USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > St Joseph > The Daily news' history of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, Mo. From the time of the Platte purchase to the end of the year 1898. Preceded by a short history of Missouri. Supplemented by biographical sketches of noted citizens, living and dead > Part 21
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was organized as follows : Max Manheim, captain; Frank R. Hinds, first lieutenant ; Atel H. Knutson, second lieutenant. Company "I:" Charles F. Keller, captain; Wm. H. Cocke, first lieutenant; Victor C. Sommer, second lieutenant. Company "G": Jacob S. Casey, cap- tain ; John B. McNeeley, first lieutenant ; Mortimer P. Waldron, sec- ond lieutenant. Major Hendricks resigned at Camp Alger and Cap- tain Manheim at Greenville.
CHAPTER XX.
THE DAYS OF THE STEAMBOAT .- ST. JOSEPH AS THE BUSINESS CENTER AND DISTRIBUTING POINT OF RIVER TRAFFIC .- A LIST OF THE BOATS THAT CAME TO ST. JOSEPH AND WHAT BECAME OF THEM .- BOATS THAT WERE OWNED AND OPER- ATED BY ST. JOSEPH PEOPLE .- MOUNTAIN TRAF- FIC AND OTHER VENTURES .- BOATS THAT WERE SUNK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD .- THE RIVER ANI) ITS PECULIARITIES.
In early days a great fleet of steamboats "plowed the turbid cur- rent" of the Missouri, bringing settlers and supplies for this vast virgin territory. During the '40s, '50s, and half of the '6os the river was dotted with many boats. Beyond Main street were numer- otis large warehouses required for the immense river traffic. They were all washed away later by encroachment. Hemp, hemp rope, hides, tallow, furs, whisky and tobacco were the principal products shipped down the river. St. Joseph was the business center for the whole river district, and from here supplies were sent all over the Western mountains and plains. Here, too, most of the California pioneers of 1849, 1850, and 1851 were supplied with outfits for the long journey to the Pacific.
At times there would be as many as twenty steamboats at the wharves in one day. The city charged a wharfage of $5 for each boat, and the wharfmaster was an important personage in our early city government.
Many "mackinaw" boats would arrive about June of each year, loaded down with furs, mostly belonging to Joseph Robidoux. The cargoes would be reshipped here on steamboats if the terms were favorable, but if Uncle Joe thought the steamboat men were trying to "work" him, he would continue the trip to St. Louis with his mackinaws. Frequently these boats would be lost in passage. St. Joseph was practically the head of navigation, but in the early days a few boats would go up to the mountains each year, loaded with sup-
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plies and trinkets for the traders, consuming a whole season on the trip.
When the railroads were built there was little business left for steamboats, and they dropped out one by one, seeking other fields, until now they are a curiosity on this river.
Among the business men in the early days were Donnell & Sax- ton, Boyd & Moss, Tootles & Smith, Wm. Fairleigh, Powell & Levy, John Corby, Christopher Carbry, Ray & Sommerville, T. A. Fowler, Middleton & Riley, the Berry brothers, Edward Ray, Joseph Hull, John and Isaac Curd, William Riddle, D. & T. D. S. McDonald. and others.
When the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad was completed, lines of packet boats were established between St. Joseph and Kansas City, and from here to Omaha. They were all good boats and made rapid trips.
Citizens of St. Joseph and the county built and owned a number of the best boats on the river. Among them were Capt. Tom Brierly, Capt. Kercheval, and Capt. John E. Barrow. Among these boats were the El Paso, Polar Star, Fred Kennett, Morning Star, Ben Lewis, Silver Heels, Omaha, and Hesperian.
The earliest boats, as "the oldest inhabitant" now remembers, were mostly propelled by a single engine and were quite slow. Noise from the escape steam pipes could be heard a day before the craft came in sight. Among this class of boats were the John Golong, Boreas, Archer, Highland Mary, Nimrod (Captain Dennis), Only Chance, Last Chance, Algomar, Saluda, Zephyr, St. Ange (Capt. Tom Scott), Whirlwind, and Anthony Wayne.
During the '5os there was much improvement in the boats plying on the river. The El Paso, Capt. Tom Brierly's first boat, was quite fast for those days. The Saluda was another. Her boilers exploded at Sibley Landing and many people were scalded. Wm. Taylor, of St. Joseph, was pilot. Those saved remained aboard, and the women were afraid of another explosion when there was not a boiler on the wreck. The pilot was badly scalded. The Kate Howard, Capt. Joe Nansom, was sunk near the mouth of the Osage River in 1859. The Geneva, Captain Throckmorton, was sunk near Nebraska City. The Saranak No. 3, brought the first locomotive to this city, for the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad in 1857. The Washington City made a few trips; was used as a hotel at Omaha; then bought by Capt. John Fisher of this city ; was in local grain and wood trade here for a time, and was taken to St. Louis. The Kansas was sunk near Ne- braska City in the '50s. The Arabia was sunk near Parkville in 1857.
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It is said she had several hundred barrels of whisky in her hold, and many efforts have been made to recover this and remaining cargo. The Pontiac, named for an Ottawa Indian chief, was sunk at Smith's Bar, three miles above Doniphan, Kan., about 1855. This boat is reported to have had 700 barrels of whisky on board, besides much other freight. Many attempts have been made to locate her wreck, but so far without success. She is buried in the sand nearly two miles from the present channel. There has been much argu- ment as to the present condition of the liquor on these boats.
The Polar Star was built and owned by Capt. Tom Brierly, whose home was on a farm near this city. She was very fast, and made the run from St. Louis in two days and twenty hours. Across her fore- castle was a streamer inscribed, "Beat our time and take our horns- St. Louis to St. Joseph, 2 days and 20 hours." Prominent citizens here presented Captain Brierly with a fine pair of elk horns, mounted with silver, with an appropriate inscription. That evening the so- ciety people attended a swell ball on the boat in honor of the occasion. This boat was used as a flagship before the siege of Vicksburg in 1863 and was afterwards burned in the Tennessee River.
The James H. Lucas was brought out and run by Capt. Andy Wineland, a very popular master. She beat the time of the Polar Star, making the run to this city in two days and twelve hours, the quickest time ever made. Andrew B. Symns, Atchison's wholesale grocer, was clerk on the Lucas.
The Morning Star was later brought out by Captain Brierly to make a record for speed. The run from St. Louis was made in two days and twenty-one hours, two hours having been lost by trouble at Smith's Bar, near Doniphan. Captain Brierly's other boats were the Ferd Kennett, burned on Yazoo River, and the Ben Lewis.
Among other steamers built and owned by citizens of this city were the Silver Heels, Captain Silvers; the Hesperian, Capt. Frank B. Kercheval, burned at Atchison about 1868, John B. Nicely, clerk; Omaha, Capt. Frank B. Kercheval; the St. Joseph, Capt. Tom Scott, boilers exploded on the Lower Mississippi; the Denver No. 2 (ferry), Captains Fleming and Blackiston, sunk by ice at Bismarck, N. D .; the Elkhorn, Captains Fleming and Blackiston, used for a railway transfer before building of the bridge; the A. Saltzman, built at St. Joseph by Augustus Saltzman, sold to a cooperage firm in Arkansas.
The D. A. January, Capt. Pat Yore, first brought a load of "bal- loon" houses to Sioux City, and then ran to this city for several years. John B. Weaver and Tom O. Duncan were clerks. She was con- verted into a hospital boat late in the war. The Colorado, Captain
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Waddell, was worn out on the Mississippi River; the General Grant was sunk by ice near Belleview, Neb .; the Fire Canoe, Capt. Matt Morrison, was sunk below Weston in 1859; the Viola Bell, J. H. Sully, and U. S. Mail were sunk at Rushville Landing by the same snag before the war; the Waverly was sunk near Keytesville, 1861. The Silver Bow burned near Miami in 1869; the J. H. Lacey, Capt. Wm. Bell, Wm. Blair, pilot, was sunk above the mouth of the Noda- way in 1868. Captain Bell is reported to have suicided at Chicago from despondency. The Dan Convers, Captain Cox, was sunk above Amazonia about 1857; the Watossa, Capt. Matt Morrison, St. Joseph and Omaha packet, was sunk above Amazonia about 1858; the J. H. Oglesby was sunk on the Lower Mississippi; the Joe Kinney was sunk by a collision with the Glasgow bridge about 1878; the Mon- tana, Captain Keith, Wm. Massey, pilot, was sunk by collision with St. Charles bridge about 1877; the Bright Light struck the Boon- ville bridge and was sunk in 1879; the Alice was sunk at the mouth of Fishing River in 1881 ; the Emily La Barge, Capt. Geo. Keith, struck the St. Charles bridge and was sunk in the '70s.
The Twilight, Capt. Tom Scott, the first boat to arrive with a caliope, was sunk near Napoleon in the latter part of the war, and her hulk is now about a mile from the river. The wreck was recently located and the cargo is being recovered. It consists of consign- ments for many Western points. The Matamora, Capt. Lewis Low- man, was sunk below Boonville about 1871; the Cataract was sunk during the war near New Haven, Mo .; the Admiral, the Alex Majors and the Sioux City were burned at St. Louis about 1866; the Denver was burned at St. Joseph about 1867, and her hull was converted into a ferry ; the Emilie was wrecked at St. Joseph about 1867; the Moun- taineer was blown against the St. Joseph bridge in a storm July 4, 1873, injuring the bridge and delaying traffic for some time; the Fontanelle was sunk at Bon Ton bend and was afterwards raised.
The Spread Eagle, Capt. Ben Johnson, had painted on each side of the wheelhouse a large eagle, with the words "E Pluribus Unum." The "yahoos" along the river bothered the captain not a little by ask- ing him, "What them words meant." He told them the translation was, "Every tub stands on its own bottom."
The following is a further list of boats that came to St. Joseph and their fate: The John L. Roach was sunk near Frankfort, Mo., in 1886; the Sallie West, sunk above Iatan about 1860; the Cornelia, sunk by ice above St. Louis in the '6os; the McDowell and the Columbia, burned on the Missouri River; the Portsmouth was sunk below Weston about 1861; the Ebenezer (ferry), built by Captain
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Blackiston, converted into a gunboat, 1862; the Alonzo Child, Capt. Joe Holland, converted into the Confederate gunboat "Arkansas" and captured by the United States fleet on Lower Mississippi in 1863; the A. B. Chambers, Captain Bowman, sunk above Atchison in1859; the A. C. Bacon, sunk in Missouri River; the E. A. Ogden, sunk near Claysville, Mo., in 1860; the Sunset, sunk near Omaha in 1867; the Louisville, sunk above Omaha in 1864; the Ontario, sunk near Ne- braska City in 1865.
The C. W. Sumbard sunk at the mouth of the Saline River in 1859, and her remains are now below the surface of a large farm, covered by the sand. Besides a cargo of merchandise, she had a large sum of gold and silver money on board which was never recov- ered. The Cora, Capt. Tobe Weaver, was sunk above Omaha in 1865; the Colossal, Captain Hickman, was burned at Carondelet; the Pocahontas sunk above Sioux City in the '60; the J. B. McPher- son (government boat) sunk near Sioux City in 1897; the St. Mary, Captain Campbell, sunk in Upper River in 1858; the John B. Eaton sunk above St. Charles in the "big eddy" during the war; the T. L. McGill burned at Memphis; the Martha Stephens, Capt. Henry Mc- Pherson, capsized and sunk near Boonville in 1881; the Matamora sunk at Kinney bend in 1873; the Gold Dust, Captain Gould, blew up on the Lower Mississippi in 1875.
The steamer Stonewall, Capt. Tom Scott, was burned fifty miles below St. Louis about 1869 and many of her crew and passengers lost their lives, including the captain. When the fire was discovered the pilot held her for the shore, but an obstruction prevented. Most of those not burned were drowned, the river being full of floating ice. Capt. John Lynds, of White Cloud, Kan., an engineer, was one of the few survivors. Captain Scott was a brother-in-law of Thomas O. Duncan of St. Joseph. The David R. Powell was also burned on the Mississippi in 1887; the Peerless No. 2 (towboat) was sunk near St. Charles in 1879; the Tymour No. 2 blew up at Jefferson City in 1852; the Bertha struck a St. Joseph bridge pier and sank in 1872; the Flor- ence, Captain Throckmorton, sunk near Sumner, Kan., in 1864; the Island City sunk at the mouth of the Yellowstone River; the Mollie Abel sunk near Rock Port.
The Keystone, during high water, in 1854,started up Kansas River for Fort Riley. The water was over some of the bottoms and the boat strayed from the channel and got aground. The water sub- sided leaving her high and dry on the prairie. Later the Indians set fire to the grass and the boat was burned. The Sully was sunk above
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St. Charles in 1882 and the Mollie Dozier and Spangler were sunk at Berry's Landing in 1865. The Thomas Stephens, a mountain boat, was worn out and wrecked; the James Watson was taken South in 1879; the Aggie, Capt. Perren Kay, was wrecked at Kansas City in 1878; the Bartram, a mountain boat, was sunk above Omaha in 1864; the Meffew was sunk during the war ; the Ida Reese, a mountain boat, was sunk by ice at Yankton in the 7os; the Amaranth was sunk at Smith's bar in 1868.
The Golden State, Captain Gonzales, burned at St. Louis wharf about 1857. Col. Wm. M. Shepherd came up the river on this boat in 1855. The Keystone State was burned at St. Joseph in 1849; the Daniel Boone, too large for this river, left it after making one trip; the Nymph blew up at Nemaha bar, was repaired and sank at Sibley; the Ned Tracy was used as a hospital boat in the war; the Peoria, ยท apt. Dan Silvers, was burned on the Mississippi River ; the Octavia, captain La Barge, was sold to the government and was wrecked; the Sutton was sunk in the Missouri River; the Paul Jones was sunk be- low Independence Landing ; the Lacon, Capt, John Lynds, was sunk near Arago, Neb., about 1883; the Missouri blew up near Evansville in 1866.
The Red Cloud, Capt. Ben Howard, was sunk at the mouth of Milk River in 1868; the Council Bluffs, Capt. Sam Lewis, went South in 1859; the West Wind was burned at Glascow by the Confederates during the war; the Platte Valley, Captain Throckmorton, was used as a government transport during the war; the Bishop was sunk near Peru, Neb., about 1865, Andy Goff, the mate, and a few others, being drowned ; the Gem, Captain Beabout, was sunk near Nebraska City about 1868; the Fannie Barker, Captain Hall, was sunk below Leav- enworth in 1873; the New Sam Gaty was captured by Confederates at Sibley Landing about 1864; the General Brady was sunk near Her- mann ; the Amelia Poe was sunk near New Haven; the Anthony Wayne was sunk near Blair, Neb .; the General McNeil was sunk above St. Charles, and the John Baird was sunk below Waverly.
The General Gaines, an old side-wheel steamer, brought here for a ferry by Captain Thompson, Louis Dillon and others, sank about 1857 at Elwood Point. It is said this boat ferried ver Missourians to vote at Wathena during the early troubles in I ansas. The Black- hawk was sunk below Weston; the New St. ! att] above Chamois; the Robert Emmet near Portland; the D. A Crawford and Jolin Aull near Arrow Rock; the Princess on the Lower Mississippi; the General Meade below St. Charles in 1892; the A. C. Bird, Captain Burris, above Lexington in 1879; the Nebraska City (ferry), Captain
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Blackiston, was sunk above Amazonia in 1869; the Tidy Adula (ferry), Captain Blackiston, was sunk at Elwood Point in 1868; the Bellemont (ferry), Captain Walker, was sunk opposite Charles street in midriver in 1861; the Eutaw, Captain Larzalere, built by John Corby for a ferry, failed to get license, was sold and taken away about 1852.
Among the fleet of boats which plied between St. Joseph and the mountains, to Fort Benton and Yellowstone River, were the Wy- oming, Dakota, J. H. Peck, E. H. Durfee, Great Western, Silver Lake, Jennie Brown, Bighorn, Rucker, General Meade, Benton, Yel- lowstone, Bannock City, Colonel Parr, Hiram Wood, Antelope, Effie Dean. Perhaps all were sunk or worn out long ago.
The Peerless was a popular and swift little packet during the 50s. The New Lucy was also a great favorite, and made extraordinarily fast time from St. Louis.
Many other boats are recalled, some of which were first-class in every way: The Edinburg, Captain Blount; the Martha Jewett, Capt. "Dandy" Jewett; the Hiawatha, the Fannie Ogden, Capt. Joe La Barge; the Glasgow, the Wm. J. Lewis, the Fannie Lewis, the Post Boy, the Emigrant, Capt. Wm. Terrell; the Sovereign, the Sul- tan, the Minnehaha, Captain Baker; the E. M. Ryland, Captain Blount; the Mansfield (St. Joseph and Omaha packet); the White Cloud, the Robt. Campbell, Captain Eades; the War Eagle, the Jacob Sass, the Hensley, Captain Ford; the Star of the West, the Emma, the J. H. Dickey, the New Haven, the Mollie Moore, the F. X. Aubray, Capt. Ben Glinn ; the Lucy, the Golden Eagle, the Bunker Hill, the Tompkins, the Marcella, the Prairie Rose, the Caliope, the Welcome, the Kansas Valley, the Choteau, the Asa Wilgus, the Keo- kuk, the Prairie State, the Isabel, the Paragon, the Kate Kinney, the Tempest, the Monsoon, the J. H. Raymond, the Elvira, the South- wester, the Batchelor, the Colonel Crossman, Captain Cheever; the Evening Star, the Wm. Campbell, Capt. Tom Scott; the Montauk, the Diadem, the Meteor, the Hannibal, the Thos. E. Tutt, Captain Tutt; the D. A. Russell, the Ben Johnson, the John D. Perry, the David Tatum, the St. John, and the J. S. Springle.
Notwithstanding the turbulent and "treacherous" character of the Missouri, with its rapid current, its eddies, sandbars and snags, there have been comparatively few lives lost in its navigation. Sink- ing or burning boats could easily find a landing place for those on board to escape to shore.
The annual floods occur in April and June, and the highest water
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known was in the years 1844 and 1881, when the stream covered the bottom lands from bluff to bluff, doing much damage in many places.
It is a fact not generally known that a loaded steamboat will draw about two inches less water in the Missouri than in the Ohio River, on account of the former being heavier.
Pilots and engineers, in the early times, were paid $200 to $350 per month. One season many boats came from the Ohio River to compete for the trade. In order to "head them off" the Missouri River men hired all the licensed pilots, paying them, for a time, $1,000 a month, work or play. One pilot contracted for a mountain trip, which was made in very quick time, and was very successful, and was paid $2,100.
Mountain traffic was very profitable for some years, and the Twi- light paid for herself in one trip. Among old river men may be re- called the Blossoms, the Doziers, John E. Barrow, Joseph Holland, Frank Hernandez, Mordecai Withrow, Robt. Riley, the La Barges, Tobias Weaver, John B. Weaver, Andrew J. Symns, Albert Albert- son, John Lynds, Hunter Ben Jenkins and others.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE RAILROADS OF ST. JOSEPH .- EARLY STRUGGLES OF RAILROAD PROJECTORS AND BUILDERS .- THE HANNIBAL & ST. JOSEPH, THE K. C., ST. J. & C. B., THE ST. JOSEPH & GRAND ISLAND, THE ST. JOSEPH & TOPEKA, THE SANTA FE SYSTEM, THE ROCK ISLAND, THE ST. JOSEPH & DES MOINES, THE MIS- SOURI PACIFIC, THE CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN, THE UNION PACIFIC .- THE BRIDGE .- THE UNION STATION .- TELEGRAPH LINES.
Agitation for railroad connection with Mississippi River points began in St. Joseph as early as 1846. One of the most ardent advo- cates of the then new mode of transportation was the late Judge Birch of Clinton County, who was at that time stumping this district as a candidate for congress. His opponent, the late Willard P. Hall, was not favorable, and after he had left the campaign to its fate and entered Doniphan's regiment to fight Mexico, he issued a circular letter warning the people not to be tricked by such impracticable things as railroads. Judging from the enthusiasm and enterprise afterwards exhibited by this gentleman in the promotion and develop- ment of railroads, he atoned well for this error. As there was no railroad west of Ohio in those days he may be easily pardoned.
Another enthusiast was Robert M. Stewart, then a lawyer at St. Joseph, who was afterwards governor of Missouri. He went actively to work, organized meetings, talked railroad, interested the people, and as a member of the state senate, aided by James Craig and Judge Gardenhire, who represented Buchanan County in the house, secured, in February of 1847, the passage of an act to incorporate the Hanni- bal & St. Joseph Railroad Company.
The incorporators were Joseph Robidoux, John Corby and Rob- ert J. Boyd, of St. Joseph ; Samuel J. Harrison, Zachariah G. Draper and Erasmus M. Moffett, of Hannibal; Alexander McMurtry, Shelby County ; George A. Shortridge and Thomas Sharp, Macon County ; Wesley Halliburton, Linn County ; John Graves, Livingston County : Robert Wilson, Daviess County ; George W. Smith, Caldwell County. The capital stock was two million dollars.
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A railroad convention was held at Chillicothe in June of 1847, at which resolutions were adopted, recommending the following as the best method to procure means for the construction of the Hanni- bal & St. Joseph road : "(1) To appoint a committee of three members to draft an address in the name of this convention, to the people of Western Missouri, setting forth the advantages to be derived from the contemplated railroad from St. Joseph to Hannibal; (2) To ap- point a committee of three, whose duty it shall be to petition the legis- lature of Missouri for sich aid in the undertaking as can be afforded consistently with the rights of other sections of the state; (3) To appoint a committee of three to petition Congress for a donation of alternate sections of lands, within six miles on each side of said road, when located ; (4) To appoint a committee whose duty it shall be to superintend the publication and distribution of he proceedings of the convention, and the address to the people of Northern Missouri."
There was considerable enthusiasm among the people as the result of this convention, but material aid came slowly. A few dollars were raised in St. Joseph for a preliminary survey and a surveying corps was organized, with Simeon Kemper and James O'Donoghue as engineers in charge. Six months after their departure from St. Joseph they returned and reported having found a practicable route for a railroad. A meeting of citizens was held, at which the two heroic surveyors made their report, and a banquet was spread in their honor. A subscription paper was circulated and enough money secured to purchase each of the engineers a handsome suit of clothes. This is all they received for their six months' work, except meager expenses and glory.
The first survey was completed to Hannibal on Christmas Day, 1850, by Simeon Kemper and James O'Donoghue. The two survey- ors were accompanied by Colonel Robert M. Stewart, Colonel M. F. Tiernan and a newspaper correspondent from Baltimore named Bren- nan, besides some chainmen, etc. Later on the final surveys were made under charge of Colonels M. F. Tiernan and M. Jeff Thompson.
In 1852 the building of the road was assured. Willard P. Hall, who had, in 1846, argued against railroads on general principles, now became the good angel of the despondent enterprise. As chairman of the committee on public lands in Congress he secured the passage of a bill granting six hundred thousand acres of land to the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company, and the work of construction began at Hannibal as soon as possible.
The state loaned its credit to aid the work in the sum of $1,500,-
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000 bonds to be issued and used conditioned on proof that the sum of $50,000 had been actually expended in construction. John Corby of St. Joseph, agent of the road, borrowed the first $50,000, and this enabled the work to continue until funds were secured from land sales and bonds issued by the counties through which the line passes.
Again, in 1855, the company having exhausted all its resources, the state loaned an additional $1,500,000, making in all the sum of $3,000,000, which was liquidated, with interest, in about seventeen years after the completion of the road.
The contract for building the entire line was let to John Duff & Co., August 10, 1852, its construction being sublet to various parties. Work was commenced first on the eastern line, and progressed slowly.
In August, 1857, the steamboat Saranak brought an engine and cargo of rails to St. Joseph. Some grading was done, a track laid, and the engine hauled out on the bank, with all the people in town and vicinity as lookers-on. It was a great curiosity.
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