The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-03-15

In the early history Of this great
| Western country, with it's many pic
| turesque types of character, there Is
no class Of men more interesting than
the captain of the Mississippi steam
! boat and none possessing more marked
| characteristics. Times have changed
| since the fact that st. Paul was the
head of navigation on the Mississippi
was Of the utmost importance-and
| so have the men who command the
steamboats,.
Before the days of railroads, and
while the railroads of the Western
states were in the infancy of their de-
velopment. the captain of a boat on
the Mississippi was a monarch and
dictator. Good fellow though he might
be, he appreciated his power and eX-
ercised 1T to the utmost. On board his
craft he reigned supreme, and on shore
in his dealings with those who were
dependent upon him for service, he
was in a position to make his own
terms and to great extent he did so.
Individually he was almost invariably
hearty, whole souled fellow, with
very few airs or foibles, and person.
ally popular, but he fully realized his
Importance and was very jealous of the
Difference which he felt was due him.
Among the residents of the river towns
he was accorded a high position.
The first steamboat that ever came
up the Mississippi river as far as st.
Paul was the Virginia, which made
the trip with military stores for Fort
Smelling in 1923, just sixteen years aft
er the completion of the first steam
boat ever built. She was commanded
by Capt Throckmorton, who was one
Of the first Of the Mississippi river cap
tains, and throughout his career one
t@Q 10
spected.
Capt. Throckmorton was in com
| mand Of the Warrior at the time that
boat played such an important part
in the Black Hawk war. In the battle
| of Bad AK, which was fought on the
sight Of the town, for long years after
ward known by that name. but now
called Genoa, the Indians had been
driven by the white settlers to the
| river and were swimming in large
numbers across to Battle Island, when
the Warrior arrived on the scene.
The Warrior, Notwithstanding her
| name, was not an arnored vessel, and
her crew were armed with only such
| instruments as they could find handy
but she steamed up and down among
the swimming SavageS, and by either
running them down or striking them
| with her paddles sent large number
of them to the happy hunting grounds.
For many months afterWard Capt.
Throckmorton commanded the War
rfor in the service Of the govern
mert In the Improvement Of the Mis-
sissippi river.
Rivalry Among Captains.
!. In the early days Of steamboating on
the Mississippi there was the greatest
possible rivalry among the captains to
| be the first UP the river in the spring,
and they sometimes took the most des-
perate chances for themselves and their
crews in their efforts to achieve this dis
tinction. 1t was rarely that any pas
senger, except one travelling under most
urgent necessity, would venture ON the
first trip, but the boats would start long
before the ice was out of the river, and
in the lakes and the upper river the
captains and crews would brave the
greatest hardships for the sake of be-
ing first to arrive at St. Paul. And the
greeting which they would receive
upon their arrival would be such as to
certainly compensate. in great measure.
for all the risk they had run.
Bells would be rung and whistles
blown and the entire populace would
turn out and unite in giving the first