense population extended for many miles inland along both banks of the Father of Waters.^"^ Although steamboating was important other modes of transportation were used. A large percentage of the Amer- ican pioneers came overland in covered wagons — fre- quently using the Cumberland Road which extended to Columbus, Ohio, in 1833, and was completed to its west- ern terminus in Illinois by the mid -forties. Those who came in covered wagons, however, were forced to use the ferries stationed at strategic points along the Mississippi. These ferries were so crowded at times that steamboats transported large numbers of covered wagons across the river.*°^ ] A smaller number of pioneers came by the Ohio and Lower Mississippi steamboats as far as St. Louis, whence they continued northward on Upper Mississippi boats. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825,*°' the Welland Canal in 1847,*°* and the Illinois-Lake Michigan Canal in 1848 *°^ provided still another way of reaching the Upper Mississippi before the coming of the railroad. Somewhat less numerous, but fully as interesting was the migration of foreigners. While most of the American- born pioneers probably came overland, it is equally true [297] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi that the majority of the foreigners, who came to America and the Upper Mississippi Valley between 1830 and 1870, used the steamboat for all or part of their journey. Foreign- ers came westward over four highways : two of these, the St. Lawrence River and the Erie Canal, served as important arteries for the Great Lakes. The Pennsylvania Canal fed the Ohio River until the construction of the railroad across the mountains supplanted it. The Missis- sippi from New Orleans northward to the Falls of St. Anthony afforded a cheap highway for both Europeans and Americans who preferred a route that would not necessitate the constant transfer of trunks, baggage, and household goods. All of these routes to the Upper Mis- sissippi were affected by the construction of the railroad westward to the Mississippi.^"^ Only six thousand miles of railroads had been con- structed in the United States by 1848. It was not until 1852 that the Michigan Southern and the Michigan Cen- tral gave Chicago through rail service to the Atlantic seaboard. In the meantime, while Chicago was impatiently awaiting the coming of the railroad from the East, a num- ber of railroads were projected westward to the Mississippi. On February 22, 1854, the neigh of the iron horse was first heard on the Father of Waters when the Rock Island was completed to the Mississippi opposite Davenport. This was the first railroad to link the Mississippi with the East, and there was general rejoicing throughout the country.*"^ During the year 185 5 the railroad reached the Mississippi at three different points opposite Iowa. On March 17th [298] Paths of Empire the road was opened for traffic between Chicago and East Burhngton. Ten *'superb" passenger cars drawn by the "huge and gallant iron horse" arrived opposite Burlington on May 31st with Lewis Cass, Stephen A. Douglas, and Mayor Boone of Chicago aboard to help celebrate the com- pletion of this second link with the East.**'® Early in June, 185 5, the Illinois Central reached Dun- leith opposite Dubuque. By a previous arrangement the Illinois Central had agreed to construct the road from Freeport to Dunleith and use this track with the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad. The latter ran between Free- port and Chicago, providing direct communication be- tween the mineral region and the Great Lakes. The following December the iron horse of the Galena & Chi- cago Union puffed proudly up to the banks of the Mississippi at Fulton to slake his thirst in the icy waters of the Father of Waters opposite Clinton. In the space of a single year this railroad (now known as the North Western) forged two links between the Mississippi and Chicago.*"' The mad race of the "robber barons" to monopolize the trade of the country west of the Mississippi did not end in 185 5. On January 31, 1856, the Burlington tapped the Mississippi at Quincy;*^° in 18 57 Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien were welded together by iron rails ;*'^^ and in 18 58 a railroad linked Milwaukee with La Crosse.*^' Thus, by 1860 seven Upper Mississippi ports had been united with the Atlantic seaboard by the railroad. The withering effect of the panic of 18 57 prevented the railroad from reach- [299] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ing other points along the Upper Mississippi until later. Meanwhile, only three points below Quincy (St. Louis, Cairo, and Memphis) had been joined to the East by rail. New Orleans had no direct connection with the Atlantic cities, being forced to secure access to the East by means of the lines tapping the Illinois Central at Memphis, Cairo, or Chicago.*^^ Between 1850 and 1870 the westward trek of immi- grants was influenced by the unprecedented railroad con- struction in the Mississippi Valley. But steamboating on the Upper Mississippi continued to flourish, since no com- petitive north and south system had been constructed. St. Paul did not greet the iron horse until 1867, when it was linked through La Crosse with the Great Lakes.*^* Instead of hindering, the railroads actually augmented steamboating, transporting carloads of immigrants to the various ports along the Mississippi to be carried upstream. After the seventies, however, the railroads linked St. Louis J with St. Paul, bracketed the river to gradually cut oflf southbound commerce, and absorbed the east and west bound traffic with a network of bridges which trussed the river at strategic points. By 1890 the Diamond Jo Line (the lone survivor of twenty years of cut-throat competition for the freight and passenger trade) was unable to declare a reasonable dividend. But the heyday of steamboating between 1850 and 1870 witnessed a veritable Armada of palatial river craft, carrying their tribute of settlers to the States of the Upper Mississippi Valley. [300] 35 Tliey Orossecl tJke iViississippi "Westward the course of empire takes its way", said Bishop Berkeley as Englishmen sailed westward to found new homes and culture in America. But the exodus of Englishmen across the Atlantic pales before the American migrations into the Mississippi Valley a century later. Cold census figures for 1860 show that the main-traveled highway for this mighty army of occupation followed the Ohio River and the Great Lakes. Thus, between 1830 and 1860 the five States of the Old Northwest jumped in population from 1,470,018 to 6,926,884. In fact the gain in population in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri al- most equaled the increase in population of the whole United States from the settlement of Jamestown in 1607 to the election of Jefferson in 1800. The supremacy of the Upper Mississippi Valley is demonstrated by the fact that when the westward-bound pioneers reached the Mississippi at St. Louis they spread out fan-like in every direction : some continued westward; others moved south; but most of the migrants headed northward. By 1860 the 2,028,948 inhabitants of Mis- souri, Iowa, and Minnesota exceeded by almost four hundred thousand the total population of Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. In 1860 Iowa surpassed Texas in [301] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi population; while Minnesota could count more settlers than Kansas and Nebraska with Colorado thrown in for good measure/^^ Visitors from foreign lands were amazed at the migra- tory tendencies of the Americans. "The American agri- culturalists", observed Charles Augustus Murray in 1839, "seem to have little local attachment. A New Englander or Virginian, though proud and vain of his state, will move off to Missouri or Illinois, and leave the home of his child- hood without any visible effort or symptom of regret, if by so doing he can make ten dollars where he before made eight. I have seen such repeated instances of this that I cannot help considering it a national feature." "° "The Americans are such locomotives themselves", said Captain Frederick Marryat, "that it is useless to attempt the incognito in any part except the west side of the Mis- sissippi, or the Rocky Mountains. Once known at New York, and you are known every where, for in every place you will meet with some one whom you have met walk- ing in Broadway." *" The "passion for turning up new soils and clearing the wilderness" appeared to increase with years. Basil Hall observed very little individual regard for "particular spots". "There is a strong love of country". Hall admitted, "but this is quite a different affair, as it seems to be en- tirely unconnected with any permanent fondness for one spot more than another." *^* Nor was this tendency to migrate unnoticed by Amer- icans. "What a restless, but enterprising spirit character- [302] They Crossed the Mississippi izes the American people!" exclaimed an editor of the forties. "They are ever ready to follow to the world's end the bright promises of ambition, or wealth, or charity." *^® In 1843 James K. Paulding described this migratory tendency of the Americans in the following words : "Our people have more of the locomotive principle than any other not excepting the Israelites and Arabs. Our fore- fathers wandered here and their jwsterity have been wandering ever since. But the people of the 'Great West' beat all the rest together. I hardly met a man, or indeed a woman who had not traveled from Dan to Beersheba, and back again, and 'settled', as they are pleased to term it, in half a dozen places, some hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles distant from each other." *'° A bird's-eye view of this movement may be obtained from the musty newspaper files of the period. Since Illinois attracted the largest number of settlers one may examine the influx into that State. "The rapid tide of emigration — the rushing flood of population that is con- stantly pouring in upon our Western borders, has been to us, an oft-told tale", declared the editor of the Chicago Democrat in November, 1833. "To it we have never given full faith and credit. We have supposed it but the fruit of an overheated brain, or the offspring of uncontrolled exaggeration." Suddenly the "reality" of the westward movement was impressed upon this "Doubting Thomas". "Chicago, nay the very spot of ground where we are now writing", he wrote, "a few months since was the abode of the savage; and where are now seen a long line of [303] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi habitations for wliite men, a short time ago was unoc- cupied save by the wigwam of the Indian. The change has been wrought by magic. More than eight hundred souls may now be found within the Hmits that within a few short months since included less than one tenth of that number." Seven years later Chicago counted 4479 people within its limits; in 1860 the census revealed 108,206."'' The editor of another Illinois newspaper, the Sangamo Journal, was equally impressed by the rush of emigrants into Illinois in 1833. "Emigrants are coming by thou- sands into Illinois, and from all quarters of the Union. — On Friday last fifteen large wagons, from St. Lawrence County, N. York, loaded with emigrants, arrived in our village, and drove up in front of the market house, in grand style. — These emigrants had been about ten weeks on the journey, and enjoyed good health during the time. They design to settle in Sangamo County — to which we bid them welcome. — A few days previous a company of emigrants from Vermont for Green County, passed thro' this place. Our northern counties are daily receiving in- habitants from New York, Ohio, and the Eastern States. Kentucky is pouring out her population upon us — which generally passes over to the military tract. Tennessee also contributes largely to the current of emigration; and even some of the wandering sons of Illinois, who were driven oflf to the Paradise of Arkansaw by a certain cold winter, are bending their weary steps back to the sucker land. We calculate that Illinois will increase her number of inhab- [304] They Crossed the Mississippi itants the present season by emigration between 20 and 30,000."*-- A Kentucky paper chronicled the passing of large num- bers over the Ohio River into IlHnois in 1833. "The number of persons that daily pass thro' this place, on their way to the State of lUinois is immense. Many of these people seem to be much more wealthy and respectable, than those we have observed moving to that State in former years. A company passed, in which were five large well built and heavily laden wagons, and six neat two horse carriages, filled with females. The fertile lands of Illinois must invite men of enterprise and capital; and e'er long we expect that this young State will take a con- spicuous rank among her sisters of the Union." A few years later over two hundred wagons passed through Ve- vay, Indiana, from Kentucky "all full of emigrants, dis- couraged from continuing among these lawless people. "*^^ Emigrant guides and books of travel yield similar pic- tures. Captain Marryat was amazed at the stream of emigration flowing from North Carolina into Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri during the thirties. "Every hour", he declared, "you meet with a caravan of emigrants from that sterile but healthy state. Every night the banks of the Ohio are lighted up with their fires, where they have bivouacked previously to crossing the river; but they are not like the poor German or Irish settlers; they are well prepared, and have nothing to do, apparently, but to sit down upon their land. These caravans consist of two or three covered waggons, full of women and children, fur- [305] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi niture, and other necessaries, each drawn by a team of horses; brood mares, with foals by their sides, following; half a dozen or more cows, flanked on each side by the men with their long rifles on their shoulders; sometimes a boy or two, or a half -grown girl on horseback. Occa- sionally they wear an appearance of more refinement and cultivation, as well as wealth, the principals travelling in a sort of worn-out old carriage, the remains of the com- petence of former days." ^"* Not infrequently emigrants came by covered wagon to some port like Buffalo or Pittsburgh and there contracted for passage on a Great Lakes steamer or Ohio River craft. James Hall, editor of the Illinois Monthly Magazine^ urged emigrants to travel by steamboat, particularly if they con- templated coming west in the spring. "The streams are then swollen. The largest rivers rise from thirty to fifty feet above the low water mark; rocks, snags, sawyers, and sandbars, those formidable obstacles to navigation, are now all buried far below the surface; the steamboat glides without interruption from port to port, ascends even the smallest river, and finds her way to places far distant from the ordinary channels of navigation. Business is now active; the number of boats are increased, to meet the demand for transportation; and the traveller by water meets with no delay; while the hapless wight, who be- strides an unlucky nag, is wading through ponds and quagmires, enjoying the delights of log bridges and wooden causeways, and vainly invoking the name of M'Adam, as he plunges deeper and deeper into mire and misfortune." ^" [306] They Crossed the Mississippi James Baird observed that a family of five or six could go on the deck of a Great Lakes steamer in a comfortable manner during the summer for twenty dollars. A Mary- land household of fifteen reached Wheeling after a three hundred mile journey in their four-horse wagon at a total cost of seventy-five dollars. The master of the only steam- boat then in port demanded $250 for transporting the wagon, baggage, and horses, and the seven cabin and eight deck passengers to St. Louis. The head of the family finally secured passage for $160. Instead of a month's journey overland he was able to reach St. Louis in a week.*"*' Edmund Flagg watched with deep interest while the steamboat discharged emigrant families along the banks of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. A party of emigrants from the State of Vermont were "landed near the mouth of the Wabash, one of whom was a pretty, delicate female, with an infant boy in her arms. They had been deck- passengers^ and we had seen none of them before ; yet their situation could not but excite interest in their welfare. Poor woman! thought I, as our boat left them gazing anxiously after us from the inhospitable bank, little do you dream of the trials and privations to which your destiny conducts, and the hours of bitter retrospection which are to come over your spirit like a blight, as, from these cheerless solitudes, you cast back many a lingering thought to your dear, distant home in New England; whose very mountain-crags and fierce storms of winter, harsh and unwelcome though they might seem to the stranger, were yet pleasant to you." [307] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi A little farther on this compassionate pilgrim watched the boat discharge another group at a "desolate-looking spot" upon the Missouri shore. Flagg noted "men, women, and little ones, with slaves, household stuff, pots, kettles, dogs, implements of husbandry, and all the paraphernalia of the backwood's farm heaped up promiscuously in a heterogeneous mass among the undergrowth beneath the lofty trees."*" Prior to 1850 an emigrant who was not blessed with considerable funds was more likely to jolt his family westward over the rough roads of the interior than to take passage by boat. The overland trek of the covered wagon continued throughout the forties and fifties. "Hundreds of muslin- covered wagons, bearing wives and children, and house- hold goods, and driven by stalwart men, seeking a new home in the mighty West, cross the Mississippi at this point weekly", declared the editor of the Kock Islander in 1855. "It is a tide which knows no ebb, but still keeps flowing, ever flowing, onward toward the rich prairies of Nebraska and the setting sun." *^^ The fording of streams and creeks was of almost daily occurrence : ferry operators were kept busy from dawn to dusk. During a single month in 1854 fully 1743 wagons passed a point beyond Peoria, Illinois, all bound for lowa.*^^ The following year a westward bound immigrant watched forty-nine wagons from Michigan, "bound for Iowa", cross an Illinois stream. This man, who had passed "oceans of wagons", declared that it was a "common oc- currence to see twenty or thirty of these form an [308] They Crossed the Mississippi encampment at night". An lUinois editor viewed with no httle alarm the departure of twenty-five wagons from a "single town in Northern Illinois" destined for the Iowa country across the Mississippi/^" Throughout the fifties the ferries were busy day and night transporting the emigrants across the Mississippi. St. Louis and Hannibal in Missouri, Alton and Quincy in Illinois, Keokuk, Fort Madison, Burlington, Davenport, Dubuque, and McGregor in Iowa, and La Crosse, Winona, and St. Paul farther upstream were favorite crossings. The ferry formed an important segment in facilitating the movement of pioneers westward. A few samples of their activity may be given. A ferry had served the needs of Burlington since the opening of the Black Hawk Purchase in 1833. During the first two weeks of October, 1846, a total of 5 82 wagons were ferried across the Mississippi River at this place.*^^ During the year 1854 the steam ferry at this point was kept "constantly in motion from morning till night and frequently till midnight". According to an eyewitness the Illinois bank was covered every evening with the "tents, wagons and cattle" of emigrants waiting to be ferried across to Iowa.**' During 185 5 the Burlington Telegraph chronicled the passage of immigrant teams through that city at the rate of six or seven hundred a day. "We have these facts from the ferry folks", the editor declared, "who keep a sort of running register. About one team in a hundred is labelled 'Nebraska'; all the rest are marked 'Iowa'." *^^ [309] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Late in the fall of 185 5 a Muscatine editor designated Iowa as the "Canaan for the children of the eastern and middle states." Scores of covered wagons were noted lin- ing the Illinois bank of the Mississippi awaiting the ferry as it puffed "to and fro, carrying westward at every trip five wagons" all bound for the Hawkeye State/^* Perhaps no point exceeded Davenport in ferry activity. "Our ferry is busy all hours in passing over the large can- vas-backed wagons, densely populated with becoming lowaians", observed the Davenport Commercial in 1854. "An army of mechanics have added 300 buildings to this city during the past season, yet every nook and corner of them are engaged before they are finished; but our hos- pitable citizens will not allow any to suffer for want of shelter. In several instances the citizens have, like true aborigines, withdrawn to close quarters, and given their parlors to those who have come to make their homes among us and were unable to find dwellings. There is not a vacant dwelling or business room in the city." *"^ The following year the Davenport levee presented an "unusually stirring appearance" to an eyewitness on the opposite shore. "We counted no less than twenty-five white-tented wagons ranged round near the ferry, while some twenty farm wagons stood here and there among a small sea of reposing cattle. All the way up Brady street was a row of these wheeled tents while some half dozen were visible on the steamer Davenport, just then crossing the river. And all these, so far as we could learn, were bound for Iowa." ''' [310] They Crossed the Mississippi To the north, the westward rush of land seekers caused the Dubuque Tribtute to exclaim : "Daily — yes, hourly — immigrants are arriving in this and neighboring counties from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. All are in raptures at the lovely sights which here greet their gaze; and they with one accord yield the palm to Western Iowa for lovely prairies, beautiful groves of timber, and mean- dering streams of water." Such items when printed in papers back East, although sometimes rather exaggerated, must have served as bait for those who were wondering whether they should follow Horace Greeley's advice and "Go West!" ^^'^ Of the rush of settlers into northern Iowa an account in the Dubuque Reporter reads : "Never before, in the history of this northwestern region of the United States, has there been a more gratifying spectacle than that now presented to those who take an interest in its progress and welfare. Viewing the almost countless throng of immi- grants that crowd our streets, and learning that a similar scene is visible at every other point along the Mississippi border of Iowa, the spectator is naturally led to infer that a general exodus is taking place in the Eastern States of the Union, as well as in those that, but a few years ago, were denominated the West. "Day by day the endless procession moves on — a mighty army of invasion, which, were its objects other than peace, and a holy, fraternal, cordial league with its predecessors, their joint aim to conquer this fair and allur- ing domain from the wild dominion of nature would strike [311] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi terror into the boldest hearts. They come by hundreds and thousands from the hills and valleys of New England, bringing with them that same untiring, indomitable energy and perseverance, that have made their native States the admiration of the world, and whose influence is felt wherever enterprise has a votary or commerce spreads a sail; with intellects sharpened to the keenest edge, and brawny arms to execute the firm resolves of their iron will, and gathering fresh accessions, as they sweep across the intermediate country, from the no less thrifty and hardy population of New York, Ohio, and Indiana. Tar- rying no longer amongst us than is necessary for them to select their future home, away they hie to the capacious and inviting plains, that spread themselves interminably, ready to yield, almost without preparation, their rich latent treasures. "Soon will be seen innumerable the farmer's comfortable abode, and the frequent thriving village, with its 'peo- ple's college,' as its highest worldly pride, and close at hand the house of God, with spire pointing to heaven, as if to remind the worshippers of the source to which they are indebted for all the store of blessings they enjoy. And soon, too, in the wake of such a mighty rush and all its soul-swelling consequences, will follow the laying out and construction of those great works that will link us to the wide-spread members of our confederacy, over which the iron horse, more terrible in the fierceness of his strength than the war-steed of Job, will snort his triumphant ha, ha ! as he bounds along in his tireless race. Science, in turn, [312] They Crossed the Mississippi will rear her loftiest fanes, and plant deep in the hearts of her disciples the seeds of a deathless devotion to the insti- tutions of our common country." *^^ The same bustle and activity was noted in the interior counties of Iowa. Oskaloosa was overwhelmed with the influx of emigrants. "Our town is almost constantly thronged with mover's wagons and herds of cattle", ex- claimed a resident in 1851.^^^ Three years later the Oska- loosa Times noted the passing of covered wagons from "early morning till night-fall", and estimated at least a thousand persons passing through Oskaloosa every week.**° The Galena Advertiser expressed surprise at the rapidity with which northern Iowa was increasing in population. "Allamakee and Winneshiek counties", it prophesied, "are destined to become among the most wealthy in the State." *" Some of these settlers had banded together in emigrant companies, hoping by lumping their resources to eliminate some of the hardships to be encountered on the frontier. Such a company was formed in Transboro, New Jersey, for the purpose of raising funds to enable fifty families to proceed to Iowa. Each family was required to pay three hundred dollars into the general treasury. Of the fiftee-n thousand dollars thus raised, the sum of twelve hundred and fifty dollars was allowed for transportation to Iowa. The company intended to purchase five thousand acres of government land and work it in common the first year, or until houses were built to accommodate all. Then each family was to receive one hundred acres.**' [313] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi In 1856 an advance agent for the Stafford Western Emigration Company of Massachusetts arrived at Musca- tine to seek the "best points" for his company — an organ- ization composed of 8 5 persons "equipped with sawmills, carpenter tools and farming implements of all kinds, fully prepared to establish themselves and build up a town in a few weeks." These emigrants were indeed well organized, "having a constitution and rules of business for carrying on all branches peculiar to the West. We can readily imagine", commented the Muscatine Joitmal of May 23, 1856, "the purchase of a large tract of land and the im- mediate erection of dwelling houses and a village of 850 inhabitants springing into existence as by magic." Thoughtful observers were not slow to grasp the signi- ficance of this westward trend of population into the Upper Mississippi Valley. Perhaps Henry Clay would have felt genuine concern for his great Compromise of 1850 had he discussed the westward movement with a certain Iowa editor. After pointing out that the movement to the Hawkeye State was not made up of foreigners but of "the steady, well educated and industrious farmers of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other northern states", the Muscatine Democratic Enquirer concluded: "From the beginning of the century, the middle and the northern states have perverted the legislation to selfish ends. It will not be long, thank providence, ere the Valley of the Mississippi — the garden spot of the world — will wield a controlling influence in national affairs. Con- nected as the states are by fine navigable streams and social [314] They Crossed the Mississippi and political ties, and extending through several degrees of latitude, they will when the day of their predominance comes, put an end to that system of local and partial legislation which has done more to weaken the bond of union and obliterate the reverence of the people for the constitution, than all other causes combined." **^ The exodus of native sons and daughters from the sea- board States into the Upper Mississippi Valley had a salutary effect on steamboating. In the first place, a good- ly number of emigrants used the steamboat for all or a part of the way to their new homes. Secondly, steamboats as well as ferries profited by transporting the covered wagon pioneers across the Mississippi. Thirdly, many American pioneers used the steamboat to "spy" out the land before bringing their families and household posses- sions westward by covered wagon. Still others followed in the van of the covered wagon to join those who had gone before, and so the growth in population led to an ever increasing passenger service for steamboats. Finally, the sturdy American pioneer, together with the immigrants from foreign lands, soon provided the heavy shipments of ^ golden grain which distinguished the last period of steam- boating on the Upper Mississippi. [315] 36 On file 1 rail of f Jke ImimLigranis "What is the best Landing Port for the West?" queried a prospective immigrant of John Regan who had emigrated to northern Illinois from Ayrshire in 1842. "New Or- leans", replied Regan, "if you wish the most direct route. But if not encumbered with much luggage or a family, by landing at New York, thence sailing up the Hudson, taking the Grand Western Canal through the state of New York, and then steaming it on the great lakes to Chicago, Milwaukie, or Detroit, you may no doubt get a better idea of the greatness and richness of the country. There is also another way by Montreal, up Lake Ontario, and through the Welland canal into Lake Erie, which is said to be as cheap as by New York. Another way still, is by Philadelphia, over the Alleghany Mountains to Pittsburg on the Ohio river. Still, New Orleans is by far the most direct and the cheapest route for the States of Iowa, Illi- nois, Indiana, Ohio, and Minnesota." "* The hordes of foreign immigrants that journeyed along the four routes described by John Regan provided Upper Mississippi steamboats with a colorful as well as a profitable cargo, although they were somewhat less numerous than native Americans. Since the passenger traffic was the dom- inant feature of steamboating between 1850 and 1870 the foreigner played a conspicuous role during these decades. [316] On the Trail of the Immigrants The census of 1860 revealed 1,673,694 of the 4,136,175 foreign-born in the United States residing in the six Mid- dle Atlantic States. Seven-eighths of these were in New York and Pennsylvania, where lay the great ports of New York and Philadelphia through which most of the foreigners passed. The port of Boston exerted the same influence on the population of the Bay State. Massachu- setts attracted 260,114 of the 469,338 foreigners who had settled in the New England States. Thus, the twelve North Atlantic States retained fully one-half of the foreign im- migrants. These usually were of the poorer class who arrived penniless and promptly availed themselves of the many jobs open to artisans, unskilled laborers, and servants. Later they might have saved enough to continue their migrations westward and purchase a tract of government land for one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre.*" The remainder of the immigrants moved westward: serving as laborers in canal and railroad construction; finding employment in the rapidly sprouting cities of the West; or squatting on the rich lands of the interior. Dur- ing the late thirties Captain Frederick Marryat noted the small wooden shacks of newly arrived Irish workmen on the Erie Canal. A family dwelt in one of these "dog- kennels" that measured fourteen feet by ten. According to Marryat there was but "one bed, on which slept the man, his wife, and family." Above the bed were some planks where seven laborers slept "without any mattress, or even straw, to lie upon ... I looked for the pig, and there he was, sure enough, under the bed." [317] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi At Pittsburgh during the thirties Charles Augustus Mur- ray was ever aware of the "proudly eminent" voice of the Irish whether raised in "fun, bargain, or wrath!" Murray also saw many "broad-faced and broad-sterned, fair- haired butchers" whose nationality he could easily guess without looking at the boards over their stalls bearing such names as Schmidt, Reinhardt, and Hermann/*^ Immigrants came from England, Scotland, and Wales; from France and Switzerland; from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Holland; and from two score countries besides. But the Irish and Germans predominated. In 1860 Pittsburgh contained 30,000 Americans, 9297 Irish, 6049 Germans, and a scattering of others. The population of Cincinnati was almost equally divided between native and foreign-born, the Germans outnumbering the Irish more than two to one. St. Louis contained 61,390 Americans ^^, and 96,086 foreigners — 50,510 of the latter being Ger- man. In both Chicago and Milwaukee the foreign-born exceeded the native-born, with Germans predominating. Well might Captain Marryat remark that cities in the United States grew up to more importance in ten years than they did in Europe in a century.*^^ The westward flow of foreign immigrants is attested by the 1,197,100 found in the five States of the Old North- west in 1860. "Do not the Alleghany Mountains and Ni- agara stand as giant watchers at its entrance, to open the portals of that new garden of Paradise, the latest home of the human race?" queried Fredrika Bremer in 1853. "The people of Europe pour in through the cities of the [318] On the Trail of the Immigrants eastern coast. Those are the portals of the outer court; but the West is the garden where the rivers carry along with them gold, and where stands the tree of Life and of Death." ''' The census of 1860 showed Missouri, Iowa, and Min- nesota with 325,350 foreign-born within their borders. Minnesota attracted twice as many foreigners as the four South Atlantic States; Iowa's accretions almost equaled those of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee combined; Missouri gained more than the total of Alabama, Missis- sippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. The popularity of these eight States of the Upper Mississippi Valley is clearly demonstrated by the heavy influx of immigrants.**^ The St. Lawrence was the most northerly migration trail to the Mississippi. From Quebec an emigrant might reach Montreal in fourteen hours at a cost of five shillings. An additional ten shillings carried him to Kingston. Pas- sage over Lake Ontario in a regular mail line steamer to Toronto or Hamilton could be procured for around twen- ty-two shillings. Emigrants were warned to drink "spar- ingly" of the waters of the St. Lawrence, since they had a "strong tendency to produce bowel complaints in strang- ers." ''' The crest of the immigrant wave swept up the St. Law- rence during the year 1847 when 74,408 arrivals were chronicled at the ports of Quebec and Montreal. It was estimated that fully one-fourth of those who adopted this route died of ship fever while crossing the ocean or in pass- [319] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ing up the St. Lawrence. Niles' Register had this account of the tragic events in 1847 : "The poor creatures die as they pass up the river St. Lawrence; even such as appear healthy when they leave Quebec, often expire on their passage. Montreal, Kingston, Toronto, the various towns on the Bay of Quinte, and other towns with which there is regular communication, are filled with the sick and dy- ing." On August 22, 1847, there were 2048 patients on Grosse Island alone. During the preceding week 288 had died and the number of deaths in the hospital and tents since the opening of the season totaled 2126.*^^ Many would-be settlers, however, traveled this route to reach the western States. At Buffalo they helped swell the endless stream flowing westward through the Erie Canal. "Day after day the train on the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad has come in, stretched to the length of a mon- strous serpent, and filled so full of German emigrants, that it seems like cruelty to compel a single engine to drag such enormous loads in such excessively hot weather. 'We learn that they choose the route, via Montreal, to evade the somewhat onerous requirements of the port laws and regulations at New York. From Montreal, they come up through Lake Ontario to Lewiston, thence to the city by the railroad. When they arrive here, they encamp any where on the street side, where they can find empty build- ings, which they occupy during a few days detention; but their stay is generally short, as they s^m to have made up their minds whither they were going before they left home." *" [320] On the Trail of the Immigrants The opening of the Welland Canal in 1847 inaugurated a new era in transportation via the St. Lawrence. During the year 1848 the steamer Free Trader made several trips from Quebec to Chicago without trans-shipment, and Alice Mann believed emigrants proceeding to the western States would find this route "much shorter and cheaper" than any other. During the fifties, however, fewer trav- elers were recorded by this route, the peak for the decade being 53,180 in 1854."'' Most of the immigrants who docked at the port of New York steamed up the Hudson to Albany and then floated westward over the Erie Canal. During periods of intense competition the fare up the Hudson was sometimes as low as twenty-five cents. At Albany they were absorbed in the flow of settlers from New England and New York, who, according to Robert M. Baird, approached Buffalo by stage or wagon on the road from Albany or by the Erie Canal. Early in the thirties six transportation lines were in operation on the canal, besides a number of short - run lines and boats belonging to individuals. Immigrants could leave Albany for Buffalo almost hourly. The price of passage in a packet boat was about four cents per mile; and the common or "line" boats charged from two to two and one-half cents per mile. Immigrants generally paid much less. At Buffalo the immigrant might set out by steamer for Detroit. Cabin passage for this trip cost eight dollars per person while a deck passenger paid only four dollars. [321] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi During one week in June, 1833, seven steamboats arrived at Detroit from Buffalo with 2610 passengers/^* Ole Rynning believed the "best route" was by way of New York. "It is doubtless cheaper and quicker to go by way of New Orleans; but it is too warm and unhealthy there in the summer, and it is not advisable to immigrate at any other time of the 3'^ear to unbroken land without houses. I must also remark that New Orleans is noted for having the worst people in the United States." Rynning declared that most Norwegians secured transportation from New York to Buffalo by steamer and canal boat for from three to four dollars, baggage included. The tariff from Buffalo to Chicago ranged from nine to twelve dollars.*" The most distant ports on the Great Lakes witnessed this colorful pageant of native Americans and foreigners. At Sault Ste. Marie, Lawrence Oliphant found two hun- dred strangers (chiefly European and American emigrants) seated upon "piles of boxes and carpet-bags" waiting to board the steamer. "Fragile, delicate-looking ladies, with pink and white complexions, black ringlets, bright dresses, and thin satin shoes, reclined gracefully upon carpet-bags, and presided over pyramids of band-boxes. Square- built German fraus sat astride huge rolls of bedding dis- playing stout legs, blue worsted stockings, and hob-nailed shoes. Sallow Yankees, with straw-hats, swallow-tailed coats, and pumps, carried their little all in their pockets; and having nothing to lose and everything to gain in the western world to which they were bound, whittled, [322] On the Trail of the Immigrants smoked, or chewed cheerfully. Hard-featured, bronzed miners, having spent their earnings in the bowling saloons at the Sault, were returning to the bowels of the earth gloomily. There were tourists in various costumes, doing the agreeable to the ladies; and hardy pioneers of the woods, in flannel shirts, and trousers supported by leathern belts, and supplied with bowies, were telling tough yarns, and astonishing the weak minds of the emigrants, who represented half the countries of Europe." *^^ Few people except immigrants, according to Ole Raeder, were willing to be packed away in the hold of a Hudson River or Great Lakes steamboat."^ But cramped quarters, declared Captain Marryat, meant little to Irish immi- grants. "A single bed will contain one adult and four little ones at one end, and another adult and two half- grown at the other. But they are all packed away so snug and close, and not one venturing to move, there appears to be room for all." At Dunkirk, New York, Marryat saw the boat put off a lone emigrant family. '*I watched them carefully count- ing over their little property, from the iron tea-kettle to the heavy chest. It was their whole fortune, and inval- uable to them; the nest-egg by which, with industry, their children were to rise to affluence. They remained on the wharf as we shoved off, and no wonder they seemed em- barrassed and at a loss. There was the baby in the cradle, the young children holding fast to their mother's skirt, while the elder had seated themselves on a log, and watched the departure of the steam-vessel; — the bedding, cooking [323] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi utensils, &c., all lying in confusion, and all to be housed before night. Weary did they look, and weary indeed they were, and most joyful would they be when they at last should gain their resting-place." *^* But to many the Great Lakes proved a final resting place from whose bourne no migrant ever returned. "Not long since", Fredrika Bremer relates, "a vessel of emigrants, mostly Germans, was destroyed by fire on Lake Erie, and hundreds of these poor people found a grave in its waters. Among those who were taken up were seven or eight couples, locked in each other's arms. Death could not divide them." ''' During the fifties William Ferguson saw a train of Ger- man immigrants who had just debarked from a Great Lakes steamer start for the West on the Michigan Central. "Their accommodation is very poor — merely common box freight-cars, with the rudest seats fitted up in them. There are no windows, so no light or air, unless they keep the sliding doors in the sides always open. I do not wonder that multitudes died from cholera in these trains last sum- mer, or that they die still in numbers; coming into them, as they often do, from the foul holds of the ships, — disease already upon them." ^^^ Immigrants by the thousands made their way westward over the Pennsylvania Canal. A Philadelphia newspaper noted with no little pride the following "Glorious Acces- sion" to the Stars and Stripes. "Among a number of emi- grants arrived at Philadelphia, was an old man in the fifty [324] On the Trail of the Immigrants eighth year of his age, who had with him ten sons, four daughters, five daughters in law, three sons in law, twenty eight grand children, and two great grand children. He was smoking his pipe quite leisurely, and seemed happy. They intend to locate themselves in the western country and till the soil. Success to them." ^" From Philadelphia or Baltimore the route lay by railroad to Columbia, Pennsylvania, thence by canal boat up the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers to Hollidaysburg. A por- tage railroad of inclined planes and stationary engines then crossed the Alleghenies to Johnstown. The journey of al- most 400 miles to Pittsburgh was continued in canal boats by way of the Conemaugh and Allegheny rivers. The fare from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh ranged from seven to ten dollars and the time consumed from four to eight days.*®^ To Iowa over the Pennsylvania Canal went the Dutch to establish Pella.*^^ By this route also went many of the Swedes to found New Sweden in the Hawkeye State.*®* Let us follow a group of immigrants over this route. On June 30, 1845, two hundred Swiss landed at Balti- more after a stormy voyage of forty-nine days. A kindly German gave some of the company lodging on the attic floor of his home for three cents a night and charged them twelve and one-half cents for meals. Competitive bids for transportation to Pittsburgh were secured from three shippers : the contract was awarded to one, Abraham Cuyk. The Swiss paid twenty francs for each passenger, children four to twelve going at half fare, while those under four went free. A hundred pounds of baggage was [325] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi allowed each grown person, the residue being carried at the rate of $1.00 per hundred. The Swiss enjoyed the novelty of their first railroad trip, traveling with the "speed of the wind" from Balti- more to Columbia. Here they clambered aboard canal boats to enjoy a good night's rest before setting out up the Susquehanna River. "One may imagine", wrote one of the party, "how 30 to 35 human beings were pressed like herrings into a space 1 2 by 7 feet, many had no room even to sit and were obliged to stand all night as if they were sentenced to the stocks." The Swiss were astounded at the engineering involved in constructing the Pennsylvania Canal. Sometimes their boats were drawn up and let down steep inclines by a wire rope connected with a stationary steam engine. Locomo- tives or horses were used on the levels, while down easy inclines they sailed "fast enough" without assistance. Meals were procured while passing through the locks, the prices depending, apparently, upon the eagerness of the travelers to buy. It required a week to reach Pittsburgh. As they floated into the city the Swiss yodelled a few songs "which attracted hundreds of people to the border of the canal and to the windows of the adjoining houses." A contract was made with a steamboat captain at Pitts- burgh to carry the party to St. Louis. A fare of two dollars was charged for each person over fourteen. Chil- dren of eight to fourteen years went at half fare, while those under eight were to be carried free. On the eve of their departure the wife of one of the colonists was "safely [326] On the Trail of the Immigrants delivered in greatest quietness of a boy. Mother and child were well, although they lay in a berth near the boilers where the heat was smothering." It required six days for the steamboat to reach Cincin- nati. Here the Swiss learned that their boat would go no farther, and so their contract was automatically cancelled. Their resources were almost depleted, but they managed to secure a more favorable rate to St. Louis, which they reached in five days. From this point they journeyed by steamboat to Galena, Illinois, and thence proceeded over- land to their new homes in Wisconsin.*®^ -•e.^^^0*- Despite the fact that New Orleans was said to harbor the "worst people in the United States" the southern route had many proponents.*^^ James Peck declared that those who resided within "convenient distance of a seaport" would find it both "safe and economical" to ship their surplus clothing, bedding, books, etc., by way of New Orleans, especially if they steered for the navigable waters of the Mississippi.*®^ John B. Newhall also advocated the southern route for emigrants to Missouri, Iowa, and southern Illinois, since the expense was much less and there were fewer difficulties to contend with than by any other route. Upon his arrival in New Orleans, Newhall pointed out, the immigrant could leave his family on board the ship until he secured steam- boat passage up the Mississippi. A little blooded stock could also be carried by way of New Orleans.*®^ Prior to 1845 it required about two weeks for a steam- [327] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi boat to complete the journey from New Orleans to St. Louis. After that year fast boats plied between these ports in from six to eight days. Cabin fare from New Orleans to St. Louis was twenty-five dollars, while freight cost around sixty-two and one-half cents per hundred. Since most immigrants could not aj0ford cabin passage they us- ually booked as deck passengers. Adults were carried for three or four dollars — children at half fare. Deck pas- sengers had to provide their own food and assist the crew in wooding-up.^^^ A group of Hollanders paid $2.50 in 1846 per passage from New Orleans to St. Louis — children under nine going at half fare. Each person was allowed one hundred pounds of baggage — the remainder being transported at the rate of twenty-five cents per hundred pounds. It re- quired nine days to make the trip.*^° When John Regan, bound upstream by steamboat from New Orleans, saw several of his English companions "gnawing a huge piece of beef off a square biscuit" he inquired of one John Adams how he had obtained his share. Regan was informed that members of the crew, having more than they could consume, had given it to the Eng- lishmen and "were much amused to see with what a good appetite the emigrants demolished the remains of their kit of beef, which they were in the habit of throwing over- board at the end of meals." *^^ -«.i»^%o»- Upon his arrival at an American port the immigrant was usually pounced upon by a pack of hotel and trans- [328] On the Trail of the Immigrants portation runners. The "frauds and outrages" committed by these crafty and unscrupulous "wolves" was sufficient to "shock" even a hardened New York legislative com- mittee. These runners were employed by the month or worked on a commission. As immigration increased, com- panies developed the plan of hiring foreigners to prey upon their own nationalities. The New York commission found "the German preying upon the German — the Irish upon the Irish — the English upon the English".*" Here and there a ray of sunshine brightens what might otherwise be a rather sordid tale. The efforts of Americans to solve the immigration problem at Ward's Island, New York, was highly praised by Fredrika Bremer. "Thou- sands who came clad in rags, and bowed down with sick- ness are brought hither, succored, clothed, fed, and then sent out westward to the states of the Mississippi, in case they have no friends or relations to receive them at a less remote distance. Separate buildings have been erected for the sick of typhus fever; for those afflicted with diseases of the eye; for sick children; for the convalescent; for lying-in women. Several new houses were in progress of erection. Upon those verdant, open hills, fanned by the soft sea-breezes, the sick must, if possible, regain health, and the weak become strong. We visited the sick; many hundreds were ill of typhus fever. We visited also the convalescent at their well-supplied dinner-table." "^ John Murray Forbes believed in applying strict business principles to the immigration problem. Writing to Ed- ward Everett Hale in 1852 Forbes declared : "I have long [329] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi been of the opinion that the subject of Emigration opened the widest field of this century ... I know of no elements that offer more inducement to the economist to bring them together than the strong hands and empty stomachs of Europe, and the rich Dollar-an-acre Prairies of the West. Cahfornia is a cypher in comparison, a mere pro- ducer of the measure of value, not of value itself. The railroads which are at last checkering the West in all directions will give a new element of certainty to the transit of the Emigrant . . . Benevolence may point the way and law may and must help to regulate the abuses which have grown up; but when you are dealing with an Emigration of 400,000 people who, I will venture to say, are fleeced $10 each to bring them from their hovels in the old world to their houses in the new, here is a premium of four millions per annum for the Devil to fight with." *^* The trek of the foreigners westward to the Upper Mis- sissippi was filled with many unhappy incidents. On July 14, 1851, the Galena Advertiser complained bitterly that immigrants were "robbed, cheated, and manhandled" at Quebec, New York, and Philadelphia. Prospective immi- grants were urged by this solicitous editor to take the New Orleans route. Their health by this route would be "just as good" and they could expect to be "nicely treated" by both New Orleans and St. Louis officials. The travel-worn immigrants must have breathed a sigh of relief when they reached Chicago and were near their journey's end. But their sorrows were not yet over : un- scrupulous runners frequently pounced upon them there. [330] On the Trail of the Immigrants Under the caption "Strangers in a Strange Land" a Du- buque editor noted the arrival of two families of Nor- wegian immigrants who had been brought down the river from Prairie du Chien. "This was in consequence of erroneous directions given them by Chicago runners in the genuine Chicago spirit, which would rather send emi- grants to Russian America or Nicaragua than have them contribute to the population and prosperity of Iowa. These Norwegians had farms purchased by money for- warded by them to their friends, at the places mentioned, but had not money enough with them to carry them to their journey's end after the contemptible imposition practiced upon them." Fortunately for them a local rail- road gave them free passage as far as the road could carry them."" Such incidents were not uncommon, and many letters were sent home warning friends and relatives to trust no one. One immigrant refused to surrender his baggage check to the steamboat clerk upon reaching Minnesota. So great was his determination and so deep-rooted his dis- trust that he was finally permitted to take his baggage and retain his check. The son of this immigrant. Captain E. W. Holstrom, later operated the ferry between Lake City, Minnesota, and Stockholm, Wisconsin.*^^ Filled with the hope and enthusiasm of the frontier the more sordid incidents of the migrations westward to the Mississippi were soon forgotten. Life was constantly be- fore them; rich lands beckoned on every hand : all their experiences were simply refining fires. Aboard a throbbing [331] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Upper Mississippi steamboat the final lap in their journey- was made in comparative comfort. Today the sons of these immigrants rule the destinies of a dozen Commonwealths of the Upper Mississippi Valley. [332] 37 1 o ttlie rSfortli ofar ofafe The heyday of steamboating on the Upper Mississippi was ushered in with the creation of the Territory of Min- nesota in 1849. Between 1850 and 1870 steamboats were jammed from stem to stern with a curious array of immi- grants hailing from the four quarters of the Union and from two score foreign countries. Steamboat captains reaped a rich harvest throughout this period as packets churned back and forth between St. Louis and St. Paul transporting settlers to their new homes. The mad stam- pedes to California and Oregon are dwarfed into in- j significance when compared with the huge waves of land-hungry pioneers that surged up the Mississippi. The first spray of settlers was a Kentucky family on board the Yirginia bound for the lead mines. During the next seven years the movement upstream was slow despite the advent of the steamboat. By 1830 the frontier line barely impinged on the Half-breed Tract in what is now Lee County, Iowa; and it was not until June 1, 1833, that settlers entered the Black Hawk Purchase. Indeed, when the original Territory of "Wisconsin was established in 1836 the census revealed only 22,218 inhabitants in what is now Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota; and most of these were squatters in the mineral region. Fourteen years later (in 1850) there were a half million souls in this same area. [333] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi During the next twenty years the population of these three States soared to 2,688,396, or almost equal that of the thirteen colonies on the eve of the American Revolution. Minnesota — the North Star State — had acquired a far greater population in twenty years than had New York State in a century and a half. At the same time the 160,697 foreigners in Minnesota in 1870 equaled the total popu- lation of Georgia in 1800 after sixty-seven years of settle- ment.*^' Before 1850 the majority of those who settled along the Mississippi River in Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa, came from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, although the Atlantic and Gulf States were well represented. Only one-eighth of the population of Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa was foreign-born in 1850, the remainder being almost equally divided between those born within their borders and migrants from other States. By 1870 the 1,467,3 53 foreigners in the five States of the Upper Mississippi Val- ley was greater than the total population of Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in 1850.*" In 1853 St. Louis, the point of departure for immigrants bound upstream, was surpassed only by New York and New Orleans in enrolled steam tonnage. New York en- rolled 101,487 tons; New Orleans 57,174 tons; and St. Louis 48,5 57 tons, about one-seventh of which was en- gaged in transporting immigrants to the Upper Mississippi region. That year St. Louis had a greater steam tonnage than Wheeling, Cincinnati, Louisville, New Albany, Nash- ville, and Memphis combined. It had required less than a [334] To the North Star State third of a century since the arrival of the steamboat for St. Louis to attain this prosperous commercial position.^^^ But the growth of steamboating on the Upper Missis- sippi was hardly less spectacular. Immigration was the principal factor in increasing the number of steamboat arrivals at St. Louis from the Upper Mississippi from 647 in 1848 to 1524 in 1860. Measured by the number of steamboat arrivals, the activity of Upper Mississippi craft almost equaled that of the Lower Mississippi, the Mis- souri, the Illinois, the Ohio, the Tennessee, the Cumber- land, and the Arkansas rivers combined. Two years be- fore (in 185 8), St. Paul registered 1090 boats at her bustling wharves. The aggregate tonnage of the sixty- three boats which docked at St. Paul that year was 12,703, or about one-half the enrolled tonnage of Philadelphia. St. Louis and the Ohio River towns employed 7065 tons in the St. Paul trade. Galena, Dubuque, and Dunleith 3141 tons, Prairie du Chien 977 tons, the Minnesota River 1254 tons. Two craft totaling 266 tons hailed from no particular port. Immigration was the life of the St. Louis and St. Paul trade between 1850 and 1870."'°; St. Paul could not claim all the tonnage employed on the Upper Mississippi above St. Louis, since many steam- boats never reached that port. Three fairly equal sections of trade developed between the port of St. Louis and the Falls of St. Anthony. The first covered the 200 mile stretch between the mouth of the Missouri and Keokuk where the Lower Rapids presented a physical barrier to navigation. The second extended 22 5 miles above the [335] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi rapids to the lead district where the concentration of population attracted steam craft. The third and longest section embraced the 275 miles between the lead mines and the Falls of St. Anthony. Along this broad waterway thousands of immigrants were carried upstream for a period of fifty years. The steamboat was the principal means of transportation in the early development of each section.*^^ Not all steamboats bound upstream from St. Louis could be termed Upper Mississippi packets. The Missouri River craft left the Mississippi after an eighteen mile trip upstream. Alton, seven miles above the mouth of the Mis- souri, had from an early date a daily packet. The Illinois River boats ascended the Mississippi forty miles to Graf- ton, discharging what St. Louis freight and passengers they had aboard along the way. These were not true Up- per Mississippi River packets. Although restricting their operations to the lower section of the river, the daily short lines from St. Louis to Quincy and Keokuk must be con- sidered as Upper Mississippi steamboats. The growth in population of the counties adjoining the Mississippi between St. Louis and St. Paul presents in miniature the astonishing development of the entire Upper Mississippi Valley. Ever since the voyage of the Vlrginiay^ settlers had been filtering into the country above St. Louis, choosing those locations which appeared most likely to prosper. Pike and Marion counties, Missouri, and Adams County, Illinois, attracted many immigrants. The latter, with Quincy as its metropolis, had by 1850 surpassed in [336] To the North Star State population the more readily accessible Illinois counties as far south as St. Louis.**" The increase in population was not uniform, some coun- ties quickly surpassing their neighbors. For example, Lewis and Clark counties, Missouri, were not self-sustain- ing in 1836, and by 1840 they were eclipsed by Lee and Des Moines counties in Iowa. Again, in 1850 Dubuque County had as large a population as Scott and Muscatine counties combined. By 1860 the population of the four principal lead mining counties was 110,000, or almost equal to the four most populous counties clustered about the Lower Rapids. Although situated at the head of navi- gation, Ramsey, Hennepin, and Washington counties in Minnesota could boast a greater population in 1860 than any other three counties located in Wisconsin and Minne- sota as far south as the lead district. In the main, however, the entire country along the Upper Mississippi had enjoyed a substantial growth, only three counties below the lead district having less than 10,000 people in 1860. They were Calhoun and Henderson counties, Illinois, and Ralls County, Missouri.**^ No other single factor was so im- portant as the steamboat in conveying settlers to the coun- try immediately adjoining the Mississippi River. The halcyon days of steamboating are best revealed by following in the wake of the immigrants steaming north- ward following the creation of the Territory of Minnesota. Native Americans formed the vanguard. Craftsmen of every trade came to St. Paul in 1849 to swell the tide; professions were crowded; and every building was requi- [337] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi sitioned for temporary shelter. The erection of new struc- tures was attested by the incessant pounding of hammers. Glowing accounts were carried eastward of a thriving metropolis at the head of navigation on the Upper Missis- sippi. One settler who arrived at St. Paul on the Senator in October was dumfounded to find a rough frontier vil- lage, whereas newspaper accounts had led him to picture a city surpassed only by New York.*^* Indeed, when some immigrants arrived on the Highland Mary in July they were greeted by the raucous whoops of Sioux warriors on one side of the river and welcomed by cheers from the white settlers on the other. Both were probably attracted by the gay music from the boat's brightly lighted cabin. A barge which was lashed to the side of the Highland Mary contained about one hundred cows belonging to the immi- grants. Under the glare of the torch, the wild staring eyes of the cattle plainly indicated intense hunger.*^^ Thousands of immigrants from the Ohio and Lower Mississippi were carried upstream from St. Louis. Hun- dreds were left at ports below the lead district, but large numbers continued northward into Wisconsin and Minne- sota where the abundance of cheap land offered a strong inducement to the poor. St. Louis had felt a tremendous increase as early as 1846 when Iowa was admitted into the Union. Charles Lanman arrived at St. Louis that year to find the "wharfing ground so completely crowded with merchandise of every possible variety, that travellers were actually compelled to walk from the steamboats to the hotels." ''' [338] To the North Star State When Phihp Hone arrived at St. Louis in 1847 he found it busthng with "boatmen, draymen, and laborers, white and black; French, Irish, and German, drinking, singing, and lounging on benches." He relates that "fifty large steamboats, at least, lie head on, taking in and discharging their cargoes; some constantly arriving from New Orleans and other ports on the Mississippi; Cincinnati, Louisville, etc., on the Ohio; from the great Missouri and its tribu- taries; the Illinois River, where we are bound, and the whole Western and Southern waters, which make this place their mart; whilst others are departing, full of pas- sengers, and deeply laden with the multifarious products of this remarkable region. The whole levee is covered, as far as the eye can see, with merchandise landed or to be shipped; thousands of barrels of flour and bags of corn, hogsheads of tobacco and immense piles of lead (one of the great staples) , while foreign merchandise and the products of the lower country are carried away to be lodged in the stores which form the front of the city." *^' The same bustle and confusion were noted by Fredrika Bremer in 1850. St. Louis looked "as if it were besieged from the side of the river by a number of immense Missis- sippi beasts, resembling a sort of colossal white sea-bears. And so they were; they were those large, three-decked, white-painted steamers, which lined the shore, lying closely side by side to the number of above a hundred; their streamers, with names from all the countries on the face of the earth, fluttering in the wind above their chimneys, which seemed to me like immense nostrils, for every steam- [339] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi boat on the Mississippi has two such apparatus, which send forth huge volumes of smoke under the influence of 'high- pressure.' " Miss Bremer was told that immigration to St. Louis was increasing every year — "especially from Ger- many." The city doubled in population between 1845 and 1849.*'' Scores of steamboats lay at the St. Louis levee awaiting the immigrants from New Orleans. A passenger aboard the Excelsior in June, 1851, described crowds of immi- grants, cabin passengers, and the freight. "A number of Prussian emigrants of the better class, with their beards, good figures, & foreign customs, a party of Irishmen, said to be 'noble', a certain officer of the army undoubtedly 'royal', who amused us & astonished us by his wit & ex- tensive information, merchants from St. Louis & the east, & Wisconsin & every state in the Union, with Canada & Europe were found in the Cabin. On Deck were Germans and Irish, a filthy set, whose uncleanliness no doubt hast- ened the deaths which occurred among them & I was heartily glad when we landed the last at Dubuque." *'* The coming of foreign groups is well illustrated by Nauvoo where only three Americans remained following the Mormon exodus. When Charles Lanman steamed by in 1846 he described Nauvoo as a city "capable of con- taining a hundred thousand souls. But its gloomy streets bring a most melancholy disappointment. Where lately resided no less than twenty-five thousand people, there are not to be seen more than above five hundred." *^° By 1851 Nauvoo had become a haven for a large Icarian com- [340] To the North Star State munity composed largely of three hundred and fifty French, with a scattering of other foreign immigrants/^^ Early in the spring of 1851 the Minnesota arrived at Galena with two hundred and fifty passengers. The Wyomi77g came up in July with a group of German immi- grants (seemingly people of means) bound for Gutten- berg. An editor urged that the New Orleans and St. Louis officials should teach such immigrants rules of health. On her next trip the Wyoming brought a sunburned group of immigrants from Mecklenburg who were plan- ning to establish a socialist community at "El Kader" in North-eastern Iowa. Fall immigration was very heavy, the Wisconsin leaving ten families of sixty people at La Crosse alone. A St. Paul paper declared that ten new large first class steamers were to be put on the Upper Mississippi should the Senate ratify the treaty of Traverse des Sioux. This plan was intended to accommodate the tremendous rush of immigrants to Minnesota. Another paper remarked that three boats a week would be necessary in 1852, and that a daily line would be imperative in 1853. As the season of 1851 drew to a close steamboats were unable to transport the huge cargoes of immigrants and freight; the Lamar- tine was offered three times as much as she could carry at Galena alone."^ Galena was then the metropolis of the lead region : it numbered almost seven thousand inhabitants. Pigs of lead were heaped along her wharves ready for exportation. Noisy and bustling at all times. Galena bore the brunt of [341] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi the traffic from Chicago until the completion of the rail- roads to Rock Island, Fulton, Dunleith, Prairie du Chien and La Crosse robbed her of a considerable portion of her trade and tended to distribute it along the river. Mrs. Elizabeth F. Ellet recorded her astonishment at Galena's activity in 1852. "It was a novel amusement in the evenings to sit by the window and see rushing under it, with the noise made by the Western high-pressure boats, steamers so large as apparently to fill up the little river that skirts the city, and is now shrunken by the drought into half its accustomed limits. At night the appearance of these boats, lighted up and filled with lively passengers, is very picturesque. All that ascend or descend the Missis- sippi, stop at Galena. The 'fast boats' make the trip to St. Paul and back in a little over three days, averaging two a week; but we were counselled to wait and take a slow boat in preference, that the scenery might be seen to better advantage." *'^ The linking of the Atlantic with the Mississippi by rail- road decreased the Ohio River traffic. But the early effect was to increase the trade and fatten the receipts of Upper Mississippi steamboat owners. Each train brought hun- dreds of immigrants from the East and dumped them on the banks of the Mississippi. In 18 53 the St. Paul wharf boat master declared that "no one can judge of the large amount of immigrants coming in, unless they watch the landing closely. They land and are off to the country be- fore our citizens are aware of their presence." Early in June the Dr. Franklin and the West Newton [342] To the North Star State arrived at St. Paul with an unusually heavy load of immi- grants. Sixteen boats, mainly Upper Mississippi craft, lay at the St. Louis levee. Those destined for the Upper Mis- sissippi were crowded with immigrants, although the car- goes were not always heavy. A few days later six of these steamboats were discharging freight and passengers at St. Paul. Many immigrants, moreover, had been left along the way : the Dr. Franklin had left twenty or thirty fam- ilies at Hastings alone.*^* A veritable deluge of immigrants poured into the Upper Mississippi Valley during the mid-fifties. In 1854 Thurlow Weed of the Albany Journal found the St. Louis levee lined for more than a mile with steamboats which gave a highly commercial aspect to the city. "Steamers lay here with steam up and placarded for New-Orleans, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Council Bluffs, Galena, St. Paul, &c., &c., while others from these places are discharging cargoes. The scene is as busy as that along South-st. in New York. Time is working a phenomena upon the Mis- sissippi River. In a business point of view this river is beginning to run up stream! In other words, a large share of the products of the Valley of the Mississippi are soon to v find a market up instead of down the river. There is a West growing with a rapidity that has no parallel, which will consume largely of the sugar, cotton, rice, &c., &c., of the South; while the railroads that are being constructed from Cincinnati, Toledo, Chicago, &c., to the Mississippi, are to take the corn, pork, beef, &c., &c., to a northern instead of southern markets." *^^ [343] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi "By railways and steamers", wrote the editor of the Keokuk Whig, "the flood of immigration continues pour- ing into the great West. The lake-shore roads are crowded to their utmost capacity; single trains of fourteen or fifteen cars, all full of men, women, and a large sprinkling of children, are almost daily arriving at Chicago. The Ohio River steamers are crowded in the same way. On Friday last, two steamers brought into St. Louis some 600 pas- sengers; most of whom, being destined for the northwest, have already passed through this place. And *still they come,' from Pennsylvania, from Ohio, Indiana, and other States, until, by the side of this exodus, that of the Israel- ites becomes an insignificant item, and the greater migra- tions of later times are scarcely to be mentioned." Returned from a two weeks furlough another Keokuk editor observed : "No one can travel up and down the Mississippi without being astonished at the immigration constantly pouring into Iowa from all parts of the coun- try; but especially from Indiana and Ohio." Burlington and Davenport were crowded with immigrants moving westward. Immigrants arrived hourly at Dubuque from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois; while thousands came "from the hills and valleys of New England, bring- ing with them that same untiring, indomitable energy and perseverance, that have made their native States the admiration of the world." *®^ Most of the passenger trains arrived at Chicago with two locomotives. A Chicago editor noted that ^"^ttuelve thou- sand passengers arrived from the East, by the Michigan [344] To the North Star State Southern road, during the last week — a city in the short -^ space of six days!" Twenty-five cars left Albany for Buffalo with thirteen hundred immigrants bound for Chi- cago and the Northwest, and another train load contain- ing fifteen hundred more followed within twenty-four hours. There was a heavy influx of immigrants into Northern Iowa : in 1850 Lansing had but one log cabin, but in 1854 it boasted four hundred inhabitants. Likewise the population in Allamakee and Winneshiek counties was growing rapidly. Decorah was unable to accommodate those wanting to enter lands; beds upon the floor were at a premium; while good prices were paid for an oppor- tunity to "lean against sign posts or hang on a hook." Many of those who landed at Lansing were intelligent, industrious, "well-to-do-Easterners" who bought improved farms at from $800 to $4000 each.*" Every road leading to the Northwest was thronged with immigrants in 1856. Nine thousand passed through Chi- cago in a single day. Every boat bound upstream was crowded : the Galena left Dunleith with over eight hun- dred passengers aboard, most of whom were destined for Minnesota. The City Belle arrived at the Winona levee with emigrants composing the Minnesota Settlement Company. These were warmly cheered by the citizens of Winona before setting off into the interior for some un- known settlement."* Harriet Bishop was amazed at the throng that packed Upper Mississippi steamboats. "It is a strange medley, in- deed, that which you meet aboard a Mississippi steamer. [345] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi An Australian gold-hunter, just returned by way of Eng- land, from Melbourne; a merchant on a trip of pleasure; a professor in an eastern University, going out to invest in Minnesota; a St. Croix raftsman, returning from a trip down river, with a small fortune of logs; a New York doctor, with a pocket full of land warrants; an eastern man, who administers electro-chemical baths; a South Carolina boy, with one thousand dollars and a knowledge of double-entry; a sturdy frontierman, with a saw mill for the interior; an engineer, who escaped the Panama fever on the Isthmus railroad; a Yankee schoolmaster, who has become a small speculator in oats; and scores of others of doubtful character, who sport heavy moustaches, and keep their mouths shut. Verily, a strange medley do you find aboard a Mississippi steamer!" *^'* When Nathan H. Parker took passage on Captain Pres- ton Lodwick*s Northern Belle he found five hundred al- ready aboard. According to Parker "State-rooms were entirely out of the question, and bunks upon the floor or seats at the table were at a premuim. Standing at the lower end of the cabin, and gazing upon the hundreds of per- sons whose beds covered almost every foot of the cabin floor, I intuitively exclaimed, 'This is going West.' I mused upon the various situations and climates and nations these peoples had left; the misfortunes that had befallen some, and the fortunes that had fallen to others, alike impelling them to seek the 'land of promise — the great West,' each individual having different plans and anticipations for the future, and each seeming to delight in being one of this [346] To the North Star State hurly-burly, motley throng." Passenger traffic had already become so heavy on the Upper Mississippi that Parker felt that anyone who was fortunate enough to possess a state- room and enjoy all the comforts and luxuries of the "float- ing palaces" must consider himself highly favored.''"'' The same activity prevailed at Dunleith when the Illi- nois Central reached the Mississippi. Incoming trains were met by agents and runners for the different boats who pounced upon the startled immigrants and travelers, pointing with pride to their own craft and disparaging the opposition boat. In 18 56 a runner for the Lucy Bertram told C. C. Andrews "with great zeal and perfect im- punity" that no other boat would leave for St. Paul within twenty-four hours when it was perfectly obvious that the mail boat would start that evening. The activity of such runners was often unnecessary, for usually there were more passengers than the boats could comfortably accommodate. Andrews went aboard the Lady Franklin and was for- tunate enough to secure a stateroom. "But what a scene is witnessed for the first two hours after the passengers begin to come aboard! The cabin is almost filled, and a dense crowd surrounds the clerk's office, just as the ticket office of a theatre is crowded on a benefit night. Of course, not more than half can get state-rooms and the rest must sleep on the cabin floor. Over two hundred cabin pas- sengers came up on the Lady Franklin. The beds which are made on the floor are tolerably comfortable, as each boat is supplied with an extra number of single mat- [347] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi St. Paul presented the same activity. When the North- ern Light arrived early in May, 1857, the Frank Steele^ the Messeftger, the Orb^ the Golden State, the Equator, the Key Stone, the Saracen, the Sam Young, the Mansfield, the Ocean Wave, the Red Wing, the Golden Era, the Min- nesota, the Conetvago, the Kate French, the Tifne and Tide, the Hamburg, the W^t^e, the Excelsior, and the W. L. Ewing lay diagonally with the levee. "Instead of pre- senting the appearance of a city of houses", a traveler observed, "the levee looked like a city of steamboats." In this flotilla were steamboats hailing from distant Cin- cinnati and Pittsburgh. Frozen Lake Pepin was responsible for so colorful an array at St. Paul.°°^ Sleeping accommodations were not always at their best. On April 16th the Reveille arrived at St. Paul with her decks thronged with people who had been delayed at the foot of the Lake. "Most of those who came in her", ac- cording to a contemporary account, "were obliged to be content, so far as sleeping arrangements were concerned, with a chance to lie two deep on the greasy cabin floor, with their carpet bags under their heads for pillows, whilst the wind whistled a lullaby through the broken and almost sashless windows of the vessel." In July of 1857 two hundred Norwegians destined for the "Dunkirk Precinct" in Goodhue County were landed at Red Wing by the Metropolitan. Six hundred more were to come in October to the same settlement.^°^ The following year a Red Wing dispatch read : "The Wednesday morning packet landed at our levee another [348] To the North Star State delegation of immigrants for the Norwegian settlement, who packed four heavy teams with their goods and passed back into the interior. Dunkirk will soon become about the most flourishing settlement in the State. More are yet to arrive." A short time later the Northern Belle came up with a colony of three hundred Swedes who expected to settle in the vicinity of Red Wing. Foreign immigrants were discharged at every port above St. Louis. '°* "We noticed on the Levee, the other day", declared a Dubuque newspaper, "a number of Bohemians, just arrived. The men were stout and able-bodied, and the women fat, stumpy and good-looking. They were dressed in the peculiar style of their country." ^°' As long as the railroads did not run parallel with the river this immense traffic continued. Clusters of foreigners, congregated at the various railway terminals along the river, anxiously awaited the arrival of the first steamboat bound for the rich lands above. A party of two hundred and fifty Norwegians arrived at Dunleith in June, 1866, and prepared to take passage on the Jennie Baldwin. Un- der the title, "Emigrants by the Car Load", the Dubuque Herald commented that "the Dunleith depot presents a picturesque appearance just at present. Twelve carloads of German emigrants came in Tuesday, bound for some point up the river, and being too late for the boats they were compelled to lie over. And lie over it is in a literal sense. From one end of the depot to the other they were scattered over the floor, dovetailing together in the most workmanlike manner possible while their huge trunks and [349] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi bundles make an effective barricade against all intruders." A deckload of passengers bound for Minnesota departed on the Key City on June 23rd; and it was noted that six hundred emigrants were in Chicago awaiting the arrival of five thousand more from the mother country.°°° The next year a party of two hundred Norwegians reached Dunleith on their way to Minnesota. Their trunks and bundles filled five freights. "Capt. Webb received them with open arms, as he was short of help, and pressing them in the ranks, loaded the Itasca with their ponderous chests, and five cars of miscellaneous freight besides, nearly cleaning out the Dunleith depot. The boat departed with a big trip for a dull season." '°^ Throughout the sixties steamboats continued to carry large numbers of passengers to Upper Mississippi ports. The Davenport arrived at Dubuque late in April, 1867, with seventy-five cabin and forty deck passengers. On May 21st she was recorded at Dubuque with 425 cabin passengers. On her next trip up, one hundred cots had to be placed on the floor to accommodate the crowded cabin. In mid-June the Davenport passed Dubuque with 600 passengers aboard, 300 of whom were raftsmen. An editor predicted that when navigation came to a close the Davenport would show the largest season's business. In both passengers and freight, it was said, the season of 1867 provided upstream boats with cargoes "equal to previous >J 508 years. The season of 1868 was also profitable. A Dubuque editor expressed deep satisfaction because immigrants were [350] To the North Star State showing a preference for Iowa rather than locating in the "wilds of Kansas, Nebraska or Colorado." "'"^ On July 11, 1869, the steamboat Muscatiue churned past Dubuque with a heavy load that included 300 cabin and 300 deck passengers. A week later the Minneapolis arrived at Dubuque with a heavy freight and over 700 passengers registered, most of whom were still on board. Staterooms on the Minneapolis commanded a premium : passengers '*lucky enough to snooze in a chair" were considered for- tunate. A short time later the Tom Jasper, jarmned with passengers, put in her appearance at Dubuque. While re- joicing over the prosperous trip a Dubuque editor could not help lamenting that the cook on the Tom Jasper was the "black rascal that induced Mrs. Joe Howard to leave her husband last week and took her to St. Louis." Throughout the season of 1869 the Canada, the Du- buqice, the Mollie McPike, the Northern Belle, the Min- nesota, the Savanna, and the Sucker State arrived at Dubuque "black" with passengers. "Travel on the river was never better than it is this summer", declared the Du- buque Herald of August 5, 1869. "Every up river boat is crowded beyond its capacity for comfort, and those pas- sengers who are fortunate enough to secure a state room are indeed lucky. Even sleeping room in the cabin com- mands a premium." "° The seventies witnessed a precipitate decline in the pas- senger traffic as railroads had come to afford a speedier and more dependable means of year-round transportation. By the seventies, however, the grain trade had grown to im- [351] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi mense proportions. Steamboat captains reaped a golden harvest towing barges of grain to Upper Mississippi rail- road elevators as well as to St. Louis and distant New Orleans. It was the immigrants swarming upstream by steamboats as far as the North Star State that made the grain trade possible and staved off for almost a generation the decline and ultimate extinction of steamboating on the Upper Mississippi. [352] 38 Life on tike Deck and m the •UalDiii Runners, blacklegs, and gamblers, explosions, tornadoes, and devastating fires, snags and sandbars, poor food and wretched accommodations, sickness, suffering, and death — these possibilities faced the bewildered immigrant as he embarked aboard an Upper Mississippi steamboat on his journey to the promised land. Cabin passengers enjoyed a certain degree of comfort, but life on the lower deck was sometimes insufferable. The hardships of immigrants aboard steamboats was not restricted to the ordinary affairs of life. Epidemics of Asiatic cholera swept the country in the decades preceding the Civil War and steamboats often carried the disease from port to port. Sanitation was little known, and deaths were all too frequent among the immigrants. It was not an uncommon sight to see a steamboat land and the crew jump ashore and hastily dig a shallow grave for the latest victim. The callous indifference of Americans to life on the steamboat frontier caused Captain Marryat to exclaim: "I hate the Mississippi, and as I look down upon its wild and filthy waters, boiling and eddying, and reflect how un- certain is travelling in this region of high-pressure, and disregard for social rights, I cannot help feeling a disgust at the idea of perishing in such a vile sewer, to be buried [353] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi in mud, and perhaps to be rooted out again by some pig- nosed alligator." ''^ Immigrants were urged to be extremely careful in their diet and not run into excess of any kind. A little nutmeg or essence of peppermint and water added to some burnt cork poured in a teaspoonful of brandy and mashed with loaf sugar was considered a sure cure for cholera in 1824. Cholera victims during the forties probably breathed more freely on learning that four or five of Wright's Indian Vegetable Pills taken each night on retiring would quick- ly "rid the body of every description of suffering." ^^^ r In spite of these nostrums cholera took a heavy toll of lives during the late forties and early fifties. It appeared first on Lower Mississippi steamboats in December of 1848 and quickly spread to the Upper Mississippi boats. Six Trappist monks from Waterford, Ireland, bound for Du- buque aboard the steamboat Constitution^ died of cholera near St. Louis in 1849. Two hundred and thirty-six cases existed in Quincy that year. Some immigrants aboard the West Newton in 1850 saw six dead bodies floating in the river — evidently poor passengers who had been thrown overboard "to save the trouble of burial and to escape quarantine regulations." °^^ A passenger aboard the Excelsior in 1851 wrote : "The first intimation I received of the presence of death in our midst was the tolling of the bell & the mooring of the boat at the foot of a high bluff on the Illinois shore. Soon some hands jumped ashore, a grave was speedily dug & as the last rays of the setting sun glided from the waters face, [354] Life on the Deck and in the Cabin a bird sent up a joyful note over the grave of the infant which an hour before had breathed its last. We proceeded on our way an[d] 'ere two days had passed we had buried five deck passengers, I fear some of them victims of cholera no doubt aggravated or induced by filthiness, exposure, fatigue & improper diet." Nine cases, some of them fatal, broke out on the Galena while on her way upstream to St. Paul. One of the victims lay in a canoe on the St. Paul levee surrounded by some fellow passengers who vainly strove to revive him."* The Upper Mississippi Valley was thrown into a panic in 1866 when the Canada arrived at Dubuque with several cases of cholera reported on board. Passengers declared that three bodies had been thrown overboard and several of the stricken victims put ashore. When the boat arrived at La Crosse a physician pronounced the malady "cholera morbus, brought on by eating green apples, and drinking whiskey and milk." One of the sufferers was robbed of two hundred dollars by some "heartless wretch". When the Minnesota arrived at Davenport a little later several passengers were reported ill. "Three deaths occurred yesterday afternoon, the victims being deck passengers. One was buried at 3 o'clock, one at 6 o'clock, and one at 9. We did not learn their names." Such laconic reports were read with extreme uneasiness.°^° \ Charges were made at St. Louis that Dubuque was try- ing to harm the Northern Line by urging immigrants not to patronize its boats. This charge was stoutly refuted at Dubuque. Travelers were told not to shun the Canada and [355] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi other Northern Line craft as they were among the cleanest on the river. When it was rumored at Dubuque that the Sucker State had twenty-five cases of cholera aboard and that ten had been buried on islands, the city council granted the wharfmaster power to hail and inspect boats bound upstream. The Sticker State, the Minnesota, and the Lady Pike were thoroughly examined and pronounced free of cholera. The unfortunate Canada also passed in- spection, but was known ever after as the "pest boat" which lost her many a passenger. ''^'^ / Cholera was more common among the deck passengers who lived in filth on the lower deck, ate coarse food, slept in the most convenient spot, and often drank to excess. Ole Munch Raeder, in commenting on his voyage on the Ked Wing in 1847, said that "first class passengers occupy the cabins on top of the deck, where there is plenty of fresh air and the balcony enables one to take a little exer- cise without getting dirty. But if one ventures down on the deck he finds the most terrible filth, mud, stagnant water, and a most offensive odor everywhere"."^ Another person noted that "cattle and horses, wagons and plows, and barrels of flour" had been taken aboard the Seitator at Prairie du Chien and McGregor as the prop- erty of immigrants bound for Minnesota. Passengers took a keen delight in watching boats discharge their cargo of livestock. "The work was accomplished by the cattle be- ing forcibly pushed over the gunwales, and each beast, as it fell, was submerged for the instant, then rose, and, expelling the water from its nostrils, made for the shore, a [356] Life on the Deck and in the Cabin process so rude and novel that it brought every passenger to view the scene." ^^^ Many travelers complained of the untidy washrooms. All the men aboard the Red Wing used a huge towel sus- pended over a wooden roller. "One must lay aside all instinct of cleanliness when one enters this place, which really ought to minister to the cause of cleanliness", Raeder laments. Such conditions were common. On one occasion when a complaint was made to the purser that the towel in the public washroom was filthy, the indignant officer replied : **Wal now, I reckon there's fifty passengers on board this boat, and they've all used that towel, and you're the first on 'em that's complained of it." "^ A like condition existed in the ladies' cabin. Only a few of the staterooms on a miserable old low-water tub were supplied with "ewers and basins". The other cabin passengers, according to Mrs. Ellet, were expected "to perform their ablutions in a small wash-room, scantily supplied with water and towels, and allowed but a minute and a half for the duty, elbowed and grumbled at in the mean time by half a dozen impatient for the succession. This was uncomfortable enough for those who could be content with *a wipe' over the prominent parts of the face, and an imperfect cleansing of the hands; but for us whom the habitual and plenteous use of the Croton had made absolutely dependent for life and comfort on a daily hond fide bath — the evil was intolerable. We had no resource but to brave the cabinmaid's frowns and a general stare, by seeking an introduction to the concealed water [357] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi barrel, filling stolen or borrowed pitchers to the brim, carrying them resolutely to our staterooms, and fastening the door." She felt, however, that the poorest boats would be better provided with conveniences for washing were they required; but most immigrants seemed satisfied with limited facilities."" Cabins were freely criticized. When Mrs. Ellet arrived at Keokuk "several runners on the bank set forth the merits of the rival boats — the St. Paul and the Kate Kearney — in voluble recommendation. 'Not a bug to be seen — will give the passage if you find one' — was music in our ears, after the direful experiences of the last three nights, when, driven from the staterooms by the *native population' we had been constrained to take on the cabin floor such rest as could be obtained amid the voluble chattering of Irishwomen, who seemed to think they could not have their money's worth unless they murdered the sleep of every body else." °"^ The same condition was found by Charles Francis Adams and his son on a trip to St. Paul with William H. Seward in 1860. On returning they were forced to take the Alhmnbra, which was then used as a freight and immi- grant boat. "Old and bad at the best", the Alhambra was crowded with passengers. The elder Adams declared the condition of the berths so "dubious that I deemed it most prudent not to risk the reception of vermin. Hence I was awake most of the night." His son was equally displeased. "The boat was in every respect a wretched one, — old, dirty and full of vermin." "' [358] Life on the Deck and in the Cabin The food of the deck passengers was hardly better than the "grub pUe" of the crew. When Samuel Pond, a Sioux missionary, came to Minnesota in 1833 he cut expenses by going as a decker and "clubbing with other passengers of the same class the table expense." These meals were so coarse that Pond was obliged to go ashore at landings to secure better food."^ In 1829, according to Caleb At- water, the Missouri and Red Rover stopped at the frontier villages along the way to procure fresh supplies of ice, butter, eggSy and chickens."* Some of the immigrants on the Indian Queen set out on a hunting expedition while the boat ascended the Lower Rapids. A herd of about thirty deer went "bounding" by, and one was bagged. Then, while the Indian Queen puffed upstream, the immigrants hurried to Nashville, Iowa, and "got together about half-a-dozen Indian corn cakes, shaped like cheeses, about 7 lbs. weight each, called, by way of eminence, 'Corn Dodgers;' several piles of buckwheat cakes, dough nuts, pancakes, wheaten bread in twenty various forms, and skim and buttermilk in four good sizeable water pails. We roasted our venison upon hazel switches and ate heartily. This noble repast, all of which we could not consume, cost us less than a picayune a piece." "^ Although cabin fare was much better. Munch Raeder was not enthusiastic about the food placed before him on the Red Wing; and he was displeased with the lack of milk for his tea. Perhaps he was consoled by the hearty appetite of a woman passenger. "I have never before seen [359] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi a woman blessed with such an appetite! She is one of the first at the table and also one of the last, and when she finally does decide to leave she takes along some provi- sions — tea, bread and butter, ham or fish — so that she may not starve before the next meal." "® Cabin passengers were not slow in responding to the dinner gong. "We had three tables set", relates a passenger aboard the Lady Franklin, "and those who couldn't get a seat at the first or second tables sat at the third. There was a choice, you may believe, for such was the havoc made with the provisions at the first table that the second and third were not the most inviting. It was amusing to see gentlemen seat themselves in range of the plates as soon as they were laid, and an hour before the table was ready." "^ Another person noted that "as the dinner hour drew near, the doors of the saloon were besieged very much as those of an opera-house are at a popular singer's benefit; and upon their being opened, a rush took place, succeeded by a hot contest for seats. This was a most disagreeable process, and one which was very apt to lead to unpleasant results; so we used generally to wait until two detachments of unshaven ruffians had dined, and then we came in for the scraps at a late hour in the afternoon." °^* Competition tended to keep the meals served at a fairly high level. As population increased, boats had no difficulty in replenishing their larder with fresh vegetables, fruit, meats, fish, and game. Boat stores^were located along the river and these took on a busy appearance as soon as navi- [360] Life on the Deck and in the Cabin gation opened. Immigrants found Phil Pier's saloon at Dubuque always well stocked. Equally good food could be purchased at the other levee stores. Thus, Koehler & Brothers were well supplied with the choicest of meats, in- cluding beef, mutton, pork, veal, and lamb. In 1869 sirloins were selling at seventeen and one-half cents, veal and roasts at twelve and one-half cents and fifteen cents, corned beef and boiling pieces at ten cents, and mutton at ten and twelve and one-half cents. It is doubtful whether any passenger suffered from lack of food, though protests were frequently registered about the quality.'^^ A number of travelers and immigrants who took pas- sage on steamboats which plied the Upper Mississippi recorded their contempt for the poor facilities afforded. In 1847 ^he Red Wing was likened to a "mere trading- vessel in a half civilized country" which continually boasted of her youth despite her age. "The walls, the ceiling, the beds, all are uniformly painted white. Even in the ladies' salon there are none of the chandeliers, the lamp globes, the gilded scrolls and arabesques, the pianos, the sofas, and the couches which made the Lakes steam- ships so pleasant. A few red tables and yellow chairs, that is the total — except that in the ladies' salon there are some of those rocking-chairs which seem to be a sort of sine qua non of feminine existence everywhere in America. The only sign of luxury in the men's parlor is that the tables and parts of the floor are left uncovered so that the men can indulge to their heart's content in their favorite pastime of 'unrelenting, merciless spitting,' of which Mrs. [361] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi TroUope speaks with such evident disgust. Their opera- tions generally center about the two stoves, where they sit as silent as statues, each one chewing his tobacco. A fur- ther convenience for this occupation of theirs is found in a hole in the floor which is so large that a lady could easily get her foot caught in it; to prevent such a calamity, the carpet has been cut away around the hole so that everyone can see and avoid it ... A whole mess of wreaths and other decorations of colored paper have been hung from the ceiling of the cabin and whenever anyone opens one of the doors so there is a draft, there is a buzzing sound as if hundreds of women were whispering to their neighbors the important news that Mr. A. has entered the room or Mr. B. had gone out." ''' But the Red Wing was not an old boat. Built at Cin- cinnati the previous year, she was 147 feet long, twenty- four feet beam, four and one-fourth feet hold, and measured 142 tons. Since she served a pioneer community it is not strange that the absence of filigrees was noted. The influx of immigrants, together with its attendant increase in passenger trafiic, resulted in larger and better steamboats. Corporations made possible expensive craft, and such boats as the Golden Era and the Saint Paid were well over two hundred tons. When the Ben Campbell slid from the Pittsburgh ways in 1852, she boasted fifty large staterooms. Mrs. Ellet pointed out that she "rivalled in size and elegance of arrangement the Lake and Ohio steamers; the state-rooms were large, and generally fur- nished with double beds and wardrobes, and the fare was [362] Life on the Deck and in the Cabin so excellent, that one was naturally at a loss to conceive how passengers could possibly be conveyed four hundred miles, lodged and fed sumptuously, and provided with at- tendance for four dollars each, less than one would have to pay at an ordinary hotel; at a time, too, when the furore of competition was over, the decline in the waters having stopped the running of many first-class boats." °" Destined to serve Upper Mississippi immigrants for six- teen years, the second War Eagle was launched at a cost of about $33,000 at Cincinnati in 1854. According to the Cincinnati Times "the cabins are furnished, with just enough of the gilt work to give them a cheerful appear- ance. All the modern steamboat improvements have been attached, and the barber shops, wash room, &c, are on a liberal scale. She will draw but 24 inches water, light, and only 5 feet when loaded to the guards. The carpets, of the finest velvet, are from Shilito & Co.'s; the furniture from S. J. Johns; mirrors from Wiswell's; and the machinery by David Griffey." Some fine views of the Upper Mississippi adorned her cabin."' During the sixties such boats as the Canada, the Hawk- eye State, the Sticker State, the Dttbuque, and the Phil Sheridan averaged five times the tonnage of the boats which frequented the Upper Mississippi twenty years be- fore. The Vhil Sheridan alone measured 728.46 tons. ~ Immigration was the prime factor in enlarging and beauti- \ fying Upper Mississippi craft."^ Grim tragedy sometimes stalked in the wake of steam- boats. Hardly a trip was made without an accident of [363] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi some kind. Immigrant deck passengers were frequently lost overboard, the yearly toll often reaching a staggering figure. When the Sarah Ann reached Hannibal in 1845, a sleeping immigrant rose, stepped off the bow, and was seen no more. His wife and child returned to friends. Two deck passengers were drowned in attempting to pass from the Tempest to her barge. Bound for Minnesota with his wife, child, and sister, Courtland Starr, an immigrant from Adams County, Illinois, was pulled in while attempt- ing to draw a bucket of water for his horse. Another immigrant was butted over by his oxen and drowned. Near Wild Cat Bluff at the head of Coon Slough [below Brownsville, Minnesota] an immigrant fell in and failed to rise. Sixty dollars was raised among the cabin passengers for his bereaved wife and child. The loss of "David Lam- bert, Esq, of St. Paul" was chronicled as a "Melancholy Event". Intoxicated, Lambert fancied some people were about to arrest him and jumped overboard."* Captains seldom turned back at the cry of "Man over- board!" This was not mere indifference, for it was generally conceded that the boat's wheel seldom missed its mark. But travelers sometimes had singular escapes. While the War Eagle was paddling upstream from La Crosse a young German deck passenger fell over just forward of the wheel. According to a contemporary account he "passed under it, was struck full in the forehead by one of the buckets and thrown senseless on the surface of the water, where he lay motionless until picked up", which was done immediately. On another occasion a passenger [364] Life on the Deck and in the Cabin fell off the Dr. Franklin just below St. Paul and was given up as lost. His wife returned on the Dr. Franklin; but when the West Newton arrived at St. Paul the lost one was aboard. Alive and well, he had swum ashore with no other damage than a refreshing bath on a warm night. "The widow", concluded an observer, "will be somewhat surprised to meet him again, after passing the ordeal of her first weeks grief!" Many instances of heroism brighten these otherwise sordid pictures. While the Liiella lay at Galena a little girl fell overboard, and her father, who could not swim, plunged in after her. Both were rescued with difficulty. A German decker aboard the Tishomingo was not so for- tunate in his effort to save an Irishman : both were sucked under the wheel. Unable to pay his passage above St. Paul, another German immigrant was attacked by three men while proceeding along the bank of the Minnesota River, The ruffians beat him and threw him into the river, but his faithful dog managed to hold him up until the steamboat Globe arrived.^^^ Explosions, collisions, snags, heavy winds, and fires were responsible for the loss of many lives. Bound upstream from St. Louis in 1837, the larboard boiler of the Dubuque burst v/ith terrific force, throwing a torrent of scalding water and steam over the deck passengers. Twenty-two lives were lost in this explosion — one of the first and most appalling on the Upper Mississippi."® Seven years later (1844) the Potosi burst a boiler near Quincy, killing three persons instantly and scalding twen- [365] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ty others. Three German deck passengers — a woman, a boy of fourteen, and a girl of eleven — were badly scalded when the Red Wing collapsed a flue a short distance above Rock Island in 1847 : a severe gust of wind had careened the boat until the leeward guard was submerged. But such explosions were neither so frequent nor so gruesome as those on the Ohio or Lower Mississippi.^" The light-draught, top-heavy steamboat was always an easy victim of the violent winds which held them at their mercy. Lake Pepin was a death-trap in a storm, and cap- tains became wary of the weather upon approaching it. In 1845 the Galena ran into a gale which blew down her chimneys and threatened to tear off her cabin. When the Otter steamed by a short time later the Galena was lying up with the bedding out to dry. The hurricane left a track three miles wide on shore and lashed the waves of Lake Pepin ten feet high. The elements played havoc with steamboats all along the river. While landing at Port Louisa, a sudden gust of wind knocked down the Michi- gan's chimneys and capsized a wood boat she was towing. Thirty men — members of the crew and immigrants work- ing their passage — were thrown into the river and four were drowned. Three others were blown from the Mich- igan and seen no more. The boat presented a sorry spec- tacle as she paddled upstream with her cabin demolished. The Nominee, known as the "pious boat", lost her whistle and fifteen feet of her chimney when blown against a tree. She was unable to blow "Old Hundred" at Galena the following Sunday."^ [366] Life on the Deck and in the Cabin Collisions were frequent. In 1842 a steamboat struck the Indian Queen^s keelboat while descending the Lower Rapids. The Dr. Franklin stove in several feet of timber on the larboard side of the Amaranth near Clarksville, Missouri, in 1849. Eight or ten lives were lost in 1857 when the Ben Coursin rammed the Key City about six miles above La Crosse. Both the Amaranth and the Ben Coursin had violated the river navigation law.°^^ Next to explosions, perhaps, fires were feared most. Twenty-three steamboats were destroyed by fire at St. Louis in 1849 — the worst marine disaster on western waters. Seven of the lost craft were regular Upper Mis- sissippi boats, while several others made transient visits.***" /'Two sister ships, the War Eagle and the Galena, met their fate by fire. Built at Cincinnati in 1854, the Galena was completely destroyed by fire at Red Wing. Her pas- sengers, chiefly immigrants, were panic stricken. "Men, women, and children rushed down the gangway, and over board from all sides of the boat, many of them with noth- ing but their nightclothes about them. The rush was so great that the stages could not be launched; and but for the remarkable coolness and wise action on the part of the officers of the boat, more lives would have been lost." Only five were reported lost, but possibly many who were burned went unrecorded. In 1870 the War Eagle burned to the water's edge at La Crosse with a loss of six lives and a property damage of $215,000."' Filled with the hope and enthusiasm of the frontier, immigrants probably gave little thought to such almost [367] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi daily occurrences. Life was constantly before them, and rich lands beckoned to them on every side. No doubt many came inspired by Charles A. Dana's account of the region in 1854. "There is no region, I think, which can sustain a larger population than that on both sides of the northern Mississippi. A rich soil, suited to every product of the temperate zone, and absolutely inviting the hand of the farmer; a climate genial but not enervating; fre- quent streams to afford water power and fuel abundant in the earth; the great river for a highway, and railroads which, in forty-eight hours, land the traveler on the At- lantic — with all these advantages the entire country must become the home of one of the freest, most intelligent, most powerful and most independent communities of the world." Many immigrants worked their passage up and back to seek out and stake a claim. The Clarion ran up the Blue Earth and laid over a full day in order to allow her hands to select choice lands.^*' Besides discussing the merits of the new land, immi- grants found time to ponder over and weigh the nation's problems. The leading topics of conversation on the river, according to the Minnesota Pioneer of May 6, 1852, were: "Minnesota, the treaties, California, the Maine Liquor Law. The telegraph and the newspapers, now make the same topics of discussion universal, at the same time, wherever the English language is spoken. The presidency and Kossuth, and Jenny Lind, are not now much talked of. Our people require a fresh topic every few days." ' The arrival at a port was a signal for a dash to the guards / [368] Life on the Deck and in the Cabin and upper decks to watch the boat discharge and take on freight and passengers. A clever deck hand perched high on a swinging stage always attracted attention. The ex- phcit directions of the mate also proved both entertaining and instructive. Fights around the levee occurred daily, and immigrants and passengers were often drawn into bloody riots. In 18 57 the passengers and crew of the Saracen were attacked by the citizens of Fort Madison when they captured and severely beat a negro guilty of insubordination. The negro was tied to a stanchion where "severer punishment was to be inflicted." Several aboard the Saraceft were wounded and one citizen of Fort Madison was killed in the pitched battle. In the same year drunken rafters, armed with stones, knives, and guns, made a vicious onslaught on the Galena at Reed's Landing. At Dubuque in 185 8 an Irishman, who rejoiced in the sobriquet of "Rocky Ryan", led his hoodlum followers in an attack on the deck hands of the Albamhra.^*^ Those who worked their passage assisted in wooding up the boat. This was a novel sight at night. Charles Francis Adams, Jr., records that "as the hands, dressed in their red flannel shirts, hurried backward and forward, ship- ping the wood, the lurid flickerings from the steamer's *beacon-lights' cast a strong glare over their forms and faces, lighting up steamer, flat-boat and river, and bringing every feature and garment out in strong relief." "* Steamboats frequently experienced an unexpected addi- tion to the passenger list. An "interesting incident" occurred to an Irish woman aboard the Northern Belle [369] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi in 1856. Wrapped in flannel, the newly born infant weighed eleven pounds and was promptly christened "Preston Lodwick" McCormack in honor of the captain. A similar episode took place on board the Golden Era bound for St. Paul. A purse of $40 was raised for the benefit of the new parents. Since a physician was not al- ways on board the duty of midwife once fell to the captain. Thus, a woman aboard the Lady Pike experienced "some peculiar symptoms, which soon resulted in bringing into this world of sin and sorrow, a bouncing boy. The officers of the boat were all attention, Cap't Bradford officiating as chief physician on the important occasion. It is stated that he performed his arduous duties in a workmanlike manner. At last accounts both mother and child were prospering finely." ^*° So life went on, in fair weather and foul, aboard the throbbing steamboats. The men and women who carved out their homes in the Upper Mississippi were not readily deterred by the vicissitudes of life about them. Their yoke had not been an easy one back home : here in the Upper Mississippi Valley they could hope for a better life. Fully aware of the impelling forces, but amazed at the mad rush to the Northwest the New York Independent declared that "probably not less than a quarter of a million of people will emigrate the present year to our frontier States and Territories. Never was there such excitement on the subject before. It pervades all classes, in every city, town, and village. Students in colleges, professional, busi- nessmen — the most talented in all quarters — are taking [370] Life on the Deck and in the Cabin possession of the soil, as surer foundation for permanent prosperity than can be found in any other vocation. What a glorious spectacle, and how promising the future!" "* This same bustling energy and spirit was exhibited by the polyglot passengers aboard Upper Mississippi steam- boats. The more sordid events of life were quickly for- gotten amid new friends and fresh scenes. Bound for Minnesota in 1849, E. S. Seymour, a traveler aboard the steamboat Senator^ was delighted with the activity at Prairie du Chien and McGregor as the boat took on board "a large number of cattle and horses, wagons and plows, and barrels of flour" belonging to Minnesota immigrants and the Winnebago Indians at Crow Wing. As Seymour relates : "We had now a respectable cargo, and some eighty passengers, principally destined for St. Paul, the new and flourishing metropolis of Minnesota. Laboring men, enticed by the allurements of high wages, were wend- ing their way hither. Doctors, lawyers, and divines were on board, seeking in this last of modern El Dorados a new field for professional labors. Invalids, desirous of recruit- ing their health by inhaling the bracing air of a northern clime, were pushing forward for a higher latitude, to en- joy that boon of nature — good health — without which all other enjoyments are imaginary and insipid; citizens of Minnesota, residing in different portions of that territory, who had been below for the transaction of business, were returning home on this boat. An interesting circle of in- telligent travelers; a good boat, without a liquor bar to disturb its quietness, commanded by an obliging and socia- [371] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ble captain, assisted by polite and attentive officers and an orderly crew; the beautiful and novel scenery and fine weather, caused the hours to pass away in an agreeable manner. As the sun threw its first rays upon the hill-tops, we sprung from our berths to catch a glimpse of the fresh morning landscape; and as his last rays, at the close of day, were lingering on the declivities, new and interesting features of natural scenery still attracted our attention, and furnished themes for conversation and reflection." ^" [372] 39 v^alDin ancl JUeck JPassage The creation of the Territory of Minnesota in 1849 opened to settlement most of the country adjoining the Upper Mississippi. During the late forties the potato famine in Ireland and the revolutions on the continent were responsible for a tremendous influx of immigrants. The "Fashionable Tour" and the normal movement of peo- ple up and down the Mississippi added to the profits of steamboat captains. Just as lead dominated the period before 1850 so the passenger traffic exceeded in value that of any other single cargo between about 1850 and 1870. -^ While it would be difficult to set a definite date at which one could say that passenger receipts became greater than those on freight, the turn of the half century seems to mark the transition. During the thirties the rate of passage for immigrants did not differ greatly from that of a later date, although there was an appreciable difference in the safety, con- venience, speed, and luxury of steamboats. Passenger fares were governed by the number of passengers, the number of boats in the trade, the season of the year, and the stage of the water. In 1833 Samuel W. Pond, a Sioux missionary, advised his brother Gideon that cabin fare from Pittsburgh to St. Louis was twenty-four dollars and deck passage but eight [373] .> Steamboating on Upper Mississippi dollars. Cabin fare from St. Louis to Galena was fifteen dollars, and deck passage could be procured for five dol- lars. Provisions could be "found" along the way; but Samuel warned against the "coarse fare" of the steerage and counseled that it would be better to "pay a little more than too little". He suggested bread as the principal diet. In purchasing a ticket Pond warned his brother not to get one "clear through", since captains often decided not to go the full distance and would not refund the money.^*^ The following year Reverend Robert Baird published a guide to the West. According to Baird it cost fifty-five dollars to travel by stage and steamboat from Philadelphia to St. Louis. By traveling as a deck hand and assisting the crew at landings, immigrants could reduce the fare from Pittsburgh to Galena to as low as ten dollars. Immigrants who preferred the New Orleans route had little difficulty in meeting the ordinary expenses to Galena. From New Orleans to St. Louis cabin passage could be secured for twenty-five dollars and from that point one could travel for six dollars to Beardstown or Quincy. The usual fare from St. Louis to Galena was twelve dollars. "Those who cannot afford to take what is called a cabin passage in a steam boat", Baird writes, "may be accommodated with what is called a deck passage. The deck^ for the use of such passengers, is protected from the weather, but has no other convenience. Passengers on deck furnish their own beds and provisions. Many respectable emigrants find it to their advantage to travel in this way." ^*® Peck also spoke highly of the frugality and popularity [374] Cabin and Deck Passage of a deck passage. "The deck for such passengers is usually in the midship, forward the engine, and is protected from the weather. Passengers furnish their own provisions and bedding. They often take their meals at the cabin table, with the boat hands, and pay 25 cents a meal. Thousands pass up and down the rivers as deck passengers, especially emigrating families, who have their bedding, provisions, and cooking utensils on board." "° An English family of seven, bound upstream from New Orleans to St. Louis in 1831, found traveling as deck pas- sengers both enjoyable and cheap. "We had engaged to find our own provisions", the mother relates, "but on account of their cheapness, or partly because I acted the part of matron to such as needed my assistance, we were frequently presented with young fowls, coffee, rice, &c., so that our food cost us very little on the river." ^" On July 16, 1836, Reverend Alfred Brunson arrived at Prairie du Chien from the headwaters of the Ohio. His mode of travel was frequently adopted by pioneer fam- ilies. "He brought with him from Meadville, Pennsylvania, by canal, French creek and the Alleghany river to Pitts- burgh, thence eighteen hundred miles by the Ohio and the Mississippi a keel-boat with four families, including his own, and a dwelling-house ready to be put together. The cost of towage from Pittsburg by steamboats was $650 of which $400 was the charge from St. Louis to Prairie du Chien." ^" During the forties the rate from St. Louis to Galena remained around twelve dollars with deck passengers trav- [375] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi eling at half that figure. The fare from Galena to St. Paul stood at about eight dollars when there was no com- petition. Boats operating on the Mississippi and its tribu- taries charged a proportionate sum. The following sched- ule for the Mississippi-Wisconsin rivers was posted at Galena in 1845 by the Maid of Iowa: Galena to Number of Miles Passage Dubuque 27 $1.00 Potosi 42 1.50 Cassville 57 2.00 Prairie du Chien 90 3.00 English Prairie 140 4.00 Helena 166 4.50 Sac Prairie 191 4.75 Fort Winnebago 220 5.00 Point Boss 350 8.50 Deck passengers were carried either way at half fare and paid only twenty-five cents for meals. Freight charges were twenty-five cents per hundred to Prairie du Chien, fifty cents to English Prairie or Fielena, seventy-five cents to Fort Winnebago, and one dollar and a half to Point Boss. The Maid of Iowa left Galena with a heavy load of freight and passengers for Mississippi and Wisconsin river ports."**^ Competition brought rates to a ruinous level, and cap- tains were often barely able to pay the wood bill after a trip. Captain Harris waged a bitter fight against the Min- nesota Packet Company in 1852. Immigrants could travel from Galena to St. Paul for from one to three dollars — a rate which most persons felt ashamed to pay. A typical [376] \ Cabin and Deck Passage news item for 1852 reads : "The West Newton and the Nominee, both crowded with passengers, arrived at St. Paul Tuesday night, at about the same minute, in a strife all the way up. The old Nominee tucked up her petticoats and the way she did leg it through, kept the West Newton at the top of her speed. We regret that this competition is reaching to such a pitch — or in fact that it should reach any pitch. Let the lines both live and work at fair prices, without any such strife." °" -^/o^^ rd. Fat years followed the lean ones, however, and in f^ 185 5 the Minnesota Packet Company declared dividends amounting to $100,000 for the season's business. Captain Harris cleared $44,000 with the War Eagle \ while the City Belle made $30,000 in profits."' The balance sheet of the steamboat Milwaukee for the year 1857 shows that the sum of $53,939.65 was taken in on passages, while the receipts on freight totaled only $22,809.65. The net profit at the close of the season was $20,333.05. The Milwaukee cost the Prairie du Chien, Hudson, and St. Paul Company $41,741.22 : she was well on the way to paying for herself the first season. The following year the Ocean Wave, a boat which cost $19,500, earned $26,451.63 on passages and $9,373.13 on freight. Despite intense competition the Milwaukee took in $29,399.86 in passages and $9,779.44 in freight in 1859."^ Deck passengers were carried from Dubuque to St. Paul for two dollars in 1859."^ The Galena, Dubuque, Dunleith, and Minnesota Packet Company schedule for two successive years was as follows:"' [377] 1859 1858 1859 $2.50 20 10 2.75 22 15 3.50 25 15 4.00 27 15 5.00 30 15 5.75 33 20 6.00 33 20 Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Place Fare Freight 1858 McGregor & Prairie du Chien $3.00 Lansing 3.50 La Crosse 4.50 Winona 5.00 Reed's Landing 6.00 Prescott & Hastings 7.50 St. Paul 8.00 In spite of the movement of troops and volunteers a temporary lull occurred during the early stages of the Civil War which tended toward a more equal division of freight and passenger receipts. The Milwaukee and Itasca re- ceived $26,775.45 and $25,973.61 respectively on passages, while their freight receipts amounted to $20,682.58 and $25,973.12.''' It would be difficult to estimate the exact earnings in the passenger trade throughout the period of immigration into the Upper Mississippi Valley. Rates were high in some seasons only to be knocked down when competition broke out. In 1866 the Northwestern Packet Company announced a rate of ten dollars for cabin passage between Dubuque and St. Paul. Deck passengers were carried for six dollars. Such rates would ensure a good return if there was any traffic on the river.'®** When the balance sheet of the Northwestern Union Packet Company was struck for 1867, the Phil Sheridan, the Milwaukee, the War Eagle, the Northern Belle, the Addie Johnston, the Itasca, the Key City, the Diamond Jo, and the Keokuk each averaged almost $30,000 profits for [378] Cabin and Deck Passage the season. The Northern Belle alone cleared $36,675.18 in 1867.^®^ Most of these boats were engaged in the passenger and freight business and did no bulk towing. The heavy trips in immigrants and ordinary passengers reported by these boats throughout a highly competitive season make $150,000 a fair estimate of their earnings from passages. Beginning with the year 1868 the fight between David- son's White Collar Line and the Northern Line of St. Louis developed into a death struggle for supremacy. Rates of passage from St. Louis to St. Paul might vary anywhere from five dollars to eighteen dollars. The rates might change several times during the course of a season as the two corporations came to an agreement, only to break it at the first opportunity. The season of 1868 opened with a brisk rate war which was terminated by a mutual agreement in mid-June when the two contestants agreed to charge uniformly reasonable rates. "The time for cheap traveling and cheap shipping is over for this season", declared the Dubuque Herald on June 18, 1868. "Even rich companies and corporations 'cool down' when their pocket is affected by competition. Their 'mad' has played out". Cabin passage from St. Louis to Davenport was set at nine dollars, and eighteen was charged to St. Paul. The rates from Dubuque up were set as follows: Dubuque to Cassville $1.50 Dubuque to McGregor 3.00 Dubuque to Lansing 4.00 [379] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Dubuque to La Crosse 4.75 Dubuque to St. Paul 9.00 The following month, however, competition broke out with renewed fury as the Northern Line instructed its agent at St. Paul not to "let a passenger slip out of his hands at any rate of passage." ^^' Whole families and col- onies of immigrants might be carried at ridiculously low rates on such occasions. The influx of immigrants gave captains and owners their richest profits during the prosperous days of Upper Missis- sippi steamboating. In diverting immigrants northward steamboats shaped the political, economic, social, and re- ligious structure of the Upper Mississippi Valley. Thou- sands of immigrants, both native and foreign, were led to the land of Canaan by letters from those who had gone before and were delighted with the facility of transporta- tion as well as with the soil and climate. A colorful drama was enacted on the decks of such boats as the War Eagle, the Grey Eagle, the Canada, the Hawk- eye State, the Sucker State, the Tom Jasper, the Milwau- kee, the Daveitport, the Phil Sheridan, and the hundreds of craft which plied the Upper Mississippi during the heyday of steamboating. Such boats in landing their cosmopolitan passengers left their tribute of farmers, land- seekers, tradesmen, soldiers, and others who helped to settle the Upper Mississippi Valley. [380] 40 M-amy C^argoes and Otrange Upstream cargoes included all the personal possessions of immigrants together with the steadily mounting ship- >^ ments of the manufactured goods from the East. Old bills of lading showed rakes, hoes, spades, axes, grindstones, and an ever increasing number of tools and farm machinery. A precious cargo of freight carried by the Dr. Frcmklm in 1853 listed three barrels of whiskey, one barrel of brandy, one barrel of Old Rye whiskey, one barrel of crackers, a ten gallon keg of gin, a keg of port wine, another of dark brandy, some St. Cruse rum, peach brandy, and Holland gin, together with an appropriate number of flasks, tum- blers, and decanters in which to serve such refreshments."^ Fredrika Bremer, noted Swedish author, traveled on several Upper Mississippi steamboats during the course of her peregrinations in the Mississippi Valley. Both pas- sengers and cargoes were carefully noted by this observa- tive traveler. On one occasion, while aboard the steamboat Belle Key bound downstream for New Orleans, Miss Bremer expressed amazement at the livestock carried on the lower deck. "I call it Noah's Ark", she writes, "be- cause it has more than a thousand animals on board, on the deck below us and above us. Immense oxen, really mam- moth oxen, so fat that they can scarcely walk — cows, calves, horses, mules, sheep, pigs, whole herds of them, [381] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi send forth the sounds of their gruntings from the lower deck, and send up to us between times any thing but agreeable odors; and on the deck above us turkeys gob- ble — geese, ducks, hens, and cocks crow and fight, and little pigs go rushing wildly about, and among the poultry pens. Cargoes of livestock added profit as well as odor to steamboating. The earliest steamboats were too small to carry herds of cattle and hogs, and so these were generally driven overland. On May 11, 1836, the initial issue of the Du Buque Visitor notified drovers that five to six hundred head of cattle could be disposed of advantageously at that point. By 1850, with steamboats larger and barges coming into use, captains began to load their boats to the water's edge with livestock. In June, 1851, the Excelsior carried seventy-seven head of beef cattle northward for the Sioux who were negotiating the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. A month later the No^ninee brought farmers v/ith cattle, horses, and agricultural implements — besides 150 head of cattle and sixty head of sheep for Coulter & Rogers, butchers. A citizen of St. Paul was astounded at the fine stock brought upstream on the Dr. Franklin in 1853 — one "milch cow" alone weighing "upwards of sixteen hundred pounds". In 1857 the City Belle, the W. H. Denny, the W. L. Nelson, and the W. L. Ewing were jammed with horses, mules, cattle, sheep, and hogs from central Illinois. By that time northern Iowa was contributing livestock to Minnesota; a Dubuque editor saw twenty head of fine [382] Many Cargoes and Strange cattle driven aboard the Northern Belle. In 185 8 the Pembina arrived at St. Paul with 216 cattle and 100 hogs."= Sawmills, gristmills, and flourmills were transported aboard Upper Mississippi steamboats. On December 21, 1836, the Du Buque Visitor announced that a Phila- delphian would bring a steam sawmill around to Dubuque immediately after the opening of navigation. In 1838 the steamboat Palmyra brought supplies and equipment to establish the first sawmill on the St. Croix River.^^^ The Red Wing steamed proudly up to the St. Paul levee in May of 1857 with the machinery and equipment necessary to construct a sawmill at Kasota. A month later the Hamburg appeared with a sawmill which was shipped aboard the Medora to South Bend on the Minnesota River. At the same time the Jacob Traber was seen at the St. Paul levee with the engines and machinery for two sawmills to be installed at New Ulm on the Minnesota River."^ In 1844 a steamboat brought up the brick for the Dous- man home at Prairie du Chien.^^^ Eight years later the^ pious Nominee brought up a $600 organ for Rev. E. D. Neill's church at St. Paul. Although the Reverend Neill was not a Baptist, the organ had been accidentally im- mersed en route. It was hoped the damage could be repaired.^^'^ In July of 185 8 the steamboat Tigress arrived at Du- buque with a large cargo of the "celebrated Nauvoo stone" of the same quality that had been used in constructing the Mormon Temple at Nauvoo. The stones were "cut and [383] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi shaped" for the new Custom House; but an editor de- clared that Dubuque Hmestone was just as good and that local labor and enterprise should be allowed to make the 570 money. There was rejoicing among St. Paul firemen in 1 8 5 8 over the arrival of the fire engine, Hope Company No. 1. This handsome "double deck" machine, which weighed 2800 pounds and cost $2400, was painted a "rich blue" and was "appropriately guilded". It was equipped with 500 feet of durable hose reeled on a tender and could throw five streams at once. Its arrival was marred by an unhappy note : the steamboat had charged $100 for transportation, which the city council paid under protest. The excessive charge was in retaliation for the high wharfage collected by the city. The fire-fighters promptly withdrew their patronage from the boat."'^ Immense shipments of farm machinery were carried aboard steamboats. The development of agricultural im- plements is exhibited by the character of farming ma- chinery transported upstream : tools were simple during the thirties and forties, as manifested by bills of lading, but each decade witnessed an advance. Seventeen plows and eight ox yokes were aboard the Arizona in 1857 when she arrived at St. Paul from Pittsburgh. A decade later (in 1866) steamboats were discharging reapers, mowers, plows, and miscellaneous assortments of tools and ma- chinery at Upper Mississippi ports. Competitive trials were often held to determine the superiority of such agricultural implements as Ball's Ohio, the Dodge, the [384] Many Cargoes and Strange Buckeye, the McCormick, the J. P. Manny, the Kirby, the Quaker Boy, and the Champion/" The steamboat Canada passed Dubuque in May, 1867, with 264 reapers aboard. Throughout the season the Canada^ the Reserve, and other craft landed farm imple- ments at Dubuque and other ports. The following year the Molly McPike, the Ida Fulton, the City of St. Paul^ and the Hawkeye State left their tribute of mowers, reap- ers, threshers, plows, and other agricultural implements. On July 24, 1869, the Bannock City arrived at Dubuque from Fulton with four barges loaded principally with agricultural implements. The Bannock City put off four threshers at Dubuque; and on the same day the Sucker State and the Bill Henderson were industriously discharg- ing threshers and reapers.'^' In the fall of each year steamboats carried heavy cargoes of fruit upstream. The Henry Clay left 200 barrels of apples at Dubuque in October, 1857. Thousands of barrels of apples were discharged at Dubuque and upriver ports in the fall of 1866 : in a single trip the Minnesota, the Muscatine, and the Pemhina were seen putting off from 200 to 500 barrels each. Early in November the Pine Bluff came up with 1000 barrels; and the Sucker State put in an appearance a few days later with 1100 more. The apple trade at Dubuque was described as enormous. In the fall of 1869 rousters on the Canada, the City of St. Paul, the Dubuque, and the Lady Pike rolled barrel after barrel down the gangplank — the Tom Jasper alone leaving over a thousand at Dubuque. For more than a generation the [385] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi transportation of fresh fruits to river towns aflForded steamboats a profitable seasonal employment."* From distant Pittsburgh steamboats brought hundreds of tons of glassware, hardware, and other merchandise. Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis added to the volume of manufactured goods passing upstream to a country not yet self-sufficient. Sometimes Upper Mississippi steam- boats went to Pittsburgh to open their upriver season with a thumping cargo of from 300 to 700 tons of merchandise. On one trip in 1857 the Cremona discharged at Dubuque alone 1924 packages weighing over 111 tons! °^^ Wild boats in the Ohio River trade would frequently bring a cargo around to the Upper Mississippi. "The Delaware, an outside boat", notes the Dubuque Herald of May 12, 1866, "arrived yesterday from Pittsburgh, which place she left with 1,400 tons of iron, nails, glass, and drugs loaded on her deck and on three barges. After discharging about 35 tons here she pushed on up the river." Most of the time, however, Ohio River merchandise was trans- ferred at St. Louis to an Upper Mississippi boat."^ The heavy cargoes of stoves carried from St. Louis and ^ Ohio River ports each fall are suggestive of the great number of new hearth fires. Within the space of ten days in 1869, seven steamboats deposited nearly three hundred stoves on the Dubuque wharf boat. The Ida Fulton brought up forty-four stoves, the Dia?nond Jo sixty-seven, and the Phil Sheridan seventy-six. In addition each boat discharged a large amount of merchandise.^" Still another cargo originating in Pittsburgh was coal. [386] Many Cargoes and Strange In 185 5 the Dubuque Gas Company, after experimenting with Rock Island and La Salle coal, found neither satis- factory. The following spring a Dubuque editor expressed delight that coal could be brought all the way from Pitts- burgh and cost "on delivery, 40 cents per bushel"."* In 1857 the Kesohite brought to Dubuque two barges and three flats with 6000 bushels of Illinois coal, 4000 bushels of Pittsburgh coal, and 2600 bushels of coke from the same port. St. Paul was not so pleased with the charges on Pitts- burgh coal. Late in May, 1857, the steamboat La Crosse arrived with 200 tons of coal which cost at the mine only three or four cents per bushel. After carrying it two thousand miles by water (over half the distance being upstream) the coal came to one dollar a bushel in St. Paul. The captain of the La Crosse estimated that it had cost him $600 to bring the coal over the Des Moines Rapids, and $ 1 5 to carry it over the Upper Rapids. A few days later the Rocket arrived at St. Paul with 4500 bushels of coal, 1500 kegs of nails, and a large quantity of iron and hardware. A St. Paul editor complained that the manifest of the Rocket was "three yards long"; though he had offered to print all manifests, he did not attempt this one."^ Downstream cargoes included the products of a raw frontier community. From Minnesota, steamboats towed ice downstream to take care of the needs of those living in southern climes. In 1860 a Minnesota paper noted that special barges for ice shipments had been built in Minne- [387] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi apolis by the firm of Eustis & Brackett. "They are each 120 feet in length, 22 feet wide, and contain 375 tons of ice", the editor remarked. "Ice in Minnesota is a pretty tolerable reliable crop, and being in good demand among the fire-eaters of the South, will, no doubt prove a profit- able business in the future." ^^"^ Early in April, 1869, the Lady Pike took two barges of ice south. The Bengal Tiger also towed ice barges in 1869. Late in October she left the ice business and went after the "potato trade in a lively way". After a brief flurry in potatoes, the boat headed for New Orleans with three barges of pressed hay which her enterprising skipper planned to sell at the ports below.'^^ Shipment of hay to New Orleans had been inaugurated as early as 1860 when the "mammoth hay boat" Challenge left Muscatine with 97,000 bundles of lath, 25,000 sacks of grain, and almost 2000 bales of hay.'"' Minnesota cranberries were frequently observed aboard steamboats bound downstream : 2 1 3 5 bushels were shipped from Minnesota as early as 1849. In 1851 the steamboat Excelsior left a barge at St. Paul to be filled with about eighty tons of "vitreous white sand" for a St. Louis man- ufacturer. An editor hoped that sand would soon be used in manufacturing at St. Paul. The growth of Minnesota in manufacturing is attested by the arrival of the Minne- apolis at Dubuque from above with 651 sleigh shoes and 50 "cauldron kettles".'^' Strange cargoes often found their way on board. The loungers on the levee at St. Louis in 1831 must have stared [388] Many Cargoes and Strange in open-mouthed amazement as a giant elephant com- placently ambled off a boat from below/** A generation later Galenians awaited the arrival of Herr Dreisbach with his mammoth circus, including the elephant Hannibal (weighing 10,830 pounds), a rhinoceros, some lions, and other "varmints". The smaller pioneer communities often spoke wistfully of such traveling menageries and in 1851 the Minnesota Pioneer carried a Cincinnati item noting that Herr Dreisbach and his "celebrated Pet, the Brazilian Tiger, called Col. Alexander", had both registered in the clerk's book and taken passage on the Julia Dean. The other occupants of the cabin doubtless gave "Col. Alex- 1"^ ander" a wide berth as he stalked silently through the cabin with his master. °*'* In 185 3 the Territory of Minnesota sent a splendid buffalo as one of its contributions to the Crystal Palace Exhibition in New York. The patience of this rather surly beast was not improved by the irritating prods of the roustabouts on the Ben Franklin. After being roughly pushed from boat to boat, led through the streets of Cin- cinnati, and finally shipped by train to New York, the distracted beast gave vent to his feelings when the com- mittee appeared to pass on his fitness as an exhibit : a furious charge sent the members scurrying for safety as they formulated their verdict. He was not accepted. ^**' In August, 1861, a La Crosse dispatch noted that the steamboat Key City collided with Dan Rice's circus steam- boat nineteen miles below that point. Neither boat was damaged, but the cage containing the "trained Rhin- [389] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi oceros" was knocked overboard. First accounts indicated that "Mr. Rhinoceros", who was valued at $20,000, had been drowned. No "insurance on his Hfe" was carried, so the loss would have been a heavy one. Happily for all, the rhinoceros appears to have been rescued; for, a few days later William E. Wellington, the genial clerk of the Minnesota Packet Company, found "Mr. Rhinoceros" making heroic efforts to extricate himself from the buoy chain of the wharf boat at Dubuque.^" The following June a Dubuque newspaper suggested: "All persons who have never seen a gorilla had better avail themselves of seeing the only one ever in the Western country. He is on exhibition at the Wharf Boat and is one of the rarest specimens of his species in America. He is owned by Barnum, in New York, who sent him to Iowa to pasture for a few weeks. He is to be shipped to St. Louis on the Canada^ Tuesday morning." ^®^ Such were the cargoes carried by Upper Mississippi steamboats in the balmy days of river transportation. From hold to texas, steamboats frequently constituted a veritable museum that for sheer novelty would have done credit to Phineas T. Barnum himself. But steamboats went Barnum one better : the unique cargoes ranging from apes to zebras added interest but little profit to steamboating. It was the steady flow of the bulk commodities of an ever expanding frontier that helped to sustain steamboating and bolster the receipts of captains and corporations. [390] 41 •Uaptain Josepn 1 nrockmorion Prior to the advent of the railroad no type of pioneer was more influential than the steamboat captain in expand- ing the frontier and building an empire in the West. Adventurous, hardy, ambitious, he brought his crude craft into waters frequented hitherto only by the transient visit of the keelboat. He offered a means of communication and transportation to the Indian Agent, the missionary, the fur trader, and the soldier, as well as to the pioneers who were straggling into the West with their families and few worldly possessions. He played an important role in the economic life of the Mississippi Valley. Of all the pioneer river captains on the Upper Missis- sippi, none was better known than Joseph Throckmorton who over a period of twenty years commanded a dozen boats and had a financial interest in probably as many more. Efficient, prudent, and every inch a gentleman, he won the respect of those he served and established a high standard for steamboat transportation. Little is known of the early life of this picturesque river- man. Born in Monmouth County, New Jersey, on June 16, 1800, he made his first venture in the business world as a youngster with a mercantile firm in New York City. But he soon tired of this work, and in 1828 moved to Pittsburgh where in company with several other young [391] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi men he bought a part interest in the steamboat Red Rover. While plying between Pittsburgh and Zanesville, Ohio, the boat collided with another vessel and sank. After she was raised Throckmorton seems to have acquired a con- trolling interest; he then brought his boat around to St. Louis where he immediately engaged in the upriver trade.^^^ The Red Rover arrived at St. Louis late in the month of June, 1828, just five years after the Virginia had made the maiden steamboat trip above the Des Moines Rapids to Fort Snelling.^^" A few scattered villages were cropping up on both sides of the river below the Lower Rapids; and farmhouses were beginning to appear above the rapids on the Illinois shore. The western side was a wilderness broken only by an occasional Indian village or the rude hut of a half-breed. Except for the few military outposts and fur-trading establishments along the Mississippi and the lead mines huddled about Fever River, the country was still a virgin estate. Scarcely two dozen steamboats had preceded the Red Rover in the five years that had elapsed since the trip of of the Virginia, and most of these were transient craft. Lead shipments had just reached a point where captains could look for a plentiful cargo, and Throckmorton was not slow in taking advantage of this opportunity. Occa- sionally a boatload of supplies or a detachment of troops afforded a profitable trip to Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien or Fort Snelling at the mouth of the Minnesota. The transportation of Indian annuities and delegations [392] Captain Joseph Throckmorton also brought a tidy sum to this ever watchful steamboat captain. But the year of 1828 was rather unprofitable and Throckmorton was forced to make several trips to the Illinois and Missouri rivers. When winter shut him off from this trade he went around to the Ohio and engaged in the commerce of that river with the Lower Missis- • 591 sippi. Navigation opened early in 1829. The Red Rover was lying at the St. Louis levee on April 14th, having already completed one trip to Fever River.^^' Midsummer found the boat at the head of the Lower Rapids, unable to pro- ceed downstream on account of low water and hopefully waiting for a cargo with which to return to the mines. Here Caleb Atwater, one of the three commissioners ap- pointed by the government to treat with the Indians at Prairie du Chien, came upon the impatient Throckmorton. The low stage of the water had abruptly ended Atwater's voyage on the steamboat Missouri at the foot of the rapids. WhUe making his way on foot along the river from Fort Edwards to the head of the rapids, he found many of the packages which he had forwarded several weeks before scattered along the banks and exposed to the ele- ments. The sight of the Red Rover must have been as pleasing to Atwater as the prospects of a lucrative trip were to Throckmorton.^^^ By sunset most of the goods were on board and provision was made for the shipment of the remainder on the next trip. Darkness set in before the boat had gone many miles and orders were given to tie up for the night. It was not [393] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi until noon of the third day that Throckmorton was able to reach Rock Island. Low water and innumerable sand- bars made steamboating extremely hazardous. In order to lighten the boat so that she might more easily twist and squirm her way to the head of the Upper Rapids all pas- sengers were required to walk along the shore. Only Briga- dier General John McNeil and the ladies on board were excepted. All afternoon was spent in bringing the boat to the head of the Rock Island or Upper Rapids where Captain Throckmorton tied up for the night. Two days later the Red Rover reached the mouth of Fever River. After visiting the lead mines at both Galena and Dubuque, the boat proceeded to Prairie du Chien. Here the commissioners were landed. Then Throckmorton steamed down the river to pick up a cargo of lead and return with the remaining annuity goods which had been left at the head of the Lower Rapids. In the middle of August the Red Rover again carried to St. Louis all the commissioners except Atwater who returned overland to his home.^^* In 1830 the first cooperative association of steamboat captains on the Upper Mississippi was formed by Throck- morton and Captain S. Shallcross. During the period of low water Captain Shallcross operated the Chieftain be- tween St. Louis and the Lower Rapids, while the Red Rover plied the river above. To avoid delay in the transit of goods, keels were provided to transport freight over the rapids in the event of extreme low water. Previous to this agreement, about the first of August, Throckmorton [394] Captain Joseph Throckmorton had made six trips to the lead district and so had covered a distance of about six thousand miles. The new plan met with immediate success since both passengers and shippers were disposed to patronize the boat that could guarantee the completion of a trip.'"" In 1831 Throckmorton bought the Winnebago and formed a similar combination with Captain James May of the Enter prise.^^^ Late in the fall, however, he sold his interest in the Winnebago and went over on the Ohio River to build the steamboat Warrior. Subsequent events proved the fitness of this name. The steamboat Warrior is one of the most celebrated of Upper Mississippi steamboats. Owned by Captain Throckmorton and William Hempstead of Galena, the Warrior and her safety barge were built at Pittsburgh during the winter of 1831-1832. She was 111 feet 5 inches long, had a 19-foot beam, a 5 -foot hold, and measured 100 tons burden. She had one deck and no mast, a tran- som stern, a cabin above deck for officers and crew, and a figurehead. Power was furnished by a high pressure engine and three boilers. The Warrior was one of the few steamboats to tow a safety barge on the Upper Mississippi. Such an innovation served both as a protection to the passengers from explo- sions and as a means of decreasing the draft of the boat to facilitate passing over the rapids in low water. The safety barge, was 111 feet 8 inches long, had a 16-foot beam, a 4-foot 8 inch hold, and measured 85 tons.*^"^ It was prob- ably modeled after the pioneer of its kind which had been [395] h Steamboating on Upper Mississippi used on the Ohio River by the Merchant in 1826. This safety barge had fifty-two berths, three cabins, and drew but twenty inches of water.^®^ Captain Throckmorton was the third man to bring this type of craft to the Upper Mississippi : Captain Shallcross of the steamboat St. Louis and Galena Jacket had introduced one as early as 1827/^^ Early in the spring of 1832 the rumblings of the ap- proaching Black Hawk War were daily becoming more threatening, and when the storm finally broke the steam- boats on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers were soon busily engaged in transporting troops and supplies. Steam- boating on these waters became so hazardous that it was necessary to barricade the cabins and pilot house against the fire of the Indians who frequently lay in ambush along the shore and fired upon the passing boats. It was midsummer before Throckmorton brought the Warrior and her barge to St. Louis, whence he immediately set out for the seat of war.^°° The Warrior arrived at Prairie du Chien just as Black Hawk and his band were retreating toward the Mississippi. She was immediately pressed into service, and the captain v/as given orders to patrol the river above the fort to prevent the Indians from crossing. Lieutenants James W. Kingsbury and Reuben Holmes, together with a company of fifteen regulars and six volunteers, were sent aboard and a small six-pounder was placed in the bow of the boat. Captain Throckmorton first steamed to Wabasha's vil- lage where about a hundred and fifty "friendly" Indians were enlisted to help patrol the river. Thence he proceeded [396] Captain Joseph Throckmorton downstream and reached the spot where De Soto now stands just as Black Hawk and his warriors were pouring through the hills to the river. Although Throckmorton was not in command of the troops aboard the Warrior, he also participated in the fight. On August 3rd he penned a laconic account from Prairie du Chien : "On our way down we met one of the Sioux band, who informed us that the Indians, our enemies, were on Bad Axe River to the number of four hundred. We stopped and cut some wood and prepared for action. About four o'clock on Wednesday afternoon [August 1st] we found the gentlemen where he stated he left them. As we neared them they raised a white flag and endeavored to decoy us; but we were a little too old for them, for instead of land- ing, we ordered them to send a boat on board, which they declined. After about fifteen minutes' delay, giving them time to remove a few of their women and children, we let slip a six-pounder loaded with canister, followed by a severe fire of musketry; and if ever you saw straight blankets, you would have seen them there. I fought them at anchor most of the time, and we were all very much exposed. I have a ball which came in close by where I was standing, and passed through the bulkhead of the wheel- room. We fought them for about an hour or more, until our wood began to fail, and night coming on, we left and went on to the Prairie. This little fight cost them twenty- three killed and, of course, a great many wounded. We never lost a man and had but one man wounded".^"'^ While this brief skirmish was of no great significance [397] k Steamboating on Upper Mississippi in itself it served to check the Indians sufficiently to allow the troops to come up and completely rout them at Bad Axe a short time later. After the battle of Bad Axe, Brigadier General Henry Atkinson took passage on the Warrior to Jefferson Barracks. A short time later the Winnebago brought down Black Hawk and eleven of his headmen as prisoners. *'°" It was not merely the vicissitudes of war which pre- sented perils to steamboat captains. In 1833 an event occurred on board the Warrior which might have proved far more fatal. This elicited "a gentle caution" from Throckmorton which was published in the Missouri Re- publican at St. Louis. "We have many hardships to encounter, and are exposed to many dangers, which of course we submit to without a murmur;" wrote the captain, "but we would respect- fully request our friends not to heap upon us, through their kindness, more than we can conveniently endure. Now, a short: story at a tcoodpile. On loading my boat at a place of this kind last trip, I discovered several black marks upon the deck, which, on examination, I found to be gunpowder, from a box which my men were about to store away as dry goods, which in part did contain dry goods, but in the middle concealed, was a considerable quantity of powder, so carelessly placed, that it was strewn throughout the package. Now, I have only to request, that whenever any of my customers have powder to ship, that they will not conceal it, and thereby endanger our lives, but inform us of it. I am not a little surprised that [398] Captain Joseph Throckmorton so respectable a concern should attempt a thing of this kind, particularly as the freight would not have been more upon the article of powder than any other. I should sup- pose that shippers would have taken the hint after what has recently occurred on our western waters. At any rate, it is high time that we should. It is not my wish to com- plain, but /'/ is my wish to run my boat with as much safety as possible; and I trust this gentle caution will be attended t-^ >J 603 to. This sharp but courteous letter reveals a man not afraid to lose his trade if an abuse might be corrected. The "hint" undoubtedly referred to the explosion which oc- curred in July of the previous year on board the Phoenix as she was making her way up the Mississippi from New Orleans. A fire broke out on the Phoenix, but the boat might have been saved by the strenuous efforts of the cap- tain and crew if some gunpowder, secreted in packages, had not exploded.^"* Throckmorton continued in command of the Warrior until the close of the season of 1835. The boat remained on the upper river in command of Captain E. H. Gleim throughout the season of 1836, but thereafter she disap- peared from the record.**"' Five years of active service probably made the boat unfit for further use. The 1 19-ton St. Peters (said to be the largest boat on the Upper Mississippi at the time) arrived at Galena in com- mand of Captain Throckmorton on June 8, 1836."°® On July 2nd she tied up at Fort Snelling with a cargo of sup- plies. Among the passengers were the French geographer [399] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi J. N. Nicollet, and several ladies from St. Louis who were on a pleasure excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony. Throckmorton continued in the upriver trade with the St. Peters until early fall, when he went back to Pittsburgh and built the Ariel ^°^ and the Burlington. Late in May, 1837, Throckmorton brought out the Burlington ""^ — a boat that should be remembered if only for the many notable characters who graced her deck. By June 28, 1838, Throckmorton had completed his third trip to Fort Snelling, bringing with him one hundred and forty-six recruits of the Fifth Infantry. Prominent among the passengers carried that season were Colonel John Bliss, George Catlin, J. N. Nicollet, John C. Fremont, Henry Atkinson, Franklin Steele, and the widow of Alexander Hamilton.'"' At the beginning of the season of 1839 Throckmorton replaced the Burlington with the Malta, which was built in Pittsburgh at a cost of $18,000.*^^" The usual business of carrying supplies and annuities to the forts on the Up- per Mississippi occupied the first season. In the summer of 1840 the Malta was advertised in the Galena Gazette to make a pleasure excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony.'^^ During the season of 1841 she made four trips to the lead district with five keels in tow, for which her total receipts were estimated to be $4000 on freight and $4000 on pas- sengers.^^' Late in the fall of 1841, Throckmorton engaged the Malta in the Missouri River trade where she was snagged two miles above Laynesville, Missouri, at a point henceforth called Malta Bend. Within one minute she [400] Captain Joseph Throckmorton sank in fifteen feet of water. Both the boat and the cargo of furs for the American Fur Company were a total loss.®^' In 1842 Throckmorton brought the General Brooke into the Upper Mississippi trade."^* Receipts for five trips to the mines that year amounted to $10,000, while in 1843 fifteen trips to the lead district produced $25,000/^' Dur- ing the same year the boat made seven trips between Galena and Fort Snelling, besides engaging for a while in the Mis- souri River trade. A card of thanks for the many favors extended on a trip to Galena early in 1843, signed by Henry Dodge and fourteen others, is eloquent testimony of the character and standing of Captain Throckmorton.®'^ The General Brooke started the season of 1845 as a reg- ular St. Louis, Galena, and St. Peter's packet, but in mid- summer Throckmorton sold her to Joseph La Barge for $12,000. This was the first boat La Barge owned, and he immediately entered her in the Missouri River trade. It was in the great fire of 1849 at St. Louis that the General Brooke met her fate, together with twenty-two other steamboats. She was being used at the time as a towboat by Captain A. J. Ringling, who estimated his loss at only $1500.''' After making a few trips on the Nimrod ''* (an Ameri- can Fur Company boat) Throckmorton bought the Ce- cilia *'* and ran her in the St. Peter's trade for the remainder of the season of 1845. Once she poked up the St. Croix River as far as Stillwater. Throckmorton's old boat, the Ariel, had been the second to navigate that tribu- tary in the fall of 1838.''° When the Mexican War broke [401] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi out in 1846, Throckmorton brought the dragoons sta- tioned at Fort Crawford and Fort Atkinson down to St. Louis on the Cecilia. During the remainder of the season many volunteers crowded her deck.^"^ During the winter of 1845-1846 Throckmorton built the side-wheel steamboat Cora ®" at Rock Island — a signi- a/ ficant index to the development of the country in which he had been a steamboating pioneer. Throckmorton took command of the Cora late in the fall of 1 846. In the fol- lowing year he was the first to reach Fort Snelling, batter- ing his way through floating ice to reach that port on April 7th. The boat was advertised in the Galena news- paper for the St. Peter's trade as early as the twenty-sixth of February. Throughout the season of 1848 Throckmor- ton continued to command the Cora, but in March, 1849, he sold her to Captain Robert A. Reilly who took her into the Missouri trade.^"^ When Throckmorton disposed of the Cora he ended his career as an active captain on the Upper Mississippi. For a few years he was agent for the Tennessee Insurance Company at St. Louis, but the urge of a pulsing steamboat overpowered him and he returned to his former occupa- tion on the Missouri River. For three years he commanded the Genoa which he built in 1854. In 1857 he built the Florence and in 1864 the Montana. Four years later he purchased the Columbia and employed her in the trade between St. Louis and Fort Benton. After several trips on the Illinois River he sold her to the Arkansas River Packet Company. [402] Captain Joseph Throckmorton Captain Throckmorton spent the last two years of his hfe as a United States engineer under Colonel John N. Macomb in the improvement of the Upper Mississippi. He died in St. Louis in December, 1872, after having en- gaged in river work for almost fifty years. It is said that he accumulated several fortunes during his colorful career as a river captain, but he finally died a poor man.^^* Joseph Throckmorton showed himself to be a conserva- tive steamboat captain during his twenty years of service on the Upper Mississippi. Unlike Daniel Smith Harris, who was continually seeking to establish new speed records or exploring hitherto unnavigated streams, Throckmorton was ambitious to establish a reliable and remunerative business. This could not be accomplished with a "nigger" hanging on the safety valve. His enterprising spirit was evidenced by his formation of the first cooperative agree- ment between steamboat captains on the Upper Missis- sippi, and again shortly afterward when he used the safety barge as a further means of gaining business. Chief Keokuk was so impressed with the personality and character of Throckmorton that it is said he offered him the site of "Flint Hills", where Burlington now stands, as a token of friendship. Hercules L. Dousman, agent of the American Fur Company at Prairie du Chien, recom- mended Throckmorton's boats in preference to those of rival captains. His steamboats were indeed among the finest then afloat. Their popularity was attested by the type of passengers he carried. Cabin passengers rarely failed to subscribe a title to their names, so that the register [403] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi became a galaxy of generals, majors, doctors, and judges. If nothing better was available an "Esquire" was appended to lend dignity to a signature. Throckmorton's cargoes varied widely. On April 10, 1830, for example, the Red Rover arrived at Galena with five hundred and thirty-seven packages, bales, and barrels in addition to a thousand feet of plank. Four hundred and sixty-three packages had been unloaded at various towns on the way. In addition to the freight the boat had brought up nineteen cabin passengers and a hundred and twenty- five deck passengers. Pigs of lead constituted the main cargo downstream.®^^ / Amusements on board these boats were as varied as hu- man ingenuity could devise. A landing at a town or fort was always an interesting event. Indian villages were often visited, and the red men could usually be prevailed upon to perform their dances and sing their songs for a nominal sum. Dancing and games were popular among the cabin passengers. During the presidential years innumerable straw votes were cast. It was the captain's duty to pass among his cabin pas- sengers and minister to their wants in a kindly and cour- teous manner. At the end of the trip the cabin passengers would often meet informally and select a committee to draw up resolutions commending the captain and his officers for their many courteous and gentlemanly qual- ities. These resolutions with the names of the passengers subscribed were then printed in a newspaper. Indeed, this practice became so common that one English traveler [404] Captain Joseph Throckmorton humorously wrote that Mississippi steamboat captains must be an exceptionally polite and cultured class. Among the deck passengers games of chance, coarse jokes, fishing, and often drunkenness prevailed. Robberies were fre- quent. In 1833 some thieves carried away almost every piece of wearing apparel they could find belonging to the passengers on the Winnebago.^'^ Captain Throckmorton witnessed a remarkable change in the country he helped to develop. In 1828 there were few settlements above the head of the Lower Rapids. Eight years later Galena and Dubuque newspapers adver- tised the sale of lots at Port Byron, New York, Oquawka, Rockingham, Paris, Platteville, Pauquette, Van Buren, Bloomington, Parkhurst, Illinois City, Burlington, New Rochester, Keithsburg, and Rockport — towns that in many instances are probably unknown even to the oldest inhabitants of the region.*" Within this broad valley today there dwell many peo- ple descendants of the pioneers who were carried on the decks of the Ked Rover, the Winnebago, the Warrior, the St. Peters, the Ariel, the Burlington, the Malta, the Gen- eral Brooke, the Nimrod, the Cecilia, and the Cora. [405] Ijaiiiel oimifli Oarris : A Jriglitiinig oikipper St. Paul was in a pandemonium. Whistles blew, cannon boomed, and the crowd roared an enthusiastic welcome as the trim and speedy Grey Eagle (Daniel Smith Harris commanding) swished up to the levee to open the season of navigation on March 25, 185 8. It was an epoch in steamboating, marking the earliest recorded arrival at the chief port of call on the Upper Mississippi. It also marked the seventh time in fifteen years that the gallant and enterprising Harris had braved the dangers of ice-locked Lake Pepin to reach St. Paul first. The steam in the Grey Eagle's boilers had scarcely subsided before Captain Harris was informed that a banquet would be held in his honor, attended by the newly elected Governor and the leading citizens. ^'^ It was fitting that Henry Sibley, the first chief execu- tive of the North Star State, should be chosen to preside at the banquet. At the conclusion of a sumptuous repast. Governor Sibley eulogized the resourceful and energetic Harris for his splendid work in developing Minnesota and the Upper Mississippi Valley. He hailed him as the senior commander and acknowledged peer of the hundred cap- tains then plying the river between St. Louis and St. Paul. It was scarcely necessary to speak of one whose name was a byword wherever steamboats docked. His matchless [406] Daniel Smith Harris : A Fighting Skipper courage as a commander, his skill and cunning as a pilot, his love of fast boats and record-breaking runs, his ven- turesome forays up hitherto unnavigated streams, his cool- ness in the face of danger had been often displayed. But it was his work as the pioneer navigator of almost every tributary above the Des Moines Rapids that particularly impressed Governor Sibley, and so he emphasized the im- portance of the discovery of the head of navigation of streams in Minnesota and the other Commonwealths along the Upper Mississippi.®"^ Prior to the Civil War no steamboat captain was better known or more highly respected than Daniel Smith Harris. His father, James Harris, was born in Connecticut in 1777 of an old Massachusetts family that extended back to the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock on the Mayfloii/er. As a young man James Harris had emigrated to New York State where he married Abigail Bathrick, a resident of Kortright, Delaware County. The first child of this union was Daniel Smith Harris, born at Kortright on July 24, 1808. After residing in New York for several years the wan- derlust again seized James Harris and he moved with his family to Cincinnati. Here he remained until financial difficulties beset him when he decided to join the Moses Meeker colony to the Fever River mines in 1823. At this time Daniel was a robust lad of fifteen; accordingly he was withdrawn from school to join the expedition. Three younger brothers (Robert Scribe, Martin Keeler, and James Meeker) were left behind with their mother until [407] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi a suitable home could be provided for them. A fifth son, Jackson, was born to James and Abigail Harris at Galena in 1828/'" The trip to the lead mines on the keelboat Colonel Bom- ford must have seemed the merriest kind of lark to the vigilant and inquiring lad of fifteen. Daniel saw the boat carried swiftly down the Ohio. But when the Mississippi was reached the sluggish keelboat appeared in sharp con- trast to the steamboat Virginia as it churned proudly by the Colonel Bomford on her way to St. Louis. "Smith'* Harris, for so he became generally known, quickly ob- served the archaic mode by which he was traveling. Did a new field of endeavor lay open to him?^'^ The voyage of the Virginia inspired in the youthful Harris a strong desire to own and captain a steamboat. But to own such a craft a large outlay of capital was re- quired; and so, during the year 1823, he roamed the hills of the mining district with an Indian boy prospecting for lead — a task which at first he pursued with indifferent success. The year after James Harris and his eldest son arrived at Galena, the three younger boys came west to the lead mines to assist their father on his new farm in Jo Daviess County. The produce of the Harris farm found a ready market in a community devoted almost entirely to mining. The returns on their labor must have been as great as that reaped by many of the miners themselves. Even as late as 1836 the need for farmers and farm prod- ucts provoked considerable comment in the lead district. In 1824 Smith Harris and his brother Scribe prospected [408] Daniel Smith Harris : A Fighting Skipper together. One Sunday, Smith struck an old deserted shaft in West Galena. By working it he discovered one of the richest leads ever found in the region. West Diggings, as his mine was called, soon made him one of the most pros- perous miners in the Fever River district. The two boys took 3 5,000 pounds of mineral from the first pocket, and ultimately 4,000,000 pounds from the mine. They suc- cessfully fought off the claim-jumpers who attempted to deprive them of their find and continued in the mining business all their lives. Whenever misfortune befell them in steamboating they relied on their mines to recoup the losses. The year 1829 was noteworthy for Daniel Smith Harris. His aggressive character and success had attracted the at- tention of Captain David G. Bates, one of the best-known steamboat captains on the Upper Mississippi. Heavy lead shipments were being made to St. Louis, and when a va- cancy occurred in the pilot house of the steamboat Galena Captain Bates offered Smith Harris an appointment as cub pilot — a position which he accepted without hesitation. A little later, when an assistant engineer was needed. Scribe Harris was assigned to the berth. The training which the two boys received under Captain Bates laid the foundation for their future skill and daring in steam- boating.*^' The Black Hawk War brought a lull in river transporta- tion. Only six steamboats dared to enter the lead district in 1832. Stillman's Run threw the entire Upper Missis- sippi Valley into panic; and Galena, gripped by fear, soon [409] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi became an armed camp under martial law. Smith Harris enlisted as a lieutenant in Captain James W. Stephenson's regiment and was active throughout the war, participat- ing in the decisive battle of Wisconsin Heights. Following this struggle, he heard the Indians sue for peace. "About daybreak the next morning", he relates, "the camp was alarmed by the clarion voice of the Prophet, from a hill nearly a mile away. At first, we thought it was an alarm, but soon found that the Prophet wanted peace. Although he was so far distant, I could distinctly hear every word, and I understood enough to know he did not want to fight. The interpreter reported that the Prophet said 'they had their squaws and children with them, and that they were starving, that they did not want to fight any more, and would do no more harm if they were allowed to cross the Mississippi in peace.' " The brutal massacre of women and children at Bad Axe a short time later is a dark page in the military annals of the United States. In 1893, two weeks before his death. Captain Harris received a pension for his services during the Black Hawk War.^^^ At the conclusion of the war, Harris decided to build a steamboat of his own. His experience under Captain Bates, his love for the river and the pulsing deck of a steamboat, a fairly substantial income from his mines, and the scarcity of boats in the trade probably induced him to return to steamboating. The sight of the hull of the keel- boat Colonel BoiJiford near West Diggings, it is said, prompted him to construct a boat. Scribe was dispatched [410] Daniel Smith Harris : A Fighting Skipper to Cincinnati to purchase an engine and machinery, while Smith busied himself with putting the hull of the keel in shape and fitting it out with a cabin. Scribe discovered an old engine on a scrap-heap on the Cincinnati levee, drove a sharp bargain, and returned in triumph with his prize to their boat at the Portage, three miles below Galena and about halfway to the mouth of the Fever River. In later years Harris built a canal across this narrow neck of land large enough for the biggest packets to go through. Harris Slough, as this canal is marked today on government charts, is a fitting memorial to the industry and activity of Daniel Smith Harris.''* To be the builder and master of a steamboat at the age of twenty-five was no mean accomplishment, and young Harris could well be excused for viewing complacently the newly launched craft. All Galena rejoiced in the honor brought by her enterprising young citizen, for it was the first steamboat built in the lead district and probably the first constructed on the Upper Mississippi above Alton. The boat was named the Jo Daviess in honor of the county. According to her enrollment at the Port of St. Louis, the Jo Daviess was 90 feet 5 inches long, 15 feet 3 inches beam, had a 2 -foot hold, and measured 26 tons. She had a tran- som stern, a cabin above deck, and no figure-head. Her flywheel was made of lead, the metal most accessible to Harris. Of the twenty-two steamboats docked at St. Louis in 1835 the Jo Daviess was the smallest — insigni- ficant beside the Great Mogul which had a capacity of 700 tons."' [411] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Almost as soon as Captain Harris had guided his craft out into the Mississippi he exhibited the audacity which characterized him to the end. In July, 1834, the Jo Daviess^ loaded to the guards with troops and military stores, ascended the Wisconsin River to Fort Winnebago at present-day Portage; and during the course of the summer she made two more trips to that point. Late that fall Captain Harris took a shipment of lead to St. Louis where he disposed of both cargo and craft and set out for Cincinnati to superintend the construction of a new boat.^^^ Even before the country along the banks of the Missis- sippi was partially occupied, restless pioneers were begin- ning to push their way up the tributary streams. Town sites began to appear, and settlers and speculators were anxiously waiting for steamboats. Shallow water, an un- known and deceptive channel, together with sparse settle- ment, all served to deter most captains from navigating unknown streams. But such obstacles were mere trifles to Captain Harris; and in 1836, two years after the voyage of the Jo Daviess up the Wisconsin, he piloted the Frontier up the Rock River as far as Dixon's Ferry.^" This feat was hailed with delight throughout the Upper Mississippi Valley and Captain Harris was granted a lot at each town site along the Rock River by grateful settlers and owners. In 1 8 5 he piloted the Dr. Franklin No. 2 up the Chippewa River to the mouth of the Menominee, carrying goods for the Knapp and Wilson lumber camp on that stream. This was the first steamboat to go so far up the Chippewa. [412] Daniel Smith Harris : A Fighting Skipper Captain Harris received one hundred dollars for making the trip.""* The first steamboat to enter the Minnesota River had been the Kufiis Ptttnam in 1825, with Captain David G. Bates in command; but Harris's old master had ascended only one mile up that stream. In 1850 four excursions were made up the Minnesota River; and Martin Keeler Harris, a younger brother of Captain Smith Harris, gained the distinction of reaching what is now Judson in Blue Earth County. The people about St. Paul and in the Min- nesota Valley hoped that a steamboat would penetrate still farther. The opportunity came in 1853 when Captain Smith Harris's West Newton was selected to carry troops and government stores to the new post which later was named Fort Ridgely. "Of great strength and power, and in the hands of skillful men", observed an editor aboard the West Newton^ "it was felt that if there were dangers and diffi- culties in the way of reaching the destined point, she would be better able to brave them than any other craft known in these waters". Two smaller boats, the Tiger and the Clarion^ were sent ahead, but were quickly overtaken and passed by the West Neivton. "Soldiers and soldiers' baggage — soldiers' wives and soldiers' children — soldiers' stores and soldiers' equipment — soldiers' cattle and sol- diers' dogs" were strewn about the West Newton from stem to stern. She also shoved a heavily loaded barge. The Minnesota River was at flood stage so the West Newton experienced little difficulty in ascending the snaky channel. [413] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi A week was required to make the round trip and Cap- tain Harris was warmly praised for the success of the voyage. "His careful, quick, discerning eye, saw every- thing at a glance, and made all his calculations with a lightning velocity of thought; so that we struck no snags, collapsed no flue, and burst no boiler; though we did tear off the guards, throw down the pipes, and leave the cabin maid's-washing of linen *high and dry' on a tree, which bent down to receive the line." "This trip alone", wrote Harriet E. Bishop, an author who was aboard the ^est 'Newton^ "would entitle Captain Harris to a wreath of fame".'^' After the sale of his first boat (the ]o Daviess) Smith Harris acquired the HertnioJte, ran her throughout the season of 1835, and then disposed of her. For the next quarter century Captain Harris commanded almost a score of vessels : he probably had a financial interest in as many more. This does not include the craft he became interested in as a member of the Minnesota Packet Company. In quick succession he captained, sometimes for a season, sometimes for only a trip or two, such boats as the Fron- tier, the Smelter, the Pizarro, the Pre-emption, the Relief, the StUler, the Otter, the War Eagle (first) , the Time, the Light foot, the Senator, the Dr. Franklin No. 2, the Neti/ St. Paul, the West Nett/ton, the War Eagle (second) , and the Grey Eagle. His restless energy was exhibited by his impatience with most of the steamboats he built or pur- chased. Only five seem to have been satisfactory enough for him to run them two or more seasons, although he [414] Daniel Smith Harris : A Fighting Skipper ran the historic Otter for five years and sold the first and second War Eagle and the Dr. Franklin No. 2 at the close of three seasons. The West Newton was snagged at the end of her second year. The Grey Eagle, the pride of the Upper Mississippi, served the gallant skipper from 1857 to 1861."° To Smith Harris, the sine qua non in any steamboat was ,/ speed. The sight of a long, lean craft as sleek and fast as a greyhound delighted him. In July, 1836, he ran the Frontier from St. Louis to Galena in three days and six hours, having stopped between twenty and thirty hours on the way up. The following year he astonished the min- ing district by making the trip between Dubuque and Cincinnati in the Smelter in five days. The return trip was made in exactly the same time.*" It was not until 1845, however, that he brought out a boat which easily outraced all rivals. This was the first War Eagle — perhaps the swiftest boat to navigate the Upper Mississippi before 1850. She was built at Cincin- nati in 1845 and was 152 feet long, with a 24-foot beam, a 4 foot 6 inch hold, and measured 15 5 tons. Competition being exceedingly keen during 1845, the War Eagle steamed back and forth between St. Louis and Galena at a terrific rate of speed, lowering her time each trip. The St. Croix, a trim and speedy craft, snapped at the War Eaglets heels for a time but gave up when the War Eagle ran from St. Louis to Galena in forty-three hours and fifty-two minutes, a record which stood for many years."" In the years that followed. Smith Harris and steamboat [415] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi racing became synonymous. His race with the West New- ton against the Die Vernon in 1853, his brilliant run against time and the Itasca in 1858, and his thrilling con- test with the Hannibal City in 1861 were the talk of the Upper Mississippi Valley. In the whole gamut of Upper Mississippi steamboating no other captain could match these exploits of Smith Harris. Each deserves a separate chapter in the annals of steamboating. The daring skipper won laurels in other ways. Between 1844 and 1861 Daniel Smith Harris habitually opened the season of navigation by bringing his boats into port first. He achieved the same distinction by braving the dangers of a frozen river in order to transport belated passengers and freight to their destination at the close of navigation. Most captains had already placed their boats in winter quarters when Smith Harris was starting out on his last trip of the season. Such qualities were bound to win the respect and admiration of his fellowmen. Known and beloved for his skill and daring throughout the Upper Mississippi Valley, Captain Harris seldom let his enthusiasm interfere with the stern reality of steam- boating. His boats were steady and dependable, and pio- neers placed the utmost faith and reliance in his work. "Last night we came upon a shoal but we didn't stick", wrote a belated traveler aboard the Dr. Franklin No. 2 in November, 1849. "The boat walked right over on stilts. The chandeliers rattled as though we were stumbling over the hump of an earthquake. Woke at 6 and found the Franklin in bed with the Yankee under a lee bluff. The [416] Daniel Smith Harris : A Fighting Skipper Franklin was discharging upon the Yankee a few bbls of pork . . . The Franklin pays her wood bills in pork".^*" In 1841 the Otter made fifteen trips from Galena to St. Louis, towing nine keelboats up the river during the sea- son. At its close, the receipts were found to be $15,000 from freight and $7000 from passengers. Her small size and light draught enabled the Otter to ply the Mississippi at all seasons of the year, so that when navigation closed she had cleared an amount equal to over four times her value. During 1842 Captain Harris made eleven trips with the Otter y towed six keelboats, and cleared $13,000 on freight and passengers. During 1843 a rate war developed and freight was carried for less than half the price of former years. Nineteen times during the season, the Otter forced her way out of Fever River with her keels and lower deck creaking under the heavy lead freight and with passengers crowding the upper decks. When the boat was laid up for the winter in the slough near Galena, her profits for the season were found to be only $6000 on freight and $4000 on passengers. Had the rates of 1841 been in force. Cap- tain Harris would have cleared close to $30,000; while a profit of almost $45,000 would have resulted from the low water rate of 1839.'" When the lead traffic waned, Captain Harris sought other sources of revenue. No other form of diversion brought more enjoyment and better returns than a trip to the Falls of St. Anthony, designated by George Catlin as the "Fashionable Tour". Early in May, 1837, Harris [417] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi informed citizens of Galena, Dubuque, and Belmont, that he would make a trip to the Falls of St. Anthony in the Smelter if a sufficient number of passengers presented themselves. Realizing that tourists would patronize only those boats which offered the best facilities, Harris had built private staterooms in the Smelter — a speedy side- wheeler launched at Cincinnati in the spring of 1837. The boat was described as the fastest, most luxurious, and largest craft on the Upper Mississippi, and the colorful skipper "greatly delighted" in her speed. Each new boat had some innovations. Thus, the Pizarro, built in 1839, at a cost of $16,000, boasted a fire engine and hose attached to her main engine.^" Increasing competition in the excursion trade forced captains to offer more inducements to passengers each year. Captain Harris realized the necessity of allowing sufficient time at historic spots. He apprised the citizens of Dubuque of an excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony by telling them that "the War Eagle is a new and Splendid Boat, and will be two weeks making the trip. Capt. Harris intends to make a pleasure excursion in reality, and will stop at all places of curiosity or amusement as long as the J • JJ646 passengers may desire. His activity in the lead traffic and excursion trips, to- gether with the profits derived from the transportation of Indians, missionaries, fur traders, and soldiers, gave Harris a preeminent position among his fellow steamboat- men. By 1840 he and his brother Scribe were sole owners of the Otter and at the same time held a large interest in [418] Daniel Smith Harris : A Fighting Skipper the Pre-emption which Scribe commanded. The firm of Glasgow, Shaw, & Larkins of St. Louis, and Block and McCune of Louisiana, Missouri, shared with the Harris brothers in the earnings of the Pre-emption.^" Supported by such well-known mercantile houses. Captain Harris had little to fear when competition threatened. It was not long, however, before Captain Harris gained the enmity (and also the wholesome respect) of Hercules L. Dousman, the agent for the American Fur Company at Prairie du Chien. Fearful of Harris's aggressive character, Dousman often wrote Henry Sibley, his associate at Men- dota, urging him to trade with such captains as Joseph Throckmorton or John Atchison. When the steamboat Lynx sank in 1844, Captain Harris expressed a desire to acquire a share in her when raised. *T believe it is the best thing we can do", wrote the cautious Dousman to Sibley, "provided he comes in on the same terms as we do & makes up our share of the loss — that is the amt we will be deficient on the Boat to be added to what she will sell for at auction & each party take half — say Harris half, Steele & you one sixth — Brisbois same & me the same". Such a plan evidently did not appeal to Captain Harris for he remained outside the circle and continued to ply in the St. Peter's trade in opposition to the American Fur Company boats. When Throckmorton proposed that a line be formed between St. Louis and Mendota, Dousman wrote Sibley : "I am in favor of it & shall encourage him to do so, as it will be a benefit to the Outfit & hurt the Harris's which I desire very much." ^" [419] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi The sinking of the Argo in the fall of 1847 had led to the formation of the Minnesota Packet Company. Dur- ing the following winter Captain M. W. Lodwick went to Cincinnati, Ohio, with clerk Russell Blakeley and pur- chased the Dr. Franklin. Built at Wheeling, Virginia, in 1847, the new boat was 156 feet long, had a 24-foot beam, a 4 foot 2 inch hold, and measured 149 tons. Her original owners were Orrin Smith and B. H. Campbell (of the firm of Campbell and Smith) , Henry Corwith, M. W. Lod- wick, and Russell Blakeley; H. L. Dousman, Brisbois, Rice, and H. H. Sibley acquired shares in her a little later. From this humble beginning there gradually evolved through a series of kaleidoscopic changes the Northwestern Union Packet Company, the greatest monopoly on the Upper Mississippi.^** Meanwhile Captain Harris had been running his boats on the Upper Mississippi and its tributaries. The heavy lead traffic between Galena and St. Louis engaged most of his time; but when lead was scarce he often plied on the Mississippi and its tributaries as far north as St. Peter's and Stillwater. When Harris withdrew from the lead traf- fic in the spring of 1848 to enter the St. Peter's trade, the Packet Company insisted that he continue between Galena and St. Louis. Highly incensed, Harris took up arms against the new group, running the Senator in opposition to the Dr. Franklin. After a spirited contest, in which business was "lively, if not profitable", Harris agreed to sell the Senator to the Packet Company and remain in the lead trade during 1849. [420] Daniel Smith Harris : A Fighting Skipper The creation of the Territory of Minnesota on March 3, 1849, and its attendant influx of immigrants lent a new aspect to the situation and Captain Harris determined to return to the St. Paul trade. The ink on the new bill had hardly dried when Captain Harris appeared at the Galena levee with the Dr. Franklin No. 2. She was built at Wheel- ing in 1848 and was 173 feet long, with a 26 foot 6 inch beam, a 4 foot 4 inch hold, and measured 189 tons. She was a finer, better, and speedier boat than either the old Dr. Franklin or the Senator. Captain Harris always took a special delight in tormenting and annoying his opponents. Upon leaving a port he would run alongside his rival, allowing passengers and crew to fling taunts at those aboard the slower craft. As the next port hove in sight he would dash ahead and pick up the lion's share of the freight and passengers offered. Since the Senator was an exceptionally slow boat she lost much trade, the fickle public generally preferring the faster craft.*°° The "Old Doctor", however, was almost a match for the Dr. Franklin No. 2, and so Captain Harris had to keep his new steamboat in fine trim in order to hold his ad- vantage. Once, in May of 1851, while these two boats were engaged in tearing up the river bed in a port to port race to St. Paul, Captain Harris found himself hard pressed to maintain his lead. Indeed, when no freight or passengers were offered he was several times obliged to swing out the stage and discharge a willing and nimble passenger while his boat was moving under a slow bell. Noting that his rival's boat lacked her usual speed, Cap- [421] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi tain M. W. Lodwick rang for a full head of steam and momentarily threatened to pass the Dr. Franklin No. 2. Captain Harris frustrated these attempts at first by swing- ing the stern of his craft across the path of the "Old Doctor", forcing her to reverse to avoid a collision. Once the two boats almost crashed, skillful piloting and full speed astern on the part of the "Old Doctor" alone pre- venting a castastrophe. Incensed by these persistent and well-nigh successful attempts to wrest the lead from him. Captain Harris sprang from the pilot house to the hur- ricane deck brandishing a rifle, forced the pilot of the "Old Doctor" to back into the brush, and threatened to shoot if another attempt was made. This rash act and his refusal to give way was bitterly denounced in the St. Paul press in a statement signed by those aboard the "Old Doctor".^" For three years this bitter, ruinous struggle between the Minnesota Packet Company and Captain Harris continued. Both sides had loyal friends, and so the fight was not con- fined to the participants : merchants and settlers from Galena to St. Paul joined in the fray. Rates were reduced to a ridiculous figure, travelers often paying fifty cents for passage from Galena to St. Paul. "The boats continue to come loaded with passengers", declared the Minnesota Pioneer of July 22, 1852, "many of them seeking only recreation. Boats are crowded down and up. Some travel for the sake of economy and save the expense of tavern bills at home. Who that is idle would be caged up between walls of burning brick and mortar; in dog-days, down the [422] Daniel Smith Harris : A Fighting Skipper river, if at less daily expense, he could be hurried through the valley of the Mississippi, its shores studded with towns and farms, flying by islands, prairies, woodlands, bluffs — an ever varied scene of beauty, away up into the lands of the wild Dakota, and of cascades and pine forests, and cooling breezes?" ^" Both sides finally saw that there was plenty of business and that hundreds were enjoying transportation for fifty cents a trip when eight dollars would have offered a fair return, and that continuance of the competition would result in utter ruin. Fully aware of the value of Captain Harris's cooperation, the Minnesota Packet Company in- vited him to join them. Shortly afterward, the name of Daniel Smith Harris was listed as a director. Had the fighting skipper failed in this struggle he would have been forced out of the St. Paul trade and ultimately been driven from the Upper Mississippi. Luckily, a steady income from his lead mines tided him through several bad sea- sons. Despite his affiliation with the Minnesota Packet Com- pany Captain Harris continued to manifest his pronounced individuality. In 1 8 5 6 a rate war arose between the Packet Company and the large number of "wild boats" which plied the Upper Mississippi. As usual a number of cities and individuals promptly joined in the struggle, Winona being particularly vigorous in its opposition to the mon- opoly. The Tishomingo was purchased to run between Dunleith and Winona. In the hope that his popularity would soothe any ill-feelings arising out of the competi- [423] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi tion, Captain Harris was chosen to run his War Eagle against the Tishomingo. A test soon came. One day the War Eagle came over from Dubuque to Dunleith and in landing tore away a portion of the guard of the Tishomingo which lay taking on freight and pas- sengers. Standing on the hurricane deck unmoved by the incident, Captain Harris calmly announced that passage to Winona aboard his boat would cost but fifty cents. These two acts drew a storm of protest, La Crosse and Du- buque joining with Winona against the Galena monopoly. "Don't travel on the Galena boats unless you make a positive bargain before hand, and to avoid being swindled don't travel with them at all", declared a paper, after three men had been charged four dollars each for passage between La Crosse and Winona. About the same time the War Eagle landed one hundred barrels of flour on the Winona levee and Captain Harris instructed his agents to "sell it if they could, and if they could not dispose of it, to start a Bakery!" "The offer to carry freight on board the foul bird of prey War Eagle for a trifle was promptly refused by our business men, stating to the runner that they would give all their trade to the Tishomingo", ob- served the Winona Kepublican of May 20, 1856. "The opposition", it continued, "is not alone against our boat, but is against the merchants — our best class of men, who have for years been building up a trade — and now that they are commencing to reap the fruits of their labors. Galena comes in Eagle-eyed for a large share of what is justly the due of our dealers." [424] Daniel Smith Harris : A Fighting Skipper It was generally felt that the "Noble Tish" could not be driven away by the War Eagle^ even by offers to carry goods at ten cents per hundred. Despite Winona's slogan that the War Eagle "shall and will not be patronized", despite the fact that twenty-five barrels of flour which the War Eagle landed at the levee were destroyed and fifty others rolled in the river and damaged, Captain Harris re- tained his old time popularity.^'* It was not merely while in the pursuit of business that Captain Harris exhibited a pugnacious spirit. Hailed by the press for their gentlemanly deportment, one might readily assume that steamboat captains had acquired their cultural training at the Court of St. James before apply- ing for their license. Such an assumption would be quite erroneous. As chief architect and builder of an empire in the Middle Border, the steamboat captain was a component part of the frontier where men were men first, and some- times, though perhaps not always, gentlemen afterwards. In the ordinary civilities of his profession. Captain Harris was doubtless equal to any other man on the Upper Missis- sippi; but he had a fiery temper, and he was especially vin- dictive to those who persisted in attacking him. During 1857 the editor of the St. Paul Daily Pioneer and Democrat had made bitter recriminations against the Packet Company. One hot day in July, W. A. Crofifut, the assistant editor of the St. Paul Daily Ti^nes (a paper friendly to Harris and the Packet Company) boarded the Grey Eagle to write a letter. Mistaking Croffut for the editor of the unfriendly paper. Captain Harris approached, [425] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi called him a scoundrel, and "swearing great, round oaths, that he didn't want him to come aboard his boat" ordered him off. Astonished at such violent language, Croffut de- manded an explanation and inquired if the Grey Eagle was not public to all who chose to come aboard. This was too much. Seizing Croffut by the collar, the captain dragged him to the stairway and kicked him down to the lower deck. Following immediately he took another hold, and "swearing most profanely all the time, dragged him out upon the wharf, and there left him and returned to his boat". Unable to offer any resistance, the unfortunate Croflfut was "bruised considerably, but had no bones broken". Harris was arrested and brought before a magis- trate. Acknowledging the assault, he was fined "/^/ dollars and costs". The incident was a matter of deep regret to Captain Harris; but no apology could placate the "bruised" pride of Mr. Croffut.'^' On the other hand. Captain Harris often demonstrated a touching generosity to his fellowmen. He was ever will- ing to aid the poor and distressed. An old man, driven from his daughter's home at Fort Madison, sought and received passage to Louisville, Kentucky, aboard the Smel- ter. The thought of a lonely life in Kentucky broke the old man's heart and he died a short distance below Alton. Captain Harris had him decently interred. No charge was made on the cabin register. Again, in 1852 the West New- ton picked up two ministers of the gospel at RoUingstone, Minnesota. Both were astonished at the terrific speed of the boat. "She fairly danced with us like a Nymph upon [426] Daniel Smith Harris : A Fighting Skipper the waves", wrote one, "Everything about the boat in general, and the table in particular, was in perfect 'apple- pie order*. When we called at the Clerk's office to pay our fare, on learning our profession, he very gentlemanly re- marked, 'Nothing to pay Sir!' to which, of course, we did not object; but for the favor were truly thankful. May other clergymen be equally favored." ^^^ Captain Harris's sentimental attachment to his boat elicited the following comment from the Daily Minne- sotian : "The Grey Eagle and her Commander, Capt. Harris, both sustained a sad and irreparable loss on Thurs- day evening, while between Hastings and this place. The boat took a slue on the Pilot, and ran into the bank, breaking off and losing her jack staff. Now, jack-staffs themselves are not so valuable, because, in this country where pine lumber is so plentiful, the boat's Carpenter could have repaired the loss in a few hours. But at its top there fluttered, conscious of the proud position it oc- cupied, a gilt chicken cock, which, like the eagles of Na- poleon, that soared over all his battle fields through many years, and long wars — had pointed the way with its glist- ening beak on every boat sailed by the old Commodore for many years, and seemed as if always leading him on to victory, inseparably associated with the success of what- ever boat he has commanded. Of course the Captain is inconsolable for the loss of his chicken-cock, and says he would rather have lost $500. He is endeavoring to find it, and probably it may yet soar at the head of his jack staff, years after the Grey Eagle is rotten and used up." *" [427] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Strange to say the "chicken cock" was recovered and the prophecy fulfilled. Late in the afternoon of May 9, 1861, the Grey Eagle crashed into the Rock Island bridge and sank almost im- mediately in twenty feet of water. Six or seven people were drowned including an insane man who had been chained to the lower deck. Captain Harris was found wan- dering about the upper deck in a dazed condition, picking up little odds and ends of no consequence compared with the $60,000 craft he had just lost. Broken hearted over the loss of his Grey Eagle, he retired from active river life, retaining only a few shares of stock in the Packet Company.^'^ Among the odds and ends which he recovered from the wreck was the much loved "chicken cock". The historic bird had been carved from a single block of solid oak at the boat yards at Cincinnati, had been hoisted for the first time on the War Eagle in 1845, and had been passed on to the Senator, the Dr. Franklin No. 2, the West Newton, the second War Eagle, and finally the Grey Eagle. Harris took it to Galena where it roosted quietly in his barn for thirty years when it was brushed up and placed on top of the arch surmounting the entrance to Grant Park in Galena. Replaced by a brilliant electric light, the "chicken cock" again went into temporary retirement at the home of Captain Harris's daughter (Mrs. Irene Gillette) where Captain Walter A. Blair found it and placed it in the cabin of the Helen Blair. After selling his boat. Captain Blair presented it to the Davenport Public Museum.®""^ [428] Daniel Smith Harris : A Fighting Skipper When Daniel Smith Harris died in 1893 it was said he was the oldest settler in Galena and of the State of Illinois. Coming to the lead mines in 1823 (the same year that the steamboat Virginia navigated the Mississippi to Fort Snell- ing) , Captain Harris participated in the halcyon days of steamboating on the Upper Mississippi prior to the Civil War. He lived to see the corporation of which he was once a heavy stockholder pass into oblivion in the late eighties. At his death the Diamond Jo Line was the lone survivor of many years of bitter competition on the Upper Mis- • 660 sissippi. Captain Harris was twice married. His first wife, whom he married in 1833, was Sarah M. Langworthy, a sister of the Langworthy brothers, well-known figures in the his- tory of northeastern Iowa. She died in 18 50. In 1851 he married Sarah Coates, who died in 1886. Captain Harris was survived by ten children — eight daughters and two sons. On several occasions Captain Harris was accompanied by his wife on boat trips. John P. Owens describes the second Mrs. Harris as "a proficient in and enthusiastic ad- mirer of the natural sciences, which promises to be of advantage to us in our researches among the soils, rocks and plants of the Upper Minnesota." He added, "She has as her guest a well-known St. Paul lady, whose enthusiasm for pioneering, and being the first white woman to set foot upon this and that remote, out-of-the-way place is pro- verbial." This guest was Harriet E. Bishop, author of Floral Home; or, First Years of Minnesota.^'^^ [429] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi The character of Captain Harris was a composite of the strongest and best traits of men. Deprived of a Hberal education, he overcame this handicap by making good use of an exceptionally alert and vigorous mind. His remark- able memory stood him in good stead, and in later years he v/as looked upon as an authority on matters relating to the early history of Galena. As a captain his personality always made a deep impression on his passengers. While traveling in western Pennsylvania in 1890 a citizen of Galena met an old lady who had traveled widely in her youth. Upon learning the residence of the traveler she spoke at some length of her trip on the Upper Mississippi in a boat commanded by a Captain Harris during the cholera years. Forty years had failed to efface from her memory the genial personality and indomitable character of this famous pioneer. No other captain who engaged in steamboating on the Upper Mississippi prior to the Civil War could approach the record of Daniel Smith Harris. "In enterprise, activ- ity, liberality, in constructive talent, in the ability to meet a great requirement in transportation in the early develop- ment of the Northwest, the fame of this courageous and efficient man is secure." To him, more than to any other single pioneer captain, was due the startling growth in the use of steamboats on the Upper Mississippi, the rapid ex- pansion of their use on tributary streams, and their con- stant development in speed, comfort, and efficiency, so necessary for the quick transportation of the vast waves of immigrants moving northward. ^^^ [430] 43 Tke Race of flie Qrey Sugle A Message from Queen Victoria On August 6, 1857, the U. S. S. Niagara and the H. M. S. Agamemnon set out from the west coast of Ireland and commenced laying a cable across the Atlantic Ocean. The ships had been "suitably equipped" for this work and loaned to Cyrus W. Field and his associates by the govern- ments of Great Britain and the United States. As they proceeded slowly westward the cable which was being paid out from the Niagara suddenly snapped and the end was lost. Unable to continue, the Niagara and the Aga- memnon accordingly returned to Plymouth and the re- mainder of the cable was carefully stored away. Undaunted by this initial failure. Field raised additional capital and constructed seven hundred miles of new cable. A fresh start was made early in 1858, but misfortune again stalked the venture as a double break resulted in the loss of 144 miles of cable. By July 17th, however, the Niagara and the Agamemnon were ready for a third attempt. Pro- ceeding to mid-ocean the ends of their respective cables were carefully spliced and on July 29, 1858, the two ships separated. The Niagara proceeded slowly toward New- foundland while the Agatnemnon steamed cautiously to the Irish coast. Should the vessels succeed in their under- taking news in Europe and America would become the [431] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi common and instantaneous property of both hemispheres. Breathlessly people on both sides of the Atlantic awaited the outcome/^^ In the United States great strides had been made in telegraph construction since the first message had been flashed between Washington and Baltimore in 1844. The Atlantic seaboard had been linked with the Mississippi at a number of points between St. Louis and Dubuque as early as 1848. A decade later every important river town as far north as Prairie du Chien could boast a connection with the East. Citizens of Keokuk, Fort Madison, Bur- lington, Muscatine, Davenport, and Dubuque would learn of the successful laying of the Atlantic cable the instant the work was consummated. But St. Paul and the river towns in Minnesota must still rely on the steamboat to bring them this important news.^^* For a week before the cable was actually laid the Daily Pioneer and Dejnocrat at St. Paul had amused its readers with imaginary messages between Queen Victoria and President James Buchanan. But the complete isolation of the North Star State weighed heavily upon the editor for well he knew that such towns as Dubuque, Galena, and Prairie du Chien would chide St. Paul for her backward- ness. Still unaware that the Atlantic cable had already been laid, the editor urged his readers on August 18 th to give financial assistance to the company already chartered to buUd a telegraph line between Prairie du Chien and St. Paul. Only $40,000, or $150 per mile, was needed to per- form the work. He considered it a "shame" that every [432] The Race of the Grey Eagle State save Minnesota should be connected with the At- lantic seaboard by telegraph. Because of her isolation Min- nesota was *'way behind" and must "sit apart" from the rest of the world until local pride saw to it that the tele- graph line was built. Minnesota, he concluded, was far- ther from Prairie du Chien in 185 8 than Prairie du Chien was from London or Constantinople.^^^ Almost simultaneously with the penning of these words the first message flashed across the Atlantic. "Europe and America are united by telegraph. Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and good- will to men." Other messages followed and none more notable than Queen Victoria's to President James Buchanan.^*^ Since Dubuque lay sixty-five miles below Prairie du Chien and since the Packet Company had boats scheduled to leave both these ports on their regular run at exactly the same time it was generally conceded that the Prairie du Chien boat would reach St. Paul first. But Captain Daniel Smith Harris of the speedy Grey Eagle determined that it should be otherwise. And it was the Grey Eagle that was scheduled to leave Dubuque at nine o'clock Tuesday morning, the same hour the Itasca was leaving Prairie du Chien. News of the laying of the Atlantic telegraph, together with Queen Victoria's message, reached Dubuque on the evening of August 16th and was printed in a special edi- tion by the local press. While Dubuque was rejoicing over this epochal event, Captain Harris determined to celebrate the occasion by beating Captain David Whitten into St. [433] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Paul with the news. In order to do this it would be neces- sary to run the Grey Eagle 265 miles while the Itasca was traveling 200 miles. This was not an easy task, since the Itasca was a boat that had been hanging up records for fast time.^^^ The Grey Eagle left Dunleith at 8:30 A. M. on August 17, 1858, carrying copies of the Dubuque and Galena papers containing the Queen's message: "The Queen desires to congratulate the President upon the successful completion of this great international work, in which the Queen has taken the deepest interest. "The Queen is convinced that the President will join with her in fervently hoping that the Electric Cable which now connects Great Britain with the United States will prove an additional link between the nations whose friend- ship is founded upon their common interest and reciprocal esteem. "The Queen has much pleasure in thus communicating with the President, and renewing to him her wishes for the prosperity of the United States." ®^^ Every bit of combustible material — pitch, butter, and grease — that could be obtained was aboard the Grey Eagle when she started up the Mississippi. The boat re- sponded nobly to the extra fuel, sped swiftly up Ma- quoketa Chute, past Cassville, Guttenberg, Prairie du Chien, La Crosse, and reached Winona, one hundred and fifty miles above Dunleith, at about 9:30 P. M. The Itasca had arrived just three and one-half hours before, so that her nine hour lead had been reduced by almost two- [434] The Race of the Grey Eagle thirds despite the fact that the Grey Eagle had towed a wood flat for twenty miles. After a twenty minute delay at Winona the Grey Eagle continued upstream, so far ahead of schedule that Captain Harris ordered a deck hand to stand on the stage and heave the mail to the bank at each landing as the boat went by at half speed. Freight was discharged only where necessary and many of the pas- sengers, induced by a generous offer of free meals and berth and moved by a desire to be a party to what already promised to be a record-breaking run, agreed to remain on board. ®^^ At 4 A. M. the next day, the Grey Eagle came snorting up to the Red Wing levee, sixty-five miles above Winona and only fifty miles from St. Paul. The Itasca had not stopped at Red Wing, thereby gaining several precious minutes on Captain Harris's boat. Fire brands streamed from the funnels of the Grey Eagle as she continued up- stream, past Cannon River, Vermilion Slough, Sturgeon Lake, Diamond Bluff, and on to Prescott, at the mouth of the St. Croix. The Itasca blew for Hastings, just two and one-half miles away, as the Grey Eagle came up to the Prescott levee. Mail and freight were dumped pell mell on the levee, and the Grey Eagle whisked by Point Douglas and over to Hastings in time to see the smoke of the Itasca disappear around the bend of the river about two miles upstream.^'° When Captain Whitten discerned the smoke of a racing boat hard astern it did not take that shrewd Yankee long to guess the reason for this haste. He promptly ordered [43 5] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi the engineer to crowd on every pound of steam possible. Just below Pine Bend the astonished master of the Itasca saw the Grey Eagle poke her nose around a curve a mile away, running almost ten hours ahead of her regular schedule. At Merrimac Island the distance was reduced to three-quarters of a mile, at Newport a half mile inter- vened, Red Rock found the Grey Eagle a hundred yards closer. Kaposia, Pig's Eye, Dayton Bluff — and a boat's length separated the two boats. One mile further and they would be in St. Paul. The frenzied passengers and crew of the Grey Eagle cheered madly as the gap slowly closed and the bow of their boat drew abreast of the Itasca's stern. But the latter had the inside track and in the next quarter of a mile it was clear that Captain Harris could not hope to reach the levee first. In the succeeding minute, the two boats drew almost neck to neck, with whistles blowing and cannon booming, but the Itasca nosed into the wharf first. While her crew was busy putting out the stage, the Grey Eagle glided alongside with a deck hand perched on the swinging stage, a number of papers fastened into the notch of an arrow of wood. The next instant they were cast into the arms of Harris's agent on the dock. Captain Harris had made the run from Dunleith to St. Paul in twenty-four hours and forty minutes, making twenty-three landings, and taking on thirty-five cords of wood en route. His average speed, counting all stops, was a fraction over eleven miles an hour upstream, but the Grey Eagle probably ran thirteen miles an hour while un- [436] The Race of the Grey Eagle der way. This was the fastest time ever made by a steam- boat; it eclipsed the Die Vernon's record of 1853 by over three hours.®'^ The race of the Grey Eagle against time and the Itasca is without a parallel in Upper Mississippi steamboating. The fast time of such boats as the War Eagle (first) , the Die Vernon, and the West Neivton pale beside this colorful exploit. For sheer drama it equals the heated contest be- tween the Robert E. Lee and the Natchez in 1870. Only a venturesome skipper like Daniel Smith Harris would have conceived a plan so daring. Only a sleek boat like the Grey Eagle could have carried such a plan to a vic- torious conclusion. [437] W lieinL •Uapiams Jcviiied JL^iJke K^ings Mark Twain has sung the praises of Lower Mississippi pilots — their skill and daring, their professional clannish- ness, and their prestige. But the Mississippi that Mark Twain knew in the late fifties had already grown to steam- boat maturity. Hannibal, the boyhood home of Mark Twain, was unborn when Daniel Smith Harris skimmed by in the keelboat Colonel Bom ford in 1823. In fact Smith Harris had been steamboating on the Mississippi for six years before Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born at Florida, Missouri, in 1835. Clemens was not so much as one year old when Harris piloted the Frontier up the Rock River as far as Dixon's Ferry. In a word, Daniel Smith Harris had come to be recognized as a veteran river captain and pilot when Mark Twain was still in his infancy. Harris was at the full tide of his glorious career when in 1857 the youthful Clemens quit writing letters to the Keokuk Vost to begin his brief steamboat career. By that time Harris had already owned or commanded a score of boats, and was just bringing out his beautiful Grey Eagle. Indeed the four and one-half years that Samuel Clemens (for so his name is written on his first and only pilot's license issued at St. Louis on April 9, 1859) spent on the Mississippi coincides exactly with Harris's career as captain of the Grey Eagle. The outbreak of the Civil War abrupt- [438] when Captains Ruled Like Kings ly ended Mark Twain's river career on the Lower Missis- sippi; while Daniel Smith Harris brought his thirty- three years of steamboating to a dramatic close when he dashed the Grey Eagle to pieces on a jutting pier of the Rock Island bridge on May 9, 1861."" In character and ability, in courage and resourcefulness, Upper Mississippi steamboat captains were unexcelled. Skippers like Daniel Smith Harris were held in even great- er esteem than Lower River pilots. For it must be remem- bered that the typical Upper Mississippi steamboat captain before the Civil War was himself a pilot. There were many captains like Daniel Smith Harris who took their regular turn at the wheel despite the press of other duties. Among these versatile commanders there were pilots whose skill and ability could match the adroit Mr. Bixby under whom Mark Twain served as cub. Indeed Mr. Bix- by is dwarfed by comparison with Harris for that fiery skipper had seen almost as many years of steamboating as Mr. Bixby could count birthdays when Samuel Clemens was studying the mysteries of an ever changing channel under him. Mr. Bixby might know the Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans, but Harris had piloted the west- ern waters between St. Paul and Pittsburgh and had blazed a trail on many tributaries. In addition to this Harris in- variably piloted his boats over both the Lower Rapids and Upper Rapids — a feat which was generally reserved for skilled rapids pilots who knew every inch of the twisted, tortuous channel. There were few steamboat pilots who could perform this feat in a good stage of water. Fur- [439] 1^ Steamboating on Upper Mississippi thermore Harris always ran the dangerous cross-currents of that Nemesis of the steamboats — the Rock Island bridge. For five consecutive years he piloted the Grey Eagle through this dangerous obstruction, always relieving the pilot on duty in order to assume the responsibility himself. Mark Twain, Mr. Bixby, and the other Lower Mississippi pilots before the Civil War had no bridges to run in the whole course of the river from St. Louis to New Orleans.®" But piloting was a small part of the work of the Upper Mississippi steamboat captain. His duties were far more onerous. A steamboat captain had to be a real leader — one who could command respect. He must be capable of making quick and accurate decisions. He must be a good judge of human nature for upon him fell the duty of choosing pilots, engineers, firemen, clerks, stewards, mates, deck hands, and roustabouts. He had to demonstrate suffi- cient business talent to show a profit at the end of a season. Meeting people in every walk of life, the steamboat captain must so impress his passengers with his own ability and "gentlemanly deportment" that they would be in- clined to choose his boat in preference to another in the future. In a day when a wide difference existed in the speed and luxury of river crafts the personality of the captain was often the determining factor in influencing a traveler's choice of the half dozen boats in port. The same was true with regard to freight : a popular captain would have little difficulty in securing a generous share of the merchandise and produce along the way. Still other responsibilities faced Upper Mississippi steam- [440] when Captains Ruled Like Kings boat captains. The danger of snags and sandbars, the threat of fires and explosions, the hazards of running the rapids, the fury of wind-swept Lake Pepin, all these must be en- countered many times during the course of a season. Riots, bloodshed, drunken brawls, the presence of blacklegs and gamblers, the scourge of cholera, these too formed a part of the captain's life. In a word, while the pilot's work began and ended at the wheel, the captain must oversee the affairs of his craft from stem to stern, from texas to hold, from cabin to engine-room, and from the clerk's office to the pantry.®^* Although their work was hard and frequently dan- gerous, steamboat captains usually displayed rare qualities of industry and resourcefulness in its performance. Some- times the returns of a single trip were fabulous, actually paying the original cost of the steamboat. On the other hand, cut-throat competition frequently left a captain virtually bankrupt after a season of hard work. Perhaps it was this very element of uncertainty which served as a magnet to many an enterprising riverman. At any rate a picturesque group of men were lured by the throbbing, pulsing deck of a steamboat.^^^ Boldly written in the annals of steamboating are the names of Joseph Throckmorton and Daniel Smith Harris. Prior to the Civil War these men ranked as outstanding figures during the period of individual ownership. But there were many others whose names ought to be recorded. Thus, while Throckmorton was one of the earliest to ply the Upper Mississippi such men as James Clark, Alvah [441] Steamboatlng on Upper Mississippi Culver, and David G. Bates preceded him. Little is known about the career of many of these men : their presence is recorded chiefly by their arrivals at the Port of St. Louis and the Galena lead mines. Take for example the career of David G. Bates, who might well be called the dean of Upper Mississippi steam- boat captains. Bates captained a crew of French keelboat- men to the lead mines of Galena as early as 1819. The intrepid skipper began his steamboat career when he pur- chased the Rjifus Putiiatit and brought a cargo of supplies to Fort Snelling in 1825. It was Bates who started Smith Harris on his steamboat career by taking him aboard the Galena as a cub pilot in 1829. It was Captain Bates, too, who employed the surly Pat- rick O'Connor as a deck hand aboard the Galena. O'Connor later had the dubious honor of being the first man tried, condemned, and executed in Iowa. Captain Bates had taken pity on this dissolute Irishman in Galena when others re- viled him. When the Dubuque lead miners tried O'Con- nor for murder he chose Captain Bates for his counsel. The resourceful steamboat captain made a forceful plea in O'Connor's defense, but to no avail, for O'Connor was hanged at Dubuque on June 20, 1834. Captain Bates was always identified with steamboating and lead mining. He died at Galena on November 22, 1850. His initiation of Daniel Smith Harris into the mysteries of piloting aboard the steamboat Galena alone entitles him to a place in steamboat history.®^^ The entire Harris family seems to have been inoculated [442] when Captains Ruled Like Kings with the steamboat phobia. Robert Scribe, Martin Keeler, James Meeker, and even young Jackson Harris, all saw active service on the Upper Mississippi. Indeed steamboat- ing appeared to intrigue whole families. The Atchison brothers (George W., Mark, and John Atchison) plied the Upper Mississippi during this period. Then there was D. B. Morehouse and his brother Le Grand Morehouse. Pres- ton Lodwick and his brother, Kennedy Lodwick, also should not be forgotten. Such men as Hiram Bersie, W. H. Hooper, A. C. Montfort, Robert A. Reilly, E. H. Gleim, James Lafferty, Orrin Smith, and Russell Blakeley, were likewise prominent captains before the Civil War.®" A distinguishing characteristic of Upper Mississippi steamboat captains was their stubborn courage and per- severance. In 1857 Captain George H. Wilson of Onalas- ka, Wisconsin, brought out the powerful stern-wheel tow- boat G. H. Wilson. Built at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, this 159-ton craft was capable of showing a foaming wake to most of the race horses on the Upper Missis- sippi. After running somewhat irregularly in the St. Paul trade during the year 1857, Captain Wilson entered her in the Des Moines River trade. It was while engaged in this traffic that Captain Wilson demonstrated a "resolute- ness in the face of difficulties" which is typical of the steamboat captain. It appears that the Des Moines River was obstructed with numerous dams thrown across its course by mill owners. It was the practice of steamboatmen to take a run at these makeshift obstructions and force the boat [443] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi through or over them. Sometimes a boat was hung up on the crest of the dam without being able to run either for- ward or back. A story is told of the indomitable Captain Wilson wres- tling with the dam at Keosauqua. The G. H. Wilson stuck several times in attempting to pass the dam and had to fall back and try it over again. "Getting desperate", eye- witnesses relate, "the captain ordered the engineer to get up a big pressure of steam, open the throttle valves wide, and shouted his commands so that they could be heard half a mile : 'Send her over — or blow her to hell!' The boat went over amid the cheers of the spectators. The engineer said afterwards that he rather expected the other alternative." "^ Steamboat captains were kind of heart. Once, when a baby became ill aboard his steamboat, Captain Russell Blakeley landed at an "out-of-the-way point" and sent a boy up the bluff to get a pitcher of fresh milk for the sick child. On another occasion Captain William H. Gabbert held his boat over several hours for a woman whose child was born during the interval."^ In 1850 Benjamin Eaton hastened from St. Paul to Bee- town, Wisconsin, to get his family out of the cholera region. While he was gone his home burned, leaving the family without shelter. When Captain Orrin Smith of the No^ninee learned of this misfortune he refunded the fare of the entire Eaton family upon their arrival in St. Paul. It was this same Captain Smith who refused to allow his boat to turn a wheel on Sunday and conducted reli- [444] when Captains Ruled Like Kings gious services himself when no minister was on board."*** In 1857 Captain Jones Worden allowed passengers to sleep on board the Key City during a cloudburst and while waiting for a train. This was against the rules of the com- pany; but where human comfort was concerned steam- boat captains often made their own rules.®" In 1850 a card signed by forty persons appeared in a Galena newspaper thanking Captain John Atchison and his ofiScers "for the uniform kindness and attention" on a recent trip from Stillwater to Galena aboard the Highland Mary No. 2. But Captain Atchison was unable to re- spond : the same issue carried the news of his death. He had been stricken suddenly with the cholera upon his arrival at that port. His passing was a distinct loss to Upper Mississippi steamboating for he had demonstrated enterprise and a fine business talent that was warmly tem- pered by a frank, generous, and amiable personality. Nor were such characters as John Atchison readily for- gotten by the river folk whom he had often befriended. Ten months after his death a St. Paul editor mourned: "Poor Old John Atchison, of the Highland Mary, always first to greet us in the Spring, is now no more; we miss him with his little brass band, whose music echoed upon our waters, whenever that figure head of Mary, the High- land lassie, showed its face around the bend at Pig's Eye." ''' Steamboat captains were frequently upbraided by the press for their failure to turn back when a passenger fell overboard. The courage of Captain William H. Laughton [445] v Steamboating on Upper Mississippi was, however, frequently demonstrated : during his forty or more years of service the fearless skipper plunged over- board nine times at the risk of his own life and rescued passengers from a watery grave. On one such occasion, while he was serving as mate on the Nominee, passengers presented Laughton with an "engrossed set of resolutions, and a silver loving cup made by Tiffany" for saving the life of a little girl who had fallen over the rail/^^ Once the pulsing throb of a steamboat entered their veins steamboat captains found it difficult to forsake the river. Throckmorton forsook the Upper Mississippi in 1848 only to return to his first love. Those captains who did succeed in leaving the river demonstrated the same capacity for leadership in business and politics. Take, for example, the career of James May, who was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 1804 and commenced flat-boating on the Ohio in 1822. Five years later (1827) Captain May took the Sha^nrock from Pittsburgh to Galena on what has been described as "the first business trip ever made on the Upper Mississippi" by a steamboat. Later he commanded the Enterprise (first) and the Dove. In 1834, however, he retired from steamboating to enter the grocery and com- mission business at Pittsburgh. He also superintended the building of over fifty steamboats and more than twice as many barges and other craft. He was one of the original proprietors of Davenport but did not become a resident of that city until 1847. Later he became one of Daven- port's wealthiest citizens. Then there was W. H. Hooper who married Electa Har- [446] when Captains Ruled Like Kings ris, a sister of the Harris brothers. Hooper was identified with such boats as the Otter ^ the Tivte and Tide, and the Alexander Hamilton. In 1848 he went to Salt Lake City and allied himself with the Mormons. His general ability was soon recognized and he was sent to Congress several times as a Territorial Delegate. ^^* Business ability was an important element of a steam- boat captain's character. Louis Robert, a descendant of French settlers of Kaskaskia, was born at Carondelet, Mis- souri, on January 21, 1811. After spending his early life on the Missouri, Robert moved to Prairie du Chien in 1838. He became permanently identified with St. Paul in 1847 as one of the original proprietors of that town. Impulsive and loquacious, generous and warm-hearted, Robert was nevertheless a far-seeing business man. In 1853 he became interested in steamboating and at different times owned as many as five steamboats. He also engaged in the Indian trade. When he died in 1874 his estate was valued at $400,000. Louis Robert was particularly gallant to the lady pas- sengers. Of the Time and Tide he was wont to say that she would wait for no man; but "Louie Robair" would wait "fifteen minutes for one woman". This incident is said to be a "true leaf" from her log book : for once the Time and Tide swung idly from her mooring for half an hour while a lady "primped, painted and had a reef taken in her corsets." Meanwhile the one hundred fifty other passengers are said to have "dyed the ambient air a ceru- lian blue with curses not loud but deep." ®^° [447] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Few captains exhibited a greater versatility than did \^ Captain Asa Barlow Green. This versatile skipper was also known as a lawyer, a sheriff, a probate judge, a mis- sionary, a minister, and an army chaplain. Born in Ver- mont in 1826, Green received a common school education, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Variously described as a Methodist and a Cal- vinist Baptist, Green's religious exhortations apparently satisfied the rough cravings of the lumberjacks. On at least one occasion his contact with these rude characters stood him in good stead. On May 26, 1859, Captain Green started up Lake St. Croix for Stillwater with an excursion party of over three hundred men, women, and children from Hastings and Prescott. All were in a merry mood when suddenly a tor- nado struck the Equator^ with terrific force, crippling her in an instant. Caught in the billowing troughs of the wind- swept lake, with waves sweeping over the main deck and down the open hatches, the whole upper works "threat- ened to go overboard." Captain Green held his post on the upper deck, bellowing instructions and endeavoring to calm the frightened women and children. Suddenly a new element confronted the courageous captain. A rich sawmill owner of Prescott, a man over seventy years of age, who "ought to have been ready and willing to pass in his checks, crept up the companionway to the roof, and creeping on his hands and knees, got hold of the captain's legs and besought him to save him — 'Save me. Captain, Save me. I will give you a thousand dollars [448] When Captains Ruled Like Kings if you will save me!' " For perhaps the first and only time, Reverend Asa Barlow Green had a lapse from grace. "Let go of me and get below, you d — d cowardly old ," roared the irate Captain as he kicked him off the roof and down the stairway."**' When Captain E. H. Gleim died at Galena in 1856 his loss was deeply mourned. Gleim had begun his career as first clerk aboard the steamboat Warrior in 1832. For more than a score of years he was identified with such boats as the Warrior, the Wisconsin, the Monona, the Royal Arch, the Pawnee, the Highlander, and the Ocean Wave. He was described as a "fit representative of a class of men, who, in the peaceful pursuits of commerce", had given "proof of every element of manhood" in a "difficult, laborious and hazardous occupation". A Galena editor asserted that such men as Gleim had been as "often tested" as Stephen Decatur or any other national hero. They had stood these tests "like steel" and had given a "high char- acter to our river commerce".^" Many of the steamboat captains, whose careers may be^^\ traced back to the period of individual ownership, later became identified with the great packet companies that flourished in the golden days of steamboating. The lives of such men as Joseph Throckmorton, Daniel Smith Har- ris, William F. Davidson, and Joseph Reynolds portray graphically the profound changes which occurred in steamboating. The study of such corporations as the Keo- kuk Packet Company, the Minnesota Packet Company, the Northern Line, the White Collar Line, and the Dia- [449] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi mond Jo Line present in miniature the transition which took place within the nation itself. These constitute, how- ever, separate and complete chapters in the history of Upper Mississippi steamboating.^^® [450] 1 lie Opening of Navigation The opening of navigation at St. Paul in 1 849 was pecu- liarly dramatic. Fettered for nearly five months by ice- locked Lake Pepin, the tiny settlement anxiously awaited the arrival of the first steamboat. During the winter, mail had been brought up irregularly by dog or horse train, but the newspapers were several months old. It was not until late in January that word was received of the election of Zachary Taylor. Everyone hoped that the first steamboat would bring news of the creation of the Territory of Minnesota. The afternoon of April 9, 1849, was pleasant; the river was clear of ice, and yet no steamboat had ap- peared at the St. Paul wharf. But Captain Daniel Smith Harris was nearing St. Paul with the Dr. Franklin No. 2 loaded with immigrants who watched with awe a violent thunder storm that had begun at dusk. As the steamboat rounded the bend a vivid flash of lightning revealed her presence to those ashore. "In an instant the welcome news flashed like electricity, through- out the town. All were on the qtii vive, and regardless of the pelting rain, the raging wind, and the pealing thunder, almost the entire male population rushed to the landing — hundreds clustered on the shore unmindful of the storm as the fine steamboat Dr. Franklin No. 2 dashed gallantly up to the landing." [451] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi The moment the boat's stage touched the shore the news-hungry "boarders" scrambled up, brushing aside the deck hands and immigrants about to come ashore. Cap- tain Harris and his officers were the men of the hour. "The barkeeper had need of the arms of Briareus, the eyes of Argus, and the tongues of Rumor, to satisfy the de- mands, made upon him. — At length the news was known and one glad shout resounding through the boat, taken up on shore, and echoed from our beetling bluffs and rolling hills, proclaimed that the Bill for the organization of Min- nesota Territory had become a law." ^^^ \ "^he arrival of the first steamboat each spring was a big event in the life of every river town. Isolated through the long winter months and with only fragmentary news dispatches trickling in from the outside world, each em- bryonic frontier community hailed with enthusiasm that captain who opened the season of navigation. The first steamboat arrival was a memorable event and remained the topic of conversation for weeks. Later, in the fifties and sixties, some river towns, especially those above Lake Pepin, granted free wharfage during the ensuing year to the first boat — not a small item when the total disbursements for the season were counted. Furthermore, the captain who gained this much desired laurel was always certain of added /opularity. St. Louis was not greatly concerned over the opening of navigation. Ice closed the Mississippi at St. Louis on an average of twenty-nine days yearly between 1865 and 1882. Four times during this period the river was open [452] The Opening of Navigation the year round : once (during the winter of 1880-1881) the Mississippi was closed for seventy-eight days/^° As steamboats ascended the Mississippi above the mouth of the Missouri, the opening of navigation became more important. Between Keokuk and Dubuque the river was ice-locked on an average of from 75 to 105 days each year. St. Paul, on the other hand, was "frozen in" on an average of almost five months yearly. Thus, the season of naviga- tion for the port of St. Paul averaged only 222 days be- tween the years 1849 and 1866, or a little more than seven months. The polar barrier erected by Lake Pepin deprived St. Paul of commerce with ports below for an average of 143 days during this period compared with twenty-nine days for St. Louis. Ports at the foot of Lake Pepin could usually depend on a month more of navigation than could St. Paul.^^^ Prior to 1850 the mineral region and the river towns below Galena and Dubuque were the chief ports of call for steamboats. Damaging floods preceded the opening of navigation at Galena in 1836. By mid-March the Fever River rose to the highest point since 1828 : Main Street was flooded and much property lost. The Ice had hardly slipped out when navigation opened : the Olive Branch churned up the Fever River with her guards dripping on April 1st. On the following day the Wisconsin arrived from St. Louis. Hard in her wake came the Galenian, hav- ing first left a heavy tribute of freight and passengers at Dubuque. On April 3rd the Dubuque^ the Cavalier, and the Warrior were discharging freight and passengers at the [453] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Galena levee. The opening of navigation brought many new faces to Galena and Dubuque, so that the levees of these enterprising mining communities fairly bustled with . • •- 692 activity. Although Dubuque and Galena continued to welcome steamboats, the completion of the telegraph to such points as St. Louis, Keokuk, Burlington, and Dubuque in 1848 made these towns no longer dependent on steamboats as messengers of news. And the construction of the railroads to the Mississippi during the fifties made most of the ports between St. Louis and La Crosse virtually independent of the steamboat. The admission of Wisconsin as a State in 1848 and the creation of the Territory of Minnesota in 1849 focused attention on ports situated above the mineral region.^''^ The ultima thule of spring navigation was St. Paul, at the head of navigation on the Upper Mississippi. Each spring the mad dash of steamboats for this port was chron- icled by the press all the way up from St. Louis. The records hung up by Captain Harris illustrate graphically the intense human interest in gaining the honor of bring- ing in the first boat. Between 1844 and 1861 inclusive. Captain Harris bat- tered his way through ice-choked Lake Pepin seven times to win the much sought laurel. Sometimes a score of steamboats lay marshaled at the foot of Lake Pepin wait- ing for the ice to move so that competition was extremely keen. But no other captain could match the brilliant feats of Daniel Smith Harris in gaining St. Paul first. [454] The Opening of Navigation In 1 844 Harris reached St. Paul with the Otter on April 6th — the first arrival of the season. He repeated this performance in 1845 with the same boat, and, curiously enough, on the same date. In 1848 the Senator was first, arriving on April 7th. The following year the Dr. Frank- lin No. 2 arrived on April 9th; while in 185 3 the West Newton led the way to St. Paul with a considerable num- ber of passengers and a large freight cargo. Two years later (1855) the War Eagle dashed into port with colors flying and cannons roaring while all St. Paul turned out to greet the gallant skipper. In his last victory, in 185 8, the Grey Eagle came screeching past Pig's Eye on the 25 th of March — the earliest arrival on record. His nearest rivals at this wild sport of playing checkers with frozen ice-cakes were Orrin Smith and John Atchison, both of whom managed to gain the laurel twice during this period, a record which pales before the seven victories of Captain Harris.^^^'^ "The arrival of the first steamer of the season is a great day for St. Paul", declared Harriet Bishop in 1853. "Anxi- ety has long run high; eyes are strained in anxious expec- tation, and when finally it rounds the bend, hundreds of citizens gathered at the river, send forth a prolonged shout of welcome, and the bluffs echo the general joy." On at least one occasion. Miss Bishop recalls, the pas- sengers actually chopped a lane through Lake Pepin. Early in ISSOythe Highland Mary (John Atchison commanding) found the lake frozen solid. For days the boat lay at the foot of the lake, unable to proceed northward. Several [455] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi of the passengers finally returned downstream in despair. In desperation the remainder of the passengers and crew volunteered their services and actually chopped a path through the ice. They received, as they well merited, "hearty shouts of congratulations from the people of St. Paul." ''' Other passengers found it easier to walk around Lake Pepin. On April 14, 1856, William W. Pendergast, a Min- nesota pioneer, reached Read's Landing only to find Lake Pepin frozen over. After waiting two days for the ice to break up, Pendergast and his companions walked the thirty miles round Lake Pepin over a muddy road to Wacouta. Here they found Captain Louis Robert's Time and Tide with "steam up" ready to set out for St. Paul. "This steaming up", Pendergast declared, "was only a trick to make us buy a ticket at once. It was played several times before the boat finally started." Pendergast did not reach St. Paul until the 17th. The following day the Lady Franklin came swooshing up to the levee, the first to batter her way through to St. Paul.^^^ It was not merely St. Paul that depended on the arrival of the first steamboat in the spring. Lake Pepin blocked off the St. Croix Valley, the Minnesota Valley, and the region above the Falls of St. Anthony. As spring ap- proached the settlers in these areas waited impatiently for the arrival of fresh supplies. The opening of navigation in 1857 illustrates the dependence of St. Paul and the towns on the Minnesota River upon the steamboat. Navigation on the Minnesota River was usually possible [456] The Opening of Navigation several weeks before the first steamboat arrived at St. Paul from below because of the length of time required for Lake Pepin to open. Since each spring only a small quan- tity of freight from the previous winter remained in St. Paul, the trade of the Minnesota River was rather light until new supplies came from below. The winter of 1856- 1857 was unusually severe, and the Minnesota River was open for navigation three weeks before Lake Pepin relin- quished its grip on the Upper Mississippi. Ten boats lay at the foot of the lake several days before it opened, and a number of others were docked three miles below at Wa- basha. In this colorful flotilla were steamboats hailing from distant Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. On April 29th twenty- two craft, crowded with passengers, impatiently awaited the moving out of the ice. The more venturesome cap- tains had for several days butted the prows of their boats against the unbreakable wall in vain attempts to crash through.^" Fifteen hundred passengers fumed at the delay of the twenty-two stranded craft at the foot of Lake Pepin. Hundreds of others, exasperated at the obdurate tenacity of the lake, set out on foot for Red Wing, willing to en- dure the greatest hardships and inconvenience in order to reach St. Paul earlier than was possible if they remained aboard their boats. At Red Wing they were met by the Minnesota River packets, which flourished on this early season business made up of passengers who cared little what facilities were provided so long as they could reach their destination. On April 16th the Reveille arrived at [457] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi St. Paul from Red Wing, her decks thronged with people.^^^ Since Lake Pepin did not open until April 30th in 1857 the owners of the Reveille and the Ti7ne and Tide were able to amass snug fortunes before their season actually began on the Minnesota. Before daylight on April 17th the Time and Tide came into St. Paul with a full load of pas- sengers and the Red Wing band. At the prevailing rates for passage the fares of the 246 cabin and 197 deck passengers netted the owner of the boat $1821 for a single trip. This amount was almost equal to her total passenger receipts for the first five trips on the Minnesota in 1857. On April 24th of that year the Time and Tide brought 196 cabin passengers and 145 "deckers" from Red Wing; three days later the same craft churned up to the St. Paul levee with 368 passengers perched precariously about her decks from stem to stern and occupying all available space from engine room to texas. Such trips brought a broad grin to the face of Louis Robert, the jovial and picturesque captain of the Time and Tide. It was only five years since Captain Robert had purchased the little steamboat Black Hawk for six thou- sand dollars to run regularly on the Minnesota River. At the time the boat was the subject of lively newspaper comment, for it was the first steamboat owned entirely in St. Paul. In 1857 the Time and Tide alone earned enough in the spring trade between St. Paul and Red Wing to pay the original cost of the historic Black Hawk.^^^ A final yawn of the seemingly bottomless old Lake [458] The Opening of Navigation Pepin split and ripped its winter coat wide open and pro- duced a narrow but dangerous lane for steamboat captains to venture through. And venture they did. Battering their way through giant blocks of shifting, crumbling ice, the War Eagle and the Galena started up the ice- choked lake, risking all to gain the coveted laurel that went to the first steamboat to reach St. Paul. Hard in their frozen wake followed such boats as the Rescue, the Henry Clay, the Hamburg, the Atlanta, the Conewago, the Savt Young, the Golden State, and a dozen others. Just below St. Paul, when victory was almost in the War Eagle's grasp, a deck hand fell overboard and a yawl put out to rescue the unfortunate man. It was a humane but costly act : on May 2, 1857, the Pioneer and Democrat noted that Captain W. H. Laughton brought his Galena into port at 2:00 A. M. on May 1st and that the War Eagle landed fifteen minutes later. And then the deluge! Twenty-five hundred tons of freight were dumped pell-mell upon the St. Paul levee in forty-eight hours by the score of boats that followed the Galena and the War Eagle. The St. Paul levee was the "only place of attraction" on those bustling first two days of May, 1857. And on May 3rd an additional two thou- sand tons were discharged, which kept every dray and wagon in St. Paul busy throughout the day and far into the night."° From Dubuque and Galena, St. Louis and New Orleans, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh came the goods that formed the principal cargoes for steamboats running above the Falls [459] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi or to the swiftly growing valley towns of the Minnesota River. And from Chaska, Shakopee, Carver, Henderson, St. Peter, Mankato, and still smaller entrepots, the Big Woods country was supplied through the medium of the steamboats that made possible the rapid growth and devel- opment of the region. Steamboatmen and merchants in the various ports below Lake Pepin were exasperated at the tenacity with which the lake clung to her icy cloak. In 1857 the river was open at Dubuque on March 25th; Winona was free of ice on April 1st; but St. Paul could not greet the steamboat until May 1st. Naturally such conditions elicited bitter editorials in the various newspapers. In the spring of 1859 the Missis- sippi was described as a "National Highway" by D. H. Dolterer, who urged it was to the best interests of Dubuque to break through Lake Pepin when the river was open to that point. Dolterer suggested that his "specially con- structed" icebreaker, which opened Lake Cayuga for steamboats during the winter of 1849-1850, could slash a channel through Lake Pepin in one day. The novel inven- tion broke ice a foot thick with ease by lifting the ice rather than exerting a downward pressure. The icebreaker was attached to a boat 120 feet long and could be removed when not in use, thereby permitting the craft to be em- ployed as a ferry or towboat.^"^ Dolterer's suggestion apparently went unheeded. Mean- while, a Dubuque editor announced with pardonable pride that the Key City reached St. Paul first in 1859. Captain Jones Worden had started bucking the ice with the Key [460] The Opening of Navigation City on the Minnesota side on April 19th. When but two miles below Lake City he was forced to cross through a crevass to the Wisconsin side. Worming his boat upstream two miles, Captain Worden found another gaping fissure and succeeded in recrossing to Lake City where the entire population greeted the plucky captain. The following morning at eight o'clock the citizens of St. Paul saw the smoke from an approaching steamboat. A grand rush for the levee ensued and there were "wild conjectures" as to what %bat was approaching. By the time the Key City ^^urned the bend a "stream of humanity" had poured down Jackson and Robert streets so that two thousand were on hand to greet the gallant craft as she made fast to the dock. The ferryboat and the Rotary Mills whistled a shrill wel- come to the Key City and a cannon was discharged in honor of the occasion. Captain Worden and his ojQftcers were cheered to the echo by the assembled throng.'^°" In attempting to break through the ice barrier steam- boat captains sometimes endangered the lives of passengers as well as the cargo. In 1857 reports drifted down to Du- buque that both the Galena and the War Eagle had suf- fered serious damages and that some boats had run aground or were proceeding with their holds filled with water. It was also rumored that St. Paul had increased the prize to $3000 cash, besides offering a set of colors for the boat and $300 for the pilot. These reports were later branded as untrue; but for over a week following the opening of Lake Pepin newspapers carried accounts of the great ex- citement at St. Paul and the ports below. And well might [461] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi the Upper Mississippi Valley be excited, for Lake Pepin had blocked navigation to St. Paul until May 1st, the latest date on record between 1844 and 1884/°^ The eccentricity of the weather and Lake Pepin was demonstrated when the Grey Eagle arrived at St. Paul on March 25, 1858. This was the earliest date on record be- tween 1844 and 1884. The average date of arrival for this period of forty-one years was April 13 th. Only three steamboats, besides the Grey Eagle, were able to batter their their way through Lake Pepin before April 1st : tnS^ilmnie whisked up to the St. Paul levee on March 25, 1878, tie the record of the Grey Eagle. ^°* Citizens in every port along the Mississippi anxiously studied the river each spring and looked forward with keen anticipation for the first boat of the season. For days in advance the newspapers chronicled the condition of the ice at the various ports above and below. Thus, on February 28, 1868, the Dubuque Herald recorded that navigation was open to Quincy — which was sooner than most old- timers could remember. The first appearance of the reg- ular "River News" column occurred on March 10th with the observation that large crowds had gathered on the river to watch the ice. The Mississippi actually split its icy mantle a few times that day, but each time it quickly closed up. It was believed, however, that the river would soon be free of ice. Five days later the Herald announced that the Northern Line steamboat Davenport would leave St. Louis for points upstream. On March 19th it reported the river was open to La Crosse and chronicled the de- [462] The Opening of Navigation parture of the Sterling from Galena with 115 kegs of beer. The following day the Lady Pike arrived at the Dubuque levee to open the season. On March 21st the Diamond Jo arrived at Winona to initiate the season to that port. The Diamond Jo was headed for the foot of Lake Pepin which was still frozen. It was not until April 4, 1868, that the Phd Sheridan was able to smash her way through to St. Paul.^°= The coming of the railroad to St. Paul proved the death- knelLj(Psteamboating. Its effect was quickly reflected in ^I^Rpassenger and freight receipts and in the general indif- ference to the opening of navigation. "Before St. Paul had railroad communication with the east", an editor observed in 1873, "the first steamboat arrival in the spring was an event of much greater importance than now. There was quite a celebration, ending with a dance on the boat — and the steamer was given the freedom of the city, that is, was allowed to use the levee free of wharfage all the season." The effect of the coming of the "Robber Barons" was mournfully recorded when the steamboat Northwestern arrived in the spring of 1873. "One silent indication that causes were at work to rob the noble stream of its early glory was visible to all spectators, last evening — the om- nibusses returned from the levee empty; and the first trip of the Northwestern was made remunerative by freight only, of which she made a very respectable showing." ^"^ [463] 46 C^iosing ojf iNj avigaiiom A Dubuque editor marvelled at the power of the ice gnomes over the Mississippi River. In a frigid blast throughout the Upper Mississippi Valley on December 1 3 , 1859, the mercury fell from eight to thirteen degrees be- low zero in a "couple of hours". Numbed finger^^^^type which vividly pictured the unequal struggle between KAg^^^ Winter and the Mississippi. "It took a firm hold on the Father of Waters — laying a giant's hand upon him, and arresting his course, as easily as a boy does that of his toy- wagon. In other words the weather commenced a few days since bridging the river — it rafted down at first the sleepers, and yesterday it put down the planking, and if nothing hinders, the work to-day or to-morrow at far- thest, will be finished in a style at once elegant and sub- stantial." ^" Fortunately Dubuque was no longer dependent on the steamboat in 1859 : the railroads had already reached that port. A decade before, however, the premature closing of navigation would have been viewed with mingled re- gret and alarm. For, despite the large number of steam- boat arrivals during the regular season of navigation, river towns frequently found themselves with insufficient sup- plies to face the rigors of a long winter siege. Small wonder that anxious river towns joyfully wel- [464] closing of Navigation corned those steamboat captains who risked the dangers of floating ice to bring last minute supplies before naviga- tion closed. "Steamboats continue to arrive at our wharves, laden with merchandize and passengers", a St. Paul editor asserted late in 1 849. "Within the past week, the Senator, the Yankee, the [Dr.] Franklin No. 2 and the [Dr.] Franklin No. 1, have all paid us a visit." Although winter was fast approaching, the arrival of another boat was hopefully anticipated. Everyone breathed a "sigh of relief" as the Yankee poked her nose around the bend before daylight on November 1 9th. Late in Novem- ber the Enterprise dashed up to the Red Wing levee, and after discharging all her freight and passengers hastened back through Lake Pepin. An irate St. Paul editor up- braided the captain for not continuing upstream and won- dered if the Enterprise had lived up to her name.^°^ Late season trips were scarcely pleasant, either for crew or passengers. As one belated traveler in 1853 records: "We have just emerged from the exciting pleasures of a six day's trip on board the steamer Blackhawk, from Galena to a point on Lake St. Croix opposite Hudson. The officers and crew did all in their power to render their passengers happy and comfortable but the boat and the river were against them. The Hawk is a worthless old tub, and the Mississippi is turned bottom up. We can safely say that navigation is closed for the season." But the river at St. Paul was not yet closed : the Clarion arrived a week later with news of the Crimean War and the New York election — "just what people wanted to [465] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi hear about". And the following week, on November 26th, the Jenny Lind was recorded. Her welcome was hardly a kindly one for the sheriff boarded her with bills for $200 and had her "in limbo" for two hours "when she performed the usual trick of transient boats of cutting her cable and departing." "°^ A capricious climate often caused editors to forecast the close of navigation several weeks before it actually oc- curred. On November 11, 1854, a St. Paul newspaper records : "The Galena yesterday took down what few still lingered of the visitors to Minnesota during the past sea- son, and our city has assumed her wonted appearance. During the summer thousands of strangers crowded our streets, and it was almost impossible to distinguish the citi- zen from the stranger. But winter comes, and we are left alone to mingle with ourselves and form those re-unions which we have heretofore so much enjoyed." And yet navigation continued for almost a month. Five steamboats (the Alice, the Minnesota Belle, the Henrietta, the Excelsior, and the Luella) discharged freight and pas- sengers at the St. Paul levee the very next day. Many of those who came apparently planned to test the "rigors" of the North Star State. The Navigator, the Clarion, and the Alhambra followed within a week — the latter bring- ing one of the largest freights she ever carried and charging twelve dollars for cabin passage downstream. On Novem- ber 20th the Lady Franklin dropped off her passengers at Point Douglas, and on the following day the Minnesota Belle made the journey as far as Prescott. [466] closing of Navigation On November 23, 1854, just as St. Paul was again ready to "settle down" for a long winter, the shrill whistle of a steamboat was heard and citizens rushed to the levee to find the Navigator back again with a huge cargo of freight and passengers. It was her best trip of the season. Pros- pective passengers and shippers were warned that the boat would leave immediately for winter quarters below. The captain of the Navigator was commended for taking the mails free. Two weeks had passed since the newspaper had fore- cast the close of navigation; and yet the Mississippi re- mained open. A few days later the river was full of ice; but on November 30th there was very little ice and the editor, vexed no doubt at his failure as a weather prophet, observed that citizens were "anxious for winter". He declared it was "provoking" that the Mississippi did not close. Finally, on December 5, 1854, it was announced that the Mississippi was "Closed at Last" to the "delight" of all St. Paul citizens who were ready to enjoy their winter sports.''" Steamboat captains charged high rates on both freight and passengers for late season trips. The St. Paul levee hummed with activity during the first two weeks of November in 1857. The Henry Clay left on the 5th with an "unusually large number of cabin passengers" who planned to spend the winter in the South or East. In addition the Henry Clay carried downstream copies of the Pioneer and Democrat of November 5, 1857, upbraiding the Pittsburgh Post of October 29th for asserting that ice [467] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi was already floating in the river at St. Paul when the only ice to be found was in buckets. "From this time until the close of navigation", the editor concluded, "the boats will reap a rich harvest in the passenger business. The rates of fare have been raised, in accordance with the established custom of the Packet Company, just before the Close of Navigation." ''' Many captains profited by the high tariffs prevailing late in 1857. Six steamboats docked at St. Paul on November 8th; the levee was jammed with boxes, barrels, and sacks until late at night. Two days later steamboat cargoes were dumped in mud three inches deep and a newspaper hoped that the levee might be paved in 1858 to avoid the recur- rence of such "terrible " conditions. The Milwaukee put in her appearance at St. Paul on November 12th, followed by the Minnesota^ the Alhambra, and the Fanny Harris. All encountered heavy ice flows between St. Paul and Lake Pepin. When the Northern Light reported the river nearly closed on the 13 th, the Pioneer and Democrat lamented : "We are, from this time forward, for five months forced to the use of slow coaches to give us our news, and our visitors." ^'" Such last minute trips were profitable, but also dan- gerous. On November 23, 1857, John Saunders, pilot of the steamboat Minnesota, arrived in Dubuque with news that the Minnesota, after cutting her way through three miles of solid ice, had been "frozen in" opposite McGregor. Saunders reported that the Envoy and the Flora were also frozen in at Prairie du Chien. The river was closed."' [468] closing of Navigation If St. Paul fretted at the barrier which Lake Pepin presented, Winona smugly rejoiced at her rival's discom- fiture. On November 27, 185 5, the Winona Kepublican in chronicling the arrival of the Ben Coursin slyly observed that the Mississippi below was still free of ice. "Thus", chortled the editor, ''while the calm and sluggish waters of Lake Pepin, present a Polar barrier to any river communi- cation with any points above it, Winona is of easy access still, and the present prospect is favorable for a much longer continuance of open waters." The Ben Cotirsin again reached Winona with a good freight on the night of December 3rd. She returned im- mediately to Dunleith. The Kate Cassel arrived the same day; and on December 8th that indefatigable craft again hustled up to the Winona levee. Her captain endeavored to reach St. Paul, but ice blocked his way eighteen miles below Lake Pepin. A week later it was noted that St. Paul had had 563 steamboat arrivals during 185 5 while Winona could boast 583. Twenty steamboats, it was pointed out, had reached Winona since Lake Pepin closed."'' The following December (1856) the Kate Cassel managed to reach Hastings with an enormous load of freight. The activity on the Upper Mississippi at this sea- son is revealed by the log of the steamboat Flora printed in the Dubuque Express and Herald of December 3, 1856: "Left Dunleith the 21st with nearly 400 passengers and a heavy freight; met Golden State below Guttenberg; En- voy passed down; met Northern Belle the 22d; met Fannie [469] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Harris at Coon Slough; met Kate Cassel below La Crosse, evening 22d; met Gossamer at La Crosse; snowed all night; met Alhambra below Fountain City; got aground on Beef Slough and remained there Sunday night; went through Lake Pepin the 24th; reached Red Wing at 1 1 p. m.; snow- ing like great guns; reached Hastings morning of 25th; river gorged with ice for seven miles above and weather cold; left Hastings Tuesday; met Resolute Wednesday morning below Beef Slough; Progress there and could not get over; she returned to Winona and discharged her car- go; met J.[acob] Traber at Winona and Ben Coursin be- low La Crosse . . . The Flora brought down 250 passengers and went into winter quarters at the upper landing, Dubuque." Galena, like St. Paul, was also handicapped in her loca- tion since the Fever River usually froze over before the Mississippi which gave a decided advantage to Dubuque. Thus in 1836 the season closed for Galena on November 15 th, but the Gipsey was able to get to Dubuque as late as December Ist."^ The weather prophets of the Galena press were as in- accurate as their fellow-editors farther upstream. Ice was already forming when the Danube and the Dubtique with two barges in tow, came "whistling up" to the Galena levee on November 10, 1851, with one of the heaviest cargoes of the season. But the ice gnomes retreated, and on November 26th the arrival of the Osivego and the Martha No. 2 was recorded. Once more a film of ice formed on Fever River, but not [470] closing of Navigation before the Uncle Toby put in at Galena shoving a barge of coal for Dubuque. A few days later news flashed to Galena that the Wyoming left St. Louis on November 26th and that the Danube had set out from the same port the following day. A local editor doubted that either craft would be able to reach Galena; but on Sunday evening, November 30th, the Wyoming arrived with the Danube trailing in only an hour behind her. Despite cold and blus- tering weather the Shenandoah managed to creep up to the Galena levee on December 3rd. Her hasty departure marked the close of navigation.^^^ In addition to floating ice ahead, captains had to run the risk of being caught in the vise-like jaws of a freezing river. Should this take place the boat must be left behind, and the men return overland. This left the cargo of the boat open to plunder and to possible destruction by an ice gorge in the following spring. None but the most venture- some would risk a late season trip. Captain Daniel Smith Harris exhibited his usual skill and daring at this novel gamble with winter. On Novem- ber 15th, 1836, he steamed out of Fever River with the Science, the last boat to depart that year. In 1840 the Otter left Galena on November 25 th, and the following year the same little craft buffeted her way out of frozen Fever River on November 22 nd. This feat, together with her arrival first at the St. Paul levee in 1844 and 1845, gives the Otter and her daring master a singularly unique record.^^^ In 1845 Captain Harris lost an exciting race with the [471] J Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ice and was forced to run the first ^ar Eagle into winter quarters near Rock Island."^ Three years later Lake Pepin almost caught the Senator. "Ten years ago, the eleventh of this month", relates the Glencoe Register of November 24, 1848, in commenting on this incident, "navigation closed on the Mississippi above the foot of Lake Pepin. Franklin Steele, Esq., who at that time supplied most of the then Territory of Minnesota with goods and provisions, had a whole cargo frozen up on the 9th at the head of Lake Pepin, in the old steamer Senator, Capt. Harris. It was with the utmost difficulty that the Senator worked her way through the Lake on the 10th." "^ VThe last trip of the season presented many dangers and hardships. It was difficult to secure a full crew to make the trip, and fabulous wages were often paid because the extremely rigorous climate and the possibility of return- ing on foot through a desolate, Indian infested, snow- covered country deterred all but the adventurous. But merchants and travelers were usually glad to pay double and triple the usual rates on the last trip of the season, and aptains often made an extra profit. On one occasion the Minnesota Packet Company learned that a large amount of freight stUl remained on the upper river and sent Captain Harris to get it. Although he was ready to put the War Eagle into winter quarters and was incensed because some other captain had not been dis- patched, Harris steamed out of Fever River and proceeded up the Mississippi in the face of a biting wind. He refused to be governed by the prevailing tariff rates, however. [472] closing of Navigation "Now you keep your hands off", he declared to the Packet officials on departing, "and I'll make some money this trip." Captain Harris succeeded in reaching Hastings, Min- nesota, where an ice-locked river ahead and rapidly freez- ing river below forced him to turn back. Freight and passengers were found in abundance at almost every port. The hoarse whistle of the W^r Eagle on the cold, frosty air sounded a cheerful note to belated passengers and ship- pers. Four days after her departure the War Eagle came shivering up the Fever River. Upon boarding the boat to extend their congratulations, the Packet officials found Captain Harris gloomy and disconsolate. Inquiry finally revealed that Harris had set out to make $10,000 on the trip and had "cleaned up only $9,700". It was his failure to reach his goal and establish a record and not the loss of a few hundred dollars that wounded the pride of the am- bitious captain."" Despite the fact that he had bitterly denounced Captain Harris and the Minnesota Packet Company, a hostile editor could not refrain from paying a tribute to the popular skipper. "The steamer War Eagle", notes the Winona Re- publican of November 24, 185 8, "came up as far as La Crosse on last Friday morning, having on board a large quantity of goods, and a considerable number of passen- gers, for Winona, and towns in the interior, but her cap- tain (A. T. Kingman) being somewhat afraid of the floating ice, would not proceed any further. Her cargo was accordingly discharged at La Crosse. If the War [473] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Eagle had been in command of the resolute Captain Harris, the ice of last Friday morning would not have prevented him from making this port". *^ The opening of navigation provided river towns with an opportunity for gala celebrations. The closing of navi- gation left them in dreary isolation. Both events afforded steamboat captains an opportunity to test their skill and daring in the face of a rigorous nature. Not even a fast record could surpass in importance the achievements of those hardy souls whose names were linked with the open- ing and closing of navigation. [474] 47 Ice Cjrorgcs anti Wiiitpr 'Ulnariters Spring navigation was a period of great travail for the Upper Mississippi River. Giant blocks of shifting, crum- bling ice grated and jarred against one another night and day as the mighty waterway sought to shake loose its icy chains. Death and destruction often rode the crest of the devastating avalanche that was hurtled downstream. Early in 1874 the ice on the Mississippi at Muscatine broke up and closed again within the space of twenty- four hours. "The movement of the ice", according to a Muscatine editor, "left it in jagged, irregular masses, or hummocks, not unlike the surface of a frozen Polar sea . . . The sleet covered trees on the opposite bank glist- ened beautifully in the sunlight, adding lustre to the scenery. In the evening the bright moon-light intensified and lent a weird-like effect to the scene, and the deep roaring of the crushing ice at a point above the city where the river was still open added majesty to the spectacle in the mind of the beholder." "^ Rivermen lived in constant fear lest steamboats, wharf- boats, and ferries be destroyed by the innumerable ice gorges formed when the ice broke up. The impact of tons of floating ice frequently crushed and sunk steamboats at their moorings or swept them downstream. Accordingly steamboats were quartered each winter in a sheltered la- [475] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi goon or slough, or in a small tributary of the Mississippi. A watchman was usually left on guard, and frequently a small force remained aboard to overhaul and repair the craft for the next season. As early as 1829 Captain Joseph Throckmorton put the Red Rover in winter quarters near the mouth of the Platte River a few miles north of Du- buque.^" One of the earliest and most noted ice gorges occurred at present-day Keokuk in 1832. The winter had been unusually severe, and when the river rose suddenly it shat- tered ice thirty-four inches thick and piled it so high that the trees on the opposite bluff were invisible. Five thou- sand pigs of lead buried in the mud by the weight of the ice were not recovered until the following June. Four hundred cords of wood were carried away; the keelboat Ophelia was lifted to an angle of forty-five degrees; and a large elm was sheared in half by the ice. The water rose fourteen feet in an hour; houses along the levee suffered many damages. Ten years later another ice gorge at Keo- kuk piled the ice thirty feet high, broke the steamboat Otter from her moorings, and "played all sorts of fantastic tricks with the boats and houses that came in its way." Eye-witnesses declared that the "force and weight of the ice were irresistible and terrible to behold." "^ The destructive nature of the ice gorges which formed on the Upper Mississippi was quickly recognized by the pioneer steamboat captains. At the close of the season of 1835 both the Warrior and the Galenian were taken around to Pittsburgh to go into winter quarters."* [476] Ice Gorges and Winter Quarters During the heyday of steamboating the number of safe winter quarters was Kmited. Upper Mississippi boats could be found as far south as St. Louis where the west bank in the vicinity of Arsenal Island was for many years "considered one of the safest winter-harbors on the river." ^'^ An additional advantage accrued from the num- ber of skilled artisans and boat builders at St. Louis. Despite the short winter season, the St. Louis waterfront was sometimes gouged by the tons of ice that choked the channel at that point. On December 16, 1865, and again on January 12 and 13, 1866, ice gorges at St. Louis caused damage amounting to nearly a million dollars. A score of steamboats were sunk, ranging in value from $10,000 for the Sioux City to $85,000 for the Belle of Memphis. A number of others were greatly damaged."® Ten years later, on December 13, 1876, another ice gorge at St. Louis destroyed the Jennie Baldti/in, the Bay- ard, the Rock Island, and the Davenport, and damaged the Centennial, the Alex Mitchell, the War Eagle, and the Andy Johnson. Not one of these boats was insured. Three small steamboats (the Fannie Keener, the South Shore, and the Southern Belle) were likewise sunk. Fortunately these captains carried insurance on their craft.^" The problem of retaining secure winter quarters at St. Louis was recognized by the United States Engineers in 1877 when the effect of closing the chute was pointed out: "The experience of the last winter from natural causes affords an illustration of what will be the yearly experi- ence when the chute is closed by a dam. There will then [477] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi be no place within convenient distance of Saint Louis where boats can lie during the winter with reasonable safety. The tonnage employed on the upper rivers will be compelled to retire to Alton Slough betimes, and that of the lower river, of which a considerable part cannot pass under the bridge, will have no refuge, and must remain away from Saint Louis, or incur the risk of being lost should a sudden intense cold find them there. As the in- evitable result of closing the chute will be to deprive the tonnage of Saint Louis of its only ice-harbor, it seems necessary to call attention to the danger, and to suggest a remedy; for the interests of commerce demand that there should be a winter harbor of refuge in the immediate vicinity of Saint Louis." "* St. Louis could well look to her laurels as winter quar- ters for steamboats. By 1873 the steamboat Nort bluest ern and a dozen other boats of the Keokuk Northern Line were making their winter quarters in Alton Slough.^"^ Although no other point above St. Louis suffered such colossal marine disasters, the aggregate of damages was very high. Late in November, 1845, the Iron City and the War Eagle lost their race with the ice gnomes and were ice bound a short distance below the Upper Rapids. The fol- lowing February a sudden return of warm weather allowed the two boats to escape to St. Louis. Late in December, 1848, the Iron City struck an ice gorge while on her way to the Illinois River and sank. Several of her crew were drowned."" Early in April, 1866, the Northern Light was sunk by [478] Ice Gorges and Winter Quarters ice in fifteen feet of water in Coon Slough. Her chimneys and upper works were battered by ice and carried away. On this occasion some valuable property was saved by a deck hand aboard the Northern Light who was "lowered by his heels" into the icy water through a hole cut in the upper deck. By previous arrangement "a kick was the signal for him to be hauled out when he could stand it no longer for want of breath." He won the "grateful remem- brance" of the bar-keeper by recovering seventy-five dol- lars worth of valuable property/" It was not alone while in winter quarters that steamboats were threatened by ice gorges. Sometimes captains started out too early in the spring and ran afoul of dangerous gorges that jammed the Mississippi. Witness, for example, the progress of the Northwestern upstream in the spring of 1874 : "Above New Boston she encountered her first ice gorge — and there she lay all Saturday night. On Sun- day morning she was forced to 'butt' her way through the ice to Muscatine, and arrived there at 4^ o'clock Sunday afternoon. She remained there half an hour, discharging her cargo, and left for the North. Then came her trial. She met a gorge between Drury's and Fairport that she could not walk over — and she hugged the shore all night. Yesterday morning she put into a slough and came out near Andalusia, where she met another gorge. She was several hours in circumventing this icy barrier — but she did it at last and came out victorious — steaming then to Davenport." "' Steamboats in winter quarters sometimes escaped de- [479] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi struction as if by miracle. The uncanny escapade of the Slicker State at the Fort Madison ice gorge in the spring of 1867 was widely heralded by rivermen. It appears that the Sticker State and several other boats had gone into win- ter quarters the previous fall behind an island opposite Fort Madison. When the river broke up "with a crash" these craft "barely escaped destruction by the immense masses of ice that bore down upon them." The steamboat Reserve suffered "considerable damage"; the ferryboat Niota and the Sucker State were carried away. Author- ities at Keokuk were telegraphed to be on the look-out should the boats stay afloat to that point. When the Sucker State hove in sight "floating lazily along" in the ice-flow, the Little Eagle steamed boldly out into the ice-choked current and succeeded in landing her amid the shouts of joy from every one on hand. A Keokuk dispatch reads : "It seems almost miraculous that a large boat like the Sucker State should float 25 miles, without a soul to guide her, and not be destroyed. About the only damage she received was the breaking of her cross hog chains, the smashing of several stanchions on the star- board side, and the disfiguring of her cabin by a spar being driven through her in the vicinity of the wheel house. On her way down she made a landing at Sandusky, where she remained for an hour or so, and then swung round with as much grace as though an experienced pilot was guiding her, and continued 'on her way rejoicing' till overhauled by the Little Eagle." "' Ever jealous of the slightest advantage of other river [480] ^ Ice Gorges and Winter Quarters towns, Dubuque sought to secure a fair share of the spoils that accrued from repairing the steamboats that wintered along the Upper Mississippi. In 1861 an editor declared that Dubuque needed three things : (1) a drydock for the repair of steamboats and other river craft; (2) an ice harbor where steamboats could stay during winters; (3) the removal of the bar in front of the lower levee and inner slough. The nearest place where boats could be docked and repaired was Le Claire. It was shown that at slight expense Lake Peosta could be made into an ice harbor. The War Eagle, the Ocean Wave, the Franz Sie- gel, the Durant, and the Vearl passed the winter of 1863- 1864 "in the slough". Four years later (1868) Dubuque was still complaining because it lacked proper winter quarters : not a single boat of the Northern Line or the White Collar Line would winter at Dubuque and repairs were being done elsewhere. It was pointed out that the wharf boats of these companies were safely moored in the slough at Dubuque each winter. Ultimately the harbor at Dubuque gave the "Key City" of Iowa a distinct advantage over most river towns and provided a site for boat construction that has continued to function down to the steel barge era."* No single port along the Mississippi could afford shelter for all the steamboats plying between St. Louis and St. Paul. Consequently strategic locations were selected by captains who would run their boats into winter quarters at these points. Cities brought pressure to bear upon the United States Engineers to make the sloughs in their vicin- [481] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^ ity safe winter quarters, thereby assuring employment for boatmen and carpenters during the winter months. "The Boats in our Harbor are preparing for Spring", observed the Dubuque Herald of February 13, 1861. "The Metro- politan is being caulked and having new guards put on her. She is to be painted and repaired generally, and will come out in the spring as good as new." The ferryboat was also being repaired, and the wharf boat was getting "two new aprons." The closing of navigation in 1872 was chronicled by the Davenport Democrat of November 21st: "The Savanna immediately goes into winter quarters in Rockingham Slough, four miles below the city. This will be the last Northern Line boat which will divide the waters of the Mississippi this season. The Muscatine and Minneapolis both were expected down yet, but the former has gone on the ways at Le Claire, and the latter will winter at Savanna. The steamer Red Wing, which passed this point on Sunday evening, has laid up until spring in New Boston Bay. And thus suddenly and unexpectedly the navigation season of 1872 closes, and the grim reign of ice and frost over our rivers and bays will be undisturbed until the warm breezes of spring blow upon us again." [482] 4S rSlajmesakes oi ike xJ^ih'w&j Far flung and powerful were the Ojibway warriors who ranged the land of the sky blue waters. Equally colorful were the steamboat namesakes of this mighty woodland tribe. Three boats bore the proud name of Chippewa on the waters of the Mississippi and its tributaries. Another was named Chippewa Falls, and still another, Chippewa Valley. The voyages of these boats carried them from Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania to Fort Benton in Montana, and from St. Paul in Minnesota to Vicksburg in Missis- ^" ^: 735 sippi. The first boat to bear the name Chippewa was built at Pittsburgh in 1840 and was owned by Joseph Throck- morton and Hercules L. Dousman. Not long after her first appearance she was purchased by Captain Thomas H. Grilfith and plied industriously in the lead trade for three seasons. Then she mysteriously disappeared from the record."' In 1857 the second Chippewa and the Chippewa Falls appeared. The Chippewa Falls was a 9 3 -ton stern- wheel passenger packet built at Monongahela City, Pennsyl- vania."' She appeared in the Chippewa River trade in 1858, running regularly for several seasons between Read's Landing and Eau Claire. In 1864 she was one of a fleet of eight steamboats that transported General Alfred Sully's [483] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi expedition up the Missouri. After this episode the Chip- pewa Falls also vanished from the record."' A rapidly expanding steamboat frontier is attested by the construction at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, of the 101 -ton stern-wheel passenger boat Chippeiva Y alley — said to have been captured by the Confederates at Vicksburg. A third Chippewa was built at La Crosse in 1866. She was a small 74-ton craft that plied for five seasons as a tri-weekly packet between La Crosse and Eau Claire. She was the first arrival of the season at Eau Claire in 1866, 1868, and 1870. The coming of the railroad in July, 1870, forced the Chippewa into the rafting trade. She burned to the water's edge in 1871 while in winter quarters at Rum- sey's Landing on the Chippewa."^ But greatest of all the steamboats named after the Ojib- way was the second Chippewa. This light draught stern- wheel craft arrived at St. Paul from Pittsburgh in the spring of 18 57. She was in the Chippewa River trade in 1858 and also did effective work carrying passengers and freight to St. Paul during low water. In the spring of 1859 she made one trip to St. Paul from St. Louis and ap- peared destined to continue in this rather prosaic employ- ment. But a far different destiny awaited her : she was chartered by the American Fur Company to join the Spread Eagle in transporting a cargo of supplies to Fort Benton. Up to that time (1859) no steamboat had ascended the Missouri River as far as Fort Benton. The initial attempt was regarded as a hazardous and well-nigh impossible [484] Namesakes of the Ojibway undertaking. Both boats carried a heavy cargo of freight. Low water and the dangers of navigation induced the captain of the Chippewa to throw up his contract at Fort Union and sell his boat to the Fur Company for little more than the value of the contract. The entire cargo of the Spread Eagle was then transferred to the Chippewa. Panting under her heavy load the C/oippeiva continued upstream, reaching Brule Bottom within fifteen miles of Fort Benton on July 17, 1859. Here a rapidly falling river forced her to discharge her cargo and hasten downstream. "This noteworthy event", Captain Hiram W. Chittenden declares, "must be classed as one of the celebrated feats in steamboat navigation. The Chippewa had reached a point further from the sea by a continuous water course than any other boat had ever been. She was now 3560 miles from, and 2565 feet above, the ocean, and the whole dis- tance had been made by steam on a river unimproved by artificial works." On July 2, 1860, the steamboats Chippewa and Key West made the whole trip to Fort Benton and tied fast to the bank. The following year, as the Chippetva was again churning up the turgid Missouri, misfortune suddenly overtook her. Members of the crew were enjoying their evening meal when the boat was discovered to be on fire. She was run ashore and then set adrift to avoid the danger of the explosion of gunpowder in her hold. The crippled Chippewa had floated downstream about a mile when the explosion occurred, blowing the boat to pieces and hurling fragments great distances. The fire was accidentally caused [485] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi by deck hands who had gone into the hold to steal liquor. The voyages of the second Chippetua were enacted on a stage whose boundaries were circumscribed by the Alle- ghenies in the East, the Falls of St. Anthony in the North, and the Rockies in the West. Powerful indeed were the Chippewa Indians and far flung the Valley to which they gave a name. No less dramatic were the exploits of the steamboats which carried an advancing civilization to the wilderness on such craft as the diminutive Chip- pewa:'' [486] IMotes ancl iveierences ^ Hodge's Handbook of American Indians (Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 30), Pt. 1, pp. 277-281. ^ The first part of the name, missi, means great, being akin to the modern Chippewa word, Kitchi, and the Gitche of the poet Longfellow. The second part, sippi, otherwise spelled sipi, or sebe, or zlbi, is the common Algonquian or Ojibway word for river. — Upham's Minne- sota Geographic Names in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. XVII, pp. 4-6; Shankle's State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers, and other Syynbols, p. 76. ^ Upham's Minnesota Geographic Names in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. XVII, pp. 4-6; Paullin's Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, Plates 23 -A, 23-B, and 24; Brower's Itasca State Park in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. XI, pp. 273, 274. * Schoolcraft's Narrative of an Expedition throv.gh the Upper Mississippi to Itasca Lake, in 1832 (New York, 1834), pp. iii, 7-14; Brower's The Mississippi River and its Source in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VII, pp. 142-151; Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. XVI, pp. 456, 457; Coues' The Expeditions of Zebulon Mont- gomery Pike, Vol. I, pp. 149-151. For an account of the expedition of 1820 see Schoolcraft's Narrative Journal of Travels . . . to the Sources of the Mississippi River in the Year 1820 (Albany, 1821). ^ Schoolcraft's Narrative of an Expedition through the Upper Missis- sippi to Itasca Lake, in 1832, pp. iv, v, 15-62. ® Nicollet's Report Intended to Illustrate A Map of the Hydrogra- phical Basin of the Upper Mississippi River in Senate Documents, 26th Congress 2nd Session, Document 237, pp. 51-59; Baker's The Sources of the Mississippi in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VI, p. 5. [487] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^ Brower's Itasca State Park in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. XI, pp. 252-278; Upham's Minnesota Geographic Names in Minne- sota Historical Collections, Vol. XVII, pp. 126-134, 252, 253; Gale's The Legend of Lake Itasca and Hart's The Origin and Meaning of the Name "Itasca" in Minnesota History, Vol. XII, pp. 215-229; Blegen's That Name "Itasca" in Minnesota History, Vol. XIII, pp. 163-174. * Van Koughnet's The State Historical Convention of 1932 in Min- nesota History, Vol. XIII, pp. 277 -29 A. ^ Blegen's That Name "Itasca" in Minjtesota History, Vol. XIII, pp. 172-174. ^^The Galenian, August 22, 1832. See also the edited letter quoted in Niles' Register, Vol. XLIII, p. 227. A file of The Galenian is in the library of the Chicago Historical Society. ^^ Brower's Itasca State Park in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. XI, pp. 94-99. The distances on the Mississippi, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the Light List Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and Tributaries, 1936. ^^ Thomas's Basic Factors in Flood Frequency in the Lower Missis- sippi River and Williams's The Geography of the Mississippi Valley in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. CXXXV, pp. 1-11. ^^ "Williams's The Geography of the Mississippi Valley in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. CXXXV, pp. 7-11; Editor's Table in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. XXVI, pp. 413-418 (February 1863); World Atlas, 1933, p. 31. ^* Bourne's Spain in America (The American Nation Series, Vol. Ill), pp. 162-167. ^^ Kellogg's Early Narratives of the Northwest 16} 4-1 691 in Orig- inal Narratives of Early American History, pp. 12, 15, 16. ^^^ Kellogg's Early Narratives of the Northwest 1634-1691, p. 132; Voyages of Peter Esprit Radisson, edited by Gideon D. Scull, pp. 167, 168. [488] Notes and References "Thwaites's The Jesuit Relations, Vol. LIX, pp. 87-163. ^® Parish's Michel Aco — ^quaw-l/ian in The Palimpsest, Vol. II, pp. 161-177. ^^ Petersen's Perrot's Mines in The Palimpsest, Vol. XII, pp. 405-413. ^° Briggs's Two Connecticut Yankees in The Palimpsest, Vol. VII, pp. 15-29; Petersen's Historical Setting of the Mound Region in North- eastern Iowa in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. XXXI, pp. 57-6}; Upham's Minnesota Geographic Navies in Minnesota His- torical Collections, Vol. XVII, pp. 80-85, 443, 444; Carver's Travels Through the Interior Parts of North American, in the Years 1766, 1767, and 1768. ^^ Journal of Peter Pond in the Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XVIII, pp. 314-3 54. . _ ^^ Wilson's Tesson's Apple Orchard in The Palimpsest, Vol. IV, pp. 121-131; Petersen's Julien Dubuque in The Palimpsest, Vol. XII, pp. 421-433; Quigley's The Giard Tract in The Palimpsest, Vol. XII, pp. 1-6. ^^ Thwaites's Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Vol. I, pp. xxx-xxxvii, 16; Mott's The Lewis and Clark Expedition in its Relation to Iowa History and Geography in the Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. XIII, pp. 99-125, 163-192; Coues' The Expedi- tions of Zehulon Montgomery Pike, Vol. I, pp. viii, ix, 1, 2. ^* Coues' The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, Vol. I, pp. 149-151, 213-215; Thwaites's Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Vol. IV, pp. 337-340. " SutcHflfe's Robert Fulton, pp. 138-141; Thijrston's Robert Fulton, p. 130. ^® Thurston's Robert Fulton, pp. 126, 129; Preble's A Chronological History of the Origin and Development of Steam Navigation, pp, 52- 54, 57. Descriptions and measurements of the Clermont vary because changes were frequently made. [489] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi "SutclifFe's Robert Fulton, pp. 143, 144, 146, 147. ^* Dunbar's A History of Travel in America, Vol. II, pp. 344, 345; Preble's History of Steam Navigation, pp. 53-58; Sutcliffe's Robert Fulton, pp. 142-152. ^^ Fulton had known Barlow for many years. The same year the Clerm^ont was built Barlow published The Columbiad and dedicated it to Fulton who had made twelve illustrations for the book. ^°Colden's The Life of Robert Fulton, pp. 175, 176. ^^ Naval Cfyronicle, Vol. XIX, p. 188 (1808), quoted in Dickin- son's Robert Fulton Engineer and Artist, pp. 219-221. The letter is supposed to have been written by the Dean of Ripon Cathedral, an English guest aboard the boat. ^2 Sutcliflfe's Robert Fulton, pp. 136, 137, 146, 147, 149, 152. ^^ Preble's History of Steam Navigation, p. 52; Dictionary of Amer- ican Biography, Vol. XI, p. 324. ^* Sutchffe's Robert Fulton, p. 144; The New International Ency- clopedia (1920), Vol. XXI, p. 480. The entrance of the British steamers Sirius and Great Western into the North Atlantic trade in 1838 is usually regarded as the beginning of practical steam service. For an interesting account see Cartwright's The Tale of our Merchant Ships, pp. 165-182. 2^ Jefferson's Works, Vol. IV, p. 431. ^® Petersen's Iowa in Louisiana in The Palimpsest, Vol. XIII, p. 3 3 . ^^ Cist's Cincinnati in 1851, p. 45; Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. I, p. 309. ^^ Dunbar's A History of Travel in America, Vol. II, pp. 386-389; Paullin's Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, Plates 61-G, 76-D. ^^ Sutcliffe's Robert Fulton, pp. 174-176. On the Upper Mississippi, Benjamin Howard was Governor of Louisiana Territory and Ninian Edwards served in a similar capacity for Illinois Territory. [490] Notes and References *" Martin's The History of Louisiana, pp. 349, 3 54. *^ Dunbar's A History of Travel in America, Vol. I, pp. 275-289. *- Gould's Fifty Years on the Mississippi, pp. 5 32-543. *^ Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. XVI, pp. 133, 134, Vol. XVII, pp. 614-616; TurnbuU's John Stevens, pp. 13 3-138; Latrobe's A Lost Chapter in the History of the Steamboat, pp. 15-23, 32, 33; Latrobe's The First Steamboat Voyage on the Western Waters, pp. 5-7. The Latrobe references appear in the Fund Publications of the Maryland Historical Society, Nos. 5 and 6. ** Cramer's The Navigator (Seventh Edition), pp. 33-40; Dunbar's A History of Travel in America, Vol. I, pp. 268-270, 290-292. Michaux's Travels to the Westward of the Allegheny Motintains . . . in the Year 1802, pp. 29-34, contains an excellent description of Pitts- burgh as an entrepot and shipbuilding center. Thanks are due Dr. Leland D. Baldwin of the University of Pittsburgh for his many help- ful suggestions and criticisms on keelboats and flatboats. See his Ship- building on the Western Waters, 1793-1817, in The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. XX, pp. 29-44. *^ Dunbar's A History of Travel in America, Vol. I, pp. 280, 281; Hulbert's Historic Highnvays of America, Vol. IX, pp. 102-106. ■"^ Hulbert's Historic Highways of America, Vol. IX, pp. 113-128, 161; Dvmbar's A History of Travel in America, Vol. I, pp. 272, 284- 286. ^'' "Wilkeson's Recollections of the West and the First Building of Buffalo Harbor in the Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society, Vol. V, pp. 178-181; Hulbert's Historic Highways of America, Vol. IX, pp. 107-112; Dunbar's A History of Travel in America, Vol. I, pp. 281, 282. Mohawk and Schenectady boats were still other forms of keelboats. *^ Latrobe's The First Steamboat Voyage on the Western Waters, pp. 7-9, 14. [491] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^"NHes' Register, Vol. I, p. 10. °" Rothert's The Outlaws of Cave-in-Kock, p. 13; Latrobe's The First Steamboat Voyage on the Western Waters, pp. 8-11. ^^ Blair and Maine's Mike Fink: King of Mississippi Keelboatmen, pp. 105, 106. ^^ Blair and Meine's Mike Fink, p. 56. ^^ Latrobe's The First Steamboat Voyage on the Western Waters, pp. 7, 8. ^* Hulbert's The Romance of American Rivers in National Water- ways, Vol. VI, p. 24. In addition to Livingston, Fulton, and Roosevelt, the names of Daniel D. Tompkins and De "Witt Clinton appear among the incorporators. °^ Latrobe's The First Steamboat Voyage on the Western Waters, pp. 9-14. The remainder of this chapter, unless otherwise noted, is based on this same source, pp. 14-32. Some confusion exists concerning the name, measurements, and general construction of the boat. The writer is indebted to Dr. E. Douglas Branch of the University of Pitts- burgh for source material generously placed at his disposal. °^ Cramer's The Navigator (Seventh Edition), pp. 31, 32. Cramer gives the measurement at 138 feet keel and from 300 to 400 tons burden. The Pittsburgh Gazette, October 18, 1811, gives the measure- ments "150 feet keel, 450 tons burthen." Melish's Travels through the United States (1816) says the boat was 148^ feet by 32j beam by 12 feet hold. ^''Louisiana Gazette and Advertiser (New Orleans), February 12, 1812. A good brief account of the voyage is in Charles J. Latrobe's The Rambler in North America (London, 1835), Vol. I, pp. 104-109. ^^ Hulbert's The Romance of American Rivers in National Water- ways, Vol. VI, p. 24. ^'■'Louisville Chronicle, November 15, 1811, quoted in Niles' Regis- ter, Vol. I, p. 272. [492] Notes and References ^'^ Niles' Register, Vol. I, p. 272. ®^ Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany, February, 1845; reminiscence of P. S. Bush, quoted by Hulbert in National Waterways, Vol. VI, p. 24. ^^ Sampson's The New Madrid and other Earthquakes in Missouri in the Proceedings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, Vol. VI, pp. 218-238. *^^ Bradbury's Travels in the Interior of America in Thwaites's Early Western Travels, Vol. V, pp. 211, 212. '^* Louisiana Gazette and Advertiser (New Orleans), January 13, 1812; Martin's The History of Louisiana, p. 354. The entry in the New Orleans wharf register is January 12th, and Bradbury puts the date as January 13 th. ^^ Pittsburgh Mercury, August 24, 1814; Flugel's Pages fram a Voyage down the Mississippi to New Orleans in 1817 in the Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Vol. VII, pp. 433, 434. ^® Hulbert's A Centennial of Western Steamboat Navigation in the Proceedings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, Vol. IV, pp. 61, 62. ®^ Cist's Cincinnati in 1851, p. 45; PauUin's Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, Plate 61-G; The World Almaitac, 1936, p. 240. ®^ Pf afiF's Henry Miller Shreve : A Biography in The Louisiana His- torical Quarterly, Vol. X, pp. 194-198. *" Lloyd's Steamboat Directory, pp. 41-44; Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, pp. 1094-1096; Pfaflf's Henry Miller Shreve: A Biography in The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Vol. X, pp. 198-202, 215-218. '°Niles' Register, Vol. VIII, pp. 320, 404; Pfaflf's Henry Miller Shreve: A Biography in The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Vol. X, pp. 212-219. ^' Niles' Register, Vol. X, pp. 348, 349; Lloyd's Steamboat Direc- [493] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi tory, pp. 44, 45; Pfaff's Henry Miller Sirreve: A Biography in The Louisiana Historical Otiarterly, Vol. X, pp. 203, 212-219. ^^ Hardin's An Outline of Shreveport and Caddo "Parish History in The Louisiana Historical Qtiarterly, Vol. XVIII, pp. 822-829; Pfaff's Henry Miller Shreve: A Biography in The Louisiana Historical Quar- terly, Vol. X, pp. 217-220; Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheaton 1. '^^ Lloyd's Steamboat Directory, pp. 44, 45; Pfaff's Henry Miller Shreve: A Biography in The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Vol. X, pp. 206, 212-214, 220-234; Gould's Fifty Years on the Mississippi, pp. Ill, 112. ''* Lionberger's The Annals of St. Louis, pp. 5-10; Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. I, pp. 902, 903; Robeson's Manuel Lisa in The Pali-mpsest, Vol. VI, pp. 1-13; Shoemaker's Herculanetcm Shot Tower in The Missouri Historical Review, Vol. XX, pp. 214-216. ''Niles' Register, Vol. XXXVIII, p. 97; Paullin's Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, Plate 76-E. ''^Missouri Gazette (St. Louis), July 14, August 2, 1817, quoted in Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, p. 1096; Peck's Annals of the West, p. 761. " Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, pp. 1096, 1097. A list of the first fifty-one boats built and. documented on western waters, with the tonnage and the place and date of building of each, was furnished to Captain Fred A. Bill of St. Paul by the United States Department of Commerce, in 1923. It was published in the Burlington Post, May 12, 1923. ^® De Bow's Review, quoted in Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, pp. 1097-1099, 1109; Niles' Register, Vol. XXV, pp. 94, 95, Vol. XXXIII, p. 181, Vol. XXXVIII, p. 97; Birkbeck's Notes on a fonrney in America, p. 174. " Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, pp. 1097-1100. ^^ Missouri Gazette (St. Louis), May 19, 1819, quoted in Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, p. 1100. [494] Notes and References ®^ Bryan's Daniel Boone in The Missouri Historical Review, Vol. Ill, pp. 89-98. *^ Rader's The Location of the Permanent Seat of Government and Thomas's Missouri Valley Settlements — St. Louis to htdependence in The Missouri Historical Review, Vol. XXI, pp. 9-40; Paullin's Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, Plate 76'-E. See James's Account of an Expedition from 'Pittsburgh to the Rocky Moun- tains, performed in the Years IS 19, IS 20 . . . under the command of Ma']. S. H. Long, in Thwaites's Early Western Travels, Vol. XIV, p. 146. Information was also kindly furnished by Floyd C. Shoemaker, Secretary of the State Historical Society of Missouri. ^^ Missouri Intelligencer (St. Louis), May 21, 28, June 4, 1819, quoted in The Missouri Historical Review, Vol. I, pp. 309, 310; Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, p. 1100; Peck's Annals of the West, p. 777. ^* American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. II, pp. 68, 69, 324, 325; contract for transportation made by James Johnson with Brig- adier General Thomas S. Jesup in December, 1819 — a manuscript in possession of the Minnesota Historical Society; "Wesley's 'Diary of ] am.es Kennerly 1S23-1S26 in Missouri Historical Society Collections, Vol. VI, pp. 41-44. See also Documents in Relation to the Claim of James John- son for Transportation on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers printed in House Executive Documents, 16th Congress, 2nd Session, Document 110 (Serial No. 55). ^^ Pitts her gh Gazette, March 30, 1819. For an account of the first steamboats built and operated on the Allegheny River see Kussart's The First Steamboats on the Allegheny River in The Waterways Jottrnal (St. Louis), Vol. XLI (December 22, 1928), p. 6; Niles' Register, Vol. XVI, p. 368; Flint's Letters from America in Thwaites's Early Western Travels, Vol. IX, pp. 164, 16 5; James's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the Years IS 19, 1S20 . . . under the cammand of Maj. S. H. Long, in Thwaites's Early Western Travels, Vol. XIV, pp. 39-108. [495] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ®^ Flint's Letters from America in Thwaites's Early Western Travels, Vol. IX, pp. 164, 165; James's Account of an Expedition from Pitts- burgh to the Rocky Mountains in Thwaites's Early Western Travels, Vol. XIV, pp. 108-221; Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, pp. 1100, 1101. ^^ American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. II, pp. 68, 69, 324, 325. ^® James's Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains in Thwaites's Early Western Travels, Vol. XV, pp. 188-190, Vol. XVII, p. 97. ®^ Forsyth's Fort Snelling : Col. Leavenworth's Expedition to Estab- lish It, in 1819, in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. Ill, p. 140. A manuscript copy of the Johnson contract is in the possession of the Minnesota Historical Society. ^° Report of S. H. Long to John C. Calhoun, dated January 20, 1821, in Thwaites's Early Western Travels, Vol. XVII, pp. 117-119. ^^ Porter's Journal of Stephen Watts Kearny in Missouri Historical Society Collections, Vol. Ill, pp. 127-129. For an account of this journey see Petersen's Trailmaking on the Frontier in The Palimpsest, Vol. XII, pp. 298-314. ®^ This chapter was read on June 13, 1928, at the Fort Ripley session of the Seventh State Historical Convention under the auspices of the Minnesota Historical Society. It appeared in Minnesota History, Vol. IX, pp. 347-362. It was revised and enlarged to its present form and published in The Palimpsest, Vol. XIII, pp. 297-317. ®^ Beltrami's A Pilgrimage in Europe and America, Vol. II, pp. 126- 128. The remainder of this article, unless otherwise noted, is based on Beltrami's description, pp. 126-200. ^*Niles' Register, Vol. XXV, pp. 94, 95; Burlington Post, May 12, 1923. Further information concerning the Virginia's measurements and owners was obtained from Permanent Enrolment No. 92, Decem- ber 21, 1822, Collector of Customs OflSce at New Orleans. [496] Notes and References '" Hill's Constantine Beltrami in Minnesota Historical Collections^ Vol. II, p. 191. ^ Meeker's Early History of the Lead Region in Wisconsin in Wis- consin Historical Collections, Vol. VI, p. 277. *^ Wilkie's Davenport Fast and Present, p. 157. ®^ Keating's Narrative of an Expedition to the Sources of the St. Peter's River (London, 1825), Vol. I, p. 285. ^^ Beltrami's A Pilgrimage in Europe and America, Vol. II, pp. 198- 200. ^^^ Army and Navy Chronicle (New Series), Vols. II and III, p. 104, quoted from the Allegemeine Zeitung. ^°^ Blakeley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Commerce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, p. 385. ^°^ Bishop's Floral Home; or, First Years of Minnesota, pp. 60, 61. ^°^ Blakeley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Commerce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 3 8 5, 3 86. ^°* Baird's Indian Customs and Early Recollections in Wisconsin His- torical Collections, Vol. IX, pp. 323-326. For relation of this incident to lead mining see Petersen's Regulating the Lead Miners in The Palimp- sest, Vol. XVII, pp. 18 5-187. ^°^ Lindley's William Clark — The Indian Agent in the Proceedings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, Vol. II, pp. 63-75. ^°'^ Miner's Journal (Galena), July 3, 24, 31, 1830; Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, Vol. II (Treaties), pp. 305-310; Mahan's Old Fort Crawford and the Frontier, pp. 152-15 5; Book of Accounts for expenditures for emigrating Indians . . . from 1828 to 1856, St. Louis Superintendency, p. 74, in the Clark Manuscripts, Kansas Historical Society Library, Topeka, Kansas. [497] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^"^ For example, treaties were negotiated at Fort Crawford in 1825, 1829, and 1830, and at Fort Armstrong in 1822, 1832, and 1836. — Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, Vol. II (Treaties), pp. 202, 250-255, 297-303, 305, 345, 349, 474, 476, 546, 588, 591. ^°*Atwater's Western Antiquities, pp. 171, 224-234; Missouri Ke- publican (St. Louis), July 14, 1829. ^°^ Atwater's Western Antiquities, pp. 237-239. ^'° Miner's Journal (Galena), October 10, 1829, February 20, 1830; Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, Vol. II (Treaties) , pp. 297- 303; Atwater's Western Antiquities, pp. lAX-lAl; Missouri Republican (St. Louis), August 25, 1829. '^'^'^ Iowa News (Dubuque), July 1, 15, 22, August 5, 12, 1837; Neill's Occurrences in and around Fort Snelling, From 1819 to 1840, in Minn-esota Historical Collections, Vol. II, pp. 132-13 5; Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, Vol. II (Treaties), p. 491. ^^- Galena Daily Advertiser, July 9, 11, 29, August 2, 13, 1851; Hughes's The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851 in Minnesota His- torical Collections, Vol. X, Pt. I, p. 103; Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laivs and Treaties, Vol. II (Treaties), p. 588; Hughes's Old Traverse des Sioux, pp. 5 5-7 3. The material in the Hughes volume is from the original notes of James Goodhue written for the Minnesota Pioneer. ^^^ An excellent description of the sufferings of the Sioux is given by Chief Walking Thunder in Hughes's Old Traverse des Sioux, pp. 47, 48. ^^* Indian Office Files, Letters Received, 1824 (manuscript in Pen- sion Building, Washington) . ^^° Neill's Occurrences in and around Fort Snelling, From 1819 to 1840, in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. II, p. 109. ^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), June 7, 1831. ^^^ Life of Black Hawk (published by the State Historical Society of Iowa, 1932), pp. 137, 138. [498] Notes and References ^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), September 11, 1832. ^^« Stevens's T/x Black Hawk War, pp. 259-267; Life of Black Hawk, pp. 140, 141. ^^° Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, August 26, 1837; Iowa News (Dubuque), August 26, 1837; Neill's Occurrences in and around Fort Snelling, From 1819 to 1840, in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. II, pp. 132, 133; Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, Vol. II (Treaties), pp. 493, 494. ^''^Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, November 11, 1837. ^^' From a manuscript receipt, dated November 10, 1837, in j>osses- sion of the Minnesota Historical Society. ^^^ Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, Vol. II (Treaties), pp. 495, 498; Petersen's The Second Purchase in The Palimpsest, Vol. XVIII, pp. 88-97. ^2*Folsom's Fifty Years in the Northwest, pp. 92, 98; Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, Vol. II (Treaties), pp. 491-493; Burlington Post, February 16, 1918. ^'^^ Taliaferro Joicrnal, No. II, May 28, 29, 1821 (Manuscript in possession of the Minnesota Historical Society) . For the year ending June 30, 1821, the Sioux and Chippewa received $2,227.74 in presents. These consisted of tobacco, powder, bar lead, Chinese vermilion, verdi- gris, gun flints, shot guns, blankets, blue and red strcudings, Selempores calico, thread, needles, brass kettles, garden hoes, fine combs, box wood fire steels, scissors, butcher knives, looking glasses, gartering, ribbon, finger rings, Madras handkerchiefs, shirts, arm bands, wrist bands, and other trinkets. Sec also Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, Vol. II (Treaties), pp. 202, 207, 208, 250, et seq. ^^^ Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, Vol. II (Treaties), pp. 207, 208, 209, 301, 346, 349, 492. Indian treaties usually provided for land cessions. The Sioux treaty of 18 51 stipulated that the upper and lower bands should receive a total of $3,075,000. The upper bands [499] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi were to receive $1,665,000 to be paid as follows: money for agricul- tural purposes, $30,000; $1,360,000 to be held in trust by the govern- ment and five per cent interest paid the Indians annually for a period of fifty years commencing on July 1, 18 52. This interest amounted to $68,000 a year and was applied as follows: agriculture, $12,000; educa- tion, $6,000; goods and provisions, $10,000; money, $40,000. The lower tribes were to receive $1,410,000 which was divided in much the same way as that of the upper tribes. — Hughes's Old Traverse des Sioux, pp. 175-177; Hughes's The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851 in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol, X, Pt. 1, pp. 112-115. ^-'^ Atwater's Western Antiquities, p. 220. ^^^ Iowa Sun and Davenport and Rock Island News, November 13, 1839. ^^^ Senate Documents, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242. p. 3 (Serial No. 434). ^^""The Minnesotian (St. Paul), November 20, 1852. '" The Minnesotian (St. Paul), April 2, 1853. ^^^ The Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), April 30, 1857. ^^^ Bell's Early Steamboating on the Minnesota and Red Rivers in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. X, Pt. 1, pp. 92, 93. ^^*The Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), April 30, May 6, 26, 1857. ^^^Niles' Register, Vol. XLIII, pp. 210, 226, 267; Army and Navy Chronicle (New Series) , Vol. II & III, p. 70. 136 ^Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, May 2 3 , June 7, 9, 29, July 4, 12, August 1, 1848; Weekly NortJnuestern Gazette (Galena), October 5, 1849; Blakeley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Commerce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 382-386. 13T "Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, July 12, 1848. [500] Notes and References ^^^ Weekly Northwestern Gazette (Galena), October 5, 1849, May 14, June 4, 18 50. In defense of Governor Ramsey and Henry W. Rice it was pointed out that only those Indians were to be transported "who never have been removed, or who after having been removed have returned with the design of not going back to their new country." ^^^ The writer interviewed Captain John Killeen of Dubuque, Iowa, for the incidents relating to the removal of the Sioux on the Flora in 1862. Captain Killeen was then mate on the Flora. See also the Burling- ton Post, April 17, 1915. ^*°Anmial Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1866, pp. 46, 47, 212, 213. "' St. Paul Press, quoted in The Weekly Gate City (Keokuk), May 27, 1863. "2 The Weekly Gate City (Keokuk), June 3, 1863. ■'*^ A paper read at the annual meeting of the Mississippi Valley His- torical Association at Lincoln, Nebraska, April 28, 1932. The bulk of this chapter, together with most of Chapter 19, was published in Minnesota History, Vol. XIII, pp. 221-243. ^** Beltrami's A Pilgrimage in Europe and America, Vol. II, p. 127; Niles' Register, Vol. XXIII, p. 53. ^*' Letter from Thomas Forsyth to John C. Calhoun, October 11, 1824, and to William Clark, December 13, 1824, in Thwaites's The Fur-Trade in Wisconsin, 1812-1825, in Wisconsin Historical Collec- tions, Vol. XX, pp. 3 56-3 58, 363-365. ^*° Letter from Taliaferro to Colonel Josiah Snelling, February 8, 1826, in Taliaferro Letter Book, A. These letter books are in the posses- sion of the Minnesota Historical Society. ^^ Beltrami's A Pilgrimage in Europe and America, Vol. II, pp. 127- 137, 149-195; Atwater's Western Antiquities, pp. 210-240; Bremer's The Homes of the New World, Vol. II, pp. 3-84; Marryat's A Diary in America, pp. 110-126. [501] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^** Thwaites's The Fur-Trade in Wisconsin, 1812-1825, in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XX, p. 304. In 1936 the Dousman home was reconstructed into its old French style and presented to the city of Prairie du Chien with the restored title "Villa Louis". ^^^ Williams's Henry Hastings Sibley: A Memoir in Minnesota His- torical Collections, Vol. VI, pp. 262-267. ^^° Neill's Occurrences in and around Fort Snelling, from 1819 to 1840, in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. II, p. 110; Taliaferro Journal, March 31, 1826. Captain Bates received $107.50 from Indian Agent Lawrence Taliaferro for each trip in 1825. In addition Talia- ferro paid him ^75 for 150 lbs. of lead and $82 for 1 barrel of whiskey, 4 barrels of flour, and 2 barrels of pork. See Book of Accounts of Law- rence Taliaferro, No. 23, September 30, 1822, to September 30, 1834, pp. 7, 8, 13. The Taliaferro manuscripts are in the possession of the Minnesota Historical Society. The boat, which was built in 1822 by Caleb Beston at Marietta, Ohio, for the firm of Green and Dodge, was a side-wheeler of 103 tong with high pressure engines. It ran on the Muskingum River for a year or two and was the first boat to ascend that stream to Zanesville, Ohio. Captain Bates bought it in the spring of 182 5 and ran it in the Upper Mississippi trade until 1826, when it was snagged near Port Chicot. — Burlington Post, July 20, 1918; Hall's The West: Its Com- merce and Navigation, p. 160. ^^^ Atwater's Western Antiquities, p. 219. ^^^ Letters from Dousman to Crooks, October 22, 1835, July 21, 183 8, in American Fur Company Papers; some bills of lading in the possession of the writer. The American Fur Company Papers are in the possession of the New York Historical Society; the Minnesota Histori- cal Society has photostatic copies of all letters cited in this book. ^^^ An invoice of merchandise shipped by the American Fur Com- pany on the steamboat Belleview to Sibley "for acct. and Risk of Sioux," is in the Sibley Papers for 1836. These papers are in the posses- sion of the Minnesota Historical Society. [502] Notes and References ^^* List of charges on goods imported from England in 183 5, in the Sibley Papers. ■^°' An analysis of some bills of lading in the possession of the writer and bills of lading owned by Captain Fred A. Bill of St. Paul warrants this conclusion. ^^* An invoice of goods shipped by the steamboat Warrior bound for St. Peter's and consigned to Sibley for account of the Sioux Outfit, in the Sibley Papers, 183 5. ^'''' Taliaferro Journal, March 31, April 6, 14, 15, 17, 21, 26, May 2, 1826. ^^* A list of captains and steamboats between 1823 and 1860 has been compiled by the writer from the St. Paul, Winona, McGregor, Galena, Dubuque, Davenport, Muscatine, Burlington, Keokuk, and St. Louis newspapers. Blakeley gives a fairly complete list of boats and captains for the period from 1836 to the Civil War in Minnesota His- torical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 375-412. ^^^ Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), November 18, 18 58; letter from Dousman to Sibley, June 29, 1840, in the Sibley Papers; Fonda's Early Reminiscences of Wisconsin in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. V, p. 240. ^®° Riggs's Mary and I: Forty Years with the Siotix, pp. 32-37. ^^^ Weekly Northwestern Gazette (Galena), June 4, 1850. A file of this paper is in the Galena Gazette office at Galena, Illinois. See Petersen's Captain Joseph Throckmorton in The Palimpsest, Vol. X, pp. 129-144; Petersen's Captain Daniel Smith Harris in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 505-542. ^^^ Letter from Dousman to Sibley, November 20, 183 8, in the Sibley Papers. ^^' The official records of these boats are found in the following manuscripts: Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Pitts- burgh, Vol. Ill, 183 5-18 39. The Ariel was 12 5 feet long, with a 17^- [503] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi foot beam and a 4i-f oot hold, and measured only 9 5 tons — Enrolment 24, March 13, 1837. The Burlington was 150 feet long, had a 23i-foot beam, a 6-foot hold, and a double rudder stern, and measured 200 tons — Enrolment 54, May 27, 1837. The Malia was 140 feet long, had a 22-foot beam, was 5 feet deep, and measured 114 tons — Enrol- ment 73, April 30, 1839, Every new boat had to be oflScially enrolled before it was allowed to proceed on a trip. A change of ownership or construction required a boat's reenroUment. The docimient on which the record was spread was designated "Enrolment, in conformity to an Act of the Congress of the United States of America, entitled 'An Act for enrolling and licensing ships or vessels, to be employed in the Coasting Trade and Fisheries, and for regulating same'." The captain usually enrolled his boat and was required to swear that he and the owners were citizens of the United States. A description of the boat and her measurements also was given. 164 fjjg records of the boats noted are as follows : The Chippewa, Enrolment 40, March 10, 1840, in Enrolment of Vessels, Vol. V, 1839-1841; the Cecilia, Enrolment 32, October 26, 1841, and the General Brooke, Enrolment 81, March 25, 1842, in Vol. VI, 1841-1845, all in the Collector of Customs Office, Pittsburgh. The Lynx, Enrol- ment 40, April 15, 1844; the Nimrod, Enrolment 42, April 22, 1844; and the Cecilia, Enrolment 95, August 8, 1845, in the Collector of Customs Office at St. Louis. The Lynx, Enrolment 25, March 25, 1844, the Cora, Enrolment 101, September 29, 1846, and the Nominee, Enrolment 37, March 14, 18 50, in the Collector of Customs OflSce at Cincinnati. ^®^ "H. L. Dousman amt. Stock subscribed in the Prairie du Chien, Hudson & St. Paul Packet Compy," December 24, 1857, in the Dous- man Papers, in the possession of the Minnesota Historical Society. ^^^ Letter from Dousman to Crooks, December 14, 1839, in the American Fur Company Papers. ^®^ Letter from Dousman to Sibley, May 9, 1845, in the Sibley Papers. [504] Notes and References ^^^ Letter from Dousman to Sibley, March 30, 1845, in the Sibley Papers. ^®° Letter from Dousman to Sibley, April 20, 1838, April 5, 16, 1839, in the Sibley Papers. On April 16, 1839, Dousman wrote: "The Ariel came in last night and is [I] was much disappointed in not recev^. by her our Spring supplies of Provisions, Groceries, &c from S*. Louis. She brot. up only what remained in her all winter at the Rapids — but as I know you were badly off I prevailed on the Capt, [Lyon] to go up by giving him our Chippewa freight which the Pavilion brot up a few days since. I also send Brown, Robinson & Farribaults Goods. You will find with this Memor** & Bill Lading of all I have been able to put on board for you, by the next Boat I shall probably be able to send the bal"^ of your Provisions. The goods from N. York marked S, also those from S'. Louis S&S are on board as you will see by Bill Lading. The Boats which were stopped by the Ice last fall, have had a good deal of their freight pilfered &c Boxes opened & goods taken out — also a good many packages missing — so that you must be very particular in your examination of the two Lots mentioned above, as they have not been landed here and the Capt. tells me that he knows of several articles missing." ^^° Letter from Dousman to Sibley, June 18, 1838, in the Sibley Papers. "I reed, yours pr. Burlington, together with the Packs, Feathers, &c all in good order. The Ariel arrived this morning with the Goods for the Suttler Store and as the freight was not sufficient to justify her going up, they were all Landed & stored here, news has just arrived that 150 recruits are on the way from the Bay for your place, & we have prevailed on the Qr. Master to promise to transpt^ to the Ariel & she now goes up merely to take up your things & be back in time for the Recruits. I have paid the frt. on the Goods from S' Louis to this place at 87^ pr. c say $95.38. Send down in the Ariel all your Packs as we are waiting for them to start the Boats for Fort Winnebago. The Clerk of the Burlington tells me that you told him after closing your Letter that the Flour by that Boat came out correct — there were on board as I wrote to you 3 5 Bbl^ for Sioux O [utfit] & how much for [505] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi S. & S. I know not as I did not see the Bill Lading, the shipment having been made to you direct. The 1 Bbl^ Pork which you mentioned as not being in the Bill Lading belong here & were taken up in the Boat with the understanding that they should be brot back as they were not handy when they went up. I regret they were left as we are in want of them, but I suppose you may as well keep them, they were ordered for Retail here & are what is called clear mess & cost $5 more than the other kind." ^"Letter from S. W. McMaster to Franklin Steele, March 22, 1844, and letter from Dousman to Sibley, March 23, April 12, 1844, in the Sibley Papers. "I give you a Statement of the ranges of prices. Coon 37i to 80 cents Red fox 1°° to 1^° Fisher 2$ to 3 50 & 4 for large size Wolf 37^ to 624 Otter is not so much sought after but is worth (Prime) 5$." Dousman was at the foot of Lake Pepin when news arrived of the invasion of his domain. He wrote to Sibley: "You had better send and secure all the Furs you can in the hands of the Traders en the S* Croix and about your place before the Steam Boats get up as there will be a number of buyers and speculators up & if they can be disappointed this year they will not be apt to return, even if we make nothing on the purchases I think it is a great object to pre- vent the Furs getting in other hands. I would have sent this by express to you but was afraid to creat[e] suspicion and as the mail leaves here in two days you will have time by moving promptly to do all that is to be done before a Steam Boat can get through the Lake. The [Gen- eral] Brooke came to the Prairie on the 12'*^ Inst. & there has no doubt been several other Boats there before this. The Lynx will be at Galena about 10 or 15 April." A few weeks later Dousman wrote: "There is a Fur buyer on board the Otter [Mr. Frost] who buys for Smith Brothers & C° St. Louis, look sharp after him. he appears to be a very Gentlemanly man & offers good prices." '^''^ Some bills of lading scattered through the Sihley Papers; others in the possession of the writer and Captain Fred A. Bill of St. Paul. [506] Notes and References ^"Letter from Dousman to Sibley, November 19, 1845, January 14, April 30, May 24, 1846, in the Sibley Papers. "* Wood's The Red River Colony in the Chronicles of Canada, Vol, XXI, pp. 15-34; Folwell's A History of Minnesota, Vol. I, pp. 213-217. ^'^ Bill's Steamboating on the Red River of the North in the North Dakota Historical Quarterly, Vol. II, pp. 100, 101. ^~^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), September 3, 1823; The Mer- cury (Pittsburgh), October 21, 1823. A file of The Mercury is in the Carnegie Library at Pittsburgh. ^'^ Bloomington (Muscatine) Herald, September 4, 1847. ''^Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), March 26, 18 57; Galena Daily Advertiser, November 22, 1848; Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, July 18, 1848; Weekly Northwestern Gazette (Ga- lena), September 18, 1849. Files of the last three papers are in the office of the Galena Gazette. "■'^The Minnesotian (St. Paul), July 23, 1853. ''^''Minnesota Democrat (St. Paul), July 15, 22, 29, August 12, 18 51; Galena Daily Advertiser, July 22, 25, 1851; Bill's Steamboating on the Red River of the North in the North Dakota Historical Quar- terly, Vol. II, pp. 101-110. ^" The Herald (Dubuque), April 22, May 11, 1866. A file of this paper is in the public library at Dubuque. ^^- The Grant County Herald, quoted in the Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, July 5, 1844; History of Grant County, Wis- consin, p. 476. ^^2 See Wesley's Guarding the Frontier: A Study of Frontier Defense from 7 Si 5-7 «2 5, pp. 118-165; Beers's The Western Military Frontier: 1815-1846, pp. 27-53. ^^* Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, July 5, 1844; Hansen's Old Fort Snelling, pp. 18-30; Mahan's Old Fort Crawford [507] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi and the Frontier, pp. 65-88, 120-139; Tanner's History of Fort Rip- ley, 1S49 to 1859, in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. X, Pt. 1, pp. 179-202; American State Papers, Indian Affairs, Vol. II, p. 265; Van der Zee's Forts in the Iowa Country in The Iowa Journal of His- tory and Politics, Vol. XII, pp. 163-204. ^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), May 24, 1824; Forsyth's Fort Snelling: Col. Leavenworth's Expedition to Establish It, in 1819, in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. Ill, p. 140; Bishop's Floral Home; or, First Years of Minnesota (New York, 18 57), p. 32; Neill's Occurrences in and around Fort Snelling, From 1819 to 1 840, in Minne- sota Historical Collections, Vol. II, pp. 102-116. ^^^ American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. II, p. 69. ^^^ See references in Chapter XI, "The Story of the Western En- gineer". ^** Schoolcraft's Narrative Journal of Travels . . . to the sources of the Mississippi River; Schoolcraft's Narrative of an Expedition through the Upper Mississippi to Itasca Lake, in 1832; Keating's Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of the St. Peter's River (London, 1825); Drumm's Robert E. Lee and the Improvement of the Mississippi River in Missouri Historical Collections, Vol. VI, p. 161; Wilson's The Des Moines Rapids Canal in The Palimpsest, Vol. V, pp. 117-132. ^^^ Dubuque Tribune, quoted in the lou^a Republican (Iowa City) , April 14, 18 52, and reprinted in the Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. XII, p. 345. ^^° Explorations and Surveys for a Railroad Route from the Missis- sippi River to the Pacific Ocean ("Washington, 1860), Vol. XII, Book 1, p. 35. ^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), April 5, 1824, September 27, 1831; St. Louis Enquirer, May 24, 1824; Neill's Occurrences in and around Fort Snelling, From 1819 to 1840, in Minnesota Historical Col- lections, Vol. II, p. 108. ^^- Miner's Journal (Galena), July 3, 1830; Northwestern Gazette [508] Notes and References and Galena Advertiser, May 23, June 7, 9, 29, 1848; Galena Daily Advertiser, July 9, 1851; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1866, pp. 46, 47, 212, 213. An account of the incidents of the trip down the Minnesota River was given the writer by Captain John Killeen of Dubuque. ^^^Miss(mri Republican (St. Louis), July 19, 26, 1827, May 31, 1831; Missouri Observer (St. Louis), September 5, 1827, quoted in Niles' Register, Vol. XXXIII, p. 68. ^""^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), April 10, 17, May 8, 22, 1832. ^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), May 29, 1832. This issue alone carried news dispatches brought by the Caroline, Souvenir, and Winne- bago. ^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), June 5, 1832. ^^'' Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Pittsburgh, Vol. II, 1831-1835. Enrolments 30 and 31, June 2, 1832, reveal the measurements and ownership of the Warrior and her safety barge. The Warrior was owned by Joseph Throckmorton and William Hempstead of Galena. She was 111 feet 5 inches long, with a 19-foot beam and a 5 -foot hold, and measured 100 tons burden. She had one deck and no mast, a transom stern, a cabin above deck for officers and crew, and a figurehead. Power was furnished by a high pressure engine and three boilers. Her safety barge was 111 feet 8 inches long, with a 16-foot beam, and a 4 foot 8 inch hold, and measured 5 5 tons. According to Edward Jones, the Surveyor at Pittsburgh, the safety barge had a square stern, a cabin above deck, and a plain figure. The Warrior was one of the few steamboats to tow a safety barge on the Upper Mis- sissippi. ^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), July 10, 1832; Niles' Register, Vol. XLIII, pp. 5, 12, 13, 51, 78, 79. ^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), May 29, June 5, 26, July 10, August 14, 21, 28, September 11, 1832; Niles' Register, Vol. XLIII, p. 26. [509] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, May 15, 19, 1846, April 6, 1847. ^^^ Northwester n Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 26, July 3, 1846, February 2, April 6, 20, 1847; Bloomington (Muscatine) Herald, June 26, 1846. '°^The Dubuque Herald, January 30, February 7, 1861. """^The Duhiquc Herald, April 27, 1861. 2°* The Dubuque Herald, April 28, June 1, 3, 6, 13, 1861. ^°^ Daily Democrat and News (Davenport), May 4, 1861. ^^^ Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), August 18, 1861. ^°'' Good /me County Republican (Red Wing), November 22, 1861. ^^^Gate City (Keokuk), December 19, 1921. ^'^^ Smith's History of the Seventh Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry During the Civil War, p. 5. ^'^^ Daily Democrat and News (Davenport), April 2, 8, 27, May 1, 2, 3, 1861. ^^'^ Missojiri Republican (St. Louis), March 25, 1861; Des Moines Valley Whig (Keokuk), May 6, 1861; The Dubuque Herald, July 17, 1861; Daily Democrat and News (Davenport), March 30, 1861. ^^^ Briggs's The Enlistment of Iowa Troops During the Civil War in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. XV, pp. 373-375. ^^^Gate City (Keokuk), December 19, 1921. ^^"The Weekly Gate City (Keokuk), April 8, 1863. "5 1'^g Weekly Gate City (Keokuk), March 25, 1863. 2i« Porter's The Naval History of the Civil War, p. 3 52. ^^'' Gate City (Keokuk), December 19, 1921. 2i« Taliaferro Journal, No. II, p. 24. [510] Notes and References ^^^ Taliaferro Journal, No. II, pp. 60-62; S^. Louis Enquirer, May 24, 1824. 2-ojV/7fs' Register, Vol. XXVII, pp. 149, ISO. ^^^ St. Louis Herald, November 8, 1826, quoted in ISliles' Register, Vol. XXXI, p. 226; Missouri Republican (St. Louis), July 19, 26, 1827. ^^^ American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. Ill, pp. 65 5, 656. •^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), April 29, 1828; American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. Ill, pp. 624, 625, Vol. IV, p. 9. ^^* Missouri Republican (St. Louis), May 31, 1837, quoted in the Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 10, 1837. 225 j^ortJrwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, September 3,21, 1839. ^-^Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, April 30, 1842; Gould's Fifty Years on the Mississippi, p. 437. 227 The Dubuqtte Herald, July 24, 1860. ^28 Since the government appears to have usually paid a higher tariff than did ordinary passengers, the round trip fare has been placed some- what above the regular rate. There is a possibility, of course, that the amount might exceed even this sum, particularly if there were any more James Johnsons among steamboat captains with friends in Con- gress. ^-^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), August 6, 1823, August 26, 1824, July 26, 1827; St. Louis Enquirer, October 18, 1824. ^^° Missouri Republican (St. Louis), August 6, 1823. ^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Lcuis), August 9, 1824. 232 Taliaferro Journal, No. Ill, May 17, 26, 27, June 1, 1826. 23^ Bliss's Reminiscences of Fort Snelling in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VI, pp. 33 5-342. [511] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^^* Senate Documents, 27th Congress 1st Session, Document 242, pp. 1, 2 (Serial No. 434). ^^^ Weekly Northwestern Gazette (Galena), May 21, 1850; The Minnesotian (St. Paul), May 21, 18 53; Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul) , August 2, 18 57; Van der Zee's Forts in the Iowa Country in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. XII, pp. 197, 198. 23« The Minnesotian (St. Paul), April 2, 18 53. ^^'^ Thwaites's Notes on Early Lead Mining in the Fever {or Galena) River Region in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XIII, p. 271; Schafer's The Wisconsin Lead Region, pp. 1-20. In 1840, when the aggregate production of lead in the United States was given as 31,240,000 pounds, the Territory of Wisconsin was credited in the census with 15,130,000. At the same time Illinois produced 8,75 5,000 and Missouri 5,295,000 pounds. 238 Petersen's The Mines of Spain in The Palimpsest, Vol. XII, pp. 405-413, 421-433. 239 Petersen's Regulating the Lead Miners in The Palimpsest, Vol. XVII, pp. 185-192; Thwaites's Notes on Early Lead Mining in the Fever {or Galena) River Region in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XIII, pp. 283-289. 2*° Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, Vol. II (Treaties) , pp. 132, 133, 292, 293, 297-302, 349-351; Niles' Register, Vol. XXXVII, p. 19, Vol. XLIV, p. 179; Thwaites's Notes on Early Lead Mining in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XIII, pp. 288-292. ^^"^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, March 12, 1842; Petersen's Regulating the Lead Miners in The Palimpsest, Vol. XVII, pp. 185-200; Thwaites's Notes on Early Lead Mining in Wisconsin His- torical Collections, Vol. XIII, pp. 290-292; Niles' Register, Vol. XXXVII, p. 131, Vol. XLI, p. 340, Vol. LXIII, p. 388. ^*^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, February 26, 1841; Niles' Register, XXXVIII, p. 204; Senate Documents, 28 th Congress, [512] Notes and References 1st Session, Document 242, p. 5; The Merchants' Magazine and Com- mercial Review, Vol. XVIII, p. 292. -■'^ Bowen's American Almanac of Useful Knowledge, p. 134; Lead Book (manuscript volume in the possession of the writer). ^** Bowen's American Almanac of Useful Knowledge, p. 134; Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, February 26, 1841, March 12, 1842; Merchants' Magazine, Vol. XVIII, pp. 103, 28 5-292. ^*^ Galetia Gazette, March 17, 1893; Meeker's Early History of Lead Region of Wisconsin in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. VI, pp. 276-279; Wilkeson's Recollections of the West and the First Building of Buffalo Harbor in Bjiffalo Historical Collections, Vol. V, pp. 176-181; Burlington Post, February 9, 1918. -*^ Beltrami's A Pilgrimage in Europe and America, Vol. II, pp. 60- 197; Galena Gazette, March 17, 1893; Meeker's Early History of Lead Region of Wisconsin in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. VI, pp. 277-279. ^" History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois (1878), pp. 233-242. -*^ The Mandan and the htdiana visited Fever River in 1824; the Rufus Putnam, the Lawrence, and the Gett. Neville were there in 1825; and the Lawrence, the Sciota, the Mexico, and the Eclipse appeared in 1826. The arrivals and departures of steamboats for the Upper Missis- sippi were taken by the writer from the files of the Missouri Republican (St. Louis). "3 History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois (1878) , pp. 227, 228, 246, 251. ^^° Missouri Republican (St. Louis), March 15, April 19, 1827; History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois (1878), p. 247. -^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), April 19, 1827. The boats were seldom advertised for the posts above, but rather for the Fever River lead mines. The Indiana had completed five trips to the lead region before June 30, 1827. [513] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^^^ Scott's Newspapers and Periodicals of Illinois: 1814-1879, pp. 52, 182. This reference incorrectly gives the date of estabhshment of the Miner's Journal as 1826. The writer has worked over all the issues of Vol. I in the possession of the Wisconsin Historical Society at Madi- son. See also History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois (1878), p. 254. The writer is in possession of a photographic copy of Vol. I, No. 1 of the Chicago Democrat dated November 26, 1833. ^'^Niles' Register, Vol. XXXV, p. 120. ^'* From a manuscript in the Connolly Collection in the Minnesota Historical Society Library. The letter, dated March 27, 1828, expressed hope that when the boundary line was drawn for the new Territory of Wisconsin, the lead district would be found within its borders. ^^^ According to a count made by the writer in the Missouri Repub- lican (St. Louis) from June 9 to July 9, 1828, there had been fifteen arrivals from and thirteen departures for the mines. — Niles' Register, Vol. XXXVI, p. 130. ^°® A count of the number of steamboat arrivals and departures was kept while working through the files of the Missouri Republican (St. Louis) . The Galena newspapers also served as a valuable index to the different boats which visited the mines. A list of boats for each year is the result. Chandler's Map of the United States Lead Mines on the Upper Mississippi River (1829), printed in Wisconsin Historical Col- lections, Vol. XI, opposite p. 400, is authority for the arrival of 99 steamboats and 74 keelboats in 1828. ^^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, November 29, December 13, 18 34. The files for these dates give the specific figures, while the estimates are a result of the compilation in the possession of the writer. ^^^ Nor t Invest em Gazette and Galena Advertiser, July 25, Decem- ber 5, 1835. -''"^Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, March 12, 1842. [514] Notes and References ^^° Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, July 1, 1847; Merchants' Magazine, Vol. XX, p, 449. -*^^ Bloomington (Muscatine) Herald, May 8, 1846. A list of arrivals and departures for the months of May and June enabled the writer to reach these conclusions. ^°- These figures are the result of a record kept of the number of different boats together with the total yearly arrivals. The writer has a list of 345 different steamboats as a result of his research in the St. Louis, Galena, Dubuque, Muscatine, and Keokuk newspaper files, but in view of the fact that the papers would doubtless miss some of the boats he has added a score to his own list. It is believed that this is within five per cent of the correct number. ^®^ "List of the First Steamboats Built and Documented on Western Waters", published in the Burlington Post, May 12, 1923, and in the Wabasha County Herald, June 26, 1924. '^^^ Senate Documents, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 8. ^^^ Merchants' Magazine, Vol. XX, p. 448. ^^^ Missouri Kep^iblican (St. Louis), May 4 and 11, 1826, March 4 and July 23, 1828. The departure of steamboats, as well as an occasional keelboat, is chronicled in a Lead Book, 1828-1830, a manuscript volume in the possession of the writer. '^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), February 1, June 7, 1827. '^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), October 25, 1827. ^^^Misso7iri Republican (St. Louis), March 4, 1828. "'^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), May 5, 18 32; Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Pittsburgh, Vol. II, 1831-183 5, Enrolments 30 and 31, June 2, 1832. ^^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, November 2 5, 1842. [515] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^"^-Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, July 21, 1846. ^''^Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, April 21, 1848. -'''^Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, November 16, 1839. -'^ Nortlnvestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 7, 1348. -'° Ellet's Slimmer Rambles in the West, pp. 47, 48. -'''' Petersen's The Illinois Central Comes in The T^alimpsest, Vol. XIV, pp. 3 63-378, and The North Western Comes in The Palimpsest, Vol. XIV, pp. 317-33 3. -'^Express ^ Herald (Dubuque), April 17, 22, May 30, 1858. 2" The Dukiiqiie Herald, July 29, August 25, 1860. -^° Bale's Galena's Century Milestone, pp. 8-19. -^^ Marryat's A Diary in America, Vol. II, pp. 156, 157. ^^^ Burlington Post, I>ecember 29, 1917. -^^ Senate Documents, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 9. -^^ Quoted in Northwesteryt Gazette and Galena Advertiser, May 31, 1844. ^^^ Senate Documents, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 9. 286 ^Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, October 3,10, and 17, 1843. The arguments filled several columns in three successive issues. -^'' Senate Documents, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 9; Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, September 8, 28, October 29, 1839. -^^ Bloomington (Muscatine) Herald, May 4, 1847. ^^^ Bloomington (Muscatine) Herald, July 10, 1846. [516] Notes and References -^^ Senate Donnnenfs, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 9; Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, October 29, 1839. The editor complained of the high prices charged in spite of a fine stage of water. Captains were demanding $2 per 100 pounds upstream and $1 per 100 pounds downstream. ^^'^ Nort/jwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, November 24, 1841. ^^- Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, November 24, 1845. ^^^ American State Papers, Public Lands, Vol. IV, p. 523. ^^* The total is derived from a knowledge of the rate for some of the years and a comparison of averages for the years immediately following 1843, when complete figures are available. 2^° Figures compiled from data, given in Senate Documents, 28 th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, pp. 6-9. 296 Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, April 18, 183 5. "^^'Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, November 16, 1839. -^^ Nortlnvestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, May 5, 1843. ^^^ Figures compiled from data given in Senate Documents, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 8. ^°° Senate Documents, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 8. ^°' Senate Documents, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 8. See also the Iowa Nexus (Dubuque), June 3, 10, 1837, and the Miner's Journal (Galena), June 19, 26, July 3, 24, 1830. ^°- A compilation of steamboats made by the writer for the various years indicated, from the files of the Galena newspapers. S03 ^Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, April 1 6 and May 14, 1844; Gould's Fifty Years on the Mississippi, pp. 536-542. [517] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^°^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, July 9, 1836, October 19, 1840, June 4, 19, and July 3, 1841, May 13, 1845. ^'^^ Nortfnuestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, March 28, April 25, May 30, 1845. ^°^ Nortlnvestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, May 16, 1843; Galena Daily Advertiser, May 18, 1849. 2°^ Niles' Register, Vol. XXIII, p. 96. '^^^ American State Papers, Public Lands, Vol. IV, p. 801; Drumm's Robert E. Lee and the Mississippi in Missouri Historical Society Collec- tions, Vol. VI, p. 161. The fact that surveys were made from time to time is indicative of the fact that the rapids constituted a serious prob- lem. Furthermore, while money was expended lavishly it was not until the completion of the Des Moines Canal (1867-1877) and the Le Claire Canal many years later that the problem was solved. ^°^ Miner's Journal (Galena), quoted in Niles' Register, Vol. XXXVII, pp. 51, 52. "^° Miner's Journal (Galena), quoted in Niles* Register, Vol. XXXVII, pp. 51, 52. ^^^ Libby's Chronicle of the Helena Shot-Tower in Wisconsin His- torical Collections, Vol. XIII, pp. 3 38, 339, et passim. ^^- Milwaukee Cozirier, quoted in Miners' Express (Dubuque), Sep- tember 4, 1841. For a further discussion see the Iowa Standard (Iowa City), January 29, 1841. ®^' Chicago American, quoted in the Norihwesiern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, January 16, 1836. ^'^'^ Wisconsin Herald (Lancaster), September 26, 1846, quoted in Libby's Significance of the Lead and Shot Trade in Early Wisconsin History in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XIII, p. 300. 31S Merchants' Magazine, Vol. XX, p. 449. ^^^ Libby's Significance of the Lead and Shot Trade in Early Wis- [ns] Notes and References consin History in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XIII, p. 313 et passim; Buffalo Advertiser, quoted i:i Niles' Register, Vol. LXVIII, p. 102. ^^'^ A comparison of the amount of lead received both at St. Louis and New Orleans with the total production of the Upper Mississippi warrants this statement. ^^^ Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. Ill, pp. 574, 575. '^^Catlin's North American Indians, Vol. II, pp. 129, 130; Henne- pin's A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America (Chicago, 1903 ) , Vol. I, p. 223. ^-*' Beltrami's A Pilgrimage in Europe and America, Vol. II, pp. 204, 205. 3" Taliaferro Journal, No. Ill, May 2, 1826, p. 8 5. ^^^ Weekly Northwestern Gazette (Galena), June 5, 28, 1850; The Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), May 9, July 1, 1850; B'urlington Post, January 17, 1914. ^-^ The Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), July 1, 18 50; Chicago Daily Tribune, June 16, 18 54. ^-* Murray's Travels in North America During the Years 18)4, 1835, 1836, Vol. II, p. 111. ^^' Bliss's Kemifiiscences of Fort Snelling in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VI, pp. 340, 341. ^-° Neill's Occurrences in and around Port Snelling, From 1819 to 1840, in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. II, pp. 126, 127. ^"CatHn's North American Indians, Vol. II, pp. 132, 13 5, 136. ^-^ Miners' Express (Dubuque), June 25, 1845. Contemporary sources disagree as to the time intervening between the arrival of steam- boats. Catlin declares it was a week in 183 5 while Stephen R. Riggs was told that several weeks separated the departure of boats from St. Louis to Fort Snelling in 1837. An analysis of the files of the North- [519] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi wester 71 Gazette and Galena Advertiser indicates extreme irregularity. Sometimes several craft arrived within the space of a week's time while as often two or three weeks might elapse between boats. ^^ Catlin's North American Indians, Vol. II, pp. 135-145; Neill's Occurrences in and around Fort Snelling, From 1819 to 1840, in Minne- sota Historical Collections, Vol. II, pp. 126, 127. ^^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 11, 18, July 2, 30, August 13, 1836; Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Cus- toms Office, Pittsburgh, Vol. Ill, 183 5, 1839, Enrolment 34, May 3, 1836. 331 Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, May 13, 20, 1837. An item in the issue of May 13 th noted similar advertisements in the Du Buque Visitor and the Belmont (Wisconsin) Gazette. ^^^ Iowa News (Dubuque), August 5, 1837. ^^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 10, 17, 24, September 30, 1837; Iowa News (Dubuque), June 17, 1837; Neill's Occtirrences in and around Fort Snelling, From 1819 to 1840, in Minne- sota Historical Collections, Vol. II, pp. 126, 127; Catlin's North Amer- ican Indians, Vol. II, pp. 129, 130; Marryat's An English Officer's Description of Wisconsin in 1837 in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XIV, pp. 137-154. ^^* Stanchfield's History of Pioneer Lumbering on the Upper Mis- sissippi and its Tributaries in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. IX, pp. 326, 327. 335 "Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, May 29, June 14, 19, 1840; Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Pitts- burgh, Vol. V, 1839-1841, Enrolment 34, February 27, 1840. ^^^ Stanchfield's History of Pioneer Lumbering on the Upper Missis- sippi and its Tributaries in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. IX, pp. 326, 327. ^^^ The writer has excursion advertisements for various years from Keokuk, Bloomington (Muscatine), Galena, and Dubuque newspapers. [520] Notes and References ^^^lowa News (Dubuque), May 19, June 16, 1838. ^^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, May 15, June 2 5, July 2, 13, 1839, May 29, June 5, 1840, June 13, 27, July 1, 3, 8, 1845. ^*° Palmer's Western Wisconsin in 1836 in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. VI, p. 305. ^*^ Rodolf 's Pioneering in the Wisconsin Lead Region in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XV, pp. 339, 340. ^*- Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, April 22, May 13, 1837; Folsom's Fifty Years in the Nortlnvest, p. 689; Burlington Post, September 28, 1918. ^^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, April 22, 1839; Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Cincinnati, Enrol- ment (Temporary), March 27, 1839. ^^* Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, April 7, 183 8, September 2 5, 1841; Burlington Post, January 10, 1914; Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St. Louis, Enrolment 88, August 22, 1844. ^^^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 8, 18 39; Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Pittsburgh, Vol. Ill, 183 5-1839, Enrolment 73, April 30, 1839; Burlington Post, April 21, 1917. ^*^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, October 17, 1845; Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St. Louis, Enrol- ment 12 5, October 16, 1845. ^^^ The Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), May 6, 18 52. ^'^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 13, 1845; Paulding's The Mississippi in Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXII, pp. 219, 220; Rodolf 's Pioneering in the Wisconsin Lead Region in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. XV, p. 340. ^*^ Miners' Express (Dubuque), June 25, 1845. [521] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ""^^ Weekly Northwestern Gazette (Galena), July 24, 1849; The Minnesota Democrat (St. Paul), June 10, July 22, 1851; The Minrie- sotian (St, Paul), June 11, July 23, 18 53; Daily Pioneer and Demo- crat (St. Paul), June 21, July 23, 18 57; Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), August 24, 18 57. ^^^ Blakeley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Commerce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections^ Vol. VIII, pp. 381-3 89. ^^^The Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), July 22, 1852. ^^^The Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), June 3, 18 52; Blakeley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Com- m^erce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 389-393. ^^"^ Burlington Post, August 15, 1914. Merrick follows his descrip- tion of the Die Vernon by a full and interesting account of the race given by Captain John O. Roberts of Clarksville, Missouri. It was originally printed in an issue of the Minneapolis Journal for 1910. The exact measurements of the Die Vernon are taken from Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St, Louis, Enrolment 30, March 13, 1852. ^^^ Burlington Post, August 22, 1914. ^^^The Minnesotian (St. Paul), June 18, 1853; Burlington Post, August 22, 1914. Merrick views the race from the standpoint of an Upper Mississippi steamboatman. — Burlington Post, August 15, 1914. John O. Roberts, on the contrary, leans in his sympathy towards the Die Vernon. ^^'' Burlington Post, August 15, 22, 1914; The Minnesotian (St. Paul), June 18, 25, July 2, 1853. For the exact distance the writer has used the official mileage given in the Light List Upper Mississippi River and Tributaries (Thirteenth District), Washington, 1930. ^^^ Bitrlington Post, August 15, 22, 1914. [522] Notes and References ^^^ Blakcley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Commerce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 393-395. 360 Pqj. 2JJ extended account of the excursion of 18 J4, see Farnam's Memoir of Henry Farnam, pp. 69-89 (New Haven, 1889). See also the New York Semi-Weekly Tribune, June 20, 18 54, and Leonard's A Famous Rock Island Trip in the Rock Island Magazine, Vol. XXII, p. 9. ^°^ Daily Tribune (Chicago), June 1, 18 54; Daily Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), June 9, 18 54; The Minnesotian (St. Paul), June 9, 18 54. ^^-The Minnesotian (St. Paul), June 9, 18 54. ^^^ Daily Tribune (Chicago), June 5, 6, 7, 18 54; New York Tribune, June 9, 13, 1854. ^^^ Daily Tribune (Chicago), June 8, 9, 18 54; New York Tribune, June 13, 18 54. Authorities vary as to the number of additional boats chartered by the Minnesota Packet Company, but most sources indi- cate that one or two were added to the original five. Dana asserts that one was added; Flint notes the Jenny Lind and the Black Warrior, prob- ably the Black Hawk. Miss Sedgwick recorded seven steamboats in the flotilla which left Rock Island. ^"^ Daily Tribune (Chicago) , June 7, 8, 1854; Sedgwick's The Great Excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony in Putnam's Monthly Magazine, Vol. IV, p. 322; The Minnesotian (St. Paul), June 9, 1854. ^^^ Daily Tribune (Chicago), June 8, 18 54. ^^'^ Sedgwick's The Great Excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony in Putnam's Monthly Magazine, Vol. IV, p. 320; New York Tribune, June 20, 18 54. ^°^New York Tribune, June 20, 18 54; Daily Tribune (Chicago), June 8, 18 54. ^^^New York Tribune, June 20, 1854. [523] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^^° Sedgwick's The Great Excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony in Putnam's Monthly Magazine, Vol. IV, p. 323; Bill's When Rock Island Road Reached River, The Famous Excursion Train of 1854, in the Burlington Post, September 23, 1922; Paulding's The Mississippi in Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXII, p. 219. ^^^ Sedgwick's The Great Excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony in Putnam's Monthly Magazine, Vol. IV, p. 323; New York Tribune, June 6, 20, 18 54. ^''^ Sedgwick's The Great Excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony in Putnam's Monthly Magazine, Vol. IV, p. 323; New York Tribune, June 20, 18 54; Daily Tribune (Chicago), June 13, 1854. ^''^ Daily Tribune (Chicago), June 13, 18 54; New York Tribune, June 20, 18 54. ^''■'The Minnesotian (St. Paul), June 9, 18 54. 3" j^ew York Tribune, June 20, 18 54. ^'^^ Galena Jeffersonian, quoted in the Daily Tribune (Chicago), June 16, 18 54; Daily Tribune (Chicago), June 13, 1854. ^'^'' The Minnesotian (St. Paul), June 9, 1854; New York Tribune, June 20, 18 54. ^''^ Minnesota Pioneer, June 10, 19, 30, 1854; Daily Tribune (Chi- cago), June 13, 16, 1854; New York Tribune, June 20, 1854. ^^^ Farnam's Memoir of Henry Farnam, p. 88. ^^° Sedgv/ick's The Great Excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony in Putnam's Monthly Magazine, Vol. IV, p. 323; Neiv York Tribune, June 20, 18 54. ^®^ Bill's When Rock Island Road Reached River, The Famous Ex- cursion Train of 1854, in the Burlington Post, September 23, 1922; New York Tribune, June 20, 18 54; Sedgwick's The Great Excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony in Putnam's Mcntthly Magazine, Vol. IV, p. 320; Farnam's Memoir of Henry Farnam, pp. 86, 87. For an inter- [524] Notes and References esting account of the steward's duties, see Merrick's Old Times on the Upper Mississippi, pp. 126-129. ^^^ Sedgwick's The Great Excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony in Putnam's Monthly Magazine, Vol. IV, p. 323. ^^^New York Tribune, June 20, 18 54. ^^^ Daily Tribune (Chicago), June 13, 1854; New York Tribune, June 20, 18 54. ^®^ Sedgwick's The Great Excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony in Putnam's Monthly Magazine, Vol. IV, p. 322; New York Tribune, June 23, 18 54. ^^^The Minncsotian (St. Paul), October 12, 14, 18, 1858; The Bubuque Herald, July 24, 31, 1860, July 14, 17, 1866; Bill's William H. Seward's Visit to Minnesota in 1860 in the Burlington Post, Novem- ber 25, 1922; Blegen's Campaigning with Seward in I860 in Minnesota History, Vol. VIII, pp. 150-171. ^®' Sutcliflfe's Robert Fulton, p. 13 8; Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, p. 1094. ^^^ Missouri Gazette (St. Louis), June 9, 1819, quoted in Gould's Fifty Years on the Mississippi, p. 116. ^^9 The History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois ( 1 878 ), pp. 2 54, 2 5 5 ; The History of Dubuque Cojinty, Iowa (1880), p. 336. Military expe- ditions observed the Fourth of July previous to this date, viz., Kearny in 1820. The American flag was also raised at Fort Madison and by military expeditions such as that of Zebulon M. Pike. 390 Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 29, 1839. *^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 10, 1849. ^^^The Winona Republican, June 24, July 8, 1856. ^■'^ The Dubiique Herald, July 3, 6, 7, 11, 1860. ^^'The Herald (Dubuque), July 4, 1866, July 4, 1867; Weekly Gate City (Keokuk), May 20, 1874. [525] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^^^ A manuscript in the possession of the Missouri Historical Society, Jefferson Memorial Lihrar)^ St. Louis, Missouri. 39fi Price's The Execution of Patrick O'Coivior in The Palimpsest, Vol. I, p. 94. ^^ Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), September 3, 7, 18 5 8; The Herald (Dubuque), September 30, 1869. 3^^ The Herald (Dubuque) , July 4, 1867, September 29, 30, October 4, 5, 1868. ^^^The Herald (Dubuque), June 16, July 3, 4, August 6, 1861, July 30, 1867, August 28, 1868. *°° Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), August 10, 24, 27, 18 58; The Duhique Herald, May 22, 23, 31, 1860. ^^'^ Paullin's Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, Plates 76-D, E, F, G, and 77-A, B, C. *°^ Van der Zee's The Roads and Highways of Territorial Iowa in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. Ill, pp. 181-191; Bill's Ferry Boats on the Upper Mississippi in the Burlington Post, July 12, 19, 26, 1924; Johnson's Crossing the Mississippi in The Palimpsest, Vol. I, pp. 169-182. *^^ Channing and Lansing's The Story of the Great Lakes, pp. 237, 238, 254. The same authors declare that until 18 5 8 the Erie Canal was "the all-important transportation route between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic. Even the coming of the railroad did not take away its trade, and as late as 1862 the ton-mileage of canal traffic was more than double the combined ton-mileage of the New York Central and the Erie railroads." See pp. 263, 264. ^'"'Niles' Register, Vol. LXXII, p. 263. *<*** Cole's The Era of the Civil War 1 848-1870 (Centennial History of Illinois, Vol. Ill), pp. 20-30. *°^ Petersen's Population Advance to the Mississippi in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. XXXII, pp. 312-3 53. [526] Notes and References ^°^ Petersen's The Rock Island Comes in The Palimpsest, Vol. XIV, pp. 285-300. ^°® Petersen's The Burlington Comes in The Palimpsest, Vol. XIV, pp. 381-395. ^°^ Petersen's The North Western Comes in The Palimpsest, Vol. XIV, pp. 317-33 3; Petersen's The Illinois Central Comes in The Palimp- sest, Vol. XIV, pp. 363-378. 410 Petersen's The Burlington Comes in The Palimpsest, Vol. XIV, p. 394. *^^ Petersen's The Milwaukee Comes in The Palimpsest, Vol. XIV, pp. 413-428. *^^ Raney's The Building of Wisconsin Railroads in The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Vol. XIX, p. 392. *^^ Paullin's Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, Plate 139-B. ■*^* Raney's The Building of Wisconsin Railroads in The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Vol. XIX, p. 393. *^^ Census of the United States, 1860, Mortality and Miscellaneous Statistics, p. XX ; Paullin's Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, Plates 62-B, 64-A, 76-F, 77-B, 138-K, 138-L, 139-A, 139-B. *^° Murray's Travels in North America during the Years 1854, 1835, 6n 1836, Vol. I, p. 148. *^' Marryat's A Diary in America, Vol. I, pp. 142, 143. *" Hall's Travels in the United States, Vol. I, pp. 146, 147. ^^^Niles' Register, Vol. LXVIII, p. 247. *"° Paulding's The Mississippi in Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXII, p. 218. [527] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^-'^ Chicago Democrat, November 26, 1833; The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year-Book, 1927, pp. 270, 271. *^^ Quoted in the Chicago Democrat, November 26, 1833. *-^ Greeen River Advocate ( Hopkins ville, Kentucky), quoted in the Chicago Democrat, November 26, 183 3; Lindley's Indiana as Seen by Early Travelers in Indiana Historical Collections, Vol. I, p. 523. "*Marryat's A Diary in America, Vol. II, pp. 207, 208. ■^-^ Quoted in Baird's Yictv of the Valley of the Mississippi, or the Emigrant's and Traveller's Guide to the West, pp. 3 59, 360. ■^^^ Hall's The West: Its Commerce and Navigation, pp. 146-148; Baird's Yieiu of the Valley of the Mississippi, or the Emigrant's and Traveller's Guide to the West, p. 3 52. *'^'' Fiagg's The Far West : or, A Tour Beyond the Mountains, Vol. t, pp. 54, 5 5. *^® Quoted in Parker's Iowa as It Is in 1857, p. 63. 429 pj-om the Iowa City Reporter, quoted in Parker's lou/a as It Is in 1857, p. 55. *^'^ Rock Island News, May 26, 18 5 5, quoted in the Muscatine Journal, May 30, 18 5 5. ^^^Niles' Register, Vol. LXXI, p. 281. 432 Prom the Burlington Telegraph, quoted in the Muscatine Journal, October 11, 1854. *^^ Quoted in Parker's Iowa as It Is in 7 557, p. 57. *^* Muscatine Journal, October 27, 18 5 5. *^^ Quoted in Parker's loua as It Is in 1857, pp. 56, 57. ^^'^ Rock Island News, May 26, 18 5 5, quoted in the Muscatine Journal, May 30, 18 5 5. *^^ Quoted in Parker's Iowa as It Is in 1857, p. 57. [528] Notes and References *=>« Parker's Iowa as It Is in 1857, pp. 57-59. *^^Des Moines Valley Whig (Keokuk), May 15, 18 51. ^^'^ Quoted in Parker's Iowa as It Is in 1857, p. 56. "^Quoted in the Des Moines Valley Whig (Keokuk), October 30, 1851. **- Muscatine Journal, March 3, 18 54. **^ Muscatine Democratic Enquirer, July 19, 18 51. "* Regan's The Western Wilds of America, pp. 401-404. **^ Census of the United States, 1860, MortaHty and Miscellaneous Statistics, p. li. ^**Marryat's A Diary in America, Vol. I, pp. 123, 124; Murray's Travels in North America during the Years 18)4, 18^5 ,&• 1836, Vol. I, p. 197. *^' Census of the United States, 1860, Mortality and Miscellaneous Statistics, pp. ii-lviii; Marryat's A Diary in America, Vol. I, p. 17. **^ Census of the United States, 1860, Mortality and Miscellaneous Statistics, p. li; Bremer's The Homes of the New World, Vol. I, pp. 554, 555. Miss Bremer's letters covered the years 1849-1853. Her book appeared in 18 53. *^^ Census of the United States, 1860, Mortality and Miscellaneous Statistics, p. li. ^''^ Mann's The Emigrant's Complete Guide to Port Stephens, Van Dieman's Land, New Zealand; The Cape of Good Hope and Natal; Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, pp. 61-68 (Canadian sec- tion). *" Niles' Register, Vol. LXXIII, pp. 78, 80; Willcox's International Migrations, Vol. I, p. 360. *^' Niles' Register, Vol. LXXII, p. 370. [529] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi "^ From the Buffalo Courier, quoted in Niles' Register, Vol. LXXII, p. 263; Mann's The Emigrant's Guide to Port Stephens, etc., p. 68 (Canadian section); "Willcox's International Migrations, Vol. I, p. 360. *°* Racder's Avterica in the Forties, pp. 1, 2; Baird's Yiew of the Valley of the Mississippi, or the Emigrant's and Traveller's Guide to the West, pp. 349-3 52; Steele's Western Guide Book, and Emigrant's Directory, pp. 5-11; Regan's The Western Wilds of America, pp. 403, 404;Newhairs The British Emigrant's "Hand Book", p. 96. *'^^ Rynning's Trtie Account of America, pp. 98, 99. *^^ Oliphant's Minnesota and the Far West, pp. 102-104. ^"^ For a vivid description of such a trip, see Raeder's America in the Forties, pp. 3, 4. ^^® See Marryat's A Diary in America, Vol. I, pp. 172, 173, Vol. II, pp. 40, 41. ^'^^ Bremer's The Homes of the New World, Vol. I, p. 597. **° Ferguson's America: By River and Rail, p. 434. *^' Niles' Register, Vol. LXXII, p. 281. "^^^ Ambler's Transportation in the Ohio Y alley, p. 147; Hulbert's The Great American Canals (Historic Highways of America, Vol. XIII), pp. 169-215. ^""^ Niles' Register, Vol. LXXIII, p. 48. *®*Janson's The Background of Swedish Immigration, 1840-1930, p. 129; Flom's The Early Swedish Immigration to Iowa in The Iowa journal of History and Politics, Vol. Ill, pp. 602-604. *^^ For accounts of the Swiss immigration, see Duerst's Diary of one of the Original Colonists of New Glarus, 1845, in Wisconsin His- torical Collections, Vol. XV, pp. 310-325; Luchsinger's The Swiss Colony of New Glarus in Wisconsin Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 416-418. [530] Notes and References ''® Regan's The Western Wilds of America, pp. 401-404. » *''^^eck's A New Guide for Emigrants to the West, p. 36 5. **®Newhairs The British Emigrant's "Hand Book", pp. 95, 96. ■"^^ Rauschenbusch's Einige Anweisungen fiir Auswanderer (Elbcr- feld, 1848), p. 50; Kargan's St. Louis in friiheren Ja/jren. Ein Gedenk- buch fiir das Deutscbfhjim, p. 311; Baird's View of the Valley of the Mississippi, pp. 358, 363, 364; Regan's The Western Wilds of America, pp. 401-404; Williams' Apple ton's Southern and Western Travellers' Guide, pp. 136-138. *^° Letter of Hendrick Barendregt to Henry P. Scholte, dated St. Louis, December, 1846, quoted in Van der Zee's The Hollanders of Iowa, pp. 339-343. ^'^ Regan's The Western Wilds of America, p. 25. *"' Mann's The Emigrant's Complete Guide to the United States, pp. 56, 57; Raeder's Am-erica in the Forties, pp. 2, 3; The British Mechanic's and Labourer's Hand Book, and True Guide to the United States, pp. 41-46; Kapp's Immigration and the Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New York, pp. 62-64. *" Bremer's The Homes of the New World, Vol. I, pp. 68, 69. *'* Pearson's An /American Railroad Builder: John Murray Forbes, pp. 67-69. ^'"^The Herald (Dubuque), June 16, 1867. ^'® This story was told to the writer by Captain Holstrom while he was making a stormy and thrilUng trip across Lake Pepin in 1928. *''"' Petersen's To the Land of Black Hawk in The Palimpsest, Vol. XIV, pp. 53-68; PauUin's Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, Plates 76-F, 76-G, 77-A; The World Almanac, 1932, p. 386; Quaife's Wisconsin: Its History and Its People 1634-1924, Vol. I, p. 442. *'^ Census of the United States, 1850, pp. XXXVI-XXXVIII, 663, [531] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi 717, 925, 948, 996, 1870, p. 299; Parker's Iowa an It h in 185 5, pp. 52-61; Illinois State Gazette and Business Directory, For the Years 1864-65, pp. 52-54. *"Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, p. 1128; Peck's Annals of the West, p. 761. '^^^Tbe Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), November 18, 20, 18 58; Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, pp. 1126, 1129; Blake- ley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Commerce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, p. 406. *^^ The short line packet remained a favorite type and was used extensively by the principal corporations in connection with their through trade. In addition to these lines between St. Louis and Keokuk, runs were made between such ports as Fort Madison and Davenport, Davenport and Dubuque, Savanna and Dubuque, Dubuque and St. Paul, Prairie du Chien and St. Paul, and La Crosse and St. Paul. Some lines had even shorter runs. *«2 Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, pp. 1115-1123; The Daily Gate City (Keokuk), March 8, 18 56; The Dubtique Herald, March 16, 1860, March 23, 1861. "^ Census of the United States, 1870, Vol. I, pp. 23, 27, 28, 40, 43, 44, 73. *^* Bishop's Floral Home; or, First Years of Minnesota, p. 125; John- son's Fort Snelling from its Foundation to the Present Time in Minne- sota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, p. 431. ^^^The Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), July 26, 1849. *^® Lanman's A Summer in the Wilderness, p. 13. ^" The Diary of Philip Hone, 1828-1851, Vol. II, p. 809. "8 Bremer's The Homes of the Ncti^ World, Vol. II, pp. 84, 8 8. *^^ Memoranda &c. Jowncy from Baltim[or]e to Sf. Patd's Minne- [532] Notes and References sota, May 7 to June 20, 1851. This manuscript is in possession of the Minnesota Historical Society. ^®° Lanman's A Summer in the Wilderness, p. 30. *^^ Galena Daily Advertiser, July 19, 1851; Gallaher's Icaria and the Icarians in The Palimpsest, Vol. II, pp. 97-112. ^^' Weekly Norllnvestern Gazette (Galena), March 24, 1851; Ga- lena Daily Advertiser, July 9, 18, 29, September 13, October 28, 1851; The Minnesota Democrat (St Paul), August 12, 19, 18 51. *^^ Ellet's Summer Rambles in the West, pp. 47, 48. *-'*The Minnesotian (St. Paul), May 14, June 11, 18, 25, 1853; Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, p. 1128. ^9'' J? Herald (Dubuque), July 11, 17, 20, 24, 25, August 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 19, 25, 1869. ^^^ Marryat's A D/flr;y /« America, Vol. II, p. 143. ^^^ Galena Daily Advertiser, April 2, 3, 1849; Missouri Republican (St. Louis), September 20, 1824; Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, August 24, 1847; Peck's Annals of the West, p. 808. ^^3 Weekly Nortfnvestcrn Gazette (Galena), September 7, December 11, 1849, July 9, 16, 1850. ^^- Memoranda &c. Journey from Baltimore to St. Paul's Minnesota, May 7 to June 20th, 1851 (manuscript in possession of the Minnesota Historical Society); The Daily Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), June 17, 1854. ^'=r/je Herald (Dubuque), August 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 1866. ^^^The Herald (Dubuque), August 19, 26, 30, 1866. ^^^ Raeder's America in the Forties, p. 120. ^^^ Seymour's Sketches of Minnesota, p. 69; Coolbaugh's Reminis- cences of the Early Days of Minnesota, 1851 to 1861, in Minnesota His- torical Collections, Vol. XV, p. 483. ^^® Raeder's America in the Forties, p. 121; Oliphant's Minnesota and the Far West, p. 295. ^-° Ellet's Summer Rambles iti the West, pp. 170, 171. ^^^ Ellet's Sum^ner Rambles ift the West, p. 170. ^'^ Blegen's Campaigning ivith Seward in 1860 in Minnesota History, Vol. VIII, pp. 150-171. Copies of the original diaries are in the pos- session of the Minnesota Historical Society. ^-'^ Pond's Tii^o Volunteer Missionaries Among the Dakotas, pp. 14 [534] Notes and References et passim; Pond Manuscript, 1S}}-18}9 (in possession of the Minne- sota Historical Society) . ^-* Atwater's Western Antiquities, p. 228. "° Regan's The Western Wilds of America, pp. 31, 32. ^-^ Raeder's America in the Forties, pp. 122, 123. ^-^ Andrews' Minnesota and Dacofab, pp. 30, 31. *-® Oliphant's Minnesota and the Far West, p. 294. ^-^ The Herald (Dubuque), February 19, 1869, March 31, 1870. ^^'^ Raeder's Atnerica in the Forties, pp. 121, 122. '^'^ Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St. Louis, Enrolment 46, May 16, 1846, Enrolment 33, March 23, 18 52, Enrol- ment 36, April 9, 1852; Ellet's Summer Rambles in the West, pp. 59, 60; The Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), June 17, 1852. ^^^ The Minnesotian (St. Paul), April 15, 18 54. 533 Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the Board of Supervising Inspectors (Washington, 1869), pp. 171-189; Burlington Post, October 25, November 1, 1919. ^^* Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, September 5, 1845, May 8, 1846; Weekly Northwestern Gazette (Galena), June 10, 1851; Galena Daily Advertiser, September 2 5, 1851; The Minnesota Democrat (St. Paul), June 10, 1851; The Winona Republican, April 29, 18 56; The Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), November 8, 1849, June 12, 1851. ^^^ The Daily Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), August 5, 18 54, April 10, 1855; The Minnesotian (St. Paul), June 25, 1853, October 8, 1853; The Winona Republican, June 17, 18 56. ^^^lowa Neius (Dubuque), August 19, 26, 1837; Northwestern Ga- zette and Galena Advertiser, August 19, 26, 1837. [535] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^^''Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, October li, 1344, June 4, 1847. ^"^ Muscatine Journal, quoted in The Minnesotian (St. Paul), July 2, 18 53; The Minnesota Vioneer (St. Paul), October 17, 1850; North- western Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 10, 13, 1845. ■''^''Regan's The Western Wilds of America, pp. 33, 34; Galena Daily Advertiser, March 26, 29, 1849; The Daily Pioneer and Demo- crat (St. Paul), October 6, 1857; Dtibuque Daily Times, October 8, 1857. '**" Galena Daily Advertiser, May 19, 1849; Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, pp. 1110, 1111. ^*^ Btirlington Post, June 12, 1915, October 25, November 1, 1919; Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), July 3, 18 5 8. ^'~ The New York Semi-Weekly Tribune, June 20, 18 54; The Min- nesotian (St. Paul), May 21, 1853. ^*^ Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), June 5, August 2, 20, 1857, September 15, 19, 1857, March 17, 1858. ^^^ Blegcn's Campaigning tuith Seward in 2 S 60 in Minnesota History, Vol. VIII, p. 167. ^^° Galena Daily Advertiser, quoted in The Henderson Democrat, June 10, 1856; The Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), April 30, 18 57; The Herald (Dubuque), May 7, 1867. **^ Quoted in Parker's Minnesota Handbook, pp. 108, 109. *^^ Seymour's Sketches of Minnesota, p. 69. ^^^Pond Manuscript, 1833-1839, pp. 3, 4. ^*^ Baird's View of the Valley of the Mississippi, or the Emigrant's and Traveller's Guide to the West, pp. 363-365. '^^^ Peck's A New Guide for Emigrants, pp. 372, 373. ^'^^ A True Picture of Emigration (G. Berger, London, 1S48), p. 17. [536] Notes and References °^^ Davidson's /« Unnamed Wisconsin, p. 18 5. ^^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, July 3, 1845. **"' The Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), July 3, 22, 1852. 6-'5 Williams' A History of the City of St. Pan!, and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota, in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. IV, p. 360. °^^ Balance sheet of the Milwaukee dated November 19, 1857, and November 1, 1859; balance sheet of the Ocean Wave dated September 30, 18 58; statement of the Prairie du Chien, Hudson, & St. Paul Packet Company affairs up to December 19, 1857. Photostats of these papers are in possession of the writer from originals in the Dousman Papers, Minnesota Historical Society Library at St. Paul. ^^' Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), February 17, June 12, 1859. ^^^ Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), April 7, 1858, February 17, 1859. ^^^ The writer has a photostat of the original which is among the Dousman Papers in possession of the Minnesota Historical Society Library. "T/?>e Herald (Dubuque), March 15, 1866. "^^ Photostat of the balance sheet of the Northwestern Union Packet GDmpany, January, 18 58, from the original in the Dousman Papers, Minnesota Historical Society Library. ^^^The Herald (Dubuque), June 18, July 12, 1868. "^^ Some bills of lading in the possession of the writer. '^^ Bremer's Homes of the New World, Vol. II, pp. 172, 173. ^^^The Minnesota Democrat (St. Paul), June 17, July 22, 1851; The Minnesotian (St. Paul), October 1, 1853; The Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), May 16, 21, 1857; Express & Herald (Dubuque), May 19, 28, 1857, September 7, 1858. [^7] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^^^Folsom's Fifty Years in the Northwest, pp. 92-98. ^^'' Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), May 7, June 2, 1857. ^^^ Charles Minney has furnished the writer with this information from a manuscript bill of lading in the Dousman Home at Prairie du Chien. ^^^ The Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), September 9, 18 52. ^''' Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), July 16, 17, 1858. ^'''^ Daily Minnesotian (St. Paul), October 25, November 19, 1858. ^'''^ Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), May 13, 1857; The Herald (Dubuque), June 19, 26, 27, 1866. "' The Herald (Dubuque) , May 26, Junte 16, July 11, 14, 24, 1867, July 24, 1869. '^''^Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque) October 24, 1857; The Herald (Dubuque), September 11, 19, 25, November 6, 10, 14, 1866, August 25, 31, September 1, 7, 8, 14, 25, 28, October 5, 13, 28, 30, November 2, 12, 1869; Daily Times (Dubuque), November 3, 8, 16, 1871. ^''^ Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), August 11, 1857. The issue for April 31, 18 57, contains an excellent example of receipts at the "Port of Dubuque" from St. Louis and Cincinnati. The Orb brought tobacco, snuff, salt, boots and shoes, glazed sash, bureaus, plows, stoneware, coffee, bed cords, and a miscellaneous array of mer- chandise from St. Louis. From the same port the Minnesota Belle brought hams, Kquors, an engine and boiler. The Northern Light trans- ported from Cincinnati ofiice chairs, bedsteads, springs, rockers, nurse rockers, walnut stands, center tables, children's chairs, willow and stuffed chairs, sofas, divans, mattresses, ottomans, brooms, soap, cur- rants, dried apples, sugar, rice, coffee, carpets, oilcloth, codfish, cheese, herring, tea, soda, whiskey, beans, peaches, fish, mustard, sweet potatoes, lemons, and drugs, stoves, bedsteads, washstands, office tables, looking glass, trunks (both empty and filled), chests, corks, pumice stone, [538] Notes and References trundle beds, bookcases, wagons, glassware, hogs and dogs, cows and calves. °'^ The manifest of the steamboat Rosalie illustrates the large number of ports a steamboat called on during the course of her journey from St. Louis to St. Paul. After visiting most of the ports between St. Louis and Dubuque and discharging 40 tons at the latter port, the Rosalie sank on a pile of rocks at Dunleith. An examination of her manifest shows that she still contained goods for Clayton City, McGregor's Landing, Lansing, La Crosse, Winona, Fountain City, Minneiska, Lake City, Red Wing, Prescott, Hastings, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and St. Anthony. Among the hundreds of items listed were stoves, wagons, buggies, boilers, glassware, corn, whiskey, salt, fish, pickles, bedsteads, furniture, and a piano. See Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque) , July 7, 1857. ^'^ The Herald (Dubuque), September 28, October 1, 3, 5, 6, 1869. ^''^ Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), May 13, 18 56, June 3, 1857. "'' The Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), May 24, 26, 1857. ^^° The Winona Republican, quoted in the Goodhue County Republi- can (Red Wing), May 25, 1860. =«^ The Herald (Dubuque), April 1, August 29, October 23, 1869. ^^' Muscatine Journal, quoted in The Dubuque Herald, July 12, 1860. ^^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, October 9, 1849; The Minnesota Democrat (St. Paul), June 17, 1851; The Herald (Dubuque), October 21, 1869. ^^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), March 8, 1831. ^^'^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, July 16, 23, 18 51, and the Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), April 24, 18 51, quoting a dis- patch from the Cincinnati Commercial Advertiser. [539] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^^^ Le Due's Minnesota at the Crystal Palace Exhibition, New York, 1853, in the Minnesota History Bulletin, Vol. I, pp. 3 51-368. ^^' The Dubiique Herald, August 21, 29, 1861. ^^^The Dubuque Herald, June 8, 1862. ^^^ Gould's Fifty Years on the Mississippi, pp. 604, 605; Blakeley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Com- merce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 415, 416. ^^'^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), July 1, 1828, Miner's Journal (Galena), July 22, 1828; Burlington Post, June 1, 1918. ^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), July 1, 1828. The activity of the Red Rover and other boats is chronicled in the column of daily arrivals and departures. '^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), April 14, 1829. °^^ Atwater's Western Antiquities, pp. 229-237. ^'^^ Atwater's Western Antiquities, pp. 238, 239; Miner's Journal (Galena), October 10, 1829. The Red Rover was still plying in the lead trade in late October. — Miner's Journal (Galena), November 3, 1829. ^^'^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), July 27, 1830. ^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), August 9, 1831; Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Pittsburgh, Vol. II, 1831-183 5, Temporary Enrolment 6, February 16, 1833. The Winnebago was built at Pittsburgh in 1831. She was 111 feet 7 inches long, 17 feet 10 inches beam, 4 feet 10 inches hold, and measured 91 tons. ^^'^ Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Pittsburgh, Vol. II, 1831-1835. Enrolments 30 and 31, on June 2, 1832, reveal the measurements and ownership of the Warrior and her barge. Accord- ing to Edward Jones, the Surveyor at Pittsburgh, the safety barge had a square stern, a cabin above deck, and a plain figure. [540] Notes and References ^''^ Miles' Register, Vol. XXXI, p. 304. ^^^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), October 2S, 1827. Her safety barge was named the Lady Washington. According to the Missouri Republican of March 4, 1828, the Missouri also towed a safety barge. ^"° Niles' Register, Vol. XLIII, pp. 12, 13; Missouri Republican (St. Louis), May 29, June 26, July 10, August 14, 1832. ^"^ Nilcs' Register, Vol. XLIII, pp. 12, 13, 51; Missojiri Republican (St. Louis), August 14, 1832; Stevens' The Black Hawk War, p. 227. ^'''Missouri Repjiblican (St. Louis), September 11, 1832. ^"^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), July 12, 1833. •'o* Niles' Register, Vol. XLIII, p. 4. ^'^'^ Northivestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, May 14, 1836; Du Buque Visitor, May 11, 18, 1836. 606 jsforthwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 11, 1836; Du Buque Visitor, June 8, 1836; Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Cus- toms Office, Pittsburgh, Vol. Ill, 183 5-1839, Enrolment 34, May 5, 1836. The St. Peters was built at Pittsburgh in 183 6 and was owned by Joseph Throckmorton and the firm of Hempstead and Beebe, all of St. Louis. She was 139 feet long, 18 feet 8 inches beam, 5 feet 9 inches hold, and measured 119 tons. Merrick is in error in his data on the St. Peters in the Burlington Post, August 10, 1918. '^°" The Ariel appeared first and seems to have been commanded by at least three of her owners the first season : Throckmorton, McNeal, and Waggoner. — Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Pittsburgh, Vol. Ill, 183 5-1839, Enrolment 24, March 13, 1837. The Ariel was launched at Pittsburgh in the spring of 1837. She was cap- tained by George McNeal, an owner. The others were Throckmorton, Hempstead, Chouteau, and Isaac Newton Waggoner of Illinois. The Ariel was 12 5 feet long, 17| feet beam, 4^ feet in the hold, and measured 95 tons. 608 Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Pittsburgh, [541] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Vol. Ill, 1835-1839, Enrolment 54, May 27, 1837. The Burlington was built at Pittsburgh in 1837 and was owned by Joseph Throckmorton, Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and the firm of Hempstead and Beebe, all of St. Louis. She was 150 feet long, 23 i feet in width, with a 6-foot hold, and measured 200 tons. She had a double rudder stern. ^^^ Iowa News (Dubuque), June 3, 10, 17, 24, 1837; Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, September 30, 1837; Neill's Occur- rences in and around Fort Snelling, From 1819 to 1840, in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. II, pp. 13 3, 134. ®^'* Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Pittsburgh, Vol. Ill, 183 5-1839, Enrolment 73, April 30, 1839. The Malta was built at Pittsburgh in 1839. She was 140 feet long, had a 22-foot beam, and a 5 -foot hold, and measured 114 tons. She was owned by Throck- morton and Pierre Chouteau, Jr., of St. Louis. ^^'^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 5, 1840. ^^'^ Senate Documents, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 8. ^^^ Burlington Post, April 21, 1917. ^^* Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Pittsburgh, Vol VI, 1841-1845, Enrolment 81, March 25, 1842. The General Brooke was built at Pittsburgh in 1842. She was 144 feet long, 20 feet in breadth, 5 feet 2 inches hold, and measured 143 tons. She was owned by Joseph Throckmorton, John Sanford, John B. Sarpy, Kemieth Mackenzie, all of St. Louis, and Hercules L. Dousman of Prairie du Chien. ^^^ Senate Documents, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 8. ^^^ Miners' Express (Dubuque), May 12, 1843; Burlington Post, July 10, 1915. ^^' Burlington Post, July 10, 1915. ®^^ Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St. Louis, [542] Notes and References Enrolment 43, January 29, 1845. The Nimrod was built at St. Louis in 1844 and was owned by Joseph Throckmorton, Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and John B. Sarpy. She was 156 feet long, 2 5 feet 10 inches broad, 5^ feet in depth, and measured 210 tons. ®'^ Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St. Louis, En- rolment 95, August 8, 1845. The Cecilia was built at Pittsburgh in 1841 and was owned solely by Joseph Throckmorton. She was 140 feet long, 20 feet 9 inches in breadth, 4 feet 5 inches in depth, and meas- ured 111 tons. ^^"Neill's Occurrences in and around Fort Snelling, From 1819 to 1840, in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. II, p. 136; Burlington Post, November 1, 1913. ^-^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, June 26, July 3, 1846. f-2 Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St. Louis, En- rolment 101, September 29, 1846. Built at Rock Island in 1846, the Cora was 139 feet 8 inches long, 23 feet beam, 4 feet 9 inches hold, measured 144 tons, and was owned solely by Throckmorton. ^'^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, October 9, 1846; Burlington Hawk-Eye, April 20, 1884; Burlington Post, May 30, 1914. ®^* Blakeley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Commerce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 415, 416. '^-'^ Miner's Journal (Galena), April 10, 1830. ^^'^ Missouri Republican (St. Louis), April 30, 1833. ®'^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, March 3, May 14, 1836; Du Buque Visitor, May 2 5, August 3, September 7, 1836; Iowa News (Dubuque), June 17, July 1, 8, August 5, 1837. ""-^Red Wing Republican, March 26, 1858. ^''^ Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), April 2, 1858. [543] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^^"^ Galena Gazette, March 17, 1893; Burlington Post, February 9, 1918. ^^^ Meeker's Early History of Lead Region of Wisconsin in Wiscon- sin Historical Collections, Vol. VI, pp. 277-279. ^^- Miner's Journal (Galena), October 3, 1829; Niles' Register, Vol. LXIII, p. 388; Burlington Post, June 5, 1915, February 9, 1918; Galena Gazette, March 17, 1893; History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, (1878), pp. 240, 241. ''^^The History of Lee County, Iowa (1879), pp. 342-344; Galena Gazette, March 17, 1893. 63* Burlington Post, September 9, 191b; Map of the Mississippi River from the Falls of St. Anthony to the Junction of the Missouri River. ^^^Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St. Louis, En- rolment 21, July 7, 1835; Galena Gazette, March 17, 1893; Missouri Republican (St. Louis), May 23, 183 5, quoted in Niles' Register, Vol. XL VIII, p. 2 50. Merrick declares the Jo Daviess was a side-wheeler. ^^^ Burlington Post, September 9, 1916; Galena Gazette, March 17, 1893. ^^' Miner's Journal (Galena), July 3, 1830; Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, May 21, 1836. ^^^ Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), April 25, 1350. ^^'^ The Minnesotian (St. Paul), May 7, 1853; Petersen's Early History of Steamboating on the Minnesota River in Minnesota History, Vol. XI, pp. 123-144; Sishop's Floral Home: or. First Years of Minne- sota, pp. 298, 299. ®^° Compilation of Upper Mississippi steamboats prepared by the writer. Merrick's Steamboats and Steamboatm^en of the Upper Missis- sippi in the Burlington Post, September 13, 1913, to December 6, 1919, is the most complete compilation accessible to the student. 6" Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, July 9, 1836; Iowa News (Dubuque), June 10, July 15, 1837. [544] Notes and References '^*- Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, March 28, April 25, May 30, 1845; Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St. Louis, Enrolment 14, March 5, 1845. ^^^ Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), November 8, 15, 1849. ^** Senate Documents, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 8. '^" Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, April 22, May 13, 1837, April 22, 1839; Folsom's Fifty Years in the Northwest (St. Paul, 1888), p. 689; Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Cincinnati, Enrolment 20, March 27, 1839. ^^^ Miners' Express (Dubuque), June 25, 1845. ^" Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Cincinnati, Enrolments 14 and 16, March 10, 17, 1844; Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St. Louis, Enrolment 2 5, March 17, 1844. ^*® Letters from Hercules L. Dousman to Henry Hastings Sibley, May 3, November 20, 1844, March 30, May 9, 1845, in the Sibley Papers. ^*^ Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St. Louis, Enrolment 3 3, March 16, 1848; Blakeley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Commerce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 381-388. ^50 Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St. Louis, Enrolment 44, April 4, 1849; Blakeley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Commerce in Minnesota in Minne- sota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 3 81, 3 82; Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), May 2, August 1, 15, 18 50. ^'^"^ Minnesota Democrat (St. Paul), May 27, 1851. "^^^ Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), July 1, 22, 29, 18 52; Blakeley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Com- merce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 388, 389. [545] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ^^^ Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), January 15, 1859; Blake- ley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Commerce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 388, 389. ^^^Thc Winona Republican, May 20, 27, June 3, 10, 17, 1856; Shako pee Independent, June 18, 18 56. ^^^ Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), July 15, 1857. ^^'^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, July 15, 1837; Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), July 29, 1852. ^^''The Daily Minnesotian (St. Paul), October 9, 1858. ^=^ The Dulncqtce Herald, May 10, 14, 22, 1861; Rock Island Argus, May 10, 1861; Des Moines Valley Whig (Keokuk), May 13, 1861; Daily Democrat and News (Davenport), May 10, 1861. "^^^ Burlington Post, October 30, 1915. ""^"^ Galena Gazette, March 17, 1893. ^^'^ Galena Gazette, March 17, 1893; The Minnesotian (St. Paul), May 7, 1853. ^^^ Galena Gazette, March 17, 20, 1893; Burlington Post, May 31, 1919. ^'^^ Field's History of the Atlantic Telegraph (1867), pp. 131-245; Briggs's The Story of the Telegraph, and a History of the Great At- lantic Cable (18 58), pp. 92-194. *^* Wilson's Telegraph Pioneering in The Palimpsest, Vol. VI, pp. 373-393. ^^^ Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), August 18, 1858. ^^^The New International Encyclopedia (1921), Vol. II, pp. 322, 323. ^^' Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), August 17, 18 58; Light List Upper Mississippi and Tributaries, Thirteenth District, "Washington, [546] Notes and References 1930. The Queen's message of August 16th contained only the first paragraph but early on the morning of August 17th the complete message was forwarded. ^^^Briggs's The Story of the Telegraph, pp. 187-188; Daily Minne- sotian (St. Paul), August 20, 18 58. ^''^ Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), August 17, 20, 21, 1858; The Dubuque Daily Times, August 21, 18 58; National Democrat (La Crosse), August 24, 1858; The Winona Republican, August 25, 1858, The "Winona editor pointed out that his extra containing the Queen's message actually appeared fifteen hours before St. Paul papers notified their readers and upbraided St. Paul editors for their claims. ^'^° Red Wing Republican, August 20, 18 58; Transcript (Prescott, "Wisconsin), August 21, 18 58. ^'•^ Daily Minnesotian (St. Paul), August 19, 20, 1858; St. Paul Daily Times, August 19, 18 5 8. ^"Twain's Life on the Mississippi (1883), pp. 70-131, 152-192; De Voto's Mark Twaiti's America, pp. 26, 100-114. The writer dis- covered Mark Twain's pilot's Ucense at St. Louis during the summer of 1927 and has a letter of congratulation from a descendant of Mark Twain's — Cyril Clernens of California. ^^^ In defense of Mr. Bixby it may be suggested that it is doubtful if another captain on western waters packed more thrilling episodes into a career of thirty- three years than did Daniel Smith Harris. *^* A good description of the work of the steamboat captain may be found in Merrick's Old Times on the Upper Mississippi, pp. 71-77. ®^® Senate Docttments, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 8. ^"^^ Blakeley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Commerce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, "Vol. "Vni, p. 415; Merrick and Tibbals' Genesis of Steam Navigation on Western Rivers in Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1911, p. 116 (also reprinted with the title. Genesis of Steamboating on Western rivers; with a Register of Officers on the [547] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Upper Mississippi 1823-1870) ; Price's Tbe Execuiion of O'Connor in The Palimpsest, Vol. I, pp. 90, 91; Burlington Post, June S, 1915. ^'^^ Blakeley and Merrick have both compiled excellent lists of steam- boat captains for the period before the Civil War. To this the writer can add in number and supplement in amount of material about each, largely as a result of his researches in the various newspaper files. ^^^ Hussey's History of Steamboating on the Des Moines River, From 1837 to 1862, in Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. IV, p. 365; Burlington Post, May 29, 1915. ®^° Merrick and Tibbals' Genesis of Steam Navigation on Western Rivers in Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1911, p. 114. ^^'^ Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), September 26, 1850. ^^^ Express and Herald (Dubuque), October 2, 1857. ^*^ Weekly North Western Gazette (Galena), June 4, 18 50; Minne- sota Pioneer (St. Paul), April 10, 18 51. 683 Merrick and Tibbals' Genesis of Steam Navigation on Western Rivers in Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1911, pp. 114, 134. Laughton was born in London in 1823 and settled at Platteville, Wisconsin, in 1844. After serving as a seaman on the Great Lakes for two seasons, he began his river life in 18 52 as a mate aboard the Nominee. He was mate on the Galena for two seasons and then commanded such boats as the City Belle, the Galena, the Golden Era, the Northern Belle, the Mihvaiikee, the Alex Mitchell, and the Lticy Bertram. He died at Platteville in 1883. ®** Merrick and Tibbals' Genesis of Steam Navigation on Western Rivers in Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1911, pp. 131, 137; Wilkie's Davenport Past and Present, pp. 193-196. ®^^ Folsom's Fifty Years in the Northwest, pp. 561, 562; Burlington Post, December 14, 1918. ^^''' Burlington Post, January 30, 1915. ^^^ Galena Advertiser, quoted in the Daily Express and Herald (Dubuque), May 21, 18 56; Merrick and Tibbals' Genesis of Steam [548] Notes and References Navigation on Western Rivers in Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1911, pp. 126, 127. *** Men like "Diamond Jo" Reynolds and William F. Davidson had many and divergent interests. Each man contributed much to steam- boating and each is worthy of a volume by himself. '^^^ Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), April 28, 1849. Blakeley, basing his statement on data received from Philander Prescott, the Indian in- terpreter at Fort Snelling, says the Highland Mary arrived first in 1849, but the Minnesota Pioneer of April 28, 1849, credits the Dr. Franklin No. 2 with the victory. «»° Scharf s History of St. Louis, Vol. II, p. 1003. ®®^ Data compiled from the newspapers of the period by the writer together with information furnished by the U. S. Engineers' Office at St. Paul, Rock Island, and St. Louis warrant these conclusions. ^^"^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, March 19, April 9, 1836. 693 Aj^Jlson's Telegraph Pioneering and By Wire in The Palimpsest, Vol. VI, pp. 373-393, Vol. VII, pp. 233-260. See the writer's series of articles on the coming of the railroads to Iowa in the August, Sep- tember, October, November, and December, 1933, issues of The Palimpsest. ^^* Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), November 18, 18 58; Blakeley's History of the Discovery of the Mississippi and the Advent of Commerce in Minnesota in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, p. 413; The Herald (Dubuque), December 21, 1866. ®®° Bishop's Floral Home; or, First Years of Minnesota, p. 178. *®* Pendergast's Sketches of the History of Hutchinson in Minnesota Historical Collections, Vol. X, Pt. 1, p. 75. ^" Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), April 28, 29, 30, 18 57; Express and Herald (Dubuque), May 1, 2, 5, 8, 1857. ^^^ Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), April 17, 29, 18 57. ^^^ Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), July 8, 1852; Daily Pioneer and [549] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Democrat (St. Paul), April 18, 25, 28, 18 57; manuscript register of the Time and Tide, on deposit with the Minnesota Historical Society. ""^^ Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), May 2, 3, 5, 6, 1857. ^°^ Express and Herald (Dubuque), April 16, 1859. ""^^ Express and Herald (Dubuque), April 23, 24, 18 59. """^ Express and Herald (Dubuque), May 1, 2, 5, 3, 18 57; The Burlington Hawk-Eye, April 20, 1884. ''^^ Red Wing Republican, March 26, 18 58; Burlington Hawk-Eye, April 20, 1884. * '°^ The Herald (Dubuque), February 28, March 10, 15, 19, 20, 26, 1868; Burlington Hawk-Eye, April 20, 1884. ^°« Quoted in The Gate City Weekly (Keokuk), April 30, 1873. '"^' The Dubuque Herald, December 14, 18 59. ""^^ Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), November 15, 21, 28, 18 50. ^°^The Minnesotian (St. Paul), November 12, 19, 26, 18 53. ''^^ Daily Minnesota Pioneer (St. Paul), November 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, 30, December 5, 1854. ''^^ Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), November 5, 18 57. ''^^ Daily Pioneer and Democrat (St. Paul), November 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 1857. ''^^ Express and Herald (Dubuque) November 24, 18 57. "^^^The Winona Republican, November 27, December 4, 11, 18 5 5. ''^^ NortJjwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, December 3, 17, 1836. ''^^ Nort/jwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, November 11, 26, 29, December 2, 4, 18 51. '^^ Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, December 3, 1836, November 24, 1841, February 17, 1846. ^^* Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, February 17, 1846. [550] Notes and References ^^^ Quoted in the Winona Republican, November 24, 1858. Minne- sota Territory was not legally created until March, 1849. ~-° Burlington Post, November 1, 1919. ^^^ Muscatine Journal, quoted in The Weekly Gate City (Keokuk) , January 14, 1874. ^-^ Miner's Journal (Galena), March 13, 1830. '''^^ History of Lee County, Iowa (1879), pp. 663, 664. ^-* Northwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, November 7, 183 5. "^^ Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers to the Secretary of War, \%77, Pt. 1, pp. 81, 505, 506. ^=«Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, p. 1112. ''-' Scharf's History of Saint Louis, Vol. II, p. 1113. ''^^ Report of the Chief of Engineers, 1877, Pt. 1, pp. 505, 506. ^" Weekly Gate City (Keokuk), November 12, 1873. 730 JSlorthwestern Gazette and Galena Advertiser, November 24, 1845, February 17, 1846; Galena Daily Advertiser, January 9, 1849. "•^^The Herald (Dubuque), April 12, 14, 17, 1866. "2 The Weekly Gate City (Keokuk), March 25, 1874. '^^The Herald (Dubuque), March 6, 1867. "*ry&? Herald (Dubuque), November 28, 1868; Oldt's History of Duhuqjie County, Iowa, pp. 209, 211, 223, 234, 23 5. "^ Burlington Post, March 28, April 4, 1914. '^® Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, Pittsburgh, Enrolment 40, March 10, 1840. The first Chippewa was 127 feet long, had a 19-foot beam, a 4-foot 8-inch hold, and measured 107 tons. — Senate Documents, 28th Congress, 1st Session, Document 242, p. 8; Burlington Post, March 28, 1914. ^^^ Enrolment of Vessels, Collector of Customs Office, St. Louis. According to her enrolment, dated December 3, 18 58, the Chippewa [551] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Falls was owned by Captain "W. R. Van Pelt together with John McFarland and James Francis, all of Oquawka, Illinois. She was 120 feet long, had a 24-foot beam, a 3i-foot hold, and measured 93 tons. Another steamboat Chippewa Falls, said to have been built at Pittsburgh in 1861 and measuring 142 tons, is recorded in the Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam Vessels (1869), p. 183. ''^^ Burlington Post, April 4, 1914. 739 Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam Vessels (1869), p. 182; Burlington Post, March 28, April 4, 1914. ^*^ Chittenden's History of Early Steamboat Navigation on the Mis- souri River, Vol. I, pp. 218-221; McDonald's The Missouri River and Its Victims in The Missouri Historical Review, Vol. XXI, p. 234; Burlington Post, March 28, 1914. In addition to those mentioned in the footnotes, the writer is indebted to scores of others: to Captains John Killeen, Fred Bill, George Merrick, and Walter Blair; to J. P. Higgins and Major General T. Q. Ashburn; to Steamboat Inspectors George B. Knapp and Harry Suiter; to Solon }. Buck, Theodore C. Blegen, Joseph Schafer, and Paul Angle. He fs especially grateful to Louis Peher for critical and friendly advice and counsel. [552] [Names of boats and newspapers are printed in italics.] A. L. Shot-well, 239 Able, Daniel, 251, 2 52 Accidents, discussion of, 363-368 Acq, Michel, explorations of, 31 AJ Hine, service of, 187 Adams, Charles Francis, 286, 358, 369 Addie Johnston, profits of, 378 Adelaide Bell, captain of, 185 Adelia, excursion of, 294 Admiral, 279 Adventure, 218, 260, 261 Agamemnon, work of, 43 1 Agnes, 160, 221 Agricultural implements, shipment of, 384 Albany (N. Y.), incident at, 39; immi- grants at, 321 Albany Evening Journal, representative of, 272; comment in, 343 Alex Mitchell, destruction of, 477 Alexander Hamilton, 447 Algonquian nation, tribes of, 1 1 Alhambra, 295, 358, 369, 466, 468, 470 Alice, operation of, 466 Alleghany Mountains, 316, 318, 325, 486 Allegheny River, early boats on, 49; Arsenal on, 84; transportation on, 325 Allen, James, 15 Alpha, 134 Alton (111.), 179, 245, 259, 288, 292, 309, 336 Alton Slough, winter quarters at, 478 Amaranth, 221, 235, 367 Amelia, Indian goods carried by, 128 American Aboriginal Portfolio, 17 American Citizen, quotation from, 36 American Fur Company, activities of, 81, 122, 123, 147-149, 155, 158, 159, 401, 484; posts of, 145, 254; agents of, 146, 403, 419; investment of, in steamboats, 157; partiality of, 158, 159 Andrews, C. C, 347 Andy Johnson, excursion of, 291; de- struction of, 477 Annie, operation of, 462 Anson Northup, 165 Anthony Wayne, 237, 252 Apples, shipment of, 3 85 Argo, sinking of, 108, 420 Ariel, 123, 156, 157, 159, 400 Arkansas River, 26, 335 Arkansas River Packet Company, 402 "Arkansaw", emigrants in, 304 Armstrong, Cuyler, 212 Armstrong, John, 212 Assiniboine River, colony at, 162 Astor, John Jacob, 75, 81, 204 Atchison, George W., 153, 443 Atchison, John, service of, as steamboat captain, 153, 155, 158, 160, 161, 215, 218, 258, 260, 419, 443, 445, 455; wager of, 208 Atchison, Mark, service of, 443 Atkinson, Henry, command of, 174, 178, 257, 398, 400; boat invented by, 191 Atlanta, operation of, 459 Atlantic cable, laying of, 431, 432, 43 3 Atlantic Ocean, crossing of, by steam- ship, 41, 301 Atlas, 178 Atwater, Caleb, 113, 114, 115, 129, 142, 145, 147, 359, 393 Autocrat, tonnage of, 221 Babcock, James F„ quotation from, 2 83 Bacon, Leonard, meeting with, 272 Bad Axe River, mention of, 102; battle at, 177, 398, 410; Indians along. 397 Bailly, Alexis, 123, 146 Baird, James, observation by, 307 Baird, Robert M., opinion of, 321; guide published by, 374 Baldwin, Thomas, 258 Baltimore (Md.), 325, 432 Bancroft, George, 272, 276, 280, 285 Bannock City, excursion of, 293; cargo of, 3 85 Barges, mention of, 46, 68; cost of, 52; [553] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi description of, 52; use of, 52, 223, 224 Barlow, Joel, Fulton's letter to, 38, 40 Barn Bluff (Minn.), 24, 104 Barnum, Phineas T., 3 90 Bateau, description of, 50 Bates, David G., fur trade permit of, 144; work of, 147, 153, 212, 409, 413, 442 Bates, Edward, 272, 276 Bathrick, Abigail, marriage of, 407 Bayard, destruction of, 477 Becknell, William, 204 Bell, Edwin, 131-133 Belle Key, cargo of, 381 Belle of Memphis, value of, 477 Bellefontaine (Mo.), 169, 170 Bellevue, 275, 293 Bellvietv, furs carried by, 149 Beltrami, Giacomo C., explorations of, 13, 14, 90, 93, 145, 213; quotations from, 91-94; description of Falls by, 250, 251 Belvidere, 222 Ben Campbell, 202, 266, 362 Ben Conrssn, collision with, 367; opera- tion of, 469 Ben Franklin, cargo of, 389 Bengal Tiger, cargo of, 3 88 Berkeley, Bishop George, comment by, 301 Bersie, Hiram, 153, 260, 264, 273, 281, 282, 443 Big Thimder (Indian chief), 12 3 Bill Henderson, 181, 293, 3 85 Bills of lading, study of, 381 Bishop, Harriet E., comments by, 108, 345, 414, 429, 455 Bixby, Mr., piloting of, 439, 440 Black Hawk, mention of, 23; trip of, 120-122; capture of, 120, 121, 177; quotation from Autobiography of, 120- 122; meeting of, with Andrew Jack- son, 122; imprisonment of, 122; war conducted by, 175-177; activities of, 396, 397, 398 Black Haii'k, 266, 273, 458, 465 Black Hawk Purchase, 206, 309, 333 Black Hawk War, service of steamboats in, 174-178; mention of, 203, 217, 396; effect of, on transportation, 409; Daniel Smith Harris in, 410 "Black Republican flag", 185 Black River, 24, 103 Black Rover, 199 Blair, Francis P., Jr., meeting with, 272 Blair, Walter, 42 8 Blakeley, Russell, quotation from, 108, 109; Indian removals described by, 13 5-137; service of, 270, 420, 443, 444 Blegen, Theodore C, comment of, on name "Itasca", 19, 20 Bliss, John, 199, 200, 257, 400 Bliss, John K., account of steamboat trip by, 199-201, 253 Block & McCune, 419 Blondeau, Maurice, 145 Bloomington (see Muscatine) Boats, types of, 45, 46, 49-53, 191; mer- chandise carried by, 54, 78 (see also Steamboats, Keelboats, and other boats) Bohemians, coming of, 349 Bois des Sioux River, 163 Bon Accord, 237 Boone, Mayor, 299 Boone, Daniel, pioneering of, 81 Boone, Nathan, 81 Boston (Mass.), papers of, 272 Bouthillier, Francois, 212 Boutwell, William T., Indian missionary, 15; "Itasca" explained by, 18 Bowles, Samuel, writings of, 272 Boyd, Thomas A., 124 Bradford, Captain, 370 Brazil, excursion on, 259, 260; descrip- tion of, 262; destruction of, 262 Bremer, Fredrika, comments by, 145, 313, 319, 324, 329, 539, 340, 381 Brisbois, B. W., 157, 419, 420 "Broadhorns", 50 Broken Arrow Slough, 103 Brower, Jacob V., 19, 192 Brownsville (Pa.), boatyard at, 49; En- terprise launched at, 69 Brunson, Reverend Alfred, 375 Buchanan, James, message to, 432, 433, 434 Buffalo, Indian theory of, 165 Buffalo hides, trade in, 163-165 Buffalo (N. Y.), 244, 250, 306, 320, 321, 322 Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad, 320 Buffalo River, 104 Burbank and Company, 165 Burlington, mention of, 145, 184; mili- tary supplies from, 202; excursions from, 259; crossing at, 309; popula- [554] Index tion of, 344, 43 2; site of, 403; activi- ties at, 454 Burlington, 156, 157, 159, 227, 257, 400, 405 Burlington Railroad, 299 Burlington Telegraph, comment in, 309 Bushwhacking, 212 Butler, Captain, 172 Cabin passage, 328, 3 53-3 80, 374 Cabin passengers, food of, 3 5 8-350; names of, 403, 404 Cairo (111.), Charles Dickens at, 16; mention of, 179, 300 Calhoun, John C, 83 Calhoun, 86 California, p>opulation of, 301; reference to, 3 3 0; trips to, 333 Camp Kearny, 140 Camp McClellan, Sioux at, 140 Campbell, B. H., 420 Canada, 140-142, 181, 184, 194, 293, 351, 355, 356, 363, 380, 385, 390 Cannon River, 105, 435 Canoe, cost of, 50 Cantonment Jesup, 172 Cap au Gris, 24, 92 Cape a I'Ail Sauvage (Capoli Bluff), 101 Cape Girardeau, 87 Cape Winebegos, 101 Capoli Bluff, 24, 101, 255 Captains, status of, 153, 176; earnings of, 228, 373; activities of, 438-450 Cargoes, discussion of, 381-390, 538-539 Carver, Jonathan, use of "Mississippi" by, 12; explorations of, 32, 33; book by, 33; land granted to, 33; Carver's Cave in honor of, 3 3 Carver's Cave, 33, 105 Cass, Lewis, 13, 14, 299 Cass Lake, 13, 15, 22 Casse-Fusils, naming of, 102, 105 Cassville (Wis.), 217, 220, 237, 288, 290, 291, 376, 379 Catfish Creek, Fox village at. 111; Catlin at, 256; excursionists at, 288 Catholic Institute of Dubuque, 293 Catlin, George, data on, 248; paintings of, 248, 254, 255; scenes described by, 249, 250; mention of, 253, 257, 261, 400; Indian performance before, 254, 255; comment by, 417, 418 Catlin, Mrs. George., 253, 257 Cattle, 196, 197, 356, 381, 382 Cavalier, operation of, 453 Cavileer, Charles, office of, 164 Cecilia, captain of, 155; mention of, 157, 160; troops on, 179; purchase of, 401; service of, 402; passage on, 405 Centennial, destruction of, 477 Chain of Rocks channel, 91 Challenge, cargo of, 3 88 "Channel of the Foxes", 93 Chariton (Mo.), 81, 85 Chateau Brilliante, 146 Cheyenne American Fur Company, 145 Chicago (111.), mention of, 216, 271, 303, 304, 316, 318, 322, 330, 344; canal at, 244, 245, 246; newspaper editors of, 273, 303; railroad connec- tion of, 298; steamboat at, 321 Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, 271 Chicago Convention, 295 Chickasaw Bluffs, De Soto at, 28 Chickasaw Indians, 63 Chieftain, service of, 175, 178, 394 Chippewa, 157, 160, 483, 484, 485. 486 Chippewa Tails, 483, 484 Chippewa Indians, 116, 119, 126, 127, 128, 130, 206, 254, 255, 486 Chippewa River, 14, 24, 33, 104, 144, 145, 412, 483 Chippewa Valley, 483, 484, 486 Chittenden, Hiram W., comment by, 485 Choctaw Indians, removal of, 134 Cholera, spread of, 353, 354, 355, 356, 444, 445 Chouteau, E. F., 149 Chouteau, Pierre, Jr., boats owned by, 157 Cincinnati (O.) population of, 42, 53, 318; Ncxv Orleans at, 60; description of, 121, 122; mention of, 210, 287, 334, 386, 415, 420, 457, 459; immi- grants at, 327, 3 39; boats built at, 363, 367; Scribe Harris at, 411 Cincinnati Gazette, 272 Circus, shipment of, by boat, 3 89 City Belle, 345, 377, 3 82 City of Memphis, soldiers on, 185 City of St. Paul, cargo of, 3 85 Civil War, service of steamboats in, 174, 179-189, 378; effect of, on steamboat business, 180-189; refugees of, 181, 182; mention of, 203, 438, 439, 441 Clark, George Rogers, victory of, 34 / [555] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Clark, James, service of, 441 Clark, William, mention of, 34, 75, 90, 119; characterization of, HI; Indian policy of. 111, 112 Clarksville (Mo.), 92, 259 Clarion, 164, 3 68, 413, 465, 466 Clemens, Samuel, activities of, 43 8-440 Clermont (boat), description of, 36, 37, 38; trip of, up Hudson River, 38, 39, 40; naming of, 40; mention of, 265, 287 Clinton, De Witt, 248 Coal, shipment of, 3 86, 3 87, 471 Coates, Sarah, marriage of, 429 Collector of Customs, boats enrolled by, 503, 504 Collisions discussion of, 367 Colonel Bomford (keelboat), 210-213, 408, 410, 438 Columbia, purchase of, 402 Columbia Fur Company, posts of, 145, 147; supplies for, 199 Columbus, tonnage of, 221 Comet, vibrating cylinder of, 69; de- struction of, 69; mention of, 78 Conception (Mississippi) River, 12 Conemaugh River, transportation on, 32 5 Coneivago, 265, 348, 459 Constitution, arrival of, at St. Louis, 78; passage on, 354 Coon, Datus E., company of, 183 Coon Slough, ice in, 479 Cora, 155, 157, 237, 402, 405 Cornice Rocks, painting of, 25 5 Corwith, Henry, boat owned by, 263, 420 Cote sans Dessein (Mo.), 85 Coulter & Rogers, reference to, 3 82 Council Bluffs, steamboat at, 80; post at, 196; transportation to, 343 Covered wagons, 306, 308, 310, 313 Cow Island, 86 Craig, S., 198 Cranberries, shipment of, 388 Crawford, John, 90, 101, 211 Creek Indians, removal of, 134 Cremona, cargo of, 3 86 Croffut, W. A., 42 5 Crooks, Ramsay, 148, 158 Crow Island, trading post at, 145 Crystal Palace Exhibition, 278, 3 89 Culbertson, Thomas, 23 Culver, Captain, 223 Culver, Alvah, services of, 441, 442 Culver, John, 114 Cumberland River, transjjortation on, 33 5 Cumberland Road, use of, 297 Cuyk, Abraham, contract with, 325 D. A. January, soldiers on, 185 Dana, Charles A., 272, 273, 275, 276, 278, 279, 282, 368 Danube, operation of, 470, 471 Danube River, first steamboat on, 107 Davenport, George, 97, 145 Davenport, Indian trade at, 131; mention of, 140, 310, 344, 355, 379, 432; In- dian prisoners at, 172; soldiers from, 181; steamboat arrivals at, 184; excur- sions from, 2 59; speeches at, 274; rail- road to, 299; crossing at, 309, 310 Davenport, 293, 3 50, 3 80, 462, 477 Davenport Commercial, comment in, 310 Davenport Public Museum, 428 Davidson, William F., contract of, 13 9, 449 Davidson's White Collar Line, 379 Davis, Jefferson, 120, 121, 178, 200 Dawley, Clerk, 2 82 Day, William, 253 Dayton, excursion of, 258 Dayton's Bluff, 281 "Death's-heads", battle at, 98 Decatur, soldiers on, 185 Deck passage, cost of, 328, 374, 377, 378; discussion of, 3 5 3-3 80; dangers of, 3 64 Decorah, immigrants at, 345 Deer, hunting of, 3 59 De Lassus, Carlos Dehault, 42 Delisle, Vi'illiam, use of "Mississippi, 12 Denwine, freight rates on, 160 Denmark, 181, 183, 184, 265, 292 Des Moines Rapids, 87, 89, 94, 95, 97, 114, 121, 156, 168, 170, 171, 180, 193, 194, 199, 200, 231, 242, 387, 392, 407, 518 Des Moines River, mention of, 24, 94, 144, 145; Western Engineer at mouth of, 88; fort on, 168, 202; transporta- tion on, 443 De Soto, Hernando, 2 5, 28, 29 De Soto, site of, 177 Detroit (Mich.), 242, 250, 316, 321, 322 Diamond Bluff, 43 5 Diamond Jo, 378, 386, 463 Diamond Jo Line, business of, 3 00, 42 9, 449, 450 [556] Index Die Vernon, soldiers on, 184, 188; ex- cursion of, 265; race of, 267, 269, 270, 416; speed of, 437 Diligent, soldiers on, 186 Dirt Lodge, trading post at, 145 Dix, John A., meeting attended by, 272 Dixon's Ferry, 412, 438 Dodge, Henry, treaty negotiated by, 116; lead shipped by, 243; mention of, 401 Dolterer, D. H., comment by, 460 Douglas, Stephen A., 294, 295, 299 Dousman, Hercules L., treaty signed by, 116; data on, 146; correspondence of, 147, 158, 159, 161; fur trade activities of, 147-149, 155-159; mention of, 153, 403, 419, 420; boats owned by, 157, 483; home of, 383 Dove, 176, 178, 446 Dr. Franklin, name for, 108; description of, 109; Indians on, 116, 136-138; mention of, 117, 342, 343; troops on, 172; excursion on, 265; accident on, 365, 367; cargo of, 381, 382; pur- chase of, 420; operation of, 420, 421, 422, 465 Dr. Franklin No. 2, 155, 266, 412, 414, 415, 416, 428, 451, 455, 465 Dreisbach, Herr, circus of, 3 89 Dubuque, Julien, reference to, 23, 68; grant to, 33; lead mined by, 205; death of, 205; grave of, 255, 288 Dubuque, reference to, 218, 2 37, 351, 363, 365, 385, 453, 470 Dubuque, mention of, 156, 164, 184, 220, 225, 249, 268-270, 299, 331, 561, 376, 377, 394, 415, 424, 432, 453, 454, 459, 464; telegraph line to, 178; soldiers from, 180; boats at, 237, 350, 351, 379, 380, 461, 481; excursions at, 264, 276, 289, 292, 293, 294, 295; crossing at, 309; tonnage at, 335; im- migrants at, 340, 344, 349; Trappist monks at, 3 54; cholera in, 3 55; apples shipped to, 3 85; coal shipped to, 3 87; newspapers of, 405; railroads at, 464 Dubuque Express and Herald, comment in, 469 Dubuque Gas Company, 3 87 Dubuque Herald, quotation from 182, 183; comment in, 349, 351, 379, 386, 462, 482 Dubuque Reporter, comment in, 311 Dubuque Tribune, comment in, 311 Du Buquc Visitor, comment in, 382; announcement in, 3 83 Duncan, A. L., legal services of, 69, 70 Duncan's Island, 292 Dunleith (East Dubuque, 111.)) shipment at, 166; tonnage at, 335; transporta- tion to, 423, 424; steamboat at, 434, 436, 469 Durant, winter quarters of, 481 Durham boats, use of, 147 Dutch, coming of, to Iowa, 325 Dwyer, Captain, 124 Eagle, excursion on, 292 Eaton, Benjamin, 444 Eau Claire (Wis.), 483, 484 Eastman, Captain, 135 Eastman, Mrs. Mary H., book by, 17; "Itasca" explained by, 17 Eclipse, record time of, 46, 74; mention of, 66, 199, 239 Edwards, Ninian, 272, 490 Elk Lake, 16, 18 (see also La Biche Lake and Itasca Lake) "El Kader", community at, 341 Ellet, Mrs. Elizabeth Fries, Galena de- scribed by, 224, 225; comment by, 342, 357, 358, 362 Elsah, 24 Emerald, 218 Emerson, Joseph, treaty signed by, 116 Emigrant companies, organization of, 315 Emigrant guides, publication of, 305 Emigrants, coming of, 301-515, 330 Engineer Cantonment, Western Engineer at, 86 English, claims of, on Mississippi Valley, 32, 33; explorations by, 55; migration of, 501, 518 English Prairie (Wis.), passage to, 576 Enterprise, launching of, 69; seizure of, 69; use of, in government service, 70, 174, 175; time made by, 70, 71; tour of, 172; mention of, 178, 199, 595, 446, 465 Enterprize, 165 Envoy, 468, 469 Equator, 548, 448 Erie Canal, 297, 517, 321, 526 Essex, service of, in war, 174 Etna, launching of, 69 Etuzepah (Indian chief), 125 Excelsior, passengers on, 116, 117, 172, [557] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi 340, 3 54; mention of, 348, 466; cargo of, 382, 388 Excursions, 248-266, 287-295 (see also Fashionable Tour) Expedition, 86 Expeditions, 170, 171 Explosions, danger of, 77, i65-i67 Express, soldiers on, 185 Factory system, 95, 144 Falls of St. Anthony, mention of, 22, 31, 145, 146, 162, 169, 249, 255; de- scription of, 250; trips to, 251, 253, 254, 258, 264, 265, 271, 279, 280, 285, 286 Falls of St. Croix, trading post at, 145 Falls of the Ohio, 54, 84 Fanny Bullitt, soldiers on, 186 Eanny Harris, 290, 291, 295, 468, 469, 470 Fannie Keener, destruction of, 477 Faribault, Alexander, 123 Faribault, Oliver, 123 Farnam, Henry W., cup presented to, 281; position of, 281 Farnham, Russell, 144 Farnsworth, J., 253 Farrar, Amos, 144, 212 Fashionable Tour, 248, 249, 257, 261, 295, 373, 417 (see also Excursions) Fast time records, 239-241 Favorite, removal of Indians on, 139 Federal government, expeditions of, on Missouri River, 83; steam craft used by, 83, 84, 87, 167-173; steamboat constructed by, 84; supplies for, 90 Ferguson, William, comment by, 324 Ferries, use of, 297, 308, 310 Ferryboat, damage to, 480, 482 Fever (Galena) River, mention of, 14, 144, 179, 205, 206, 207, 392; traffic on, 68, 237, 393, 394, 471; comment on, 98; fur trade on, 144; government mineral agent at, 206; lead produc- tion at, 206, 213, 409; settlement at, 207, 210-219, 407; name of, 213, 214; post office established at, 213, 214; shrinking of, 224, 22 5; ice in, 470 Field, Cyrus W., work of, 431 Fillmore, Millard, on Grand Excursion, 271, 274, 276, 280, 281, 285; daugh- ter of, 276 Fink, Mike, keelboat character, 5 5, 56 Fire, forest, description of, 102 Fire Canoe, annuities carried by, 133 Fire equipment, 3 84 "Fire nation", 3 (see also Mascouten Indians) First United States Infantry, 193 Fitch, John, 40 Flag, raising of, in Iowa, 288, 525 Flagg, Edmund, comment by, 307, 308 Flatboat, description of, 50, 51; cost of, 51; use of, 205, 243 Flint, C. Gather, work of, 273 Flint Hills, trading post at, 145, 403 (see also Burlington) Floods, damage by, 45 3 Flora, removal of Indians on, 139; men- tion of, 468, 469, 470 Floral Home, author of, 429 Florence, building of, 402 Florida (Mo.), 89, 438 Folsom, W. H. C, 261 Food, shipment of, 152; preparation of, 359 Forbes, John Murray, opinion of, 329 Ford, Rufus, 267, 268, 269 Ford, Thomas, 215 Forsyth, Thomas, work of, 87, 144, 169 Fort Armstrong, mention of, 96, 114, 193, 196, 198; treaty at, 113; location of, 168; supplies for, 197; celebration at, 274 Fort Atkinson, expedition to, 83; loca- tion of, 168; mention of, 172, 179; supplies at, 201, 202; troops at, 402 Fort Benton, transportation to, 402, 483, 484, 485 Fort Clark (Peoria, 111.), 206 Fort Clarke, location of, 202 Fort Crawford, Virginia at, 106; treaty at, 113; mention of, 168, 169, 177, 179, 190, 193, 252; supplies for, 197, 201, 202; painting of, 25 5; trip to, 392; troops at, 402 Fort Des Moines (second), location of, 168; supplies at, 201, 202 Fort Edwards, Virginia at, 93 ; descrip- tion of, 94; location of, 168, 195, 196; supplies for, 197; mention of, 198 Fort Garry, 165 Fort Gibson, 134 Fort Lisa, Western Engineer at, 86 Fort Madison, ruins of, 95, 168; erection of, 168; mention of, 187, 259, 309, [558] Index 3 69, 432; supplies from, 202; ice near, 480 Fort Osage, 85 Fort Randall (Neb.), 140 Fort Ridgely, 168, 195, 413 Fort Ripley, 168, 195 Fort St. Anthony, mention of, 90, 190; Virginia at, 105; name of, 171, 172 Fort Snelling, Schoolcraft at, 20; expedi- tions to, 83, 251, 253, 392, 400, 401, 402, 429; site of, 87, 168, 169, 195; naming of, 90, 171, 172; incident at, 107; councils at, 113, 116, 124, 126; Indians removed to, 13 8; fur trade at, 145, 147, 254; mention of, 152, 153, 159, 160, 193, 200, 250, 254, 280, 442; steamboats at, 153, 154, 399; Red River Valley trade at, 163; sup- plies for, 197, 199, 201, 202; mail to, 201; description of, 201; Indian Agency at, 254; painting of, 255 Fort Winnebago, 14, 148, 168, 201, 202, 243, 249, 376, 412 Fortress Monroe, Black Hawk at, 122 Fortune, keelboats with, 223 Fourth of July, excursions on, 287, 288 Fowle, John, 199 Fox Indians, mention of, 11, 96, 119, 129, 130, 134, 144, 145, 167, 174, 175; Tillage of, 98, 100; massacre of, 111; treaty with, 113; delegation of, at "Washington, 124; lead mines of, 205 Fox River, 14, 30, 148, 161, 192, 243 Frank Steele, 348 Franklin (Mo.), 80, 81, 82, 85 Franz Siegel, winter quarters of, 481 Free Trader, 321 Freight barge, 46 Freight rates, on steamboats, 159, 160, 22S-233; on overland routes, 244 Fremont, John C, 257, 400 French, Daniel, Comet launched by, 69 French, explorations of, 2 8-3 2; immigra- tion of, 318 Frontier, record of, 240; officers of, 412, 414, 438 Fuller, Hiram, writings of, 272 Fulton, Robert, mention of, 25, 35; plan of, for Mississippi navigation, 36, 39, 40, 43-47; description of, 37; comment of, on Clermont, 37, 38; letter by, on steamboat monopoly, 44; steamboat company formed by, 57 Fulton, 199 Fulton-Livingston monopoly, formation of, 41-47; breaking of, 68-74 "Fulton's Folly", 36 (see also Clermont) Fur trade, profits of, to steamboats, 144, 148, 159, 160, 161; centers of, 147; comment of Atwater on, 147; routes of, 147-149; in Red River Colony, 163-166; characters of, 204; value of, 209 Fur trading posts, 144, 145, 146 Furs, transportation of, 68, 144-161, 505 G. H. Wilson, 443, 444 G. W. Spar-Hawk, 273, 278 Gabbert, William H., 444 Galena (111.), mention of, 14, 32, 112, 156, 159, 160, 173, 180, 200, 249, 266, 454; Black Hawk at, 121; steam- boats at, 123, 215-220, 225, 237, 335, 343, 399, 401, 404, 411, 453, 470, 471; trade at, 131, 149, 163, 243, 442, 459; lead mines at, 205; government mineral agent at, 205; land sold at, 207; population of, 207, 215, 225, 226, 327, 341, 342, 395, 408, 422; telegraph line to, 178; soldiers from, 179; naming of, 214, 225; position of, as port, 215-226; description of, 216, 224, 225; newspaper of, 216, 405; railroad at, 22 5; decline of, 225, 226; home of Grant at, 225; visit of Jenny Lind at, 225; hot weather at, 228; excursions at, 259, 260, 275, 287, 288, 294, 417, 445; accident at, 365; transportation to, 374, 375, 376, 420; visit to, 417, 445; history of, 430 Galena, accident on, 194, 366, 367, 369; mention of, 273, 459, 461, 466; ar- rival of, 345; pilot of, 442; race with, 459 Galena, Dubuque, Dunleith, and Minne- sota Packet Company, schedule of, 377, 378 Galena Advertiser, comment in, 313, 3 30 Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, 299 (see also North Western Railroad) Galena Gazette, 400 Galena River (see Fever River) Galenian, 217, 453, 476 Gautier, Antoine, fur trade of, 145 Gear, H. H., 215 General Brooke, 155, 157, 158, 401, 405 [559] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi General Hdmilton, lead on, 2 1 5 General Neville, 199 Genoa, building of, 402 Germans, coming of, 305, 318, 320, 324, 339, 340, 349, 466; attitude of, 329 Gerry, Elbridge, meeting with, 272 Giard, Basif, grant to, 3 3 Gibbons vs. Ogden, decision in, 73 Gibson, George, 202 Gillette, Mrs. Irene, 42 8 Gipsey, annuities carried by, 127, 128 Gladiator, soldiers on, 186 Glasgow, soldiers on, 186 Glasgow, Shaw & Larkins, 419 Glass, Hugh, 204 Gleim, E. H., 218, 399, 443, 449 Globe, annuities carried by, 131; arrival of, 365 GoUen Era, 273, 274, 281, 282, 283, 284, 348, 362, 370 GoUen State, 289, 348, 459, 469 Goodhue, James M., 117 Goodhue County (Minn.), 183 Gorman, William P., 149, 160 Governor's Greys, transportation of, 180, 181, 286 Graham, James D., 87, 88 Grain, transport of, 183, 3 52 Grand Excursion of 1854, 271-286 Grand Marais, 105 Grand Rapids, 15, 22 (see also Thunder- ing Rapids) Grand Tower, 2 1 1 Grand Western Canal, 316 Grande Prairie Mascotin, 96 Granger, John A., meeting with, 272 Grant, Robert, encounter of, with Win- nebago, 167; Grant County named for, 167 Grant, Ulysses S., 25, 187, 225 Grant Cote, 164 Grant County (Wis.), naming of, 167; lead in, 204 Grant Park, entrance to, 428 Gratiot, Henry, 482 Gray, R. C, 292 Great Eagle (Indian chief), passage of, on Virginia, 90, 91, 93 Great Encampment, 104 Great Lakes, 29, 301, 306, 307, 316, 322, 323, 324 Great Lakes cities, trade routes to, 242- 247 "Great Medicine", 108 (see also Dr. Franklin) Great Mogul, size of, 411 Greek Slave, 269 Greeley, Horace, comment by, 511 Green, Asa Barlow, 448, 449 Green, Montreville, services of, 273 Green Bay, mention of, 14, 29, 30, 250; trade at, 148, 161, 242, 245; military post at, 196 Greenwich Village, Clermont at, 3 6 Gregg, Josiah, 204 Grey Eagle, mention of, 23, 3 80, 406, 414, 415, 427, 428, 433, 454, 455, 458, 459, 455, 462; sinking of, 428; race with, 431-437 Griffey, David, 5 65 Griffith, Thomas H., steamboats of, 485 Grimes, James W., 180 Groseilliers, Medard, explorations of, 29, 50 Grosse Island, patients on, 3 20 Guerrillas, attack of, 186, 187 Guttenberg, mention of, 100; excursion to, 294 Hale, Charles, writings of, 272, 277 Hale, Edward Everett, letter to, 329, 330 Half-breed Tract, 5 55 Hall, Lieutenant, 136 Hall, Basil, comment by, 302 Hall, Dominick A., ruling by, 75 Hall, James, comment by, 3 06 Hamburg, reference to, 548, 585, 459 Hamilton, Alexander, son of, 208, 257 Hamilton, Elizabeth Schuyler (Mrs. Alexander), 2 57, 401 Hamilton, William S., father of, 208; wager of, 208; mention of, 257 Hamilton, service of, in war, 174 Hannibal (Mo.), mention of, 25, 89, 200, 211; excursions from, 2 59; cross- ing at, 5 09; Samuel Clemens at, 45 8 Hatifiibal City, soldiers on, 184 Harmonia, 265 Harris, Abigail, family of, 407, 408 Harris, Daniel Smith, characterization of, 155, 158, 267, 426, 427, 471, 472, 475; service of, as steamboat captain, 155, 155, 159, 256, 376, 406-430, 433, 435, 437, 458, 441, 442, 449, 451, 452, 454, 455; mention of, 159, 210, 252, 256, 275, 274, 403; records of, [560] Index 240, 241; steamboat improvements by, 261, 262; steamboat race of, 269; profits of, 377; birth of, 407; daugh- ter of, 428; marriage of, 429; death of, 429 Harris, Mrs. Daniel Smith (see Lang- worthy, Sarah M., and Coates, Sarah) Harris, Electa, marriage of, 446, 447 Harris, Jackson, 408, 443 Harris, James, son of, 210; sketch of life of, 407, 408 Harris, James Meeker, 407 Harris, Martin Keeler, 407, 415 Harris, Robert Scribe, steamboat im- provements by, 261, 262, 407, 408, 410; boat owned by, 418, 419 Harris, Scribe (see Harris, Robert Scribe) Harris, Smith (see Harris, Daniel Smith) Harrison, William Henry, farm of, 62; mention of, 258 Hastings (Minn.), 378, 43 5 Hawkeye State, 23, 180, 181, 363, 380, 385 Hay, shipment of, 388 Hayden, Peter, 164 Helen Blair, cabin of, 428 Helena (Wis.), shot tower near, 243; passage to, 376 Heliopolis (snagboat), 74 Hempstead, William, mention of, 215; boat owned by, 263, 395 Hempstead and Beebe, boats owned by, 157, 256 Hennepin, Louis, use of "Meschasipi" by, 12; Falls named by, 31 Henrietta, operation of, 466 Henry Clay, soldiers on, 181; mention of, 184, 459, 467; excursions on, 265; cargo of, 3 85 Herculaneum shot tower, 75, 244 Hermione, purchase of, 414 Heroine, captain of, 234; accident of, 234 Highland Mary, captain of, 155; mention of, 202, 45 5; passenger on, 33 8 Highland Mary No. 2, 445 Highlander, tonnage of, 221; operation of, 449 Holland, immigrants from, 318, 32 8 Hollidaysburg (Pa.), immigrants at, 3 25 Holmes, Reuben, 177, 3 96 Holstrom, E. W., service of, 331 Hone, Philip, comment by, 3 39 Hooper, William H., 157, 443, 446, 447 Horses, use of, 326 Houghton, Douglas, 15 Howard, Mrs. Joe, 351 Hubbard, Henry, meeting with, 272 Hudson, Charles, 272, 276, 277 Hudson River, steamboats - on, 38, 39, 316, 321, 323 Hudson's Bay Company, 162, 165, 166 Hughlett, John G., 215 Hunt, Wilson Price, 75 Hutchinson, Abe, 292 Icarian Community, 340, 341 Ice, dangers from, 232, 233, 451, 475- 482; shipment of, 388; obstruction by, 451, 455, 456, 460; forming of, 464 Ida Fulton, cargo of, 3 85, 3 86 Illinois, American possession of, 34; ad- mission of, 77; volunteers from, 179; lead in, 204; Governor of, 272; pop- ulation of, 301, 303, 337; migration to, 302, 304, 305, 308, 309, 316, 327, 334, 336, 344; emigrants from, 311; route to, 316 Illinois, troops on, 192, 193; sinking of, 193 Illinois Central Railroad, 299 Illinois-Lake Michigan Canal, 244, 245, 297 Illinois Monthly Magazine, comment in, 306 Illinois River, 24, 31, 175, 219, 3 3 5, 336, 339, 396 Immigrant trails, 316-331 Immigrants, transportation of, 297, 298, 317, 338-340, 373, 466; property of, 323; number of, 324, 535; hardships of, 353, 364 Imported trade goods, costs of, 1 5 1 Independence, 82, 84 Indian annuities, transportation ot, by steamboats, 126-133; first payment of, 127, 128; value of, 130, 131 Indian councils, shift of, 117 Indian Queen, record of, 240; passage on, 3 59; collision with, 3 67 Indian treaties, steamboats used in, 111- 117; negotiation of, 118-125; cost of, 119; troop escorts to, 172 Indiana, admission of, 77; population of, 301; emigrants in, 305, 344; emigrants from, 311, 312, 334; route to. 316 [561] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Indiana, reference to, 147, 174, 198, 199; lead cargo of, 215; regular run of, 222, 223; excursion of, 288 Indians, goods for, 87, 149, 150, 499, 500; cost of shipping goods, 502; atti- tude of, toward steamboats, 107-110; treaties with, 117-125; removal of, by steamboat, 134-142; delegations of, 172; lead mined by, 205, 206; por- traits of, 248, 255; activities of, 396, 397 lone, keelboats of, 224; earnings of, 234, 235; mention of, 260 Iowa, emigrants to, 182, 308, 309, 310, 311, 314, 319, 325, 327, 351, 425; Civil War soldiers from, 185; popu- lation of, 301; activities in, 313; route to, 316; population of, 333, 334, 337; livestock in, 3 82 Iowa, captain of, 236, 260; trips of, 236; receipts of, 236; record of, 240, 241 Iowa Indians, 94, 112, 119, 129 Iowa River, 24, 31, 95, 96, 129, 144 Irene, 116, 2 58 Irish, 162, 305, 317, 329, 339, 340 Iron City, 232, 233, 478 Itasca, mention of, 25, 433, 434; excur- sion of, 291; passage on, 378; profits of, 378; race with, 416, 435-437 Itasca Lake, discovery of, 16; description of, 16, 20; outlet of, 16; expedition to, 16, 17; name of, 17-21 Itasca State Park, celebration at, 19 /. M. White, time made by, 46, 239, 240; mention of, 166, 178 Jack, Andrew, 59 Jackson, Andrew, mention of, 25, 75; steamboats employed by, 69, 70; meet- ing of, with Black Hawk, 122 Jacob Traber, 383, 470 James Ross, troops on, 190; time made by, 190 January, Thomas H., 212 Jasper, tonnage of, 221 Jeanie Deans, soldiers on, 181, 184 Jefferson, Thomas, reference to, 2 5, 34, 35, 41, 301 Jefferson, 86 Jefferson Barracks, Black Hawk at, 120, 121, 177; mention of, 168, 174, 175, 194, 195, 398; position of, 172 Jennie Baldwin, passage on, 349; de- struction of, 477 Jennie Whipple, soldiers on, 184, 187 Jenny Lind, 273, 466 Jesuit Relations, "Messipi" River in, 30 Jesup, Thomas S., 86 Jo Daviess, naming of, 411; size of, 411; cargo of, 412; sale of, 414 Jo Daviess County (Ill.)> soldiers from, 179; lead in, 204 John Adams, 222 Johns, S. J., 363 Johnson, James, contracts of, 83, 84, 86, 87; charges of, 169; mention of, 212 Johnson, 86 Johnstown (Pa.), route to, 325 Joliet, Louis, 23, 30, 31 Jones, George W., 25 3 Josephine, 199, 482 Julia Dean, cargo of, 389 Kaposia (Minn.), mention of, 108, 123 Kaskaskia Indians, 98 Kate Cassel, government service of, 187; operation of, 469, 470 Kate French, 348 Kate Kearney, soldiers on, 188; conditions on, 358 Kearny, Stephen Watts, account of Wes- tern Engineer by, 88, 89 Keating, William H., expedition led by, 170 Keelboatmen, types of, 55, 56 Keelboats, speed of, 46; description of, 51, 52; use of, 52, 87, 128, 147, 169, 174, 190-192, 206, 215, 222-224, 234, 236; disadvantages of, 169, 190, 191; cost of freight by, 169, 170; transport of troops by, 190-192; time made by, 190, 191; names of, 222; towing of, by steamboats, 222 Keeler, Martin, service of, 443 Kentucky, emigrants from, 304, 311, 333, 334; newspaper of, 305; immigrants in, 319, 344; resident of, 426 "Kentucky boats", 50 (see also Flat- boats) Keokuk (Indian chief), 115, 403 Keokuk, dam at, 27; steamboat at, 80, 88, 89, 336; mention of, 134, 181, 45 3; encampment at, 183; position of, in Civil War, 183, 184; war hospitals at, 185, 186; excursions from, 259; [562] Index crossing at, 309; rapids near, 33 5; residents of, 432; ice at, 476 Keokuk, profits of, 378 Keokuk Packet Company, decline of, 182, 183; line of, 266, 449; profits of, 270 Keokuk Post, letter to, 43 8 Keokuk Whig, comment in, 344 Keosauqua, dam near, 444 "Key City", 225 (see also Dubuque) Key City, use of, in Civil War, 181; mention of, 265; passage on, 350; col- lision with, 367, 389; profits of, 378; operation of, 445, 460, 461 Key Stone, 348 Key West, 485 Kimball, Moses, 278 King, John H., 179 Kingman, A. T., opinion of, 473 Kingsbury, James W., 177, 396 Kingston (Ontario), transportation to, 319; residents of, 320 Kinzie, John H., activities of, 271 Kittson, Norman W., 146, 164 Knickerbocker, 260 Koehler & Brothers, 361 La Barge, Joseph, 401 La Belle Riviere (Ohio River), 54 "La Biche" (Elk) Lake, 13, 16 (see also Itasca Lake) Lac qui Parle, 152 La Crosse (Wis.), reference to, 103, 269, 276; railroad to, 299; crossing at, 309; collision near, 367; fare to, 378, 380; residents of, 424; steamboat at, 473, 484 La Crosse, cargo of, 180, 387 Lady Franklin, reference to, 273; passage on, 347, 360; operation of, 466 Lady Pike, mention of, 370; cargo of, 385, 388; arrival of, 463 Lady Washington (barge), draught of, 223 Laflferty, James, 123, 153, 154, 218, 256, 443 Laframboise, Joseph, 123, 146 "La Garde" River, 98 Lake Cayuga, steamboats on, 460 Lake City (Minn.), ferry at, 331 Lake Erie, transportation on, 316 Lake Hernando de Soto, elevation of, 22 Lake Julia, 14 Lake Michigan, 30, 366 Lake Ontario, transportation on, 316, 319, 320 Lake Peosta, ice in, 481 Lake Pepin, ceremony at, 32; descrip- tion of, 104, 249, 469; mention of, 190, 198, 200, 268, 441; Grand Ex- cursion at, 278; storms in, 366; steam- boat on, 406; ice in, 451, 456, 457, 458, 460, 463, 469; transportation on, 465 Lake St. Croix, 465 Lake Traverse, 20, 163 Lake Winnebagoshish, explorers at, 15 Lavtariine, survey party on, 171; ex- cursion of, 251, 252; cargo of, 349 Lambert, David, death of, 364 "Land of the sky blue water", 22, 23 Land's End, location of, 147 Langworthy, Edward, 215 Langworthy, Lucius, 215 Langworthy, Sarah M., marriage of, 429 Lanman, Charles, arrival of, 338; com- ment by, 340 Lansing, survey near, 171; fare to, 578, 379 Lansing, excursion of, 291 La Prairie aux Ailes (Winona), Virginia at, 103, 104 La Salle, Robert Cavelier, 25, 31 Latrobe, Lydia (Mrs. Nicholas Roose- velt), 49 Laughton, William H., courage of, 445, 446; service of, 459, 548, 549 Law, John, 2 5 Lawrence, arrival of, at Fort Snelling, 153; mention of, 199; lead cargo on, 215; excursion trip of, 251; tonnage of, 251 Lea, Luke, 116 Leach Lake, trading post at, 145 Lead, transportation of, 148, 229, 244, 404, 442; freight rates on, 229; trade routes for, 242-247; mining of, 341, 342, 409 Lead mines (Galena-Dubuque), Perrot at, 32, 204; Dubuque at, 33; location of, 204; history of, 204-209; opera- tion of, 204, 205; government super- vision of, 205, 206; production of, 207-209, 213, 216, 512; bet on, 208; steamboat trips to, 220 Lead trade, profits of, 68, 233-236; com- parison of, with fur trade, 161, 166; [563] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi account of, 204-209; importance of, 246, 247; interest in, 420 Leaf Lake, trading post at, 145 Leavenworth, Henry, tour by, 172; com- ment of, 193 Leavenworth, Cantonment, troops at, 193 Le Claire, Buffalo Bill at, 23; Virginia at, 97, 98; winter quarters at, 482 Lee, Robert E., rapids surveyed by, 171 Lee County, Spanish grant in, 33; immi- grants in, 333; population of, 3 37 Leech Lake, discovery of, 13; post on, 145 Levens, Tom, 289 Lewis, Meriwether, 34, 75 Lewis F. Linn, time record of, 239 Lexington, 215 Lightfoot, captain of, 414 "Lighting", cost of, 231 Liguest, Pierre Laclede, 75 Lincoln, Abraham, 2 5, 272 Lind, Jenny, mention of, 368 Lindbergh, Charles A., reference to, 36 Linn, William, 171, 172, 198 Lisa, Manuel, 75, 204 Little Ben, record of, 240 Little Crow's Village, 105 Little Eagle, operation of, 480 Little Rock, 134 Livestock, shipment of, 356, 381, 382 Livingston, Edward, comment of, 72; offer of, to Shreve, 72 Livingston, John R., comment of, 41 Livingston, Robert R., mention of, 25; interest of, in steamboating, 39, 40, 41, 48; steamboat monopoly sought by, 43-47; letter by, 44; appointment of, as French minister, 49; steamboat com- pany formed by, 57 Locomotives, use of, 3 26 Lodwick, Kennedy, 443 Lodwick, M. W., 420, 422 Lodwick, Preston, 265, 346, 443 Log canoe, cost of, 50 Long, Stephen H., on Western Engineer, 84; report of, 87, 88; expedition of, 104, 170 Longworth, Alice Roosevelt, steamboat christened by, 65, 66 Louisiana, boundaries of, 43 ; admission of, 45; monopoly of Mississippi granted by, 45; population of, 319 Louisiana (Mo.), 160, 259 Louisiana Purchase, 33, 34, 42, 43, 75 Louisville (Ky.), population of, 42, 53 New Orleans at, 60; mention of, 121 supplies from, 198; tonnage at, 3 34 immigrants at, 339; shipments from, 386 Lovers' Leap, 200 (see also Maiden Rock) Low water, influence of, on freight rates, 230, 231 Lower Mississippi River, limits of, 22, 25; historical significance of, 25; course of, 2 5, 26; tributaries to, 26; flood losses along, 26; size of, 26, 221; steamboats from, 219; excursions from, 25 8; trans- portation on, 335, 338, 393 Lower Rapids, 335, 337, 359, 392, 394, 405, 439 (see also Des Moines Rapids) Loyal Hanna, 260 Lucy Bertram, soldiers on, 188; service of, 347 Luella, accident on, 315; operation of, 466 Lynx, mention of, 108; captain of, 15 5, 158; ownership of, 157, 160; profits of, 160, 161; excursion on, 258, 259, 260; sinking of, 419 M'Adam, Mr., reference to, 306 McCormack, Preston Lodwick, 370 McCune, John S., 267 McGregor, Spanish grant at, 35; soldiers from, 181; crossing at, 309; immi- grants in, 3 5 6; activities at, 371; fare to, 378, 379; steamboats at, 468 McKee, Redick, steamboat of, 90 McKenny, J. H., 13 6, 137 Mackinaw boats, 163 McLeod, Martin, 146 McMaster, S. W., 159 McNeil, George, 157 McNeil, John, commission of, 113-115; mention of, 394 Machinery, shipment of, 3 8 3, 3 84 Macomb, John N., work of, 403 Madison, Dolly, portrait of, 248 Maid of loiva, passage on, 376 Maid of Orleans (ocean steamer), 79 Maiden Rock (Wis.), mention of, 23, 104, 200, 264, 270; painting of, 255 Mail, transportation of, by steamboat, 74 Mai-Pock, 100 Malta, furs carried on, 149; captain of, 149, 155; owners of, 157; freight [564] Index rates on, 159, 160; mention of, 260; description of, 262; passage on, 400, 405 ManJan, mention of, 147, 199; captain of, 171, 172, 198; time made by, 190, 191 Mankato (Minn.), Indians removed from, 138, 139 Mann, Alice, comment by, 321 Manny, J. P., farm machinery of, 3 84, 385 Mansfield, 348 Manufactured goods, sliipment of, 3 86 Marais d'Oge (Marais Dosier Slough), 98 Marais Dosier Slough, 98 Marcpee (Indian), incident of, 119, 120 Mark Twain, early home of, 23, 211; mention of, 89; writings of, 43 8 (see also Clemens, Samuel) Marquette, Pierre, 23, 30, 31 Marryat, Frederick, mention of, 145, 257, 317; travels of, 227; comments by, 227, 228, 302, 305, 323, 353 Marsh, J. W., 251, 252 Marshall, John, decision of, 73 Martha No. 2, arrival of, 470 Mascouten Indians, village of, 30 Mason, Mr., 291 Massachusetts, emigrant company in, 314; resident of, 407 May, James, career of, 174, 395, 446 Mayer, Frank B., painting by, 117 Mayfloucr, passage on, 407 Mechanic, lead cargo on, 215 Medora, cargo of, 3 83 Meeker, James, service of, 443 Meeker, Moses, colony of, 210, 212, 407 Memphis (Tenn.), 134, 300, 334 Menard, Pierre, commission of, 113-115 Mendota (Minn.), treaty at, 113; men- tion of, 116, 164; fur trade at, 146 Menominee Indians, 100, 119, 120 Merchandise, shipment of, 3 86 Merchant, operation of, 3 96 Merrick, George, characterization of, 204 Merrimac Island, 43 6 "Meschasipi" (Mississippi), 12 Messenger, 348 Metropolitan, excursion of, 292; passen- gers on, 348 Mexico, lead cargo of, 215 Mexican War, service of steamboats in, 174, 178, 179, 203, 401, 402 Miami Indians, 30, 32, 205 Michigan canal, transportation on, 324 Mico (Mississippi) River, 12 Middleton, W., 126, 127 Military posts, erection of, 168; depend- ence of, on steamboats, 168, 169; in- spection tours of, 171, 172; troops and supplies transported to, 190-203 Military supplies, transport of, by steam- boat, 83, 196-203; value of, 201, 202 Miller, Reuben, Jr., 25 8 Milwaukee (Wis.), trade route to, 244, 245, 316; railroad to, 299; immi- grants at, 318 Milwaukee, reference to, 286, 293; profits made by, 377, 378; passage on, 378, 3 80; operation of, 468 Milwaukee and La Crosse Railroad, com- pletion of, to Mississippi, 286 Miner's Journal (Galena), first issue of, 216 Minneapolis, arrival of, 351; cargo of, 388; winter quarters of, 482 Minnehaha Falls, excursions to, 253, 254, 259, 280 Minneiska, excursion to, 289 Minnesota, mention of, 22, 162; Carver land grant in, 33; forts in, 168; com- ment on, 280; population of, 301, 302, 333, 334, 337; route to, 316; immi- grants in, 319, 331, 333, 338, 341, 350, 356, 359, 371; trip to, 333-352; livestock shipped to, 382; Governor of, 406; conditions in, 432, 433; resi- dent of, 448; visitors to, 466 Minnesota, Territory of, 15 3, 333, 337, 373, 389, 421, 451, 452, 454 Minnesota, 341, 348, 351, 355, 356, 385, 468 Minnesota, First Years of, 429 Minnesota Belle, operation of, 466 Minnesota Historical Society, celebration of, at Itasca, 19 Minnesota Packet Company, contract of, to remove Indians, 138; organization of, 158, 266, 420; D. S. Harris with, 267; steamboats of, 271; excursion of, 270, 286; activities of, 376, 377; clerk of, 390; member of, 414; operation of, 422, 423, 472, 473; mention of, 449 Minnesota Pioneer, comment in, 368, 389 Minnesota River, mention of, 11, 24, 139, 140, 148, 152, 153, 163; first [565] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi ascent of, by steamboat, 147; fur trade on, 147, 148; excursion on, 256; transportation on, 335, 413, 456, 457, 460 (see also St. Peter's River) Mississippi Bubble, reference to, 25 Mississippi River, names of, 11, 12, 30; uses of, 12; search for source of, 13- 17, 20; divisions of, 22-27; historical significance of, 23; skiff riding on, 23; changes in sea level of, 24; age of, 26; mileage of, 26; tributaries of, 26; exploration of, 28-34; account of, by Marquette, 3 0, 31; steamboating plan for, 36, 40-47, 54, 70; snagboat on, 74; scenes along, 92-105, 249- 251; freezing of, 15 5, 156; survey of, 170, 171; importance of, in Civil War, 179-189; movement for improvement of, 242; railroad to, 271; crossing of, 301-315; emigrants on, 307, 311; fer- ries on, 309; transportation on, 319, 327; settlements along, 334; ice in, 451, 452, 453, 464, 475; meaning of name of, 487 (see also Upper Missis- sippi and Lower Mississippi) Mississippi Valley, features of, 23, 24, 26, 27; exploration in, 28-34; claims of countries on, 28-35; American pos- session of, 34, 35; fertility of, 314, 343 Missouri, exploration of, 14; admission of, 77; resident of, 272; population of, 301, 337; migration to, 302, 305, 319, 327, 334, 336 Missotiri, reference to, 114; captain of, 114; troops on, 192, 193; tonnage of, 221; safety barge with, 223; passage on, 3 59; voyage of, 393 Missouri Fulton, excursion of, 2 57; men- tion of, 258 Missouri Fur Company, 86 Missouri Gazette, establishment of, 76; quotation from, 79, 80 Missouri Indians, delegation of, 112 Missouri Intelligencer, 82, 83 Missouri Republican, mention of, 196, 197; comment in, 398 Missouri River, Upper Mississippi limits at, 23; course of, 24, 25; discharge of, 26; steamboats on, 80, 82, 83, 85, 86, 219; Indian councils on, 117; annui- ties brought on, 130; fur trade on, 147; incident on, 186, 187; mention of, 193, 249; transportation on, 3 08, 335, 336, 339, 484; trade on, 400 Missouri State Fair, excursion to, 292 Mollie McPike, 351, 3 85 Monona, 240, 449 Monongahela River, early boats on, 49, 69; steamboat centennial at, 65, 66 Monsoon, 260 Montana, building of, 402 Montauk, barge of, 224; reference to, 237 Montfort, A. C, 443 Montreal, transportation to, 316; immi- grants in, 319; residents of, 320 Morehouse, D. B., 215, 240, 260, 273, 282, 443 Morehouse, Le Grand, 273, 443 Morey, Samuel, 40 Morgan (Indian chief), 115 Morgan, Willoughby, 172 Mormon Temple, building of, 385 Mountain of the Grange, 104 Muir, Samuel C, 212 Murphy, Mr., 131, 132 Murray, Charles Augustus, visit of, to Upper Mississippi, 252; comment by, 302, 318 Muscatine, refugees at, 182; steamboat at, 220; mention of, 230; excursions from, 2 59; editor at, 310; emigrant agent in, 314; residents of, 432; ice at, 475; winter quarters at, 482 Muscatine, cargo of, 3 85 Muscatine Democratic Enquirer, com- ment in, 314 Muscatine Journal, comment in, 314 Muskingum, lead cargo on, 215 Nanabozho, Indian legend of, 17 Napoleon, mention of, 2 5, 187; Louisiana sold by, 42 Natchez (Tenn.), description of, 56; New Orleans at, 64, 65 Natchez, mention of, 2 5, 46, 66, 239; race with, 437 Natchitoches (La.), 172, 196 Nauvoo (111.), mention of, 95; Immi- grants at, 340; temple at, 383 Navigation, opening of, 451-463; clos- ing of, 464-474 Navigator, operation of, 466, 467 Nebraska, population of, 302, 308, 309, 351 1566] Index Neill, E. D., 3 8} Neutral Ground, 125, 135 New Albany, tonnage at, 334 New Boston Bay, winter quarters at, 482 New Brazil, mention of, 194; tonnage of, 221; keelboats with, 223; descrip- tion of, 262 New England, residents of, 302, 317; emigrants from, 307, 312; immigrants in, 321 New Madrid (Mo.), mention of, 26; earthquake at, 63; New Orleans at, 63, 64 New Orleans (La.), mention of, 33, 149, 246, 459, 440; significance of, 41; papulation of, 42; New Orleans at, 65; barge service to, 68; battle of, 70; post at, 196, 316; steamboats from, 219; immigrants at, 322, 328, 330, 339, 374; conditions at, 327; ship- ments from, 3 34, 459; shipment to, 352; cargoes at, 381, 382 New Orleans, construction of, 57; nam- ing of, 57; launching of, 57, 69; voy- age of, 57-67; description of, 58, 60, 61; comments on, 59-62; Indian pur- suit of, 63; fire on, 63; regular run of, 65; snagging of, 65; replica of, 65, 66; excursions of, 287 New Orleans (second), 65, 69, 71 "New Orleans", 50 (see also Flatboat) New Orleans Crescent, suit against, 185 New St. Paul, excursion of, 265 New Sweden, founding of, 325 New York, editors from, 272; mention of, 302; immigrants in, 304, 312, 321, 322, 330; farmers in, 314; port at, 316; population of, 317, 334, 338; shipments from, 334; Joseph Throck- morton in, 391 New Ulm (Minn.), massacre at, 172 Newhall, Horatio, 215 Newhall, John B., opinion of, 527 Newman, John, 223 Niagara, post at, 196; mention of, 2 50 Niagara, work of, 431 Nicolet, Jean, exploration by, 29 Nicollet, J. N., exploration by, 17; tri- bute of, to Schoolcraft, 17; treaty signed by, 116; mention of, 257, 400 Niles' Register, comment in, 320 Nimrod, captain of, 155; reference to, 157; use of, 401; passage on, 405 Niota, damage to, 480 Nominee, Indians on, 116; mention of, 157, 266; expedition on, 171; race of, 270; accident on, 366; passage on, 377, 446; cargo of, 5 82, 5 85 North Western Railroad, 299 Northern Belle, excursion on, 265; men- tion of, 286, 569, 570; passage on, 546, 551; arrival of, 549; profits of, 578, 579; cargo of, 585; operation of, 469 Northern Light, reference to, 202, 286; excursion on, 290, 291; arrival at, 548; operation of, 468; sinking of, 478, 479 Northern Line Packet Company, contract of, for removal of Indians, 140; troops transported by, 181; business decline of, 182, 185; operation of, 5 55, 5 56, 449, 481; competition of, 579 Northern Oufitt, 15 8, 159 Northup, Anson, 165 Northwest, Old, States of, 501; immi- grants in, 518 Northwestern, operation of, 465, 479; winter quarters of, 478 Northwestern Gazette and Galena Ad- vertiser, quotation from, 218, 219 Northwestern Packet Company, rates of, 578 Northwestern Union Packet Company, profits of, 578; property of, 420 Norway, emigrants from, 518, 5 51, 548, 549, 550 Ocean Wave, opteration of, 548, 577, 449, 481 O'Connell, 217 O'Connor, Patrick, execution of, 292, 442 Ohio, population of, 501, 504; emigrants from, 511, 512, 514, 516, 554 Ohio River, early boats on, 26, 49, 54, 57-67, 70, 149, 219, 221, 258, 298, 301, 305, 306, 307, 316, 555, 558. 559, 542, 544, 586, 595, 596; villages on, 211 Ohio Steamboat Navigation Company, incorporation of, 57, 69 Ojibway Indians, land of, II; namesakes of, 485; Mississippi named by, 487 Oliphant, Lawrence, comment by, 5 22 Olive Branch, operation of, 154, 217, 455 Omaha (Nebr.), steamboat at, 80 1567] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Omega, 154, 240 Omushkos Sagaeigun (Elk Lake), 18 Ophelia, cargo of, 476 Ora, 265, 348 Oregon, population of, 301; trips to, 333 Orleans Territory, reference to, 43, 45 Oskaloosa, emigrants at, 313 Osprey, 108 Osivcgo, arrival of, 470 Oto Indians, delegation of, 112 Ottawa Indians, 206 Otter, reference to, 108, 155, 158, 159, 160, 221, 236, 417, 447, 455, 471, 476; captain of, 232, 236, 414, 415, 419 Owens, John P., comment by, 429 Oxcarts, use of, 163, 164, 243 Ozawindib, Indian guide, 15, 17 Packets, use of, 336 Painted Rock, 156 Painter, Captain, 294 Palmer, Strange M., 260 Palmyra, captain of, 126; distinction of, 126; reference to, 218; excursion of, 256; cargo of, 3 83 Parker, J. W., 184 Parker, Joel, meeting with, 272 Parker, Nathan H., comment by, 346, 347 Passamaquoddy Indians, 1 1 Patroon Debuts, 97 Patterson, Robert, 25 5 Paulding, James K., comment by, 3 03 Pavilion, reference to, 154, 218; excur- sion of, 256, 257 Pawnee, operation of, 449 Pearl, tonnage of, 221; winter quarters of, 481 Peck, James, comment by, 327 Peck, John M., comment by, 374, 375 Pella, settlement at, 32 5 Pemberton, James, steamboat of, 90 Pembina, settlement at, 163 Pembiita, cargo of, 181, 3 83, 385 Pendergast, William W., 456 Pennsylvania, population of, 314, 317, 344, 430 Pennsylvania Canal, 148, 298, 324, 32 5, 326 Peosta, excursion of, 289, 290, 294 Perrin, I., 257 Perrot, Nicolas, title of, 31; forts built by, 31; exploration of, 32; lead min- ing of, 32, 204, 205 "Pest boat", reference to, 3 56 Peyton a, 66 Phil Sheridan, excursion of, 286, 292; size of, 3 63; profits of, 378; cargo of, 380, 386, 463 Philadelphia (Pa.), 316, 324, 325, 330, 374 Philleo, Addison, 20 Phoenix, passage on, 399 Piankashaw Indians, 119 Piasa Bluff, description of, 92 Piasa Rock, 24 Pier, Phil, saloon of, 361 Pike, troops on, 193; tonnage of, 221 Pike's Peak (Iowa), 24, 25 5 Pike's Peak, 180 Pike, Zebulon M., exploration of, 13, 34, 75, 205 Pilot, lead on, 215 Pilots, activities of, 43 8-443 Pinckard, P. M., 291, 292 Pine Bend, steamboat near, 105, 43 6 Pine Bluff, cargo of, 3 85 Pine River, 124 Pioneers, coming of, 301, 315 Pirogue, description of, 50 Pittsburgh (Pa.), population of, 42, 66; boatyard at, 49, 362, 395, 457; steam- boat centennial at, 65, 66; barge line to, 68; military post at, 196; trans- portation to, 306, 316, 318, 325, 326, 373, 384, 386, 459, 483; Joseph Throckmorton at, 391 Pizarro, description of, 130, 262, 288; captain of, 414; cost of, 418 Planet, Indian delegation on, 112; troops on, 172 Platteville powder mills, 180 Plumbe, John, Jr., 2 57 Poinsett, Joel R., 123 Point Boss (Wis.), passage to, 376 Pomme de Terre Prairie, 98 Pond, Gideon, 373 Pond, Peter, fur trading of, 3 3 Pond, Samuel W., comment by, 3 59, 373, 374 Population, growth of, 301, 303, 337 Portage des Sioux, 92 Porter, David D., quotation from, 187, 188 Porter, Jeremiah, 19 [568] Index Post Boy, mail carried by, 74 Potatoe Prairie, 98 Potosi, passage to, 220, 237, 376 Potosi, race of, 230; explosion of, 365, 366 Potawatomi Indians, 130, 206 Powhatan (ocean steamer), 277 Prairie Bird, 178 Prairie des Liards, 92 Prairie du Chien, Carver at, 33; Indian treaty at, 92, 111-116, 172; steamboat at, 100, 153; Black Hawk at, 120; Indians removed from, 13 8; position of, in fur trade, 146, 148; reference to, 159, 160, 162, 167, 168, 175-177, 190, 196, 199, 200, 206, 217, 249, 299; immigrants at, 331, 335, 342, 356, 371; Alfred Brunson at, 375; fare to, 376, 378, 392; visit to, 394, 396; resident of, 403, 419, 432, 447 Prairie du Chien, Hudson, and St. Paul Packet Company, 157, 377 Pre-emption, captain of, 414; ownership of, 419 Prescott (Wis.), trip to, 378, 43 5, 467 Prime, W. C, writings of, 272, 278 Prophet (Indian), 121 Quebec, immigrants in, 319, 3 30; steam- boat at, 321 Queen Victoria, message from, 4_^ 1-437 Quincy (III.), 89, 92, Ilii'^ip, 299, 309, 336, 365, 366^ 3 ^^ Quinte, Bay of, reference to, 3 20 Raccoon Fork, fort at, 168 Raccoon River, 102 Races, 239-241, 266-270, 415, 416, 431- 437 Radisson, Pierre Esprit, explanations of, 29, 30; quotation from, 30 Raeder, Ole Munch, comment by, 323, 356, 359 Railroads, coming of, 271, 312, 342, 3 51, 464; effect of, on steamboat rev- enue, 133; significance of, to Mississippi Valley, 298-3 00; lines to Mississippi, 298, 299, 300; passage on, 331 Rambler, reference to, 147, 163, 199, 213; stores carried by, 169; captain of, 213; significance of, 213 Ramsey, Alexander, 116, 13 8, 2 52 Rapids, dangers of, 198, 231; effect of, [5 on size of boats, 220, 221; improve- ment of, 222, 242 (sec also Upper Rapids and Lower Rapids) Read, James, 77 Read's Landing, 378, 456, 483 Red Cedar, 20 (see also Cass Lake) Red Lake, tr.iding post at, 145 Red River, 26, 193 Red River Colony, establishment of, 162; income of, 163; trade with, 162- 166 Red River of the North, Indians around, 11; settlement on, 162; trade on, 162- 166; hunters of, 163 Red River raft, removal of, 74 Red Rover, Indian delegation on, 113; mention of, 114, 199, 393, 394; cap- tain of, 114, 476; passage on, 359, 405; ownership of, 3 92; arrival of, 404 Red Wing (Indian chief), 116 Red Wing (Minn.), Virginia at, 104, 105; incident at, 108, 183, 367; men- tion of, 123; steamboat at, 43 5, 465, 470; trip to, 457, 458 Red Wing, reference to, 178, 237, 348; voyage of, 356; passage on, 357, 359, 361; size of, 362; collapse of, 366; cargo of, 383; winter quarters of, 482 Redwood Indian Agency, incident at, 131-133 Reeder, D. F., 153, 251 Regan, John, comment by, 316, 328 Reilly, Robert A., 262, 263, 402, 443 Relief, captain of, 414 Rescue, 265, 459 Reserve, cargo of, 3 85; damage to, 480 Resolute, cargo of, 387 Reveille, arrival of, 348, 357 Revenue, 237 Reynolds, John, proclamation of, 175 Reynolds, Joseph, service of, 449 Rhine River, 24, 27, 103 Rice, Dan, reference to, 3 89 Rice, Henry M., 157, 164 Riggs, Stephen R., 154 Ringling, A. J., steamboat used by, 401 "Robber Barons", coming of, 463 Robert E. Lee, reference to, 25, 46, 66, 239; race with, 437 Robert, Louis, 132, 269, 447, 456, 458 Robidoux, Joseph, St. Joseph founded by, 81 69] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi Rock Island, mention of, 96, 187, 249; trading post at, 145; fort on, 168; Indian disturbances at, 174 Rock Island (111.), excursions from, 259; speeches at, 274; railroad to, 298, 342; Throckmorton at, 394; wreck near, 428, 439, 440 Rock Island, destruction of, 477 Rock Island (keelboat), 222 Rock Island Railroad, 298 Rock Islander, editor of, 3 08 Rock River, reference to, 24, 96, 144, 206; trading post on, 145; battle at, 175; transportation on, 412; steamboat on, 43 8 Rock Roe, 134 Rocket, cargo of, 387 Rockingham Slough, winter quarters at, 482 Rockwell, John A., 281 Rolette, Joseph, mention of, 100; death of, 146; fur trade of, 164 Rolla, 124, 258 Rolling Stone Creek, 136 Roosevelt, Nicholas J., mention of, 40, 66; characterization of, 47, 48; steam- boat activities of, 48-56; flatboat of, 53; departure of, for West, 53; inci- dent of, with Indians, 55; return of, from West, 56; Neii^ Orleans built by, 57; excursion runs of, 287 Roosevelt, Mrs. Nicholas J. (Latrobe, Lydia), 49, 61, 62, 64 Roosevelt, Theodore, 66, 261 Rosalie, 260, 265 Ross, Charles, 23 Royal Arch, operation of, 449 Rufus Putnam, fur cargo of, 147, 442; mention of, 152, 199; activities of, 413 Rumsey's Landing, winter quarters at, 484 Ryan, "Rocky", reference to, 369 Rynning, Ole, comment by, 322 Sac Prairie (Wis.), passage to, 376 Safety barges, use of, 223, 224 St. Anthony (Minn.), 252 St. Anthony, troops on, 179; sinking of, 231 St. Anthony Falls, excursion to, 271, 400, 417, 418; mention of, 335, 456, 486 St. Charles (Mo.), 85, 191 St. Cloud (Minn.), 22, 165 St. Croix, mention of, 237, 264; record of, 240, 241; captain of, 260; trip of, 415 St. Croix River, mention of, 14, 24, 105; Chippewa at, 126; first steam- boat on, 126; transportation on, 401 St. Croix Valley, Indian claim on, 123; first mill in, 127 St. Joseph (Mo.), founding of, 81 St. Lawrence River, mention of, 26, 29; immigration along, 293; transportation on, 319, 320, 321 St. Louis (Mo.), Pike at, 34; Lewis and Clark at, 34; population of, 42, 76, 318; historical events at, 75; trading post at, 75; growth of, 75, 76; news- paper at, 76; post o£5ce at, 76; church at, 76; school system begun at, 76; Bank of Missouri at, 76; steamboats at, 76-80, 217, 219, 335, 343, 401, 415, 477, 484; strategic position of, 78-80; first ocean steamer at, 79; Western Engineer at, 84, 85; Virginia at, 90, 91; Black Hawk at, 121; Indian trade center at, 129, 130; position of, in fur trade, 147-151, 209; mention of, 159, 164, 190, 191, 192, 245, 249, 439; war news at, 175; military supplies at, 196, 198-200; expeditions at, 211, 417, 420; excursion from, 258; resi- dent of, 272; fair at, 292; railroad to, 300; pioneers of, 301, 307; crossing at, 309; transportation to, 326, 327, 373, 374, 394, 406; immigrants at, 328, 330, 334, 335, 338, 340, 355; packets at, 333; grain shipped to, 3 52; fare from, 325, 379; lead shipped to, 412; shipments to, 442; ice at, 452, 478; telegraph line to, 454; shipments from, 459 St. Louis, 84, 2 87 St. Louis and Galena Packet, lead on, 215; safety barge with, 223; mention of, 243 St. Louis-Fort Snelling steamboat line, plan for, 158 St. Louis Oak, race of, 230 St. Louis Republican, quotation from, 74 St. Louis Rei'eille, quotation from, 229 St. Louis (Mississippi) River, 12, 15 St. Paul (Minn.), Mississippi River at, 22, 23; Indian trade at, 131; position [570] I Index of, in fur trade, 146; mention of, 159, 171, 180, 202, 252, 348; position of, in Red River Valley trade, 163- 166; government trade at, 203; de- scription of, 279; Grand Excursion to, 279, 280; comment on, 280; railroad to, 300; crossing at, 509; boats at, 333, 335, 462, 466, 467, 483, 484; immigrants at, 335, 341, 342; popula- tion of, 337, 338; fare to, 377, 378, 379, 3S0; livestock to, 383; cargo sent to, 3 84; transportation to, 406, 453; residents of, 413, 422, 447; telegraph line to, 432; trips to, 436, 444, 456; navigation to, 451 St. Paul, condition of, 3 58; size of, 362 St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, interest of, in steamboat, 165 St. Paul Daily Pioneer and Democrat, editor of, 425; reference to, 432; com- ment in, 459, 467, 468 St. Paul Daily Times, 425 St. Peter's (Minn.), mention of, 148, 149, 151, 156, 160, 170, 190, 196, 197, 217, 253, 264, 401, 402; steam- boats at, 154; soldiers from, 179; military post at, 196; scenes around, 249 St. Peter's, mention of, 237; excursion of, 256; size of, 399, 400; passage on, 405 St. Peter's River, Virginia on, 105, 106; mention of, 144, 170, 249; fort at, 168 St. Vrain, Mrs. Felix, 2 53 Sam Gaty, attack on, 186, 187 Sam Youns, 265, 348, 459 Sandbars, danger from, 76, 88, 89; de- lays caused by, 198 Sandy Lake, trading post at, 145 Sangamo Journal, quotation from, 3 04 Sanitation, lack of, 353 Santa Fe trade, characters in, 204, 209 Saracen, 348, 369 Sarah A7in, accident on, 364 Sargent, Epes, writings of, 272, 277 Saucy Jack (keelboat), 190 Sauk Indians, mention of, 95, 97, 112, 119, 129, 130, 134, 144, 145, 167, 174, 175; treaty with, 113; delegation of, at Washington, 124 Saukenuk, 96 Sault Ste. Marie, Schoolcraft at, 16; mention of, 2 50; immigrants at, 3 22 Saunders, John, service of, 468 Savanna (111.), soldiers from, 179; men- tion of, 230, 293; excursion to, 291 Savanna, passage on, 351 Savannah, Atlantic crossed by, 41, 79 Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe, explorations of, 13-17, 170; biographical data on, 14; island named for, 16; book by, 16, 17, 18; "Itasca" coined by, 18, 20, 21; quotation from, 20; letter of, 20, 21 Schoolcraft Island, discovery of, 16 Schouler, William, work of, 272, 278 Schuyler, soldiers on, 186 Scientific expeditions, 170, 171, 203 Scioto, mention of, 199; lead cargo on, 215 Scotch, settlement of, 162, 318 Scott, Dred, owner of, 116 Scott, Winfield, tour of inspection by, 171, 172; Fort Sneiling named by, 171, 172; mention of, 178 Scribe, Robert, service of, 443 Sea-Horse (ocean steamer), 79 Second Purchase, 124 Sedgwick, Catherine M., meeting with, 272; mention of, 275, 282; quotations from, 276 Selkirk, Earl of, 162 Selkirk Colony (see Red River Colony) Seminole Indians, removal of, 134 Senator, removal of Indians on, 138; captain of, 155, 414; mention of, 164, 237, 338; cargo of, 356, 472; passage on, 371, 428; operation of, 420, 421, 455, 465 Seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry, first casualty for, 184 Seward, William H., 286, 3 58 Seymour, E. S., comment by, 371 Shallcross, S., 223, 394, 396 Shamrock, lead on, 215; operation of, 446 Sheffield and Farnam, firm of, 271 Shenandoah, operation of, 471 Shilito & Co., purchases from, 363 Shot tower, erection of, on Wisconsin River, 243; location of, at Herculan- eum (Mo.), 244 Shreve, Henry Miller, steamboat mon- opoly broken by, 68, 72; biographical data on, 68; Shreveport named for, 68, 74; barge service of, 68; profits [571] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi of, 68; Enterprise commanded by, 69; war service of, 70; steamboat inven- tions of, 71, 72; achievements of, 73, 74; telegraph message sent by, 74; death of, 74; tributes to, 74; distinc- tion of, in lead trade, 205 Shreveport (La.), naming of, 68, 74 Shull, Jesse W., 212 Sibley, Henry Hastings, treaty signed by, 116; mention of, 123, 149, 151, 157, 164, 280, 406, 407, 420; corre- spondence of, with Dousman, 146; fur trade activities of, 146, 147, 157-159; letter to, 155, 156, 158, 159, 161, 419 Sibley's Landing, 186, 187 Silliman, Benjamin, meeting with, 272; mention of, 276, 278 Sioux City, value of, 477 Sioux Indians, mention of, 11, 109, 112, 119, 122, 124, 130, 131, 141, 169, 172, 254, 255; land granted by, to Carver, 33; fur trade with, 33; pay- ment of, 87; encampment of, 103, 104; delegation of, 116; council with, 137; appearance of, 137; uprising of, 138; removal of, 13 8-142; missionary to, 154, 373; treaty with, 382 Sioux Outfit, goods brought to, 149, 150 Skiff, flat-bottomed, 50 Skunk River, 24, 95, 144 Smelter, excursion on, 256; mention of, 25 8; staterooms of, 261; captain of, 414, 415; use of, 418; passage on, 426 Smith, Orrin, service of, as steamboat captain, 153, 157, 259, 262, 443, 444, 455; steamboat improvements by, 262; victory of, in steamboat race, 270; steamboat owned by, 420 Snagboat, construction of, 74 Snelling, Colonel Josiah, 190 Soulard, James G., 215 South Shore, destruction of, 477 South West Company, 93, 95 Southern Belle, 66, 477 Spanish, claims of, on Mississippi Valley, 33; land grant system of, 33; num- ber of, in Louisiana, 42 Spencer, R. M., 133 Spirit of St. Louis, reference to, 36 Spread Eagle, cargo of, 484, 485 Springfield Republican, representative of, 272 Stafford Western Emigration Company, agent of, 314 Stambaugh, Samuel C, Indians trans- ported by, 120 Stanchfield, Daniel, lumberman, 258, 259 Starr, Courtland, 3 64 Staterooms, 261 Ste. Genevieve (Mo.), settlement of, 2 5 Steam whistle, 109 Steamboat engines, types of, 69, 72 Steamboat excursions, 248-265, 271-295, 373 Steamboat lines, beginnings of, 157, 158; short line packets, 532 Steamboat monopoly, account of, 41-47; breaking of, 68-74; test case on, 73 Steamboat navigation, centennial of, 65, 66 Steamboat passage, cost of, 376, 378 Steamboating, beginnings of, 36-40; prophecy on, 41; monopoly sought in, 43-47; popularization of, by Shreve, 68; development of, 76-80; dangers of, in war times, 175, 176; discom- forts of, 227i 228; account of, by Marryat, 227; 228; profits of, 378, 379 Steamboats, invention of, 36, 38, 40, 71, 72; record times of, 46; cylinders on, 69, 72; engines of, 69, 72; use of, in government service, 70; barroom in, 71; mail carried by, 74; trade on, 78; numbers of, on western waters, 78, 220, 271; "Tea Pot Dome" case of, 86, 87; attitude of Indians to, 107- 110; introduction of, on Danube River, 107; importance of, in Indian rela- tions, 110-142; profits of, 124, 125, 160, 161, 173, 181-183, 194, 203; rates of, 153, 154, 159, 160; service of, 153-155; investment of American Fur Company in, 157; traffic by, in Red River Valley trade, 164; use of, on military frontier, 168-173; use of, on scientific expeditions, 170, 171; use of, in war times, 174-189; decline of, 181-185; revival of, 183; troops transported by, in peace times, 190- 195; accidents on, 193, 194, 363-368; use of, in lead trade, 215-226, 246, 247; tonnage of, 221, 222; safety barges with, 223, 224; competition among, 229, 230; records of, 239-241, [572] Index 415, 416; bands on, 252, 263, 264; passenger accommodations of, 260-264; description of, 284, 285; use of, 315, 516; importance of, 3 37; racing of, 415, 416, 431-437 Steele, Franklin, 146, 147, 157, 159, 160, 257, 259, 400, 419, 472 Steele's Point, 251 Stephenson, James W., 410 Sterling, operation of, 463 Stevens, Isaac I., railroad survey by, 171 Stevens, John, 40 Stillman's Run, 175, 409 Stillwater (Minn.), Indians at, 126; steamboat at, 401; mention of, 420; trip to, 445 Stockholm (Wis.), ferry at, 331 Stratton, Levi W., quotation from, 127, 128 Street, Joseph M., treaty signed by, 124 Sturgeon Lake, 43 5 Sucker State, soldiers on, 180; passage on, 351, 356, 380; size of, 363; cargo of, 3 85; winter quarters of, 480 Sully, General Alfred, troops of, 483, 484 Sultaita, record time of, 46; mention of, 66, 239; explosion of, 194; tonnage of, 221 Sunday School excursions, 288, 289 SunnysiJe, soldiers on, 186 Supplies, transportation of, 196-203 Surveys, use of steamboats for, 170, 171 Susquehanna River, 3 2 5, 326 Sutler, captain of, 414 Swedes, 318, 325, 349 Swiss, settlement of, 162; coming of, to America, 318, 325, 326, 327 Sycamore chain (Upper Rapids), 223 Taft, William Howard, 65, 66 Talcott, Andrew, survey by, 171 Taliaferro, Lawrence, reference to, 90, 103, 119; activities of, as Indian Agent, 123, 124, 128, 145, 152, 199, 254 Tamaliseu (Mississippi) River, 12 Tampa Bay, De Soto at, 28 Tapatu (Mississippi) River, 12 Tariff law of 1829, effect of, on lead production, 207 Taylor, Sarah Knox, 200 Taylor, Zachary, mention of, 178, 179; daughter of, 200; election of, 451 Telegraph, 74, 178, 432, 43 3, 454 Tempest, activities of, 178, 364 Ten Eyck, J. C, meeting with, 272 Tennessee, emigrants from, 304, 319, 3 54 Tennessee Insurance Company, 402 Tesson, Louis Honore, land grant to, 5 5 Tctes dcs Morts Creek, 98 Thomas, Martin, 242 Thompson, Eleazar, meeting with, 272 Throckmorton, Joseph, services of, 115, 114, 151, 155, 155, 157, 158, 160, 176, 177, 225, 255, 256, 257, 262, 591-405, 441, 446, 449, 476, 485; mention of, 114; death of, 403; atti- tude toward, 419 Thundering (Grand) Rapids, explorers at, 15 Tiger, cargo of, 413 Tiger (dog), 59, 62, 65 Tigress, cargo of, 585 Tilden, Samuel J., meeting of, 271 Time, excursion of, 260; captain of, 414 Time and Tide, operation of, 257, 348, 447, 456, 453 Tishomingo, operation of, 289, 565, 425, 424, 425 Todd, George, 186 Tom Jasper, arrival of, 5 51, 5 80, 5 85 Toronto, 519, 520 Trade goods, list of, 151, 152 Trade routes, rivalry for, 242-247 Trails, discussion of, 516-551 Transboro (N. J.), 515 Transient steamboats, 228, 229, 255 Trappist monks, coming of, 5 54 Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America, publications of, 55 Traverse des Sioux, incident at, 109, 113; treaty of, 116, 117, 164, 172, 541, 582 Tremont House (Chicago), reception at, 271 Trempealeau (Wis.), 25, 105, 276, 285 Trollope, Mrs., comment by, 562 Troops, transportation of, 84-86, 174- 195, 580, 415 True, "Bill", episode of, 139 Turkey River, village on, 100, 2 32 Turtle Lake, 14 Twining, A. C, meeting with, 272, 282 Uncle Toby, 178, 237, 289, 471 United States, explorations by, 34; pop- ulation of, 501; communications in, 431, 452 [573] Steamboating on Upper Mississippi United States Arsenal, steamboat built at, 84 Upper Iowa River, reference to, 102, 128 Upper Mississippi River, exploration of, 13-17; limits of, 22-26; lead traffic on, 68, 204-209; steamboats on, 80, 87, 88, 89, 168, 219, 249-252, 271-295, 316, 335, 343, 345, 550, 352, 365-367, 386, 396, 403, 415, 416, 430, 440, 441; military posts on, 196-203; de- scription of, 249-251; ice gorges in, 475 Upp>er Mississippi Valley, wealth of, 27, 88, 301, 336, 406, 409, 412; treaty grounds in, 113, 116, 117; migra- tion toward, 134, 142-146, 363, 378; fur trade in, 147, 429, 462; comment on, 178, 284, 370, 371; population of, 296, 297, 314, 315, 319, 330, 332, 334, 338, 341; cholera in, 355; ice in, 464 Upper Rapids, reference to, 96, 97, 168, 170, 171, 180, 231, 242, 262, 387, 439 Upstream navigation, 69, 70, 73 Valley Forge, 258, 260 Vanmatre, A. P., 212 Velocipede, lead cargo on, 215 Veritas Caput, application of, 13-21 Vermilion Slough, 43 5 Vesuviti!., launching of, 69 Veteran, 217 Vicksburg (Miss.), 25, 187, 188, 483 Victoria, Queen, message to, 431-437 Virginia, trip of, 80, 90-106, 128, 147, 162, 163, 250, 333, 336 408; cargo of, 169, 170, 190, 192, 198, 199, 392; reference to, 205, 211, 213, 429 Volant, 199 Volga Valley, 27 W. H. Denny, cargo of, 3 82 W. L. Ewing, mention of, 225, 348; cargo of, 382 W. L. Nelson, cargo of, 3 82 Wabasha (Indian chief), interest of, in Virginia, 103, 104; mention of, 116, 123, 289; gifts to, 128; village of, 135, 136, 138, 177, 396 Wabasha (Minn.), 104 Wabasha's prairie, 172 Waggoner, Isaac Newton, 157 Wahkoota (Indian chief), 123 Walachians, 107 Wales, immigrants from, 318 Wapsipinicon River, 24, 98 War Eagle, mention of, 23, 179, 237, 273, 274, 275, 286, 418, 425; captain of, 155, 414, 415; troops on, 179; accident to, 231; time record of, 240, 241, 437; excursions of, 260, 264, 294; description of, 264; passage on, 3 64, 3 80; burning of, 367, 477; profits of, 377, 378; operation of, 424, 455, 461, 472, 473; race with, 459; winter quarters of, 481 War Eagle (second), launching of, 363; captain of, 414, 415 War of 1812, mention of, 23, 100; ser- vice of Enterprise in, 70 Ward, James, 116 Ward's Island, immigrants at, 329 Warrior, shipment on, 152; service of, in war, 176, 177; captain of, 176; men- tion of, 178, 199, 217, 255, 397; mili- tary supplies on, 199-201; excursion on, 253; passengers on, 253; building of, 395; arrival of, 396; passage on, 398, 399, 405; operation of, 449, 453; winter quarters of, 476 Wars, use of steamboats in, 174-189 Washington, new features of, 71, 72; comments on, by E. Livingston, 71, 72; time made by, 73 Washington (D.C.), Indian delegations to, 118-125; population of, 301; mes- sage from, 432 Washington Guards, transport of, 181 Wave, 348 Webb, Captain, 291, 350 Weed, Thurlow, writings of, 272; com- ment by, 343 Welland Canal, 297, 316, 321 Wellington, William E., 390 Wentworth, W. A., excursion chartered by, 291, 292 West Diggings, mining at, 409; steamboat near, 410 West Ncu'ton, captain of, 267; time rec- ord of, 270; arrival of, 342, 343, 365; immigrants on, 3 54; passage on, 377, 426; cargo of, 413; race with, 416; activities of, 437; operation of, 455 Western Engineer, account of, 81-89; naming of, 84; description of, 84; [574] Index winter quarters of, S6; distinction of, 170 Wharf boat, exhibition at, 390 Wheeling (W. Va.), boat yard at, 49; Black Hawk at, 122; emigrants at, 307; tonnage at, 334 Whiskey, shipment of, 381 White Beaver, 121 White Collar Line, operation of, 449, 481 Whitney, Daniel, shot tower of, 243 Whitten, David, race with, 433 Wilcox, Joseph B., 158, 139 "Wild boats", 228, 229 Wild Life Refuge, features of, 101 Wilkins, William, 201 William Wallace, 178, 217 Wilson, George H., service of, 443, 444 Winnebago, Black Hawk on, 120, 121, 177; mention of, 178, 217; operation of, 395; passage on, 398, 405 Winnebago Chief, 243 Winnebago Indians, reference to, 29, 100, 109, 130, 144, 145, 156, 167, 174, 206; delegation of, 112; treaty with, 115, 116; lands ceded by, 124, 125; annuities for, 129; removal of, 134, 135-138, 140; description of, 140, 142; activities of, 141, 142; military visit to, 174; war service of, 177 Winnebagoshish Lake, 22 Winneshiek Bottoms, features of, 101 Winona (Minn.), scenery around, 103; Virginia at, 103, 104; mention of, 123; excursion from, 2 89; crossing at, 3 09; fare to, 378, 424; transportation to, 423; steamboat at, 463, 469 Winona Republican, comment in, 424, 469, 473 Winter quarters, 476, 480 Wiota, description of, 263; owners of, 263 Wisconsin, Carver land grant in, 33; fort in, 168; lead in, 204; immigrants in, 327, 338, 341; population of, 333, 3 37; resident of, 448 Wisconsin, mention of, 217; captain of, 234; cargo of, 234; operation of, 449, 453 Wisconsin Heights, battle of, 410 Wisconsin Herald, 245 Wisconsin River, mention of, 14, 24, 100, 144, 192, 206; fur trade on, 147, 148, 161; fort at, 168; expedition on, 170; route by way of, 243; shot tower on, 243; transportation on, 376, 412 Wood, B. F., 160 Wood, John, 211 Wood, William, 133 Wood, shipment of, 476 Wood and Barclay Company, 133 Worden, Jones, service of, as steamboat captain, 182, 445, 460, 461 Wyoming, 341, 471 Yager, Dick, 186 Yankee, operation of, 465 "Yellow Hills", 95 Yellow River, scenes around, 101 Yellowhead, The, 15 (see also Ozawindib) Yellowstoney 217 Yellowstone River, steamboat bound for, 80; prophecy for, 83 Young, Captain, 240 Younger, Cole, 186 Zebulon M. Pike, arrival of, at St. Louis, 77; significance of, 77, 78; description of, 78 [575] Edited by Bcnj. F. Shambaugh and Ruth A. Gallaher Verified by V/m. J. Petersen and J. A. Szvishcr Read from copy by Adelaide Gill and Marie Haefner Format by Benj. F. Shambaugh Index by J. A. Szvisher and Marie Haefner Proofs read by Ruth A. Gallaher and IVm. J. Petersen Paper Alexandra manufactured under order of Chas. W. Dau Set in linotype twelve point Garamond Printed by The Torch Press under direction of Edzvard F. Misak Binding by A. J. Cox & Co. Contracts arranged by Ethyl E. Martin Published by The State Historical Society of lozva L J