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Constructive Criticism

Thursday, April 25th, 2013

A friend offered some constructive criticism recently. She explained that the GeorgetownSteamboats site was so large that she did not know how to approach it.

I agree. The site is huge, and growing. It is divided into blog posts and static pages and images:

            (1) Posts         181      ==     32,298 words
            (2) Pages        145      ==  107,082 words
            (3) Images      648

The total word count is not current yet easily matches an average sized novel – without images! I have more work in progress. Currently I am working on the Georgetown Cemetery list by analyzing three different sources : findagrave, the genealogypitstop, and an inherited hand written list. I am also working on additional CivWar150 posts. Seven more trips to the National Archives will complete my port of Pittsburgh steamboat registrations review. And I have a wish to visit, Cincinnati, St Louis, and Ft Benton historical societies, museums, and libraries. Only 22 of more than 100 identified to date steamboat biographies have been researched and put to Word. The percentage for steamboat owner and captain biographies is about equal to the steamboats. Where is Ken Burns when you need him?

The comment forced me to consider developing an outline for users. I have three classes of readers. One class is interested in Poe genealogy; another group prefers general steamboat and Ohio River history; and the Russians who we will exclude from consideration. The history of Georgetown and its local area stories fit into the Poe genealogy class.

So here it is. Analysis of the most frequently visited pages and posts provided by the POWWEB visitor stats mapped into my faves produced the following two lists of top ten pages and posts for my two classes of users.

Poe Genealogy and Georgetown History	Steamboat and Ohio River History

Site Introduction	Site Introduction
It Used To Be A River Town	It Used To Be A River Town
History in Homes	Civil War Transports
The Point of Beginning	No Place for a Lady
No Place for a Lady	Capt Jacob Poe
The Lost Frontier Fort	The BM Laughlin Book
Thomas Washington Poe	Thomas Washington Poe
Gentleman Charles E Poe	The First Steamboat War
The Preacher’s Note	Georgetown Cemetery
Poe Glass Plates	Str Clara Poe

The popularity of The Point of Beginning amazes me. It is the fourth most view page in the past twelve months.

In hand, I have two important original source documents: the Nancy Ann (Poe) Ebert journal and the hand written book by Benjamin M Laughlin (courtesy of the Frances and John Finley Collection). The Poe journal in a word is fascinating. The Laughlin book adds new information to the history of steamboats. A look at both will be time not wasted.

Again, I welcome your comments, criticisms, and corrections. An historian I am not. If information posted on GeorgetownSteamboats is incorrect, I appreciate having it brought to my attention for correction.

Tags: ft benton
Posted in History of Georgetown PA, Steamer Captains | No Comments »

A Rare Photograph

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

A rare photograph of the str Amelia Poe. A fun story. Follow the link.

http://www.mtstandard.com/news/state-and-regional/article_5e2a6958-e147-5272-bb0d-b5adfe12a3ba.html?mode=story

Tags: amelia poe, capt thomas w poe, ft benton, georgetown, thomas s calhoon
Posted in History of Georgetown PA, Missouri River Commerce, River Tales | No Comments »

Missouri River Steamboats

Friday, February 25th, 2011

At a local library, I found a copy of “The Material Culture of Steamboat Passengers” by Annalies Corbin. The book published in 2000 was an archaeological study of the artifacts from the steamers Bertrand and Arabia. More work like this report should be conducted on other steamers lost on the Missouri.

In Appendix H, Ms Corbin listed the steamers on the Missouri River. Steamers owned and operated from Georgetown, PA named on the list included:

            (1) Amelia Poe
            (2) Ida Stockdale
            (3) Yorktown
            (4) Mollie Ebert
            (5) Nick Wall
            (6) Georgetown

Several Georgetown steamboats were omitted from the list. Most notably, the str Sallie was omitted, or confused with other boats with the same name. The Sallie docked at the levee in Ft Benton in 1868, 1869, and 1870.

Two other Georgetown owned steamers were also omitted. Poe family records indicate that the Financier No 2 and Ella worked on the Kansas River in 1854 -55 with the Georgetown. The Poe brothers had three boats operating on the Missouri and Kansas Rivers before the outbreak of the Civil War.

My final contributions to Appendix H are three boats named by Capt Adam Poe who travelled to Missouri in 1837. During his trip he steamed from St Louis to Glasgow on a boat named Izora. His original fare was with Capt Kyser who had a boat named Shawnee, but the water was too low so he booked passage on the Izora. After surveying his land, he returned to St Louis aboard the str Zora.

If ever Appendix H is updated, these boats should be added.

Tags: adam poe, amelia poe, ft benton, georgetown, missouri river steamboat, mollie ebert, str sallie
Posted in History of Georgetown PA, Missouri River Commerce, River history, River Tales, Uncategorized | No Comments »

More Golden Highway 1869

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

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.

Tags: ft benton, georgetown, Missouri River Commerce, Montana Gold Rush, steamboat, steamer sallie
Posted in Missouri River Commerce | 2 Comments »

More Golden Highway 1866

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

Thomas 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.

Tags: amelia poe, capt george w ebert, capt jackman t stockdale, capt thomas s calhoon, ft benton, georgetown, jacob poe, missouri river, steamboat, thomas s calhoon
Posted in Missouri River Commerce | Comments Off

The Golden Highway

Monday, April 26th, 2010

In 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.

Tags: amelia poe, capt thomas s calhoon, capt thomas w poe, ft benton, missouri river, steamboat
Posted in Missouri River Commerce | No Comments »

Monthly Wages

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

In 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
1^st Clerk                                 $140                       $2,240
2^nd Clerk or Mud clerk           $60                       $   960
1^st engineers                          $110                       $1,760
2^nd 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.

Tags: ft benton, missouri river steamboat, steamboat mate, steamboat pilot
Posted in Missouri River Commerce | Comments Off

Comparison of Two Journals

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

I 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

Tags: cow island, ft benton, henry m shreve, mollie ebert, nancy ann ebert, nancy ann poe, nelson g edwards, yankton agency
Posted in Missouri River Commerce | Comments Off

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.

Tags: amelia poe, capt george w ebert, capt jackman t stockdale, capt thomas s calhoon, capt thomas w poe, ft benton, georgetown, grant marsh, missouri river, missouri river steamboat, steamboat, str sallie, yorktown
Posted in Missouri River Commerce | 4 Comments »

History in Homes

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

I have been experiencing a problem with large pages. For an unknown reason I could not add photos or links to one large page. To solve my problem, I split the page entitled ”It Used to be a River Town” into a history of Georgetown and a history of the steamboat captains homes. The data about the homes has been placed in another page named “History in Homes.” I have added more photos and as times permits, I will include copies of some of the deeds for the properties.

There is one fun event description added. The story about the preparations for the 35^th wedding anniversary of Mollie Ebert and John A Trimble is notable. The redecoration of their parlors by a “force of artists” from Pittsburgh, their elegant supper at 10:00 PM, gifts exchanged… The details of the story were taken from a newspaper clipping from an unidentified local paper. I will try to determine the name of the newspaper.

Tags: capt george w ebert, capt jackman t stockdale, capt thomas s calhoon, catp jackman t stockdale, charles e poe, ft benton, george we poe, georgetown, jacob poe, mark twain, methodist episcopal church, richard calhoon, samuel l clemens, steamboat
Posted in History of Georgetown PA | Comments Off