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Summer 2010
Just a quickie article for
Reflections Online since it’s
been a while since we had posted anything.
When Jeff Spear asked Bill Judd and me to do these
articles, his idea was to have us give personal anecdotes about working
on the river today and how it might relate to historical aspects of
river life. Jeff’s thought
was that the more things change, the more they stay the same, which is
certainly true. Nowadays,
we have so many gadgets in the pilothouse of a modern towboat that
Captains Fred Way or Jesse Hughes might not
even recognize what we have.
Even so, a pilot still has to be a pilot, an engineer and
engineer, and a mate still has to be a mate.
More...
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February 2010
Where did 2009 go? As I was on my way from
Vicksburg to Wood
River , IL on December 4th,
my flight was delayed almost 2 hours in
Houston , Texas by
snow! Now it is February, and in NorthEast Arkansas we have had
two recent snow events with a total of over a foot of snow. With winter
upon us, this writer has some ideas about another article to be uploaded
soon. But first we will finally complete the Cumberland River
articles and finish the series on Navigation on the
Cumberland .
Let’s all hope that the next decade of this century goes better for all
concerned. It has been a hard year for all segments of the
population, and the river industry has not been immune. We just
need to remember that things go in cycles, and we’ve certainly seen bad
times before. As we all know, times get better, and we’re hoping
for a more prosperous 2010. As I write this, signs are that things
are picking up nicely on the rivers, so let’s hope that continues!
Cumberland River Navigation
Part 2
In our last Reflections Online, we were starting to see the
beginnings of a canalized waterway on the
Cumberland . In 1892 construction was finally underway at
two locks & dams on the
Cumberland below Nashville
. Stone-filled timber crib dams were used, and the locks were
built of stone with dimensions of 280 feet long by 52 feet wide, large
enough to accommodate the steamboats operating in the
Nashville trade. While it may seem strange that the project
started in the middle of the river, Lock & Dam #1 provided a deep harbor
for Nashville , the busiest
port on the river. Traffic above
Nashville consisted mainly of log rafts and coal barges floated
down on the crest of a rise. Lock & Dam “A” covered Harpeth Shoals
near the mouth of the
Harpeth River , some 35
miles below Nashville .
Harpeth Shoals More..
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November 2009
Over the past several months, we have covered
Tennessee River
navigation from its earliest forms to the present day modern TVA
waterway. Tom Schiffer
originally asked a question on steamboats.org about the Cumberland
River, its locks and dams, and its relationship to the
Tennessee River in terms of development.
I responded on that forum that I had a good deal of information
on these waterways, and would “soon publish them in another place”.
This
Reflections Online
section of the S&D web site was still just an idea at that time, and
when we did get this feature “up and running” this writer elected to
start with the Tennessee River first.
That took more than one installment, then Capt. Bill Judd needed
his turn at writing our “monthly” online column.
Now, here we are a year later, and Tom, here is the answer you
probably wanted in the first place!
Sons & Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen is a volunteer organization.
We have seen some dramatic changes over the past several years,
with the passing of the torch to a new generation of leaders.
While the organization is still alive and well, there have been
some issues with timely communications.
The President and Board of Governors are fully aware of these
issues and understand the need to resolve them.
Due to the volunteer nature of our organization, it is difficult
to hold the volunteers to the same accountability standards one might
expect from a normal business organization.
In the past within our organization, the quarterly’s editor and
some other officers had no other job responsibilities and so were free
to devote the tremendous amount of time it takes to maintain things the
way they did, so well for so long.
The reality now is we have officers who have young families to
care for and full time jobs and businesses to run.
We realize the need for improvement in timely publication of
both our print and our online media, and promise there will be
improvements. We beg your
indulgence!
CUMBERLAND RIVER
NAVIGATION – Part 1
By Bob Reynolds
Navigation on the Cumberland
began as it did on all the inland rivers – log rafts, flatboats and
keelboats floating goods downstream to market.
Natural trading centers and towns sprung up along the Cumberland
as they did on all waterways, and as the populations and the need for
commerce increased, so did the need for an improved waterway.
The first steamboat to try the Cumberland was the GENERAL JACKSON in 1818, and the boat
started up the Cumberland but was stopped
by low water at Harpeth Shoals near the mouth of the Harpeth River.
The boat attempted to get to Nashville again in 1919, but was stopped again
by low water at Harpeth Shoals. The crew of the GENERAL JACKSON was in
the process of unloading cargo for transshipment to Nashville when a sudden rise allowed them to
continue up the river to their destination.
Nashville
newspapers and others tried to rally support for river improvements at
Harpeth Shoals, to no avail.
Steamboats began towing flatboats and keelboats over the shoals
in high water to get as much cargo as possible over the obstruction
before the river fell, but many steamers were damaged or sunk there –
the GENERAL JACKSON ended up sinking at Harpeth Shoals in 1821. More...
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October 2009
HISTORY OF THE
SONS & DAUGHTERS OF PIONEER RIVERMEN
I thought that with the 70th. anniversary of the S & D organization
coming up this September that probably most of the members and persons
interested in S & D might not have any idea how the group really got
started, so here goes with a little history. Now please realize that
even in my advanced years I most certainly was not there, so if I make
mistakes, please blame those who came before me and remember rivermen
are allowed to embellish the truth.
Read more..
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REFLECTIONS ONLINE JUNE, 2009
By Bob
Reynolds
Spring 2009 has brought a number of changes to
the Inland and Western Rivers in the form of a tight economy. It seems
to me that over the last 30 years, the towing industry lags behind the
rest of the economy by 6 months to a year, both on the downturn and the
upswing. Last winter, things were still pretty good for most operators,
but as spring came along, business started slowing down. Fortunately,
this writer so far has been spared any adverse effects, but our
Reflector editor Capt. David Smith has lost business. Capt. Bill
Judd, though, has prospered, mostly at the expense of some of his
customers, due to high water on the Ohio in late spring. He has had
quite a bit of survey work, and on top of catching up from being
sidelined for a while due to a broken leg, has been quite busy – too
busy, in fact, to write his article for Reflections Online. He
has asked me to continue with installment #2 of my article on navigation
development on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers.
Let’s all hope that things improve for the
economy in general and the river business, and also that we see
passenger service return to our rivers soon!
NAVIGATION ON THE TENNESSEE AND CUMBERLAND RIVERS
Part 2
Just prior to the creation of the Tennessee
Valley Authority in 1933, navigation improvements on the Tennessee
consisted of two high dams with locks, Hales Bar and Wilson Dams, two
lateral canals, the Florence or Lower Muscle Shoals Canal and the
Riverton Lock and Canal around Colbert Shoals. There were also two
low-lift locks and dams, one below Wilson Lock in the Florence Canal
(Lock & Dam #1) and Widows Bar Lock & Dam near Stevenson, Alabama. The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had begun construction at Lock & Dam #3,
later to be named General Joe Wheeler Lock & Dam, and the Tennessee
Valley Authority (TVA) inherited this project under construction. More...
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A New S&D Website Feature
S&D’s new President Jeff
Spear has asked me, along with Capt. Bill Judd, to write a bi-monthly
article for online publication to the Sons & Daughters of Pioneer
Rivermen site. Here is my first attempt at this. President Spear has
told me that I have free reign as far as he is concerned, and I’m not
sure if he realized what he was letting everyone in for, but here goes!
The Sons & Daughters of
Pioneer Rivermen is an organization of working river people and those
who are simply interested in rivers and riverboat and steamboat
history. There is no requirement to actually be a descendant of pioneer
rivermen to be a member of this wonderful organization – simply one’s
interest in steamboat history is all you need to qualify for
membership! Our goal is to share information about the rich and varied
aspects of history ranging from the steamboats themselves that operated
on our rivers to the people who owned, crewed, built them. We are also
interested in current happenings with the few steamboats left in active
service, and in diesel boats and their history as well.
One area that has
fascinated this writer for years is the history and development of the
navigation on the Tennessee River, and to a lesser extent the Cumberland
River. Tom Schiffer recently posted some questions about Cumberland
River navigation on the steamboats.org web site discussion board, and so
my first attempt at these online articles will be to try to cover the
Tennessee and Cumberland River history. Please be patient, as I hope to
hone my skills at writing and at what to include, etc.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TENNESSEE RIVER NAVIGATION
In the State of
Tennessee, there are four major cities: Nashville (the Capital) on the
Cumberland River, Knoxville and Chattanooga on the Tennessee River, and
Memphis on the Mississippi. Residents and businessmen in Nashville,
Chattanooga and Knoxville long tried to utilize the Tennessee and
Cumberland Rivers for commercial purposes, but were stymied much of the
time by low water and not enough water to float boats of any size. A
prerequisite for commercial use of any waterway is dependability, and
shippers and merchants were unable to rely on the Tennessee or
Cumberland. More...
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