The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1902-04-25

satisfactory.
The names of the boats that left the
st. Paul wharf in 1855 for the Mime
sofa and the number of trips taken by
each were as follows: Equator, As
! Reveille, 40; Globe, 34;' Wave, 80;
Minnesota J, e; CslitD, 2
Time and Tide, 10; Berlin, 10; q. 7.
Yeatman, L. Total trips, 216. An
increase of 81 over the year before.
The season of 1867 opened auspic-
iously with good stage of water
in the Minnesota. The Equator,
we'll built packet of fair size in charge
of Captain Sencerbox, was the first
boat. She left st. Paul for Mankato
on the morning of April 18th with a
full load of passengers and freight
She was followed the next day by the
Clarion, which had been bought the
year before by Captain o. D. Keep,
and brought back to the Minnesota,
where shehad done such good service in
1853 under Captain Humbertson.
Captain Keep and his clerk, John
c. Hoffman, resided in the vicinity of
Shakopee and they kept the Clarion
in the Minnesota trade until she sank
near the ST. Paul levee two or three
years later Two fine new boats,
destined to do much service on the
Minnesota, entered this year. They
were the Frank Steel, splendid side
wheel packet owned by Commodore
Davidson, and the Jeanette Roberts,
a large stern wheel packet owned by
Captain Louis Robert.
The Antelope, small craft which
Captain HougLton ran regularly for
years between st. Paul and
Chaska began her career this season +;
while the other important boats which
engaged in the Minnesota trade this
year for the first time were the
Medora, j. Bissel, Isaac Shelby, Fire
Canoe and Red Wing, all good sized
packets, especially the last two.
During the spring of this year
steamboating on the Minnesota was
unusually brisk. Eighteen boats ar
rived at ST. Peter during a single week
in May and by June 1st thirty-four
boats had passed that town for points
above. It was no unusual occurrence
to see two or three boats unloading at
once at the Mankato wharf
The names of the boats which left
the st. Paul wharf this year for the
Minnesota and the number of trips
made by each are as follows: Ante
lope, 1O5; Jeanette Roberts, 40 Isaac
Shelby, So; Medora, 80; Franklin
Steel, 90 Equator, ID Time and Tide,
10; Clarion, IL; Minnesota, 8; Ocean
Wave, 6; J. Bissel. 5; Red Wing, 8 !;
Fire Canoe, 1. Total trips, 292. An
increase over the year 1866 of 76 The
last boat was the Antelope, which
arrived at st. Paul on the 18th of
November
The winter of 1878 proved very
mild and the river broke up unusually
early. The first boat to leave ST. Paul
for the Minnesota was the Jeanette
Roberts, Captain Thimens, on March
20tn, but the Medora, Captain Charles
G. Hinde, following in short time
passed her before reaching Shasopee,
in doing so though the boats rubbed
too close together and one of the
Medora S wheels was injured and she
had to tie up an hour or two for re-
pairs. She managed again to overtake
and pass the Jeanette while the latter
was unloading at Traverse Des Sioux,
and reached Mankato as the first boat
on the morning of March 22nd, follow
ed there an hour or two later by the
Jeanette.
Notwithstanding that there had
been hardly any snow the previous
winter. the heavy spring rains Kept
the river in a good nsvigable condi-
ton, and boats of the size of the
Frank Steel and Isaac Shelby were
able to ascend to Mankato late into
September. The freighter was The
only new boat to engage in the Mime
sofa trade this season.
This spring J. R. Cleveland and G.
F. Butterfeld built them barge at
Mankato rs feet long by 10 feet wide
and four feet high, which they chris
tened, The Minneopa, It was employed
by Mr.. Cleveland during the period
of low water for many years in the
Mankato traffic. 1t was operated in the
old way, by a polling crew, and it
usually took two weeks to make the trip
to st. Paul and back to Mankato.
There were 179 steamboat arrivals at
Mankato this year, counting those
from points above as we'll as from be-
low, the former though did not exceed
% or 80
The list of the boats engaged in the
Minnesota trade this year and the
number of trips made by each as
shown by the st. Paul wharfmaster's
book, are as follows: Antelope, 2O1 /;
Frank Steel, "a; Jeanette Roberts,
So; Time and Tide, 80; Freighter, 10;
Isaac Shelby, IS; Ocean Wave, 10;
Clarion, IL; Medora, s, Fire Canoe,
g. Minnesota, 8. Total trips 1913. An
increase of 101 over the year before.
In 1869, the river broke up early
after mild winter, and the Freighter
arrived at Mankato the first boat. on
March 27th. having left st. Paul two
days before. An abundant rainfall