The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-02-17
Squaring
The Circle
with
THE HOOSIER EDITOR
THERE was time when White

THERE was a time when White
River was practically a citizen
of indianapolis. That was when
the city tried everything but bribery
to get it to be a steamboat stream.
Once it was bribed with spring rain.
Even as early as 1921 people were
bringing boatloads of flour, bacon.
whisky and other necessities of life"
up from Frankfort, KY, to Indian
apolis and the idea that the stream
would bear commercial traffic was
widespread.
Gov. Noble, in 1928, always ex-
citable about such things, scraped
together 5000 out of the state
treasury, and offered it all, no
questions asked, to the steamboat
captain who would bring a cargo up.
He offered also to sell the cargo free.
Capt. Saunders decided to take
fling at it with his Traveller. A
steamer Victory also tried it, but
both were forced back. Thereafter
the people of Indianapolis didn't
think much of either. They got
only within so miles of the city.
That was in 1880.
T ATER on Governor and sew
eral others who held contracts
for building the National Road de-
termined to build a boat that would
carry a cargo of rock for the road
and tow another. They launched
her, medium sized craft, and, after
much trouble, she arrived on April
II, 1881.
The population was beside itself
with hurrahs. 1t appointed a COM
mittee of prominent people to
make arrangements in some appro-
pirate manner to show the high
qualification which is and should
DE felt by all who feel interested in
our commercial and agricultural
prosperity"
The committee met and felt that
the best thing it could do was to
draw up a resolution, which read:
1.-THE arrival of the steamboat
Gen. Hannah from Cincinnati at
this place should be viewed by the
citizens of the White River coun-
try and of our state at large as a
proud triumph, and fair a and
unanswerable demonstration of the
fact that our beautiful river is sus-
ceptible of safe navigation for steam
vessels of a much larger class than
was anticipated by the most san
guine."
THE committee also invited the
Il captain and officers to dinner,
but they declined, saying they had
to get away early next morning.
Something happened, though, and
they didn't go. Instead they took
two boat loads of indianapolis
landlubbers for a ride.
On the second trip an overhang-
ing tree sneaked up when the pilot
wasn't looking and swept off the
boats smokestack and pilot house,
frightening the passengers so much
that nearly all of them jumped in
the river, and "hitch-swam" to shore
as best they could.
After the boat was repaired 1t
set sail downstream, but ran
aground at Hog Island and stayed
there for six weeks. When it did
get loose it went on down and never
was seen again in these parts.
That ended steam river traffic I'M
til 1885, when the indianapolis and
White River Steamboat Co. was
formed and built and launched the
Gov. Morton.
She was a sidewheeler, 100 feet
long, 81 feet abeam, and was regis
tered for 150.87 tons. The inspec-
tor would let her carry 200 passen-
gers, historian says, but many
more sneaked on when he wasn't
doing a grade-A job of inspecting.
IN Aug. Is she ran past the
~ mouth of Fall Creek on trial
trip, and once more the landlocked |
citizens were hilarious. They rode
her and had picnics on her until !
she and her captain, Henry M
Socwell, got sort of smarty and ran
up near Cold Springs in the spring
of 1866, the farthest up the river |
she ever went.
Then the river Was hrihed by |