The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1894-12-29
A MARINE GRAVEYARD.
Where Many Mississippi River
SteambOats Lie Buried.
Tho Fatal Locality In Which Many PsIa-
tial Steamers Went DowD-Names of
Bome of the WeI-Kemem-
bercd Boats.

The recent discovery of a sunken raft
by Mayor Walbridge in the channel OF
the river above the Chain OF Rocks,
saws the st. Louis Globe-Democrat,
will bring to the minds of many OF our
old steamboat men the disasters that
befell the marine craft of this city IN
that portion of the river now included
in the harbor of st. Louis. The char
ter harbor of the city includes that
stretch Of the Mississippi river be-
tween the mouth of the Missouri and
the mouth Of the Ncrrimac. That por-
ton Of the harbor under the care and
control of the wharf and harbor COM
missioner lies between the Chain OF
Rocks and the Eives des Pcres. From
the upper mouth of the Missouri to the
foot of North Market street there are
now living under the silt and sands the
wrecks of over sixty boats and barges.
Many Of these steamboats, were the
largest, best equipped and speediest
that ever walked the navigaOic water
ways OF the country. They were in
reality marine palaces, such as TINS
generation has not seen.
Sawyer's bend was the fatal locality
where nearly all these splendid craft
foundered and settled under the shift
ING sands of the treacherous channel.
Amoncs the boats that were lost many
now living will recall the following:
York State, Southerner, Mary Blain,
Highland Mary, Grace Darling, Allie
gheny. Federal Arch, c. Buln, uba-
baltimore, John Il. Carson, Phiiadel-
phia, Edinburg, Challenge, Moderator
Nebraska, Sioux City, White Cloud.
Omaha. New Admiral, Geneva, Warsaw,
Empire City, Gov. Sharkey, submarine
No. l3. Saranac No. 2, War Eagle, Ben
Johnson, Gerard Il. Allen. Fanny Scott,
Henry Adkins, Columbia, Silver Bow,
! r. j. Lockwood, Wild Duck Nile. Vic
/ toria, Champion, Blue Lodge, Calhoun,
! Alma. Central City, Raven, salvor, j. w
/ Garrett, Hudson. Beaver, John 2,
| Kciser, Pacific, Lulu Worth, Cornelia
/ and Badger State. .,<~%r
The above were sunk between the
| wears 1855 and 1888. In addition tc
/ these there were twenty bargcs los-
north OF Bissell's point within the sain'
! year. No record was kept of the saw
YER" or cut lumber RATS that were los
south of Alton, but it has becn esti
mated that the aggregate value wa
over a million dollars. Only two o
the above-naAcd boats, the calhoun
/ and Alma, were raised. The bones o1
all the others lie many feet beneath TN
sands. petrifying under the action of tn
waters The actual loss in marin
70 II
| by the sinking of these boats was owe
Ave million dollars. 1t Is sad com
nentary upon the action of congress il
its failure to provide adequate mean
for the removal CT the cause of thes
disasters, and the general policy 0
making only ribbling appropriation
for river and harbor improvements
that after 1850 few, if any, OF thes
marine palaces were replaced wit
others Many of the owners in the los
OF this property lost not only all the
had, but also lost courage because {
the increasing dangers to the marin
commerce of the Immediate haroor
1t. Louis. ~-ss' '"-
To add TO the pathetic story of thes
disasters, many OF them fat TO life,
might be stated in passing that durin
, the period named above fifty-five splel
. did steamers We're destroyed by III
= within the charter harbor OF the cit.
The hulls of many of them lie just on
side of the present water line and for
the retaining dixie for the GRAM
wharf. Many of the grandfathers Al
yrandmothers of to-day viii rememb
with varying emotions their brid
trips on the James Howard, the L
= viathan. the bismarck. the Grand L
public, the Carrie " kouutz, and othe
equally as grand. The upper mou
OF the Missouri within the past for
wears, where it empties into the NJ
sissippi. has changed its location 10
!. or dive times, and its present mouth
several miles south of the one that {
isted few years ago. Opposite the
various mouths. and for one mile sOui
ward, many of the disasters nam
above occurred The outpouring of
Missouri waters wGs swift, the edd
and currents were treacherous and I
snags and other distractions so NUNS
ous at that point that unusual care W
necessary in order to avoid the fat
X places.
y The conditions that existed in Sa
N yer's bend forty years ago exist pr
IL tically to-day, and are still seriC
m menace to the marine commerce of
a. city, with the added dangers To
~, important municipal and railroad
he terests that have. grown with the
to quiremen.s of the water supply and
ei transportation demands of great /
ri tropolis.
er If the waters in Sawyer's bend COZ
re- be rolled backward. as the waters
SSn the Red sea once We're, and the sal
he cleared away and the skeletons of +,
id former palatial steamers photograph
what terrible object lesson would
conveyed from a spot that is now
most thicllly settled marine grayey;
in the world.