Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 78, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1913 — OLD STEAMER OSAGE [ARTICLE]

OLD STEAMER OSAGE

Cargo of Salt Yields Good Profit to Boat Owner. Craft Goes Upstream in Flood, but the Crew Has to Dig Into the River Bank in Order to r Turn Around. ♦ Clinton, Mo. —How a steamboat once navigated the waters of the Osage river, delivered a cargo of salt at Suns Point, Kan., and a good profit on the deal is told x here by Richard Fuqua, a carpenter, who' was the boat’s carpenter on the trip and for several years after. Now the once navigable Osage river is a prize sought by water power men and promoters, and Kansas, instead of importing salt, is exporting it. The steamboat was itself named the Osage. The hull was laid and launched at Linn Creek in the winter of 1856-7 by the owners, who were residents of Linn Creek. The hull was towed to St. Louis, where the boat was finished. It was 130 fdet long, 22 feet wide,) and when loaded to its capacity of 200 tons drew nearly three feet of water. It was pronounced the finest little boat afloat in its day, with a cabin capacity of sevenfy-five passengers, double engines, double boilers and side wheels. It was sold to Captain Lambert, Of New York, an experienced boat man, who later traded it to Maj. R. H. Melton of Warsaw, Mo., for Benton county land, the consideration being $22,000. Major Melton placed Elijah Melton, his brother, in charge as clerk, and the Osage made regular trips for eight months, in the year from St. Louis up the Osage river, often as far as Papinsville, in Bates county, Missouri, but more frequently going to Osceola, St Clair county. The Civil war had destroyed the boating service on the Osage river, and salt was so scarce that a pound would sell at times for |l. Major Melton found plenty of salt at St. Louis In 1867, which had come from Michigan down the Mississippi. He knew if he could get It to the western counties of Missouri the people would pay a handsome profit for ( lt With George Crawford, an Osage river pilot the boat was loaded to its capacity with salt in barrels and sacks, and the voyage began. J At Osceola the news came that heavy rains for a week at the headwaters of the Osage in Kansas would keep the river at high water mark; and Crawford, the daring Osage river pilot, said he would try for Suns Point, or failing, he could stop at Bell View, a few miles below. Suns Point was reached at four o’clock on the afternoon of the following day, and the river bank was full, but very narrow. It was so full that the presence of the boat forced the water out of its banks on to the low land. In an hour the water began to fall, and all hands rolled off the salt Everybody who would work was hired to help. The unloading contln-

ued all night without interruption until four o’clock in the morning. It was then observed that the narrow stream was not wide enough by ten f&et to turn the boat around. Every available tool was put into use by deckhands and the bank of the river was dug down low enough to allow the stern of the boat to back into it, and by the aid of ropes and capstan the turn was made. The unloading was completed, and at five o’clock the race for deep whter began. The wood supply was running low when a woodyard was seen in the distance on the bank, some thirty miles below Suns Point No time was lost in tying up and appropriating all the wood in the yard, and the little steamer was on her to escape the shallow water. The mouth of the Osage, below Jefferson City was reached before noon the following day. Major Melton left his brother In •charge of the salt at Suns t’olnt and in a week he had sold the last of his boatload of salt and was returning with 327,000, representing the profit of the trip.