‘Moonlight Encounter on the Mississippi’ In the 1800s large log rafts were floated down the Mississippi River from the pine forests in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The first documented raft taken through to St. Louis was in the charge of Henry Merill, who refitted it at the mouth of the Wisconson River, and delivered it … Read more
Night Stop on the Mississippi’ In this moonlit scene, a small sidewheeler lands against a levee with the Mississippi at flood stage. The landing places either rose with the river or were relocated, depending on the current. The flat-bottomed hull design of the riverboat, drawing as little as two-and-a-half-feet, afforded easy access … Read more
ECLIPSE Built: 1852, New Albany, Indiana. Type: Sidewheel, wooden hull packet. Size: 350 feet, 1,117 tons. Cost: $375,000. There were several Eclipse boats. This was the largest sidewheeler to carry the Eclipse name, with 42-foot wheels, operating from New Orleans to Louisville. She was damaged beyond repair at New Orleans in 1860 when she was blown from … Read more
CITY OF ALTON Built: 1860, Madison, Indiana. Type: Sidewheel, wooden hull packet. Size: 283′ x 40′ x 7′. Engines: 36′ – 9 ft. Operating between St. Louis and Alton, her master was Captain Mitchell, and in 1861 Captain Barnes. The CITY of ALTON was involved in one of the first acts of daring in the Civil … Read more
C.J. CAFFREY Built: 1861, Louisville, Kentucky, as J.H. BALDWIN. Type: Sidewheel, wooden hull packet. Converted to sternwheel 1874. Size: 173 tons. Originally the J.H. BALDWIN, and built for the Louisville-Cumberland trade, under Captain McGuire, she was captured by the U.S. in the spring of 1862 on the Cumberland River. She was sold for $12,000 to steamship agents … Read more
ALEX SCOTT Built: 1842, Jeffersonville, Indiana. Type: Sidewheel, wooden hull packet. Size: 266′ x 34′ x 8′, 709 tons. Engines: 25’s x 10 ft. Boilers: Six boilers. Paddlewheels: 30′ diameter with 15′ buckets, 28″ dip. Named for Captain Alexander Scott, and built by a veteran of the river, Captain John C. Swan, her principle owner and master, this … Read more
CITY of NEW ORLEANS Built: 1881, by Howard & Co., Jeffersonville, Indiana. Type: Sidewheel, wooden hull packet. Size: 290′ x 48′ x 8′ 5″. Engines: 26’s – 10 ft. Boilers: Five boilers, each 44″ by 30 ft., four flues. Paddlewheels: 38 ft. diameter, with 15 ft. buckets. One of ten Anchor Line boats built between 1880-87 without … Read more
CITY OF HICKMAN Built: 1890, by Howard & Co., Jeffersonville, Indiana. Type: Sidewheel, wooden hull packet. Size: 285′ x 44′ 5″ x 9′ 5″. Engines: 26’s – 10 ft. Boilers: Five boilers. Paddlewheels: 26 ft. diameter. Capacity: 200 passengers, 2,100 tons. Built for the Anchor Line, the CITY of HICKMAN had 38 staterooms and 72 berths and cost $66,000 (one … Read more
FAR WEST Built: 1870, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Type: Sternwheel wooden hull packet. Mountain riverboat. Size: 190′ x 33′ x 6′. Engines: 15’s – 5 ft. Boilers: Three boilers Capacity: Could carry 200 tons and 30 cabin passengers, drawing only 20 inches, un-ladened. Operating on the Missouri, Yellowstone and Osage Rivers, the FAR WEST earned a place in history in 1876, … Read more
BELLE OF CALHOUN Built: 1895, St. Louis, Missouri. Built at the Carondelet Marine Ways, Carondelet, Missouri, and completed at the St. Louis wharf. Type: Sternwheel, wooden hull packet. Size: 180′ 9″ x 36′ 4″ x 4′ 7″. Engines: 15’s – 6 ft. Boilers: Two boilers, each 44″ by 26 ft. The BELLE OF CALHOUN was named for Miss … Read more