THE FIRST BOAT BUILT TO TOW RAFTS

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    There has been much discussion on this point also. The 'Union' and several other boats used in the early days in towing rafts had been built for other purposes.

     The first boat built to tow rafts was the 'LeClaire,' built by Jonathan Zebley at LeClaire, Iowa, for Thomas Doughty in 1866.

     During the Civil War Mr. Doughty was chief engineer on several of the gunboats of the United States navy that did excellent service on the lower Mississippi and its tributaries.

     Chief Doughty had a good education, was a fine mechanic and was progressive in his ideas.

     He saw the advantage of a stern-wheeler for towing and handling rafts; but he did not build her large enough and while the pilot he took in as a partner had been a successful floater, he did not quickly become familiar with the use of the boat and the first trip was so discouraging, that Mr. Doughty sold the 'LeClaire' to contractors who were working a large improvement job on the Rock Island rapids, The "LeClaire' rendered excellent service in this work for many years.

     The commissioner of navigation, Washington D.C., says, the records show that she was eighty feet four inches long, fifteen feet wide and three and one-tenth feet deep and measured twenty- five and sixty-nine one-hundredth tons, and was first inspected June 16, 1866.

     She had one horizontal boiler eighteen feet long, forty inches in diameter, with two fourteen-inch flues 

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and was allowed one hundred and twenty-five pounds steam pressure.

     The 'LeClaire' like many a large boat, was not completely equipped when she started out. She had a big whistle but no engine bells to signal the engineer. So Mr. Doughty and George Tromley the pilot arranged to use the big whistle which could be heard everywhere.

     One blast meant 'ahead';

     Two blasts meant 'back';

     and when in reverse or forward motion,

     One blast meant 'stop.'

     Mr Tromley said they got along very well on this arrangement for two or three days. The water was high and when he saw a boat coming he would keep clear of her by hugging the other shore without blowing the usual signal.

     But on the third night out he met a large packet coming down in Coon Slough, a narrow and crooked part of the river; when to avoid a collision, Mr. Tromley blew one whistle, and Mr. Doughty stopped the engines. The pilot on the descending boat preferred the other side and blew two whistles and Pilot Tromley responded. Then Doughty set the 'LeClaire' to backing and Pilot Tromley blew on whistle to stop him. The big boat was close down on the little one then. Her pilot rang to stop her engines, and called out, "What in h--l are you trying to do with that little boat anyway?" "My friend, I want to get by you and go on up the river if I can." "Well, go ahead, take either side and go on, I thought you were trying to go both sides of us."

     When they got to LaCrosse, Tromley landed her; went back to Mr. Doughty and in his Canadian manner and voice said to him, "I say my friend, dont you tink

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Steamer Louisville

Owned by Durnt and Wheeler of Stillwater, Minn, during the seventies. Captain R. J. Wheeler was her master. She was subsequently owned by Knapp, Stout and Company of Dubuque, Iowa, and Saint Louis, Mo., with J. H. Wooders and later Andrew Locken as masters. She, with other boats of this company, were bought by McDonald Brothers of LaCrosse, Wis., about 1883 and Captain L. A. Day became master and later R. M. Cassidy. She was worn out in the service of McDonalld Brothers.

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we better get some o' dem little bell for dis engine room?" They got them.

     Two men who were in the crew of the 'LeClaire' on this experimental trip away back in 1866 are alive yet to tell the story; Captain J.D. Barnes and David G. Carr, our long time barber in LeClair, now living in Davenport.

     Now we come to the first real raft-boat built for and successfully used in the work. It will be more interesting to have the story as told by the man who built and owned her. He was not a raftman then. He was a young man in partnership with his father. J.W. Van Sant in the LeClaire yard, building and repairing river craft. His ideas originated from intelligent Floating Pilots who favored the use of a steamboat in getting rafts down river. Some of these men had had a little experience in using steamboats and young Van Sant caught their ideas and became enthusiastic.

     I quote from his letter of December 3, 1920:

Steamer 'J.W. Van Sant'

    The first 'J.W. Van Sant' was built at LeClaire, y J.W. Van Sant and Son. The hull was launched in the month of December, 1869. She was ready for business on the opening of navigation in 1870. She was one hundred feet long, twenty feet beam and four feet depth in hull. Engine twelve inches by four foot stroke, built by the famous Niles Works of Cincinnati. Her boiler was twenty-four feet long, forty-four inches in diameter, with ten and six-tenths inches , lap-welded flues. Then, lap-welded flues were only twenty feet long and it was said that we could not have boilers more than twenty feet in length. Fortunately, we had an old-time steamboat engineer, Henry Whitmore, a man of long experience and a first class mechanic, who contended that the flues could be lengthened by brazing, and this was successfully accomplished.

    The 'J.W. Van Sant' was the first stern wheel boat of large

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power built especially for the rafting business. The rafters at that time were small side wheel steamers constructed with geared machinery and generally called 'coffee mill' boats.

     It is safe to say that the 'Van Sant' of 1870 was the pioneer rafter for after she had proved a success, Lamb and Son, W.J. Young and Company, Weyerhauser and Denkmann, B. Hershey, and nearly every lumberman doing business on the Mississippi river constructed boats to tow their logs and lumber.

     In many cases stern-wheel boats were brought from the Ohio river and used in the rafting business. After the Van Sant demonstrated successfully her value as a rafter the side-wheel boats soon disappeared.

     If the 'Van Sant' was success, a large part of it was due to Henry Whitmore before mentioned, who urged powerful engines and plenty of boiler capacity.

     This boat (barring a few mishaps, which were no fault of the boat but of the inexperience of those who first piloted her) was a decided success, made money for her owners and really by her money-making qualities laid the foundation for the Van Sant and LeClaire Navigation companies, two companies that owned and operated more than thirty steamboats during the forty years of rafting, or until the pine forests in Minnesota and Wisconsin were denuded of their timber.

     Her builders were by no means wealthy, so the machinery was purchased on time, wages and material could not be paid for while the work was progressing. "Nothing risked, nothing won," is an old proverb. The boat was a success; she not only paid all her bills but gave her owners a handsome profit. The first raft run by this boat was for Weyerhauser and Denkmann. Mr. Weyerhauser was a passenger. After passing through the Rock Island bridge safely, he was more or less anxious about the landing of the raft at his mill-boom. He suggested the employment of the ferry boat to assist, but the 'Van Sant' had no trouble whatever in making the landing safely. Mr. Weyerhauser saw that the boat was a success and was one of the very first mill-men to build a steamboat for towing his own logs. The 'Van Sant' was not only all that has been mentioned but she was unlike any other boat. The Rock Island bridge (the old one) was very dangerous to both boats and tows so that this steamer was constructed so she could lower her chimneys and pilot house and follow her tow under the bridge practically insuring safety.

     She only had one deck above main deck and consequently was more

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easily manage d as she could pass under the bridges and could run in any wind that the raft could weather.

     Twenty years after this boat was built, it is safe to state that there were fully one hundred stern-wheel boats engaged in the rafting business.

     The 'Van Sant' was under charter to Capt. Winans during the entire seasons of 1870 and 1871 and early in 1872 we sold to the Eau Claire Lumber Company who kept her busy for several years and then used her engines on the new 'Peter Kirns' built to replace her.

     The above description was received direct from Ex-governor S.R. Van Sant on December 3, 1920. His letter of even date is in my file.