p. 1071 - on Upper Mississippi River, believed to be '1902-1910' Davenport, Iowa. First as sternwheel 'J.S' J.S. 'first ' J.S. excursion boat built at Jeffersonville, Indiana. 1901 - size 175'x33'x5.5'. engines 18"x7' stroke, built for Captain John Streckfus Sr. Originally placed in Davenport - Clinton, Iowa daily trade, offering "moonlight excursions". In this trade she was found to be too large and heavy to run the rapids every day. She was withdrawn and operated exclusively as an excursion boat, and made great success as such. She was lost by burning, on June 25, 1910 at "bad ax bend," near Victory Wisconsin. It is said that the fire which caused her destruction was touched off by a passenger who was confined in the jail located in hold.
Built Pittsburgh, 1811, Length, 138 ft. 371 tons. Robert Fulton's financial success on the Hudson gave him funds to fulfill a second ambition, which John Fitch had also held: introduction of steamboats on the Western Waters, to us the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Fulton sent Nicholas Roosevelt, another steamboat experimenter, to Pittsburgh to build the New Orleans, first steamer to operate west of the Allegheny Mountains. Little information on the New Orleans has survived. There is even some question whether she was a sidewheeler or a sternwheeler. Her first voyage took place in 1811, when she left Pittsburgh in October, doubled back from Louisville to Cincinnati to prove she could run against the current, and reached New Olreans in January, 1812. For the 1911 centennial celebration of this event, a sidewheel replica of the New Orleans was built. It is shown in this photograph. The original boat plied the Lower Mississippi until 1814, when she hit a snag and sank.
The Vim was originally built as the Hattie Brown, a single deck sternwheeler at Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania in 1895. Her dimensions were:- 125 x 22.6 x 4.3 feet. She was built for J. W. Rice of Zanesville, Ohio and her engines came from the Lizzie Cassel. They were 12's with a 4-foot stroke. She ran various short trades on the Ohio River. The Hattie Brown was rebuilt at Jeffersonville, Indiana in 1915 and renamed the Vim. She was owned by the Louisville and Cincinnati Packet Company. The Vim came out in June, 1919 for the Madison and Kentucky River trade. In August 1919 her name was changed to Richard Roe. In March, 1921 she was in the Madison and Monterey trade, Kentucky River. Later Captain Lewis Tanner bought and used her for towing.
Corps of Engineers Snagboat Missouri on Mo. River, 1912. Burned at Gasconade Mo. July 28, 1928. Was sunk behind dike about 2 miles below Gasconade, Dec. 1929. Winter ice breakup broke hole in dike. March 1930, channel was through hole. March 15, 1930, Dredge Kappa, hit and sank on top, Snagboat Missouri. George Kishmar.
The Virginia operated in the Pittsburgh-Cincinnatti trade along with the Keystone State, the Iron Queen, the Scotia, the Carrollton, the Hudson and the Queen City. She was owned by the Pittsburgh and Cincinnatti Packet Company. Her career seemed to have been a hectic one. In 1910 high water from the Kanawha River left her stranded up in a field a hundred yards from the river, high and dry in Pomeroy Bend for a whole summer. The owner got tired waiting for another flood, and after three months set to work, dug a little canal, floated the old boat down to the Howard's repair yards. And in a few weeks she was going about her business as though nothing had happened. This was one of the best known accidents on the Mississippi system. Later her name was changed to Steel City; still later it was changed to the East St. Louis. Under her last name of Greater New Orleans she operated as an excursion steamer on the Mississippi, and fire finally destroyed her.
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.