of
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume I, 1911, pages 77-79
THE BOATS OF OTHER DAYS. Of the early boats stopping at this port Captain W. L. Clark furnishes the names and the steamers that came up from St. Louis in 1827, for the government and for traffic at the Galena lead mines and with supplies for the few settlers. They were: Red Rover, Captain Otis Reynolds; the Shamrock, Captain James May; the Indiana and Black Rover, captains names not recalled. The captains in 1831 and 1832 were: Throckmorton, steamer Warrior; O'Flagerty , Forsyth, VanHouten. Captains from 1833 until 1836: Cole, Smith Harris, Orin Smith, Scribe Harris, Ben Campbell, Cameron, Clime, Ward, John Atchinson, George Atchinson, Mark Atchinson and Hardin Roberts; from 1836 until 1842: Leroy Dodge, Reilley, Littleton, Brock, Morehouse, Pierce, C. Gall, McAllister, William Gabbert Blakesley, K. Lodwich, John Lodwich and Barger.
Several of the commanders above named continued on the upper river until 1850, and three or four until the early '60s. Mrs. Erie Dodge, of Buffalo, Scott county, Iowa, kept a record of early years and noted the following list of names of vessels that plied the waters of the Mississippi: 1845--War Eagle, St. Croix, Fortuna, Mungo Park, Monona, Mendota, Galena, Falcon, Lynx, Uncle Toby, Time, St. Louis, Oak, Sarah Ann, Cecelia, General Block, Osprey, Potosi, Reveille, Lebanon, La Salle, Confidence, Amaranth, Brazil, Iron City, Iowa Mermaid, Dial, Nimrod, Otter, U. S. Mail, Herald, Iowa, New Haven, Archer, Jasper, Ohio; 1848--Iowa City, Uncle Toby, Montauk, Bon Accord, Senator, Red Wing, Pearl, Domain, Clermont, Confidence, Falcon, Piazza, Mondoanna, Mary Blaine, Ellen, Dubuque, St. Peters, Time and Tide, Alexander Hamilton, Highland Mary, Odd Fellow, Ohio Mail, Otter, DeKalb, Eliza Stewart, Kentucky, North Alabama, Dan Rice; 1849--Senator, St. Croix, American Eagle, Dr. Franklin, Bon Accord, St. Peters, Time and Tide, Newton, Wagoner, Otter, Archer, Oswego, War Eagle, Dubuque, Clermont No.2, Montauk, Highland Mary, Financier, Anthony Wayne, Cora, Kentucky, Red Wing, Bay State Planter, Oregon, Wisconsin, Palo Alto, Saranak, Revenue Cutter, Herald, American, Yankee, Mary Blaine, Domain, Allegheny Mail, Tiger, Piazza, Magnet, Danube, Minnesota, Caroline, No Name. John P. Robertson, a Davenport boy of long ago, loved the river and kept this list of boats which landed here from 1850 to 1852; Amaranth, Archer, Asia, Anthony Wayne, Bon Accord, Black Hawk, Brunette, Brazil, Ben Campbell, Ben Franklin, Cora, Caleb Cope, Danube, Di Vernon, Diadem, Enterprise, Express, Excelsior, Fortune, Falcon, Fleetwood, Financier, Galena, General Gaines, Golden Era, G. W. Sparhawk, Glaucus, Highland Mary, Iron City, Iowa, Ione, Irene J., H. McKee, Jennie Lind, Lamertine, Lynx, Mendota, Minnesota, Monongahela, Mary Blaine, Montauk, Martha No. 1, Martha No. 2, Mary 0, Northerner, Nauvoo, Osprey, Ohio, Oshkosh, Oneoto, Ocean Wayne, Pembina, Potosi, Prairie Bird, Red Wing, Robert Fulton, Ripple, St. Paul, Shenandoah, St. Croix, Silas Wright, Swamp Fox, Senator, Time and Tide, Tempest, Tobacco Plant, Uncle Toby, War Eagle, Wisconsin, Warrior, Wyoming. All these boats were built for freight and passengers and the most of them were side wheelers. Trade was immensely profitable. Previous to 1850 there were no boat lines as we have today represented locally by agents. Each captain solicited freight when his boat came to land. Emigration was tremendous and freight rates high. Steamboats costing fifty thousand dollars would pay for themselves in a single season.
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