Although the Montana Gold Rush was near its end, Missouri River commerce continued to be a profitable business venture. I have loaded a page entitled TS Calhoon’s Diary 1869. It includes his journal entries for the str Sallie which he commanded that season to Ft Benton.
Archive for the ‘Missouri River Commerce’ Category
More Golden Highway 1869
Saturday, May 8th, 2010More Golden Highway 1866
Thursday, May 6th, 2010Thomas S Calhoon, as first clerk of the str Amelia Poe, sighted 16 steamboats on his trip up river and 30 boats down river. From St Louis, the trip to Ft Benton was 72 ½ days; down 57 days with three days to discharge freight and passengers.
Thomas S Calhoon left Georgetown, Pa on 12 Mar 1866 and returned to his home on 19 Aug 1866. That was 160 days on the river = almosst half the year. He took approximately three weeks in Georgetown before he shipped out on 5 Oct 1866.
I have added his journal entries for the down river trip to the page TS Calhoon’s Book 1866.
The Golden Highway
Monday, April 26th, 2010In 1866, the str Amelia Poe commanded by Capt Thomas W Poe was the first boat from Georgetown to venture to Ft Benton in the Montana Territory. Thomas S Calhoon was the 1st clerk. The log of his trip up the Missouri River to Ft Benton in the Montana Territory has been loaded on the page TS Calhoon’s Book 1866.
This Missouri River adventure was transcribed from a copy of a copy of “Thomas S Calhoon’s Book 1866” [1] The original journal I have not seen, nor know where it is. The Heinz History Center research library has a typed copy which I assume was transcribed from the original by Harriet (Calhoon) Ewing. I have attempted to stay true to the copy. It presents some challenges: There is no punctuation; spelling is phonetic such as Schiann for Cheyenne, kild for killed, etc. Still it is full of swash and buckle.
Of the 51 boats that departed St Louis that season, 32 docked at Ft Benton. Millions of dollars of gold from the mines flowed down the “Golden Highway”. It was impossible to estimate the amount of gold because it flowed down the Missouri in pockets, in chests, in a buck wagon, and as payment for freight delivered. Freight that year was bringing 10-12 cents per pound; steamboat passage from St Louis was $150-200. While a barrel of salt was $1.25 in St Louis, it brought $45 in Helena. The total freight up was 6,644 tons and passengers up was 502. [2]
Arriving on 11 Jun 1866, the Amelia Poe delivered 200 tons of freight and 40 passengers. Downward gold and passengers was not recorded.
[1] The Ewing Family Papers, Thomas S Calhoon’s Book 1866, Box 5, Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh, PA.
[2] Joel Overholser, Fort Benton World’s Innermost Port, (River & Plains Society, 1987), p 54.
Monthly Wages
Thursday, February 18th, 2010In 1869, the monthly wage rate on all boats out of St Louis except those bound for the Missouri River:
1869 $s 2006 $s
Captain $175 $2,800
Pilots $250 $4,000
1st Clerk $140 $2,240
2nd Clerk or Mud clerk $60 $ 960
1st engineers $110 $1,760
2nd Engineer $70 $1,120
Mates $110 $1,760
Steward $70 $1,120
Deck hands $30-60 $ 480-960
Pilots on the Missouri earned $500-2,000 ($8,000 – $32,000 in 2006 dollars) if they steamed above Sioux City to Ft Benton. The average length of a trip from St Louis to Ft Benton was 100 days making a pilot a wealthy man.
Some Packet Terms
Monday, February 1st, 2010Sparring, sometimes called “walking”, was done by means of two poles or spars which were lowered over each side of the boat and set in the sand with the lower ends pointing downstream. Lines were attached to the top of the spars and drawn taunt around the capstan. Then the crew pulled backward, lifting the boat upward and forward over the sandbar. The process was repeated until the boat reached deeper water.
Lighting or lightening meant that part of the cargo had been removed from the boat in order to pass over a shallow in the river. As a by-product, lighting also caused the costly process of double-tripping.
“White roosters” were white laborers who were also known as roustabouts and deckhands.
Deck passengers usually only paid half fare, slept on the lower deck, provided their own food, and generally helped when the boat was wooding up, sparring, and doing other manual work.
Comparison of Two Journals
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010I am developing a page comparing, day by day, the two steamer journals of the 1869 Missouri River season:
(1) Str Henry M Shreve by Nelson Green Edwards
(2) Str Mollie Ebert by Nancy Poe Ebert
The following table compares their trips by date and position according to entries in their respective journals. The Nancy Poe Ebert journal resolved conclusively the question of whether the Mollie Ebert docked at Ft Benton. The Mollie Ebert did reach Cow Island, but could not navigate the Dauphin Rapids due to low water. The Mollie Ebert spent eight days at Cow Island while the clerk and captain arranged the transfer of their freight to two boats that had successfully negotiated the rapids when the water level was higher. Emotionally and financially, the failure to dock at the Ft Benton levee was deeply disappointing.
|
Position |
Miles |
Henry M Shreve |
Mollie Ebert |
| Depart | |||
| St Louis |
0 |
Apr 6 |
Apr 16 |
| Kansas City |
456 |
Apr 10 |
|
| Omaha |
807 |
Apr 17 |
|
| Sioux City |
1010 |
Apr 20 |
|
| Yankton |
1181 |
Apr 24 |
May 6 |
| Bijou Hills |
|
Apr 30 |
May 13-14 |
| Ft Thompson |
1441 |
May 2 |
May 16 |
| St John’s Woodyard |
|
May 5 |
May 18 |
| Ft Sully |
1520 |
May 8 |
May 20 |
| Swan Lake |
|
May 12 |
|
| Cannon Ball River |
|
May 15 |
May 23 |
| Ft Rice |
|
May 16 |
|
| Ft Berthold |
1985 |
May 19 |
May 27 |
| Little Missouri River |
2015 |
May 19 |
May 27 |
| Ft Buford |
2240 |
May 22 |
May 25? |
| Spread Eagle Camp |
|
May 24 |
|
| Milk River |
2482 |
May 26 |
|
| Ft Peck |
|
May 26 |
|
| Mussel Shell River |
2678 |
May 29 |
|
| Cow Island |
2793 |
Jun 2 |
Jun12 |
| Ft Benton |
2965 |
Jun12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Return |
|
|
|
| Ft Benton |
2965 |
Jun 15 |
|
| Cow Island |
2793 |
|
Jun 20 |
| Spread Eagle Bend |
|
|
Jun 24 |
| Ft Buford |
2240 |
|
Jun 26 |
| Yellowstone River |
2235 |
|
Jun 27 |
| Little Missouri River |
2015 |
|
Jun 27 |
| Ft Stevenson |
|
|
Jun 28 |
| Cannon Ball River |
|
|
Jun 29 |
| Swan Lake Woodyard |
|
|
Jun 30 |
| Ft Sully |
1520 |
|
Jul 2 |
| St Louis |
0 |
Jul 1 |
Jul 13 |
Fort Benton
Monday, September 28th, 2009
“Fort Benton on the Upper Missouri is a small town with a big history.” That is the beginning of the introduction of a delightful book by Ken Robison on the history of Ft Benton. The book, Fort Benton, includes photographs and postcards from Mr Robison’s collection. One image, special to me, was a steamboat passenger boarding pass for the Montana and Idaho Transportation Line. The St Louis based line was owned by John G Copelin and his father-in-law John J Roe. According to Mr Robison, the line dominated the Missouri River commerce from 1864-68.
Montanna and Idaho Transportation Line Boarding Pass (The Ken Robison Collection)
Look carefully at the names of the pool of boats used by the line. Thomas W Poe was the captain of the Amelia Poe and George W Ebert was the captain of the Yorktown. In 1867, one other Georgetown packet docked at Ft Benton: the Ida Stockdale in the first of five seasons. Captains Thomas S Calhoon and Jackman T Stockdale were partners and Capt Grant Marsh was the master in 1867.
The Amelia Poe docked at the Ft Benton levee on 9 Jun with 183 tons of freight and 50 passengers. Eighty-five days from St Louis. The Yorktown arived at Ft Benton on 14 Jun (84 days from St Louis) with 210 tons of freight and 15 passengers. The Nymph No 2 arrived on 20 Jul (118 days from St Louis); the GA Thompson 30 Jun; the Deer Lodge 5 Jun. The arrival of the Bertha is not recorded in “Fort Benton The World’s Innermost Port” by Joel Overholser.
Str Mollie Ebert
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009My biographical data on the Mollie Ebert has been posted. I had intentionally delayed posting this data till now hoping that I would find photos of the Mollie Ebert. And Capt George Washington Ebert. Failed in both endeavors!
The Mollie Ebert was built in 1869 under the eye of Jacob Poe. She was the masterpiece of his life spent on the water according to family lore. I have read of only one photo which was taken by Capt Way of a painting owned by Theodore C Poe (son of Jacob). I know not what became of the painting.
The Poe family shared the ownership of many of their boats so I suspect the Mollie Ebert was no different. They were wealthy by the standards of the day and “generous to a fault” according to Harriet (Calhoon) Ewing, a neighbor for fifty years.
Str Amelia Poe
Friday, July 24th, 2009The biographical data for the Amelia Poe is complete. This page is interesting because it includes documented financial information. If you calculate the rates for freight and passengers, you can understand why these rivermen were willing to take such great risks. In 1866 according to the records, fifty-one (51) boats departed St Louis. Thirty-two (32) docked in Ft Benton. Although steamboats failed to reach Ft Benton for a variety of reasons, the rate of success was only 62.7%. That is little better than a flip of a coin.
In addition to the financial data, the tragic end of the Amelia Poe made a good story.