Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1895-10-10
A MARINE GRAVEYARD.
Where Many Mississippi River
Steamboats, Lie Buried.
rho Fatal Locality in Which Many Pals
tial Steamers Wont DowD-Names OF
Some of the Well-Remem-
bered Boats.

| The Fatal Locality IN WHlcn many : 90
tial Steamers Wont DowD-Names OF
Some of the Well-Remem-
! bered Boats.
The recent discovery Of sunken raj
by Mayor Walbridge In the channel O
the river above the Chain Of Rocks
saws the st. Louis Globe-Democrat
will bring to the minds Of many OF oul
old steamboat men the disasters thai
befell the marine craft Of this city II
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 Merrirnac. That por'
ton Of the harbor under the care and
control Of the wharf and harbor com.
missioner lies between the Chain o.
Rocks and the Rives des Peres. From
the upper mouth Of the Missouri to the
foot Of North Market street there are
now lying 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 navigable water
ways Of the country. They were In
reality marine palaces, such as this
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.
Among the boats that were lost many
now living will recall the following:
York State, Southerner, Mary Blain,
Highland Mary, Grace Darling, Alle-
gheny, Federal Arch, G. BUN, Yuba,
baltimore, John B. Carson, Philadel-
phia, Edinburg, Challenge, Moderator,
Nebraska, Sioux City, White Cloud,
Omaha, New Admiral, Geneva, Warsaw,
Empire City, Gov. Sharkey, Submarine
No. 10, Saranac No. Q, War Eagle, Ben
johnson, Gerard b. 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 P.
Keiser, Pacific, Lulu Worth, Cornelia
and Badger State.
The above were sunk between the
years 1855 and 1883. In addition to
these there were twenty barges lost
north OF Bissell's point within the same
year No record was kept Of the saw
yer" or cut lumber RATS that were lost
south Of Alton, but 1t has been esti-
mated that the aggregate value Yves
over a million dollars. Only two Of
the above-named boats, the Calhoun
and Alma, were raised. The bones Of
all the others lie many feet beneath the
sands, petrifying under the action OF the
waters. The actual loss in marine
to the merchants Of St. Louis
by the sinking of these boats was over
Ave million dollars. It Is sad COM
upon the action of congress in
it's failure to provide adequate means
Tor the removal Of the cause of these
disasters, and the general policy Of
only dribbling appropriations
'or river and harbor improvements,
hat after 1850 few, II any, Of these
marine palaces were replaced with
,thers. Many of the owners in the loss
# this property lost not only all they
lad. but also lost courage because Of
he increasing dangers to the marine
commerce OF the immediate harbor Of
It. Louis.
To add to the pathetic story Of these
disasters, many Of them fatal to life, 1t |
night be stated in passing that during
he period named above fifty-five splen-
lid steamers were destroyed by fire
within the charter harbor Of the city.
The hulls Of many of them lie just out
ide Of the present water line and form
he retaining dixie for the granite
wharf. Many Of the grandfathers and |
of to-day will remember
With varying emotions their bridal
rips on the James Howard, the Lee
latham, the Bismarck, the Grand Re-
ublic, the Carrie v. Kountz, and others
qually as grand. The upper mouth
I the Missouri" within the past forty
ears, where it empties into the Mis-
issippi, has changed its location four
r FIVE times, and its present mouth is
everal miles south Of the one that ex-
'ted few years ago. Opposite these
arious mouths, and for one mile south
7ard, many Of the disasters named
bove occurred. The outpouring Of the
lissouri waters was swift, the eddies
nd currents were treacherous and the
nags and other distractions SO numer-
us at that point that unusual care was
ecessary in order to avoid the fatal
laces.
The conditions that existed In Saw
er's bend forty years ago exist prac,
cally to-day, and are still serious
lenace to the marine commerce Of the
ty, with the added dangers TO the
nportant municipal and railroad In.
,rests that have grown with the re-
Of the water supply and the
'ansportation demands of great me,
'opolis.
II the waters in Sawyer's bend could
rolled backward, as the waters Of
ie Red sea once were, and the sands
cared away and the skeletons Of our /:
)rmer palatial stna ~, av.o ~