The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1917-02-22
On the Beautiful
River
An Episode of a
Century Ago
By WILLARD BRAKEMAN


middle west was opened up to civil
zatiOn the Ohio river was the main
thOroughfare for emigrants moving in
that direction. and the f1atboat was
their conveyance. Flatboats were built
of boards, their propelling power being
the rivers current, and when the emf
! grant reached his destination the lum-
Der was used to build his house.
| The great danger of the earliest voy-
ayers on la belle riviere the beautiful
river) was the Indians. The scum of
civilization is always washed toward
new countries. and mingled with the
redskins were white men who assist
ed their native allies to plumber the
emigrants by acting as decOys.~ The
renegade would call to the fatboat-
man to come and take him aboard;
that he had been captured by Indians
and escaped and if recaptured would
be tortured and killed. If the voyager
yielded to the call he would be am
pushed by the savages.
| With the beginning Of the nineteenth
century the Indians had largely been
eradicated. but the low grade whites
remained. The river from time to
time was infested by pirates. who.
though they did not always murder.
robbed their victims.
1t was during the second decade of
the nineteenth century that foatboat
was carrying a number of passengers
between Cincinnati and Louisville.
There were an Irishman. ScOtchman
and q Frenchman, all of whom had
been born in Europe. Besides these
ing a carpenter. a gambler and a land
Spectator.
When the boat reached turn in the
river, called South Bend, about twenty
miles south of Cincinnati while pass
! ing near the Kentucky shore. it passed
! log cabin before which stood wO-
man waving white cloth and indicat-
ing by her gestures that she wished
to speak with them. The sweeps.
! which were intended to increase at
times the boats velocity and were
needed to give steerage way. were
manned, and the boat headed for the
shore. AS soon as it came near enough
for the men on it to hear the woman
said:
kin you thar take me down to Lou
eyville Uouisville)? Eff you're goin'
that way pull in hyar and throw a
line"
| 81 do not like" said the Frenchman.
i ito go to re bank of re riviere. | have
heard that those who go to re bank of
la belle riviere on call for help new
aire return to re channel"
! Nonsense. you bloomin' idiot!' said
+ the Englishman. You're thinkin' of
the last century, when the Indians
used renegade whites for decOys.
That's all in the past now"
The Ilishman accorded with the
! Englishman the only case on record.
| The son of Erin declared that to de-
| cline to listen to the call of a woman
/ would he daStardly and no one except
a coward would do such thing. But
the ScOtchman was in favor of eau
ton.
81 would ma go in too far" he said.
without inquirin' what she wants
wi u.s.
The commander of the craft paid no
attention to these suggestions. but sur
veyed the woman and her surround
ings with critical eye. But he gave
no order to make for the shore.
THAT'S low down trick" cried the
woman. "fOr to leave pore woman
who wants to go to her man.!
With this the Englishman. backed by
| the Irishman. threw out so many in
nuendos respecting the captains action
that he gave in. but with bad grace.
by the time you all" he said. have
navigated this yere river as long as |
have you'll larn that there's only one
place in it that's safe-the channel. If
you git rid o your money by this
maneuver don't blame me. hain't
got nOthin' to lose Jim. head in"
The helmsman turned the fore. part
Of the boat toward the shore and when
sufficiently near swung the stern in.
from which a stout rope was thrown,
caught by the woman and made fast
" q Stuulp. by thS iopV thS 'tSih "
the boat was pulled in so that the wo-
man could be taken aboard. Taking
up bundle tied in bandanna hand
kerchief. she unwound the rope from
the tree and slipped aboard the boat
which the current took down the river
There were no separate rooms aboard
the boat but the stern was partitiOned
off into n cabin. This the men gave up
to the only woman passenger. betaking
themselves to the deck. for in all new
countries there is singular Difference
on the part of the men for the few
women they have among them. and
this woman. who was about twenty five
wears old. was for a deniZen of Ken
lucky at that time not bad to look
upon. True. she had no sooner settled
herself on the boat than she produced
a cOrncob pipe with reed stem and
began to smoke. but m those days
many southern women-unless it were
in the longer settled portions-not only
smoked. but dipped" which means
they chewed upon snuff balls. She
proved an attraction for her fellow