Towboat Photos, page 2 Towboat MARK TWAIN passing Marquette, Iowa 1940's Three little girls on a high bluff above the Mississippi River watch the towboat MARK TWAIN as it proceeds upstream pushing five barges through one of the world's largest pontoon bridges at Marquette, Iowa connecting the town with the state of Wisconsin is on the opposite shore. Photo credited to Gordon H. Lord of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, 1940's. The Towboat Mark Twain in a lock and dam that is quite a ways up river from Hannibal, close to Canton. The postcard publishers obviously were selling it to Hannibal merchants who catered to tourists. Scanned off a teeny snapshot. Must've been taken from a pretty high bluff overlooking the river. Towboat Mark Twain launched - National Waterways 1932 MARK TWAIN towboat. Great reference for a model maker. wilbornfoto.com Copyright 1934 No. WA 60-6 Wilborn & Associates Photographers 3101 Mercier Kansas City, MO 64111 2 views the towboats MARK TWAIN and GENERAL ASHBURN at the Hermann, MO waterfront on the Missouri River. The 1st view is off a real photo postcard I just acquired of a panorama including the Gasconade County courthouse taken from the north side of the river looking south. The 2nd view is from the Murphy Library taken from the bridge and looking East. The people dressed in white may suggest that "Maifest" (a German holiday) was going on in town, I'm not sure. These weren't dated. The earliest they could have been taken was 1932 when the Mark Twain was began her career and the latest 1945 when the General Ashburn's career ended. Herman is like a storybook village, very well preserved and unspoiled. I looked at properties there 2 years ago, very tempted to relocate there although Hannibal has the most associations for me. The Missouri River at Hermann is not as wide or pretty as the Mississippi at Hannibal, wing dams are located up and down the river in part to protect some endangered species of fish and river commerce is much less than on the Mississippi. Excursion boats are a rarity on this stretch of the river. I don't know if the DQ ever ventured very far up the Missouri, the channel is much narrower and more treacherous than the other tributaries so probably too hazardous to risk navigating. At the time this photo was taken I doubt the Corps of Engineers had done much to the river so at least when the water was high commerce was more plentiful towboats at Hermann in photo: MARK TWAIN 1932 - 1956 GENERAL ASHBURN 1927 - 1945 The Hermann Bridge was completed in 1930 Nestled along the banks of the Missouri River, just 90 minutes from downtown Saint Louis and about 3 hours from Kansas City. The City of Hermann is a picturesque German Community offering Old-World hospitality and the quiet charms of an earlier time. With an abundance of spectacular views, more than 150 historic buildings, quaint inn and B&Bs, world class wineries, museums, shops and galleries, and fine dining, Hermann is the perfect place for romantic retreats. It is a perfect getaway not far from home! The city was founded by the Deutsche Ansiedlungs-Gesellschaft zu Pennsylvania (German Settlement Society of Philadelphia) in the 1830s For more information, link to: hermannmissouri.com Moored at the Beardstown, Illinois levee on the Illinois River a mini-towboat with a great old old skiff to match. Wish I had such a boat to restore. I took these photos while driving north along the Illinois River en route to Peoria in the late 1990s. Towboat CONTROL at Vicksburg 1930 Here is a neat image with fine contrast of the impressive towboat CONTROL, enhanced from a La Crosse photo. Taken at Vicksburg, Mississippi on the Mississippi River the in 1930. CONTROL Sternwheel Towboat Way's Steam Towboat Directory Number T0498 Built in 1905 by Howard at Jeffersonville, Indiana as the SCIMITAR II; renamed 1906 OWNERS: U.S. Engineering Department, Vicksburg District (1906); Captain George Prince (1940) In 1921 a new steel hull was built for her by Dravo at Neville Island, Pennsylvania. She was towed to Vicksburg where the old upper works, machinery, etc. were placed on it. In March 1932 she and the C.W. Howell went up the Yazoo River to Silver City, Mississippi—the first steamboats to do so for many years; work was underway there in closing a breached crevasse. In February 1941, Captain Prince sold her to parties in Harvey, Louisiana who dismantled her. Captain Benjamin Bernstein, master, 1929; S.M. Bigby, chief engineer, 1929; Captain Sam F. Haney, master, 1932; Frank Burdick and Robert Young pilots, 1932. Excellent quality original 8 x 10 received October 2016. Foreground: NASHVILLE B Sternwheel/Diesel Towboat Built in 1925 for the Nashville Bridge Company In the background on the left: H. G. HILL Sternwheel Packet Way's Packet Directory Number 2487 Built in 1918 at Paducah, Kentucky Owned by Captains W.L. Berry and Fred McCandless (Nashville Navigation Company) Her engines were from the RAPIDS She was named for a wholesale grocery owner in Nashville. Ran Paducah-Nashville. During the 1927 flood she was beached across a highway at Wooddale Grove above Nashville In 1935 her engines went to the BARBARA HUNT In the background on the right: JO HORTON FALL Sternwheel Packet Way's Packet Directory Number 3025 Built in 1913 at Jeffersonville, Indiana by Howard Ship Yard Owned by Captain Tom Ryman, Jr. and others in the Nashville Navigation Company; later owned by Captain Pete Lee Owner Tom Ryman, Jr. was shot and killed on board near Hunter's Landing, Tennessee in the fall of 1915; Captain Wilson Montgomery was the assailant. She ran on the Cumberland River. In May 1922 she made a special trip to Burnside, Kentucky. She was sold, converted into an excursion boat and renamed the VALLEY QUEEN circa 1926 Towboat ARKLA Just received today (8 Sept 2016). Much sharper than pictured on auction site and scanned up nicely. Perhaps taken at an Arkla Lumber Co. riverside facility or a boatyard. A quaint and picturesque image. Way's Steam Towboat Directory Number T0163 ARKLA Sternwheel towboat Originally the GRADY built at Franklin, Louisiana 95 x 20 x 3.4 Had been named H.H. WIGGIN before becoming the ARKLA after being purchased by the Arkla Lumber Co. circa 1925. She burned on the Bayou Teche on June 16, 1934 at Patterson, Louisiana during the height on a severe storm which caused great damage all along the lower Mississippi and Louisiana bayou regions. Jim Hale made some observations about my photo of the Towboat ARKLA which I responded to and shared them with model maker John Fryant who supported some of my speculations. Jim Hale's observations inspired me to speculate that perhaps the ARKLA was at this boat yard for maintenance, modifications or upgrades. A sort of "work in progress." Jim Hale's comments from Sept 10th: VERY NICE LOOKING TOWBOAT. CANT QUITE FIGURE OUT THE TIMBER FRAME THAT GOES FROM MAIN DECK UP AND OVER THE PILOT HOUSE. DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE ANY HOG CHAINS ATTACHED TO IT. DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THE STACKS ARE HINGED TO DROP BACK ON IT. I LIKE THE SMALL TUG TIED ALONG SIDE OF THE BOAT WITH A BARGE. John Fryant's comments from Sept 25th: Dave, Regarding your photo of the ARKLA. I agree that she is being worked on. The frame over the pilothouse was no doubt a temporary fixture. Note the front port hog chain post: There are two short wooden strips extending from the top of it, probably put there to keep the iron rod from slipping off. This tells me that the hog chains wee being repaired of replaced. Perhaps the large wood frame was a part of this operation. John This photo perhaps taken at an Arkla Lumber Co. riverside facility or a boatyard. A quaint and picturesque image. A Blackhawk Films vintage color slide No. 237-9 Clairton on Monongahela River, Elizabeth, PA. Towboat CLAIRTON Sternwheel towboat 1919-1952. Way's Steam Towboat Directory Number T0431 Hull was built at Ambridge, Pennsylvania in 1919 by American Bridge Co. and completed at the marine ways in Coal Valley, Pennsylvania 147.5 x 33.4 x 5.2. Condensing engines, 15's, 30's-7 foot stroke. Four boilers, two flues. Spent most of her career in Monongahela pools and delivered to Mingo on the Ohio. On February 6, 1941 she and the ALLEGHENY collided near Donora, PA and the CLAIRTON was turned over on her side. Capt. Randall T. Wardrop was master at this time and observed that this was his third sinking; he had been on the old SAILOR when she went down in Lock 3, Monongahela River in 1920 and on the VOLCANO when she turned over near Dunlevy in 1928. This CLAIRTON carried a five-chime whistle quite reminiscent of the old RAYMOND HORNER. She was laid up at Coal Valley for several years prior to her dismantling in 1952. With the exception of images credited to public institutions, everything on this page is from a private collection. Please contact Steamboats.com for permission for commercial use.* All captions provided by Dave Thomson, Steamboats.com primary contributor and historian.