The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-09-23
Centennial 81 stsamheAtinG on the
Rixsr Win ~ Celebrated Ia
rhrss Tsars In st.
Leuis.
'.zEBULoH PIKE FIRST
sts4meoasiss hsaA Rasssa rhroass
Stages From Rrospsris, Re Al
secsis and In NoS Ready
10 Grow Again

TIE centenary of sssaneearsas on
the Mtssissip3H river will be esle-
DRAFTED In st. Louis, ss three years. or
the vast feet that at enc tts.ss made
the Nissoart metropolis one OF the
great ports Oh the world only q few
relics remain The rrst steamboat TO
ascend the NlississirfS rfyer above
the mouth Of the Ohio Hsariy hun
bred years ago was the Zehalon NJ.
Pike The golden era o. stsamboating
on the Mississippi has been immortal
ized by the one-sirne pilot, Sam
Clemens later known 30 worldwide
fame IS Mark Twain
OF old steamboat times Charles NJ.
Harvey has written:
Except as IL was impeded during
the four years OF the civil war, steam
boating on the Mississippi was at its
high water mark from about 1854 to
1870. The writer, then youth on
his way from the east to cross the
plains to California. previous to the
completion OF the first OF the trana-
continental railways. was reminded
by look along the levees on both
sides Of the Mississippi at st. Louis
in 1858. Of the sight seen at the docks
OF the Hudson and East rivers in New
York. For miles up and down the
river were steamboats, entering or
leaving or loading or unloading. At
that time St Louis was the center OF
q. steamboat, traf1c extending from
Pittsburgh. IN the shadow OF the ALE
ghenies. to Fort benton, at the head
OF navigation on the Missouri, far up
in Montana, near the. Rocky noun
tains, and from st. Paul to New Or
leans. Lines OF steamboats, from It's
levees connected St. Louis with
points not only on the upper and low
er Mississippi. the Ohio and the Mis-
souri,. hut with places on the. Illinois,
the Tennessee. the Cumberland. the
Red. the Arkansas and the other navi-
gable tributaries Of the. Mississippi. In
his trips on the Mississippi and the
Missouri in these days. seldom was
the writer out OF sight OF the smoke
Of other steamboats, or out Of hear
ing of their whistles"
zeoi,,oRise and Fsli;.H ot Ir.fie.sas -
Oficial figures from Washington
show that the steam tonnage at st.
Louis in 1854 was greater than at any
other port in the United States ex-
cept New York and New Orleans, and
twice as great as at Philadelphia. In
that year the steamboat arrivals at
the 1evees at st. Louis numbered g..
BOT. or almost ten on an average
every day OF the 3ss. Today the riyer
tranic at st. Louis has shrunk close
to the vanishing point, while the MIS-
souri,, between its mouth and Kan
sas City, is almost as bare OF craft
as It was when Lewis and Clark as
cended IT in 1904.
There Is some prospect for a re
vival of steamboating. however, but II
will be on small scale compared
with that OF half century ago The
inability Of the railroads in periods o.
great industrial activity TO handle The
trafic is innpelling even the railroad
magnates to wish that the rivers o.
the Mississippi valley could be callet
in as reinforcement. II was II
obedience to this demand that tn.
I.akes-toGulf Deep Waterway associa
ton was founded. which held its frs
annual convention, that Of 1905, II
st. Louis. As there are 10000 miles
OF waters In the Mississippi vale!
which are actually or technically nayi
gable, and as part Of all the stream.
Of twenty-eight states drain into tn,
big river, the Mississippi and its 1trib
utarfes are a valuable asset for tn,
country.
The Mississippi has had an inter
esting history On its waters and OF
It's banks battles have been tough
between red men and red, red mel
and white. and white men and white
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