Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 February 1880 — Life Upon a Mississippi Flatboat. [ARTICLE]

Life Upon a Mississippi Flatboat.

One of the most striking sights to be seen on the Mississippi is the immense number of wild geese constantly going down at this season of the year, not only geese with feathers, but an innumerable host whose wings are • the sweeps of the flatboats upon which they.live. The term “wild geese” is applied to those persons who make the nver their home. During the summer these persons build flatboats, similar to the “scow” of the New England States, upon which they erect the most primitive style of habitation, and collecting their household utensils, embark with their families, and float

down the river with the current, keepand the heat of the South. Occasionally they make astoppage to trade, or to do a little work to obtain money enough to purchase ammunition, or some of the necessities of life that the river does not afford, for the most of their food is obtained by the gun or fishing-tackle. Dock, geese and turkeys are abundant, 1 while the number of squirrels is enormous; catfish and buffalo are plenty in the river, the latter being a specie of fresh waterfish resembling the* sucker. At night a hook is baited with a piece of meat and thrown overboard, and in the morning the line is hauled in and a fish is gen-

erally at the end of it. Gradually they float down the river until New Orleans is reached, where they sell out, work their passage up river and take a new start. The craft of the “wild geese” are as strange and peculiar as are the natures of the strange beings who inhabit them. Upon many are painted, in large red letters, signs or names, such as “Tin Shop, “Feathers Renovated,” and one bore the incongruous title of “Faith, Hope and Charity.” Some of these people * are industrious Jand thrifty, ana are engaged in different occupations, while others are mere tramps, too lazy to fish, and, when there is no fishing, exist upon what they can beg. or steal. Thus they lead a sort of nomad life, never content to remain in one place any length of time, and, like a rolling stone, “ gather • no moss,” but it seems to give them a degree of hardiness and self-reliance that is indeed surprising. As a specimen of their hardiness, three men accomElished successfully a journey of five undred and fifty miles down the Mississippi in a skiff twelve feet long. They were provided with a light canvas covering. which they could rig tent-fashion over their boat at night, or fasten with a stick for a sail. Their cooking utensils consisted of a couple of stew-pans, an iron pot, two or three old knives, a spoon and a few cards of matches, besides a fishing line, a shot-gun and a bull-dog. The adventures of George W. Seaam, a steersman upon a steam launch, is another example. A year ago last Augnst he found himself in Leadville with scarcely a cent in his pocket and no prospect of work. Running. across a congenial companion, they consolidated their fortunes, and. obtaining some inch boards, constructed a skiff fifteen feet long and four feet wide, using their undershirts to caulk it with. Collecting a shot-gun, some ammunition, and coffee, sugar and salt, they started for New Orleans. They passed through Kansas during the Indian raid in that State, and were obliged to hide themselves and, their boat in the daytime and go down with the current at night, and, after several perilous adventures, reached their destination in March, having left Canon City in September, thus completing a journey of nearly three thousand miles. —Cor. Providence Journal.