Orginally the J. C. Kerr and later the Choctaw. Built at Clinton, Iowa in 1904. The J. C. Kerr was built at Chambersburg, Ohio in 1884. Later, as the Chaperone she had the same dimensions or :- 121 x 27.8 x 3.0 feet. Tonnage, gross and net, listed as 125. She was taken to Evansville, Indiana by Captain R. H. Williams in the early 1890s and entered the Evansville and Green River trade where she
army rifles, 80 hundred weight; and one 12-pounder howitzer. In September of that year she was listed as carrying the six 32-pounders , three army rifles, three 8 inch guns and one 30-pounder Parrot rifle. The Washington records show that the Cairo was sunk within less than five minutes after being struck by a torpedo, 18 miles up the Yazoo river, on December 12, 1862.