F. M. Wallace

Hartford, John

picture

F. M. Wallace (Steamboat)
Towboats
River steamers
Steamboats

1910-1919

The sternwheel towboat Oakland was built at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1872. Her hull dimensions were: - 210 x 35 x 6 feet. Tonnage: 628, gross and net. Her horse power was rated at 1280. She was first owned jointly by Captains Tom Fawcett and William \"McKeesport Billy\" Smith. Shortly thereafter she was sold to the St. Louis and Mississippi Valley Transportation Company of St. Louis, Missouri. She was used to tow bulk freight between St. Louis and New Orleans. In 1881 she took down what was considered the largest tow of bulk grain handled by one boat from St. Louis to New Orleans - 263,000 bushels of corn, 90,000 bushels of wheat; all in eight barges. On March 14, 1897, the steamer C. O. in two of the Oakland, when passing Hickman, Kentucky, struck the Big Eddy and parted her headlines. She swung around, turned over and sunk in 100 feet of water, a total loss; valued at $3000. No one hurt and no lives lost. She aws taken into the Pittsburgh \"Combine\" in the early 1900's, and then towed coal from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. In May 1907, towing 28 pieces loaded with 21,000 tons of coal, she made the run from Pittsburgh to New Orleans in 15 days. On June 15, 1909, charges were preferred by James E. Culver, a licensed mate of river steamers, against Captain James Beazell, master, for leaving the port of Louisville, without having a licensed mate on board. After an inquiry the charges were not sustained and the case dismissed. In early 1914 her name was changed to the F. M. Wallace and the texas removed. She sank in the Mississippi River just south of St. Louis about 1921. Part of her was evidently salvaged as on January 5, 1924 the Barret Line offered for sale the hull of the towboat F. M. Wallace, formerly the speedy Oakland.

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Herman T. Pott National Inland Waterways Library