LA CROSSE COUNTY HISTORICAL SKETCHES


a Sunday in 1872 a group of excur-
sionists from  La Crosse on the
Alexander Mitchell persuaded Cap-
tain Laughton   to allow them    to
dance. The captain, disregarding
his orders, allowed them to do so.
The boat was caught in a tornado
and wrecked, and Captain Laugh-
ton was promptly discharged.
  The average packet boat, ac-
commodating    two hundred cabin
passengers and one hundred second
class passengers on the deck would
cost from  $25,000 to $30,000 to
build. In 1857 the expenses of a
crew  of a first class boat for a
month were: captain, $300; chiefI
clerk, $200; second clerk, $100;
chief mate, $200; second mate,
$100; pilots, two at $500 each,
$1,000; chief engineer' $200; sec-
ond engineer, $150; firemen, eight
at $50 each, $400; steward, $200;
carpenter, $150; watchman,, $50"
deck hands, 40 at $50 each, $2,000;
cabin crew, $800; food supplies
$75 per day, $2,250; wood, 25
cords per day at $2.50, $2,000;
sundries, $1,400; or   a   total of
$11,500.
  The    downstream     rates   for
freight, no charge being less than
twenty-five cents, were: for thirty
miles, five cents per mile per hun-
dred pounds; from thirty to sixty
miles, four cents per mile per hun--
dred pounds; over sixty miles, three
cents per mile per hundred pounds;
$1.50 per hundred    pounds from
Galena to St. Paul. The up-stream
rates were one cent per mile more
than    those   for   down-stream
freight.
  The passenger rates were: down-
stream from St. Paul: Hastings, 32
miles, $1.50 for cabin, and $1 for
deck;. Red Wing, 65 miles, $2.50
for cabin, $2 for deck; Winona, 146
miles, $4.50 for cabin, $2.50 for
deck; La Crosse, 175 miles, $5 for
cabin, |3 for deck; Prairie du
Chier. 255 miles, $7 for cabin,
$3.50 for deck; Dunleith or 'Galena,
321 miles, $8 for cabin, $4 for
deck; up-stream from Dunleith or
Galena: Cassville, 30 miles, $2 for
cabin, $1.25 for deck; Prairie du
Chien, 66 miles, $3.50 for cabin, $2
for deck; La Crosse, 150 miles, $6
for cabin, $3.25 for deck; Red
Wing, 256 miles, $10 for cabin,
$3.50 for deck; St. Paul, 321 miles,
$12 for cabin, $6 for deck. The net
receipts of the average boat for a
season were about $56,300.


  As the average life of a steam-
boat as computed from the follow-
ing   statistics was  about   eight
years, one can readily understand
the great activity on the rivei dur-
ing the 60's and 70's: War Eagle,
in service 17 years from 1853 to
1870; Phil Sheridan, in service 15
years from 1866 to 1881; Milwau-
kee, in service six years from 1856
to 1862; Itasca, in service 21 years
from  1857 to 1878; Key City, in
service five years from    1857 to
1862; Northern Belle, in    service
five years from    1857 to 1862;
Canada, in service five years from
1857 to 1862; Keokuk, in service
four years from   1858   to  1862;
Northern Light, in service six years
from 1856 to 1862; Brilliant, in
service five years from    1860 to
1865; Sucker State, in service three
years from 1858 to 1862; Favorite,
in service three years from 1858 to
1862; Burlington, in service eleven
years from 1860 to 1871; Daven-
port, in service 16 years from 1860
to 1876; MacLellan, in service one
year from 1862 to 1863; Golden
Star, in service three years from
1862 to 1865; Flying Eagle, in ser-
vice seven years   from   1881 to
1888; Chippewa, in     service five
years from 1866 to 1871; Bella
Mac in service six years from 1880
to 1886; Alfred Toll, in service ten
years from 1880 to 1890; Alexan-
der Mitchell, in service 11 years
from 1870 to 1881; Mary Barnus,
in service six years from, 1879 to
1885; and Mollie Moher, in service
23 years from 1864 to 1887.
  After the Civil war there was a
gradual change from grain trade to
passenger and freight. This change
was changed by the increased im-
migration toward the west and the
development   of  railroads to the
Mississippi river. In 1856 the Gale-
na and Chicago Union railroad was
completed; in 1857 the Milwaukee
and Mississippi railroad was com-
pleted to Prairie du Chien; and in
1858 the La Crosse and Milwaukee
railroad reached La Crosse. Immi-
gration stimulated   by  the   war
flowed to the Mississippi over these
roads.
  Following the war there was a
marked change in the character of
the deck crews, called roustabouts.
Heretofore, the deck    crews had
been composed of white men. While
many of them     were sober, hard-
working, industrious men intent


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