The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-10-17
PASSING Of IOWA
RIVER STEAMERS
Hundreds or More of Them Have Dis
appeared, Says Writer in the
La Crosse, Wis.
Tribune.
BOOK TELLS THE STORY
DiscIoses Names Of Scores Of steam-
Boats no Longer Treadlng tho
Mississippi
River.
BOOK TELLS THE STORY


the river, preserved in the office OF
tho La Crosse bridge engineer, says
the Tribune, is one little book of the
early eighties, which is extremely In
teresting, telling story as it does, of
the passing n. scores Of toats which
busfly pliel the 20 v:itrs OF the
Mississippi thirty years ego. Only
three boats row running on the upper
river as nt..y enrolled in this volume,
the Eclipse, the Sidney and the Ben
Hershey. All of the other hundred or
more boats are numbered among the
rivers vanishing fleets. Some few are
probably in service on other parts of
the river and It's tributaries, and the
machinery Of several Of the others is
still being used, although the old
hulls and cabins have long since
gone to the scrap pile. For the most
part, however, the old boats are en-
tirely gone Many burned to the wa
ter's edge, others sank and were
abandoned, and the remainder outliv-
ed their usefulness, and went the
way of all Mississippi boats, which at
best are not long-lived crsft
The great variety of names of boats
passing through the draw in 1881 and
1882 is In marked contrast to condf
tions existing today, when scarcely
more than a dozen individual boats
whistle for the draw In single sea-
son A few rafters, packet or two
and an occasional government boat
are about all that remain of the once
mighty fleet of up-river steamers.
The names of the following old
time boats, contained in the little
book at the draw, may prove interest
ing and will refresh the memories Of
old residents who saw them pass up
and down the stream In the rivers
palmy days:
Pauline, Moline, Lady Grace. Last
Chance. Flying Eagle, Menominee,
Helen May, Diamond 10, Ida Fulton,
Dorchester. D. Boardman, Sam Alice,
Charlotte Boeckler, w. ]. Young, Liz
zie Gardner, War Eagle. Josie, A. Il.
jerks, David Bronson, D. c. Fogel,
Zada, Keokuk, Mary Morton, Silas
Wright, Red Wing, Golden Gate, Hi
ram Price, G. H. Wilson, Little Eagle,
Isaac Staples. II. Schlenberg. Tiber,
Maggie Kearney, Lily Turner, Abner
Gle, Jennie Gilchrist, W. M. White
Peter Kerns, Mary, Nettie Thomas
Tidal Wave, Augusta, Maggie Reaney
Dart, Cora, Emily, Arkansas, c. A
Denkman, Pfttsburg, White Eagle
City of Winona, Robert Dodds, Ten
Brock, Pilot, Penn Wright, R. J.
Wheeler, Nettie Durant, Cowles, AL
fred Toll, l.. W. Borden, Silver Wave
Sterling, Albany, Belle of La Crosse
Mountain Belle, Artemus Lamb, Ma
trona, Brother Jonathan, Saltwater
Dan Hine. Minnesota, Lafayette
Lamb, St. Croix, Imperial, Jim Wat
son, Hartford, John NJ Chambers
Louisville, G. j. Caffrey, Park Paint.
er, Mollie Mohler, Lumberman, Evans
Vile, LeClaire Belle, Iowa, Nellie
Beach, Libbie Conger NJ. Whitmore
Bella Mac, Clyde. Kit Carson, j. s.
Keator, Emma, Grand Pacific, Dexter
Large numbers of boats in the old
days were named after wives and
daughters of their owners; others
were given names of cities along the
river, while others were given such
fanciful titles as White Eagle War
Eagle" Bald Eagle" and many other
Eagles. The book contains an entry
regarding the burning of the beautiful
Ohio river steamer Idlewild which q
short time before its destruction was
on the upper river. The boat was
burned to the waters edge at Coving-
ton, KY, in 1882 She was ESQ feet long
and cost s12,500. The Idlewild was
built at Paducah, KY, in 1875
1t also tells of the burning of the
War Eagle which went to the bottom
opposite what is now the Y. N. C. A.
camp.
The boat caught fire at the levee,
and was towed up stream, dashed to
the bank and left to meet it's fate.