Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Lloyd's Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters - 1856 [32] GLIMPSES OF EARLY LIFE ON THE WESTERN WATERS All who are infected with that prevailing taste for romantic horrors, which distinquishes the fictitious literature of our day, may employ themselves agreeably in examining the records of early life on the western rivers. The most extravagant fiction which the morbidly excited imagination of a modern novellist has produced, could scarcely furnish parallels for the veritable exploits and wild adven- tures of some of those daring and reckless men who navigated the Ohio and Mississippi before the era of steamboat travel had commenced. The life of these primitive navigators so abounded with labors and perils, that the occupation of an ancient knight-errant might be called safe and delightful, by way of comparison. The dangers and embarrassments encountered by Tasso's hero in the enchanted forest, will appear in description to be quite insignificant when we compare them with the daily experience of the Mississippi or Ohio boatmen, who flourished some forty or fifty years ago. Before the panting of the steam-engine was heard on these waters, the only river conveyance for freight and passengers was a species of boat called a barge, or bargee, according to the French nomenclature. The length of this boat was from 75 to 100 feet; breadth of beam from 15 to 20 feet; capacity, from 60 to 100 tons. The receptacle for the freight was a large covered coffer, called the cargo-box, which occu- pied a considerable portion of the hulk. Near the stern was an apology for a cabin; a straightened apartment six or eight feet in length, in which the aristocracy of the boat, viz: the captain and patroon, or steersman, were generally quartered at night. The roof of the "cabin" was slightly elevated above the level of the deck, and on this eminence the helmsman was stationed to direct the movements of the boat. The barge was commonly provided with two masts, though some carried but one. The chief reliance of the boatmen was on a large square sail for- ward, which, when the wind was in the right direction, accelerated the progressive motion of the boat, and relieved the hands, who at other times were obliged to propel the barge by such laborious methods as we are about --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [33] GLIMPSES OF EARLY LIFE ON THE WESTERN WATERS to describe. But before we exhibit the process used in navigating these at that period, the reader should be made acquainted with the peculiarities of the rivers themselves. The Mississippi, in particular, is celebrated for its turbulence and impetuosity, and truly deserves its reputation, for its violent demeanor is such that its own shores are unable to control it. It scorns the limitations to which other rivers are subject; and some- times, in its capricious fury; it sweeps away fields or forests, or any other obstabcle to its headlong course. Sometimes, indeed, it succeeds in obstructing its own progress with a conglomerated mass of earth and tress carried down by its current, and then an inundation of the neighboring country is the usual result. From this description it may appear that the navigation of such a stream by the methods formerly in use was no holiday amusement; especially when it became necessary to stem the torrent in ascending the river. "Facilis est descensus" - to go down - in this use, as on many other occasions, was comparitively light labour, but to returns, that, as Virgil remarks, in reference to another subject, was the grand difficulty. This was a service which required men of iron frame and undaunted resolution. Several different modes of propelling the barges were used by hardy boatmen. The work required about fifty men to each boat. At times, all these "hands" were employed in rowing; which, how- ever, against such a stream as that of the Mississippi, was generally a great waste of labor to very little purpose. When circumstances per- mitted, the navigators resorted to the use of the cordelle. This was a stout rope or hawser, one end of which was attached to the bows or foremast of the barge, and the other extremity carried along the --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [34] GLIMPSES OF EARLY LIFE ON THE WESTERN WATERS shore or beach on the shoulders of the boat's crew, who thus performed the same duty that a horse does when towing a boat on a modern canal. It very often happened that this mode of progression was unavailable, as when the shores offered no convenient tow-path, or were obstructed by trees. In these circumstances, the "warping" process was adopted. The yawl was sent out with a coil of rope, which was fastened to a tree on shore, or a "snag" in the river, and while the hands on board were pulling up to this point, another coil was sent out to be fastened to some other object farther ahead, and so the warping process was repeat- ed. Again, it was expedient, at times, to use the setting poles, one end of which being set in the bed of the river, a sufficient purchase was obtained to enable the men to push forward the boat with their shoulders. This latter mode of propulsion was used chiefly on the Ohio; the bottom of the Mississippi was too yielding and the current was generally too rapid and powerful to make the use of the poles eligible in that river. By these changes from towing to warping, from warping to poling, and from poling to rowing, we are informed that the crews of the boats were "rested and refreshed;" and as "variety is the spice of life," it is presumed that they found their diversified labours altogether agreeable. By the way, it may puzzle some of our indolent cotemporaries to guess how men could be found who were willing to engage in this toilsome occupation, while any other possible means of subsistence were within their reach. Well says the proverb, that "there is no accounting for tastes;" but apart from this consideration, it may be observed that the life of a western boatman was not without its pleasures and enjoyments, as well as its pains and perils. The men who entered this service were such jolly, roving blades as could not be content with the dull hum-drum occupations of every-day life -- but such as required excitement and even the prospect of danger to stir up their animal spirits. The earliest history of the Mississippi is associated with narra- tives of piracy and murder. Buccaneers infested the mouths of the river, as its bays and creeks afforded places of concealment for them- selves and their ill-gotten wealth. These aquatic banditti flourished to some extent, even after the war of 1814, and their last leader, Lafitte, is renowned in tale, song, and history for his courage, cruel- ty and crimes. His vessels were usually concealed in the land-locked bay of Barataria, to the westward of the mouth of the river. When these celebrated sea-robbers had been extirpated by the American government, and while the hunting grounds of western Virginia and Kentucky were being gradually rested from the Shawnee Indians, the --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [35] GLIMPSES OF EARLY LIFE ON THE WESTERN WATERS population became more dense, and the Mississippi itself became the means of communication and barter with the more northern tribes. Another race of aquatics now succeeded, who, if history and tradition do not greatly wrong them, were not much more exemplary in their con- duct than the pirates and buccaneers who preceded them. We refer to the Mississippi boatmen. The reader has been made acquainted with some of the difficulties with which they had to contend, while struggling for weeks or months, without intermission, against the impetuous cur- rent, but they were obliged, in addition to all this, to "fight their way," very often with the skulking Indians on the banks, or with the scarcely half-civilized white inhabitants of various districts conti- guous to the shores of the river. The boatmen who ascended the Ohio were not unfrequently assailed by the savages, who, taking up the most favorable positions, either poured down the contents of their rifles on the boat as she passed, or, taking advantage of the dense fogs, boarded them in their canoes, and exterminated the crew of the barge without mercy. The crews of different boats likewise had their feuds or rival- ships, and when these hostile barges happened to meet on the river, battles and bloodshed were the usual results. Such a course of life was well calculated to make these boatmen lawless, desperate, and ferocious; but it appears that there was one bright spot on the dusky disc of their reputation. Their "redeeming virtue," as we are told, was scrupulous fidelity to their employers, the merchants, who entrusted them with valuable cargoes, without in- surance, or any other guarantee except the receipt of the steersman, who possessed no other property than his interest in the boat. Never- theless, this scrupulous integrity may appear to have based on policy rather than principle, for the boatman's business depended solely on the confidence of the merchant in his honesty and fair dealing. It is reported, that numbers of wealthy travellers, who had occasion to take passage in these boats, never uttered and subsequent complaints if ill- treatment, unless these complaints were made to catfish at the bottom of the river! Mysterious disappearances were of frequent occurrence at that time, and it required a stout heart to make a voyage down the Mississippi, if the voyager carried with him any property which might tempt the cupidity of these piratical boatmen. The model hero of this tribe was the famous MIKE FINK, who, if we mistake not, has figured on the pages of more than one popular romance of our day. The veritable Mike, without any fanciful embellishment, was a ruffian of surpassing strength and courage, his rifle was un- erring, and his conscience was as easy and accommodating as a man in his line --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [36] GLIMPSES OF EARLY LIFE ON THE WESTERN WATERS of business could wish. He had not been regularly trained from youth in the vocation of a boatman, but originally belonged to a company of government spies, or scouts, whose duty it was to watch the motions of the Indians on the frontiers. This peculiar service is thus described: -- At that time Pittsburgh was on the very extreme verge of white popu- lation, and the spies, who were constantly employed, generally extended their reconnoissance forty or fifty miles to the west of this post. They went out singly, lived in the Indian style, and perfectly assimi- lated themselves in habits, tastes and feelings to the red men of the forest. A kind of border warfare was kept up, and the scout thought it as praiseworthy to bring in the scalp of a Shawnee as the skin of a panther. He would remain in the woods for weeks together, using parched corn for bread, while for meat he depended on his rifle. At night he slept in perfect comfort, rolled up in his blanket with no- thing but a magnificent canopy of stars, or, as it might happen, with a drapery of clouds over his head. MIKE FINK, after having pursued this delicious mode of life for some time, appears to have got tired of his land service, and betook himself to the water. He now engrafted several other occupations on that of the boatman; for while he dealt liberally and honestly with is friends and mercantile patrons, he put all the rest of mankind under contribution; and, in fact, was known from Pittsburgh to New Orleans as a regularr freebooter. An ancedote illustrative of his address and presence of mind is thus related: -- One day, while he was making a little excursion in the woods, creeping along, according to his Indian habits, with the stealthy tread of a cat, his eye fell upon a beautiful buck, browsing on a barren spot, about three hundred yards distant. The temptation was too strong for the old woodsman, and he resolved, although the place was right perilous on account of Indian neighbours, to have a shot at all hazards. Repriming his gun and picking his flint, he made his approaches in the usual noiseless manner. At the moment he reached the spot from which he meant to take his aim, he observed a large sav- age, intent upon the same object, advancing from a direction a little different from his own. MIKE shrunk back behind a tree with the quick- ness of thought, and keeping his eye fixed on the hunter, awaited the result with patience. In a few moments the Indian halted within fifty paces, and levelled his piece at the deer. In the meanwhile Mike pre- sented his rifle at the body of the savage, and as the smoke issued from the gun of the latter, the bullet of FINK passed through the red man's breast. He uttered a yell, and fell dead at the same instant with the deer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [37] GLIMPSES OF EARLY LIFE ON THE WESTERN WATERS MIKE reloaded his rifle, and remained in his covert for some minutes, to ascertain whether there were more enemies at hand. He then stepped up to the prostrate savage, and having satisfied himself that life was extinct, he turned his attention to the buck, and took from the carcase such choice pieces as he could conveniently carry off. Mr. FINK'S skill in the use of the rifle is exemplified in the following instance. While descending the Ohio in his boat, he once made a wager with a passenger that he would, from the mid-stream, with his rifle balls, cut off the tails of five pigs which were feeding on the banks. He executed this feat with such dexterity, that the un- fortunate porkers were deprived of every vestige of their ornamental appendages, not a stump being left to indicate the position which said appendages had occupied. The death of MIKE FINK was melo-dramatic at least, if it wanted the dignified characteristics of tragedy. He had a friend, one of his barge companions, named JOE STEVENS, on whom he had lavished his good offices, taught him the use of the rifle, and many other accomplish- ments suited to his situation in life. MIKE likewise had a sweetheart, the daughter of one of the early settlers, who dwelt in a cottage or shanty on the bank of the river, and performed the duties of laundress for the boatmen, among whom whe had many admirers. Fink for some time appeared to be the most acceptable of this young lady's numerous lovers, but he was aroused at last from dreams of bliss, as delusive as they were delicious, by the fatal discovery that his friend JOE STEVENS had fully realized all that felicity which he himself had enjoyed only in visionary perspective. Burning with rage and jealousy, MIKE con- trived to hide his resentment while he awaited a fair opportunity for vengeance. That opportunity came at last. On a certain fine autumnal afternoon, the crew of FINK'S boat were recreating themselves on shore with the rifle exercise, shooting at a mark, which was a very common divertisement among gentlemen of their profession. FINK'S reputation as an accurate marksman was so well established that his companions frequently allowed him to fire at a tin cup placed on the head of one of their number, and the man who supported this target, having a per- fect reliance on MIKE'S skill, never considered the valuable contents of his knowledge-box endangered in the least by this experiment. On the occasion now referred to, a stranger was present, and FINK, apparently with a desire to show off his exquisite accomplishment, pro- posed to shoot at the tin cup in the manner just described. The person whom he selected to bear the target was his rival in love, and the ob- ject of his fierce but hitherto concealed resentment, JOE STEVENS, who was wholly unsuspicious of the deadly malice which lurked in MIKE'S bosom --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [38] GLIMPSES OF EARLY LIFE ON THE WESTERN WATERS JOE cheerfully consented to be the cup-bearer, and having assumed the glittering but perilous diadem, he placed himself at the proper dis- tance and requested MIKE to "blaze away." MIKE did blaze away with a vengeance, but instead of aiming at the cup, as the spectators supposed he would, he directed the piece a few inches lower, perforated the skull of the unlucky STEVENS, and laid him dead on the spot. A brother of STEVENS was present, and he, suspecting that the bloody deed had been premeditated by FINK, levelled his gun at the latter, and shot him dead likewise. And thus the eventful life of this illustrious person- age was brought to a sudden termination. Another river hero of great celebrity was JAMES GIRTY. Western Pennsylvania has the honor of giving him birth; and some of his family, before his time, had acquired unenviable distinction. His two uncles, SIMON and GEORGE, had adopted the Indian habits and costume, and were supposed to be the principal instigators of many of the atrocities committed by the savages on the frontier settlements. JAMES GIRTY, the boatman, is represented to have been a natural prodigy. He was not constructed like ordinary men, for, instead of ribs, bountiful nature had provided him with a solid, bony casing on both sides, without any interstices through which a knife, dirk, or bullet could penetrate. He possessed, likewise, amazing muscular power, and courage in proportion, and his great boast was, that he had "never been whipt." This man had been engaged in some of the most desperate adventures, and several times subjected himself to the severest penalties of the laws, but his customary good fortune saved him in all extremities. At one time, while he commanded a barge called the Black Snake, his boat's crew were fleeced, and some of them severly beaten by a strong party of gamblers at Natchez. The men refused to get the boat under weigh until they obtained vengeance; and GIRTY, in order to save time, agreed to accompany them to the dance-house, where the gamblers held their head- quarters, to assist in punishing the villains as they deserved. Several of the gamblers were killed, and others badly wounded in the affray which followed; GIRTY and some of the other ringleaders of his party were arrested, and afterwards tried for manslaughter; but the lady who kept the dance-house, and who appears to have been a parti- cular friend and admirer of GIRTY, so managed it that the principal witnesses were not forthcoming at the trial. One witness only refused to absent himself at this lady's request, but she secured his silence by giving him a strong dose of arsenic a day or two before the trial came on. And so, as nobody appeared against Mr. GIRTY, he was "honor- ably acquitted." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [39] GLIMPSES OF EARLY LIFE ON THE WESTERN WATERS The river men were generally on the most friendly terms with the hordes of robbers who infested the neighboring country. In fact, these "land rats and water rats," as SHYLOCK would call them, were allies and associates, assisting each other in a variety of nefarious under- takings. A beautiful and romantic spot, called Cave-in-rock, on the Ohio river, was the general place of rendezvous for freebooters and boatmen. Here they held their grand councils, divided their plunder, and formed plans for future depredations. From the accounts here given, the reader may judge what was the state of human society on and about the western rivers fifty years ago. Travelling on those rivers, at that period, was not less dangerous than expensive and dilatory. Robberies and murders were the common incidi- dents of westward travel, either by land or water. The barges were manned chiefly by men of desperate fortunes and characters, fugitives from justice, and other outcasts from society, who were prepared to commit any crime on the slightest provocation or inducement. We are now prepared to estimate the importance of that great change which may be called the Steamboat Revolution, a particular account of which will be given in the next article. ===========================================================================