Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-07-09
BUILT UP BUSINESS
Mississippi RiVermen Made
Navigation on the Yukon
Possible.
MANY NOW ON NORTHERN STREAM
Ocean Pilots Unable to Do What
Fresh Water Men Have
Done.

ness on the Yukon in Alaska in the
last five years has been due mainly to
the decadence of the lumber business
on the Mississippi, for il has been the
men, who, driven from their homes
by the decline in their trade on the
Father of Waters, have been the
pioneers of navigation on the great
northern river and have made possible
the steady growth of the traffic.
When public attention was first Sc
riously turned to the interior of Alas
l<a few years ago, progress into the
central part of the country was slow.
The streams were little navigated, be-
cause the ocean steamers were not
built for river travel and the ocean pi-
lots. trained to different class of
work, were PRACTICAL helpless in deal
ing with new problems. The first at
tcmpts to navigate the Yukon were
failures, and it was not until MissisS-
ippi pilots were secured that highway
use of the greatest of Alaskan rivers
became a possibility.
Eight or nine years ago the com
panieS interested in the development
of Alaska, began to send back home
for river pilots, offering high salaries
and long contracts to experienced
men. At first they were unsuccessful,
for the river men, commanding good
salaries at home, did not wish to
leave familiar paths to undergo the
hardAshipS to be expected in the Arc
tics, but a year or two later, when
the lumber mills along the Mississippi
began to close down the opportunity
came. Then the Mississippi pilots.
with their occupation gone at hime,
began accepting the advantageous
Yukon offers and soon a number from
Mississippi cities went to work ON the
Alaskan river.
No Serious Problems.
To the Mississippi river men the
problems of the Yukon offered moth
ing serious. They found navigation
there rather easier on account of the
depth of the river and the strength
of the current, and under their direc-
ton the proper kind of boats were
from the start able to handle ships
on the river in daylight and after a
few trips, were able to navigate both
day and night.
Year by year, as the business i'm
creased. more Mississippi river men
have gone to the Yukon until now the
traffic on the big river is immense,
and every captain, pilot and mate was
formerly engaged at the same en-
ployment on the upper Mississippi,
only the crews being chosen in Alas
ka. The best testimony of their skill
is the statement of the fact that on
the Yukon. where the ocean pilots
found navigation impossible, there
has not been single serious accident.
since the river men took charge of
the boats.
Most of the Alaskan river men have
have their homes along the MISSISSIPPI
pi. principally in Lacrosse, Winona,
Wabasha, Dubuque, Rock Island and
Clinton. Their season lasts but four
months, from June Is or 20 to about
the same date in in October, and as
rule. they return home to spend the
winters with their families.
Among those who have left this
season are Capt. John w. Nc
Cam, of Lacrosse, who pilots the
steamer Sarah, the largest on the
Yukon; Capt. NJ. NJ. Looney, of Da-
koat. Mimi; Mate Walter Hoods, of
La Crosse, Capt. o. j. Newcomb, of
Pepin and Capt. John b. Mccarthy. of
Galena. I'll. Capts. o. +. Mckinley. of
Rock Island; Thomas Delson, of Du-
buque; Albert Hill and John Moore,
of La Crosse are some of the well
known river men who have concluded
not to return to the north this year.
Easier Than at Home.