Str Sallie
The Sallie was a sternwheel wooden hull packet built in McKeesport, PA and completed in Pittsburgh in 1868. Designed for Missouri River trade, the Sallie was rated at 399 tons.[1] The packet owners were Thomas S Calhoon (2/3) and Jackman T Stockdale (1/3) of Georgetown, PA. [2]
The Sallie made the fastest trip ever accomplished to Ft Benton from St Louis. On 15 Mar 1868, the Sallie left Pittsburgh for St Louis; departed St Louis on 9 Apr 1868; arrived at Ft Benton on 26 May 1868; returned to dock at St Louis on 10 Jun 1868. That was 47 days out of St Louis to Ft Benton. [3] Or 72 days from Pittsburgh.
The financials for the 1868 season are interesting. First, the cost of the Sallie was $29,457.83. On her first trip to Ft Benton, the total receipts were $33,508.92 of which $12,747.69 was profit. In addition to his share as owner, Thomas S Calhoon also received a salary of $6,138.35 as master. Using the 1870 value for the US dollar from the CPI conversion table, Thomas S Calhoon made approximately $135,000 in 2006 dollars.[4]
The Sallie docked at the levee at Ft Benton three years 1868, 1869, and 1870. In a note in the Thomas S Calhoon Diary 1869, the “stmr Sallie was paid up in full to Capt JT Stockdale (1/3 = 10177.67)” on 19 Nov 1869. All in all the Sallie had a prosperous career.
Once, Capt Calhoon steamed up the Yellowstone River almost to Coulson (now Billings). A notable feat.
Horace Bixby worked on the Sallie as one of her pilots. Horace Bixby was one of the pilots who taught a cub pilot named Mark Twain. Other officers included John QA Parr, clerk; Joseph Calhoon son of Joseph Calhoon and cousin of Thomas S Calhoon, steward. All in all, the Sallie had a historic span.
The Sallie was commanded by Thomas S Calhoon until 6 Jul 1870. On 7 Nov 1870 the Sallie was sold for the St Louis and Arkansas River trade. [5] In 1872, she was snagged on the Arkansas River and declared a total loss.
References.
[1] . Frederick Way, Jr.,Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994, (Ohio University Press, Athens 1994), p. 415.
[2] Alexander C McIntosh, A Genealogy Report on the Calhoon Family, Beaver County Historical Society.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
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