Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-10-09
FLAr-nOAr DAYS.
Pioneer Experiences on the Ohio
aud mississippi.


aud Mississippi.
indianapolis Journal.
The brave old warrior, Gen. Vim.
o. Butler, who died recently at the /
advanced age OF 81, was something |
more than a soldier. He was a
poet, and had at times given I'M
doubted evidence of possessing the |
divine afiiatus. His poem COM
mencing-
D, boatrnan, wind that horn again,
For never did the listening air
Uprn its lambert bosom bear
So wild, 50 snfts so sweet strain,
will long hold its place among the
gems Of American poetry. But the
days when the only means of trans
pOrtatiOn on our great western riv-
ers was the ilat-bOat have passed
away. lii may also be said To be a
thing Of the past, and hence the fine
flavor OF Gen. Buffers poem is lost
to a great degree to a nation who
only know of it by tradition
A voyage from Pittsburg to New
Orleans by. hat-boat was an enter
prise once of greater peril than a
tour around the world is now. 1t
was certain to be full of adventure.
1t required months for its accomp-
lishment. A shot from the shore
by some Indian or reckless desperi-
do might terminate abruptly the
voyage and the lives OF the navI-
gators in blood. A moments neg
lect Of the steersman might wreck
the unshapely craft and all the
hopes of its owners hundreds Of
miles nom home, and in an inhos-
pitable wilderness. There was dan
ger everywhere-in the currents,
eddies, whirlpools, bayOus and
snags of the tOFtuOus "father Of
Waters" but there was no less dam
ger from the half-civilized jewellers
on the banks. The outlawed GRIM
inals and desperate Adventures
from civilization skulked about the
shores or prowled with light canoes
among the bayous and creeks,
watching chances to plumber, even
if murder was necessary to aid them.
A fiat-boat voyage down the great
rivers was perllous enough rom
natural causes, even If mans inhu-
manity to man had not increased
the peril. In those days the gov
eminent had not thought of snag-
boats, and the Mississippi was half
full of hidden dangers. The current
was constantly changing. 1t was
easy to be deceived into an old chan-
mel from which there was no return.
Bayous were often traps-watery
misunderstanding no where but to
ruin. The organized river pirates
and wreckers were always on the
lookout for unwary vOyagers, so
that a slight mishap generally end
ed in a complete disaster. If, I'M
der such circumstances, the fiat
baatmen reached his distant home,
foot sore and weary, but penniless,
months after leaving, he was lucky.
In the early days of fiatboating a
safe return, even when the venture
had not proved financially profitable
was a grand event and the occasion
of 10Y. The business bred a special
class, who sought it for its advent
lures and dangers as much as for
its profits. The river pirates met in
the fiatboatmen of that early day
class ready, eager and willing for
the fray-a class which, like the
rancheros of the plains, accounted
trip tame and spiritleSs if unattaind-
ed with danger. They were rough
and ready, careless and care free.
Dreamily floating down the Ohio
they whiled away with song and
dance the lazy hours. The boat
mans horn walked the echoes from
distant hills more musical than the
steamboat whistle, or that cards.
tracted horror, the cailiope. Itwas
a romantic life, betting the grand
scenery and the rude time. Ninety
days on a slowly-moving fiatboat,
the scenery constantly changing,
but ever wild and beautiful, was a
thing never to be forgotten. The
spice of danger in it only gave it
zest. An occasional adventure with
river sharks only relieved monoto-
ny and added interest.
Ii is difficult for one looking on
the Ohio River to realize that once
fiatboats, broadhorns, the queer
est craft that ever flOated did all the
transportation business from its head
watets to New Orleans. A flatboat,
scarcely moving, with rude arrang-
ments for cooking on deck, almost
under water, with long oars aWk-
type of its time almost as grotesque
and odd as the Viking ship recently
dug up in Norway. Perhaps one
day it will excite as much arch8O-
logical wonder, for it already recalls
a time we fail to understand-a con-
dition of society and of our country
we can scarcely appreciate. The
leasure-lovnig, acknowledgements
ing flatboat was fast enough for its
dayand people. There was luck in its
leasure. But the tlatbOat has pass
ed away, and the boatInan will new
er wind his horn agar. He sleeps
as soundly as the war; or poet, and
his ear is dead to the sid, sweet mu-
sic OF the boatman's horn.