Lower Missouri River.

River history has always been a bit foggy.  If you stared carefully into that fog and focused on a place, a point in time, a steamboat, or steamboat man, you could see history sparkling in the black water of the river. 

 

During the navigational season of 1847, steamboating between St Louis and Ft Leavenworth was stimulated by the demands of the Mexican-American War. [1]  The high cost and slowness of overland freight gave the US Army an increased appreciation of steamboats. [2]  Roads did not exist.  Only dirt paths barely wide enough for an ox cart were available.  Ft Leavenworth, during the Mexican-American War, was the main  supply depot for the Army of the West; New Orleans provided the same service for the Army of the East.   Troops and supplies bound for the Mexican War were transported to Ft Leavenworth from St Louis by steamboat, and the 900 miles from Ft Leavenworth to Santa Fe by horse or oxen and wagon  overland. 

 

Steamboat traffic on the Missouri River did not subside with the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848.  The war supply effort was followed by the westward trek of the Mormons to Salt Lake City, then in land claimed by Mexico.  In the next few years thousands of the faithful moved there by following the Mormon Trail from the west bank of the Missouri River near present day Florence, NB.  The migration of Oregonians overlapped with the Mormons via the Oregon Trail which crossed the Missouri at Ft Leavenworth.  Steamboat trade on the lower Missouri River in 1852, a record emigration year, was extremely active.  All of the river ports on the Missouri became wealthy outfitting emigrants.  Then the settlement of Kansas and Nebraska became violent.  Due to a Congressional bill introduced on 4 Jan 1854 by Senator Stephen Douglas, the issue of slavery in the new territories would be voted on by the inhabitants of the states.  The North exploded in fury.  Once conservative businessmen became stark mad abolitionists forming companies to establish “free state” colonies in the two states.  The rough Missouri frontiersmen seethed as they watched the steamboats full of “the filth, scum, and off scourings of the East bound for Kansas”. [3] 

 

Georgetown steamboat men were at the center of the war supply effort and the massive migrations via the lower Missouri River, and probably the abolitionist migration.  Georgetown Captains George W Ebert, Adam Poe, Thomas W Poe, Joseph MC Calhoon, and Jackman T Stockdale were all operating on the Missouri.  Their boats are well documented.  No doubt Jacob Poe, George Poe, Thomas S Calhoon, and Richard Calhoon, were also working in the vicinity although their documentary trail is meager. 

 

According to the entry in Capt Way’s Directory, the str New England was the flagship of a fleet of steamboats departing Pittsburgh with soldiers bound for the Mexican War.  In Mar 1847, the str New England was purchased by Capt George W Ebert who operated the sidewheeler between Pittsburgh and Wheeling till 1849. [4]  I do not know whether Capt Ebert  participated in the Mexican War effort (combat operations lasted a year and a half to the fall of 1847).  The following table lists the owners of the str New England  according to the Certifiacte of Enrollment record dated 3 Mar 1847.

 

Str New England

 

Owners and Partners Share Vol: 6629
Geo W Ebert   Enroll No : 26
Jacob Poe   Cert Date: 3 Mar 1847
Andrew Poe   Cert Type:: Enrollment 180
Thomas Poe   Build Locn: Pittsburgh, PA
Wm J Kountz   Build Date: 1844
David Wilkins   Master GW Ebert

  Certificate of Enrollment for the Port of Pittsburgh

 

The str Washington City, owned by Capt George W Ebert, was listed by Dr EB Trail in his list of boats on the Missouri from 1836 to 1898.  Other references list the str Washington City as one of several boats running the lower Missouri River in the early 1850′s.  In the history of Buchanan County and St Joseph, Missouri, the str Washington City was listed as “making a few trips” to St Joseph.  The partners of the str Washington City as recorded in the Certificate of Enrollment for the Port of Pittsburgh  dated 6 Nov 1852.

 

Str Washington City 

 

Owners and Partners Share Vol: 6634
GW Ebbert 3/16 Enroll No : 162
Jacob Poe 3/16 Cert Date: 6 Nov 1852
James Wilkins 2/16 Cert Type:: Admeasurement
Samuel Cadman 2/16 Build Locn: Freedom, PA
Thomas Smith 2/16 Build Date: 1852
Samuel Smith 2/16    
Samuel Moore 2/16    

 Certificate of Enrollment for the Port of Pittsburgh

 

 

In 1851 the str Financier owned by Capt Adam Poe steamed from Warsaw to St Louis in 22 hours. [5]  Warsaw is on the Osage River a tributary of the Missouri River. 

 

 

Str Financier

 

Owners and Partners Share Vol: 6629
Adam Poe   Enroll No : 68
Jacob Poe   Cert Date: 20 May 1846
Thomas W Poe   Cert Type:: Admeasurement
George Calhoon   Build Locn: Pittsburgh, PA
Andrew Poe   Build Date: 1845
George Poe   Master Adam Poe
Washington Ebert      

 Certificate of Enrollment for the Port of Pittsburgh

 

  Capt Adam Poe on the Financier No 2 ventured to Ft Riley on the Kansas River in 1854 — one of three steamers to reach the fort.  In 1855, the Financier No 2 was one of six steamers to supply the settlements along the Kansas River Valley. [6]  The str Ella owned by  Capt Adam Poe and others from Georgetown was also working on the Missouri in 1854. 

 

 

Str Financier No 2

 

Owners and Partners Share Vol: 6633
Adam Poe   Enroll No : 95
Jacob Poe   Cert Date: 24 Jun 1850
Thomas W Poe   Cert Type:: Admeasurement
George Poe   Build Locn: Freedom, PA
George W Ebbert   Build Date: 1850
Thomas Smith   Master Adam Poe
       

 Certificate of Enrollment for the Port of Pittsburgh

 

 

The str Admiral, as cited by Phil E Chappell, was among the finest boats on the lower Missouri River in 1858.  [7]   According to Capt Way, JT Stockdale was the first master.  [8]

On a trip from St Louis to Weston, MO, 104 passengers signed a resolution that the str Admiral was a “safe and commodious” boat. [9]   The master of the str Admiral was Jackman T Stockdale.  Positive references, would be published in local newspapers to enhance a boat’s reputation. 

Str Admiral

Owners and Partners Share Vol: 6635
Geo P McBride 2/16 Enroll No : 128
Wm Rea 2/16 Cert Date: 31 Oct 1852
Chas Rea 1/16 Cert Type:: Admeasurement
Henry Errell 2/16 Build Locn: McKeesport, PA
Wm Brigg 2/16 Build Date: 1853
Allen Stockdale 1/16 Master Geo P McBride
JT Stockdale 1/16    

 Certificate of Enrollment for the Port of Pittsburgh

 

 

Owned by Thomas W Poe and other partners from   Georgetown, PA the str Georgetown was snagged on the Missouri on 12 Oct 1853, raised, and returned to service.  On 11 May 1855 the str Georgetown was fatally snagged at Bellefontaine Bluffs on the Missouri in route to a military post. [10]

 

 

Str Georgetown

 

Owners and Partners Share Vol: 6635
Thomas Poe 3/16 Enroll No : 117
Jacob Poe 3/16 Cert Date: 24 Sep 1852
George Poe 1/16 Cert Type:: Enrollment
Joseph Calhoon 3/16 Build Locn: Line Island, PA
Mrs AB McClure (Elizabeth Poe) 2/16 Build Date: 1852
Andrew Poe 2/16 Master  
GW Ebbert 2/16    

 Certificate of Enrollment for the Port of Pittsburgh

 

 

Near the mouth of the Missouri River in Apr 1855, Joseph MC Calhoon became ill aboard the str Golden State.  He intended to return to his home in Georgetown, PA.  Unable to proceed farther than Alton, IL, he stayed at the Franklin House where he died on Saturday evening on 21 Apr 1855 at about nine o’clock.

 

Str Golden Gate

 

Owners and Partners Share Vol: 6634
Joseph MC Calhoon 3/8 Enroll No : 129
Martin Lyon 1/8 Cert Date: 1 Sep 1852
Thomas Oliver 1/8 Cert Type:: Admeasurement
William Rea 1/16 Build Locn: McKeesport, PA
George McBride 1/16 Build Date: 1852
Hugh Martin 1/16 Master  
William Noble 1/8    
David McNeal 1/16    

 Certificate of Enrollment for the Port of Pittsburgh

 

 

It is important to acknowledge that the Georgetown steamboat owners and crew were in the river freight and passenger business at the sharp and dangerous and always moving frontier edge of our nation.  Without their tenacity, without their fearlessness, without that readiness to leave behind the safety of the Ohio River and venture into the Missouri, the development of the interior of our nation would have been delayed many years. 

 

 

References.

 


[1]  William E Lass, Navigating the Missouri/ Steamboating on Nature’s Highway, 1819-1935, (University of Oklahome Press,2007), p 120.

[2]  William E Lass, Navigating the Missouri/ Steamboating on Nature’s Highway, 1819-1935, (University of Oklahome Press,2007), p 125.

[3]  Debby Applegate, The Most Famous Man in America, Three Leaves Press, 2006, p 278.

[4]  Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p 343.

[5]  William E Lass, Navigating the Missouri/ Steamboating on Nature’s Highway, 1819-1935, (University of Oklahome Press,2007), p 146.

[6]  William E Lass, Navigating the Missouri/ Steamboating on Nature’s Highway, 1819-1935, (University of Oklahoma Press, 2007), p 142.

[7]  William J Petersen, Steamboating on the Missouri River, Iowa journal of History, Iowa City, IA, April 1955, p 106.

[8]  Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 6.

[9]  William E Lass, Navigating the Missouri/ Steamboating on Nature’s Highway, 1819-1935, (University of Oklahome Press,2007), p 97.

 [10]  Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 186.

 

Copyright © 2012 Francis W Nash
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