The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1934-01-18

lie could hit like fonrth-proof light
min and every lick he made In the
woods let In whole acre of sunlight He could
out-run, out-Jump, out-shoot out-brag. out.drink
and Outright, 'rough.an' tumble. no hollis barred,
airy man on both sides of the river from Pitts
Durgh to New Orleans an back agin to St
Louiee' Whoop Also Cock-a-doodle- dool And,
likewise. what man!
lie was Mike Fink. one OF Americas super
men, who differs from such myth-heroes as Paul
buhyan, the lumberiaek: pecos Bill, the cow
boy ahu John Henry, the negro stake driver In
that there actually such person as Mike
FINK even though In the favorlte frontier pastme
Oh telling tall stories he has become half-eg-
endary haf-real. He was the apotheoss OF
type or frontiersmen who nourshed In the days
when the keeboats piled the Ohio and the Mis-
ssspp rivers and as such he Is the subject of
recent biography by Walter Blair and Frank
hn j. Meine published recently by Henry Holt
and company
Long before the first railroads were built west
OF the Alleghenies and before there were any
national roads. these two rivers we're the only
routes TO market for the pioneer farmer. The
principal market was New Orleans and the
quickest way to get there was by keelboat, 4
typieally American craft designed for a particu-
lar American need. 1t was slender, pointed
boat, drawing only 20 to 30 inches of water. and
SO 1t was able to navigate the shallow waters OF
the larger tributaries Of the Oho--the Licking
the Hooking, the Scioto, the Mnskingum. the
Miami and the Wabash Ii could be easily
steered as 1t toated down these streams into
the Ohio, then into the Mississippi and SO on
to New Orleans. Such trip. Of course, was not
without Its dangers. The steersman had to know
the channel, as well as the later steamboat cap
Nd IN I'M + r. hnt.,
a sandhar Then, too he had to watch out for
planters" (blg trees still standing upright In
the midst of the swirlng waters), "sawyers"
(huge branches which bohhed up and down In
the currents partly hidden. partly reveaIed) and
snags of all kinds. Added to these dangers were
those Of white outlaws in their famous strong
hold Of Cave-in-Rock and rowing Indians every
where along the banks Of the two rivers
The return trip from New Orleans had its
hardshlps and Its dangers too. The keelboats
had to be warped" "cordelled" "bushwhackedn
noed and sailed against the strong current all
the way to Pittsburgh To handle such boats
required men of hrawn men with the strength
of an OK. the courage of lion hide of ALL
gator toughness to shed rain snow, bullets and
Indian arrows and interior of castron to
digest diet consisting mostly of salt pork and
whisky"
more IIfan EIaI tine keelD0dtman naQ TO be
handy man with his fists, for he was constantly
thrown Into contact with tough men and his fell
low keehoatmen were just about the toughest
Of the lot. Their fights among themselves and
with others equally tough would make a modern
prize fight seem like the spanking you give a
bad child. mo natural weapon was barred; fists
flew at faces, feet kicked wherever they could
find target, knees bucked at unprotected
crotches: teeth sank wherever there was fesh
fingers cutched at throats and thumbs seemed
to gouge out eyes from their sockets Noses
were battered. teeth spntered and blood plent
fully shed when hoatmen squared off and shot
fists at one another"
From all of which 1t Is clearly apparent that
the man who rose to leadership among them had
to be quite some and such was Mike Fink.
bully boy of the Ohio and king Of the Mississippi
But Mike Fink's historical Importance Is more
than the fact that he was the typical keelboat-
man. For the keelboat era was a comparatively
brief one and that craft was eclipsed by the
steamboat just as 1t was reaching Its heights
of usefulness. Mike lived on three distinct from
tiers and his career on all three contributed to
the mass of legends which cling about his name
and helped make him an American myth hero.
He was born on the Pennsylvania border
shortly before the Revolution and grew up In
the crude settlement which clustered around Fort
Pitt He was just about as tough a youngster
as he later became tough man. He could out
wrestle out-swm, out-run and out-swear all the
other boys Of the settlement. At the age OF thir-
teen he took his first Indian scalp and he seems
to have taken delight In killing the 'red Mig
gers" as the Indians were known among the
ruthless frOntiersmen around Fort Pitt
At the age of fifteen he was the champion
rifle shot and after a while, when the frontiers
men engaged In their favorte pastime of hold
ing shooting matches, Mike and his favorite
rifle "OT Bang-Al" were excluded. "For the
exclusion asserted contemporary, Mike claimed
and obtained . the hide and talow tof the
beef they were shooting for) for his forbearance
His usual practice was to sell his quarter
to the tavern or dram shop keeper for whisky
with which he treated everybody present, par
aking largely himself"
So the first period In Mike Finks life was that
IF crack shot. champion hunter and Indian scout
IN the Pennsylvania frontier Then came the
'ush OF settlers beyond the Alleghenies after
The Revolution and this region became too
,rowded" for him. The keelboa era on the Ohio
began and opened up an opportunity for Mixes
Energies He won a right to a place on keel
,oat by beating up champion keelboat fighter
yho had challenged him after the fashion OF
he times-and this at the age OF seventeen or
eighteen.
OF down-river trip. this paragraph from
Blair and Meine's book gives typical picture:
The keel moved on past Indian Loggstown,