RECOLLECTIONS
—OF—
A Pioneer Steamboat Pilot,
——Contributing to—
The Early History of the Mississippi
—RELATED BY—
GEORGE C. NICHOLS,
All Ancient River Mariner.
LA CROSSE, WIS.,
TUCKER & COMPANY, PRINTERS.
1883.
RECOLLECTIONS
—OF—
A Pioneer Steamboat Pilot,
——Contributing to—
The Early History of the Mississippi
—RELATED BY—
GEORGE C. NICHOLS,
All Ancient River Mariner.
LA CROSSE, WIS.,
TUCKER & COMPANY, PRINTERS.
1883.
INTRODUCTON.
Kind friends have frequently requested the subject of these
pages to place in book form a narrative of his early experiences
as steamboat pilot upon the Mississippi river. In compliance
with these solicitations, and also his own desire to possess in a
permanent form those incidents and occuranccs of early life’
whose remembrance particularly fascinate old age, leads him to
offer this small volume to the public.
Though his own personality must, necessarily, appear
throughout the whole narration, to give it the proper substantiality
the endeavor has been to make it as little obtrusive as possible
Much material has also been excluded which, though interesting
enough to the class it pertains to, might prove dull and
insipid to the general reader. As far as the chronology is concerned
it has been attempted to make it as exact as the limited
means of information in our possession would allow and any
discrepancies discovered must be charged, with all possible
leniency to the defectiveness of unaided memory.
With this preface the following narrative is offered to all
who feel an interest in the gentleman it refers to. or are entertained
in the perusal of a page of the early history of the
grandest river that f1ows through our charming land.
The Editor
Family HISTORY.
George C. Nichols, the subject of these pages, was born in
Stark county, Ohio, January 28, 1824. His father, Jonathan
Nichols, was married on the bank of the Susquehanna river, in
Pennsylvania, from where he moved to Ohio, and, after having
refused eighty acres of land, where Cincinnati now stands, for
his team, he took a farm in Stark county, of that State.
When George was six years old his parents sold out their
Ohio home and. with their children, moved to Pigeon Falls,
Michigan. where they remained about four years, and then,
hearing such favorable reports of the bountiful soil of Illinois,
“Egypt,” the family went to Henderson county, of this great
wheat raising State, and settled at a point opposite Burlington,
Iowa, about three miles from the Mississippi river.
But even this ferthe region had its drawbacks. and the advantages
of a rich soil and enormous productions were counterbalanced
by the prevalence of agues and fevers, causing many
a crop to waste for want of harvesters. Disgusted with such a
climate, the family looked around for another place of settlement.
After fruitless journeys up the Arkansas and Red rivers in quest
of a favorable location, the family turned northward, in 1837,
and settled at the head of navigation on the Grand river. Chariton
county, Missouri.
Still, the wanderings of this family, consisting of parents
and nine children, were not destined to cease. A twofold circumstance
occurred to drive it into the unsettled wilderness of
the great Northwest. A Mormon settlement was formed in the
immediate vicinity, and this unpleasant neighborhood together
with the death the eldest daughter, induced them to sell out
in the fall of 1839, and, without any definite place of final settlement
in view, to journey up to Galena, Illinois, where the family
were established for the winter.
The father was, yet in his best years, hale and vigorous, and
having made preparations for the building of a mill on Black
river, Wisconsin, he made a voyage up that river in the spring,
carrying his family and effects in pirogues. But George the
future pilot, remained behind at Galena, at about the same time
his parents left, he started off for St. Louis in search of employment
The family continued up the Black river, until one night
they encamped close to a cataract whose roaring noise was heard
in the stillness of the night, and in the morning Jonathan Nichols
named the place “Roaring Creek,” and selected the roaring falls
for his millsite. Here was erected, in 1840, the second mill on
Black river, about ten miles below Black River Falls. Finally
the roaming life and unsuccessful settlements of this family had
been exchanged for a quiet enjoyment of the productive soil and
profitable forests of Wisconsin.
Their hospitable home was often the scene of social gatherings,
managed in true frontier style. The youth of the neighborhood
congregated here many an evening, and, while George’s
brother performed upon the violin, enjoyed all the pleasures of
a country dance. ‘Nm. T. Price and others of the elite of the
vicinity frequently took part in these innocent pleasures. The
elders, in the meantime, would recount to each other their
various experiences and fortunes, interspersed with droll stories
and more quiet pastimes.
Many are yet living who remember the Nichols family with
pleasant recollections and affectionate thoughts for the hearty
welcome and generous treatment extended alike to the stranger
and neighbor; a bright and pure center in the midst of wild
scenes and a half barbarous civilization. Capt. Day of the
Warsaw, ferrying between La Crosse and La Crescent, visited
the Blackriver country in the 40’s, and recalls the home of Mr.
Nichols as entirely true to the description we have given it.
The cholera epidemic which raged through there in 1851,
carried the father off from his earthy struggles, and the mother
followed him to the last resting place ten years later. With
two of their children they lie buried there in the family grave.
OUTLINE OF LATER EVENTS.
During the stay of the family at Quincy, young George took
his first steamboat trip, as a common hand, on board a steamer
bound for Lake Pepin and return. This trip was mostly undertaken
with a view to see the country and to partly gratify the
boy’s enthusiasm for the river, For in the days of George
Nichols’ youthful ambition it was regarded as the highest
achievement of mortal conception to be a steamboat pilot, with
the exception, perhaps, of being a steamboat captain.
It was, therefore, but natural that, when he was left alone behind
at Galena, the first impulse of his nature should lead him
him to seek the coveted position of pilot, and a journey to St.
Louis in the spring of 1840 succeeded in installing him on the
Ariel in that position. At the end of this season he went up to
his parents’ home on the Black river and remained with them for
four nears, occupied in running rafts from his father’s mill.
In the Spring of 1845 the now full-fledged pilot entered
on the steamer Argo, running from Galena, Illinois, to Fort
Snelling. He remained on her for two seasons, during which
time she was engaged in the Fort Snelling trade. The following
year she was sunk at Argo Island, near Winona, where a portion
of the wreck can still be seen. On a return from Marine
Mills, in the Prairie Bird, he came up with the Argo just in time
to rescue her crew and save the cargo and machinery.
The Minnesota Packet Company was organized in 1846,
and into its service the young pilot next entered. He was pilot
on the Dr. Franklin during the seasons of 1847 and 1848, and
Captain Blakely, one of the pioneer steamboatmen of St. Paul,
was then Clerk. In the latter of these two seasons Mr. Nichols
assisted in moving the Winnebago Indians to a point on the
Minnesota river, some fifty miles above St. Paul.
The following year the Senator, Captain Orrin Smith, was
piloted by him to the falls of the St. Croix. Captain Smith was
a very religious man and would allow no work to be done on
Sunday. No matter where they might be, when midnight Saturday
came, the anchor would be heaved and the vessel brought
to until midnight Sunday. While in the employ of the Packet
Company he piloted the Menomonee, in i 8o, transient boats
1851, the Ben. Campbell in 1852, the Lady Franklin in 1853,
and the Alhambra in 1854. The last named vessel’ was the
first stern-wheel boat to ply the waters of the Upper Mississippi,
and made regular trips out from St. Louis.
In the year 1855 Mr. Nichols received an offer of an exceeding
large sum of money for his services from Captain
Roberts, of the Greek Slave, and to accept it was obliged to pay
a forfeit to the Minnesota Packet Company, the receipt of
payment he has still in his possession and to which was
subsequently return. The Louis Robert here mentioned was
one of the pioneer settlers upon the site now occupied by St.
Paul, and may be said to have laid out the city. He left steamboating
shortly after the time we speak of him, and began in
the Indian trade at St. Paul. He died a few years ago as one of
the city’s leading men.
Galena, Illinois, had hitherto been Mr. Nichol’s stopping
place when on land, but in 1856 he moved to Dubuque and,
came into the employment of J. P. Fancy, who had with a few
others, just started a small packet company there, and piloted
the Excelsior for them. We find him next on the Adelia, in
1857, and the Gray Eagle, Captain Smith Harris, in i858; then
piloting various transient and regular boats, winding up with
the Fire Canoe, in 1863, until he was hired by Davidsou
Line the next year to run tow and passenger boats for them.
While in the employ of this company, he piloted the Jenny
Baldwin, Captain Tom. Cushing, in 1864, and the steamers
Keokuk. Annie Johnston and Addie Johnston, in 1865, with I.
H. Moulton, now freight agent at La Crosse for the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, as Captain. In 1867
he was pilot on the Bill Henderson, Captain Bradley, and ran
rafts during most of the season.
At the administrator’s sale of time family farm, Mr. Nichols’
bought it, hiring his brother to manage it for him. He was
then the rich member of the family, and could boast of several
other valuable pieces of property besides this farm of 6oo acres.
He moved now with his family to this place, where he made
his home for ten years, until he sold out in 1866 and brought
his family to Davenport to reside. While living at the farm he
brought there the second piano that had ever been on the Black
river, taking it with him from St. Louis.
Time Diamond Jo Line next called Mr. Nichols into its service,
in 1880, and during the four years lie remained with it he
held time wheel on the Arkansas, Captain Le Mot, and the Ida
Fulton, Captain Michel. Charles Schneider was a worthy companion
of Nichols during these years. and is remembered by
him with considerable interest.
Upon leaving the Diamond Jo Line, Mr. Nichols went to
work again for the Messrs. Davidson, as pilot on the G. H.
Wilson, Captain N. Duncan, in 1875. During the early part of
the season of 1876 he was occupied in taking boats over the
upper rapids, at Davenport, all eighteen mile trip. and then
went Oil the victory, with the same captain as the previous
year. In 1879 he held the wheel on the Alex. McGregor, pass
from La Crosse to St. Louis. - The next two years upon the,
Davidson boats, and steered the Belie of Bellevue in in 1882. His
last trip was made the last season on the City of Alma,
Captain Jacob Richtman, of Fountain City, running from Alma, Wis.,
to La Crosse.
The Captain was married at St. Paul in I 849, the year he
took out his first license, and is the father of five children, a son,
living at La Crosse, who follows his father’s occupation as pilot,
a daughter living at La Crescent, and three daughters in Davenport.
The son, George S. Nichols, was pilot on the Weaver
during the last season, but has now been engaged by the Davidson
Line, and will make regular trips between St. Louis and
St. Paul. The young man is a worthy successor of his father,
and his entry into the employment of one of the chief lines,
whose vessels ply the waters of the Mississippi, and upon whose
decks his father had stood such honorable service, will herald
a course which an ambitious man may look back upon with
pride.
At length has been completed a chronicle to date of the
eventful and ever varying career of a pioneer steamboat pilot.
The following pages will be devoted to an account of such incidents
and circumstances as by their particular interest lay
claim to a more detailed narration.
EARLY DAYS ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI.
Fort Snelling was for two decennaries the great and, in
fact, the only trading post in the Northwest. Commenced in
1818 and finished in 1824, it stood alone as the only civilized
center in the midst of a great Indian territory, and within a few
miles of the head of navigation on the Mississippi river. The
first steamboat to reach the post was Victoria, in 1823; and the
necessity of having provisions taken to the post would bring a
boat up there only a fev times every year. until 1845, when the
Argo, piloted by Mr. Nichols, began to make regular trips to
the fort.
Their stay during this and a few subsequent seasons would
he brief, only sufficiently long for the vessel to discharge her
cargo and reload with furs. Previous to this date the mail was
carried up the river in a canoe by two men, requiring fifteen
days for a round trip from Prairie du Chien to Fort Snelling.
Now, of course, the steamer received the mail contract. But
during the winter season a dog train was employed, except
when the ice would hold a pony; at other times the mail had
to be transported on the carrier’s back the river was then
the only open way through this wild country the banks for
miles back being covered with dense brushes and heavy forests.
The whole country west of the Mississippi river was in the
undisputed possession of the various Indian tribes as late as to
the 40’s, when a few straggling settlements began to appear.
The opportunity for trading presented by these circumstances,
giving the entire control of such an immense territory into the
hands of any company who chose to direct it from Fort Snelling,
was very early perceived, and the Fur Company, consisting of
H. H. Sibley, Joseph Rolette and 14. L. Dousman, with John
Jacob Astor, of New York, had charge of the Indian trade for
the whole country above Lake Pepin, extending to the British
possessions on the north, and on the vest to the tributaries of
the Missouri river. The company’s headquarters was at Mendota,
a small trading post at the mouth of the Minnesota river,
under the protecting guns of Fort Snelling, whither Gen. Sibley
came in 1834.
The Winnebago, Sioux and Chippewa Indians were the
the principal tribes along the river when the whole country
from Prairie du Chien to Fort Snelling was one continuous
wi1derness. The scenery of this whole region is described as
grand and picturesque, but the country offered no inducements
for settlement so long as it remained in the possession of a barbarous
and semi-civilized population.
It was customary for all boats going up the river at the
time Captain Nichols went up in the Ariel, and for many years
after, to put aboard a regular arsenal at Prairie du Chien, for
from that point an attack might constantly be expected. Even
when boats steamed quietly up or down the stream it was not
an unfrequent occurrence to be shot at by a dozen ambushed
braves, whose Chief object was to kill the pilot, and thus possibly
get possession of the vessel and its cargo.
Steamboat trips were also made slow and laborious by the
necessity of having to go ashore and cut wood whenever the
supply became scanty, and often the Indians chased the men off
the banks while chopping, obliging them to leave their axes and
take to the boat before. any wood had been gotten aboard.
Steering in those days had to be done entirely by the appearance
of the water, and there were only a few pilots on the river
who could be entrusted with the responsibility of taking the
wheel.
Game was very abundant upon both sides of the river, and
having no vandal hunters in those times wild fowl and pigeons
nested in the country and raised their brood undisturbed. The
whole range of bluffs on the Minnesota side of the river was a
favorite resort for deer, because of the food furnished them by
the acorns which strewed the hillsides. From here they entered
the water of the river at night to escape the merciless and persistent
attacks of mosquitoes and were often lassoed in the evening
while swimming over the river, by the steamboatmen.
Boats often stopped at favorite points on the river to allow
some of the men to get off and replenish the supply of fresh
meat by a few well directed shots outside of the timber that
bordered the Mississippi river. Elk was very abundant, and
further vest buffalo was still to be found. Gen. Sibley even
states that buffalo came within a short distance of his trading
post, at the mouth of the Minnesota river.
These scenes and experiences during the early years on
the Upper Mississippi offer a telling contrast to the view presented
to-day from the decks of the floating palaces that now
incessantly steam up and down the “Father of Waters.” What
more powerful and forcible tribute can be bestowed upon the
mighty stride of civilization than the wonderful change wrought
upon the banks of the world’s greatest stream in one generation.
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE FIRST TRIP.
Mr. Nichols first took the wheel on the Arid, Captain Sheppard,
in the spring of 1840, running from St. Louis to Fort
Snelling. The trip was made for the Government; and the Ariel
carried winter supplies to the Fort. During the eight months
the season lasted four trips were made. This post was then
occupied by about 1,000 soldiers, and the only cargo of the
boat was the supplies and provisions destined for them, while
mainly furs comprised the return freight.
Large forests decked a considerable portion of the country
upon both sides of the river all the way above Davenport,
and the remainder consisted of extended prairies swarming with
tents and Indians. Not the merest vestige of civilized habitation
was visible between Prairie du Chien and Fort Snelling,
with the exception of a shanty at the foot of Lake Pepin, near
where Wabashaw is now located. This house was the home of
a half-breed, who traded on a small scale with the Indians.
The site now occupied by Winona was believed to be subject
to overflow in the highest water, and this drawback prevented
as early a settlement there as its advantageous position
otherwise would have affected. From the deck of a steamer
passing at the highest stage the space left dry really appeared
very small, and the Indians laughed at the supposed folly of
the white men in building on an island,
The last return trip was made in November. At this time
the water was exceedingly low, and it was impossible for the
steamer to come any further u than St. Croix, three miles below
Hastings and thirty miles below St. Paul. At this point the
soldiers from the fort had to meet the vessel, and while a detachment
stood guard, the others poled the freight to the fort.
On such occasions hen landings must be made, as when it
was necessary to cut wood, the Indians would become bothersome,
but they could generally he pacified by the steamboatmen
giving them food. They could not be trusted, however, and the
whites had always to be on the lookout for so treacherous
work on their part.
Another remarkable event to be recorded in connection
with the experiences of this memorable trip was the snow storm
which occurred in the middle of July, covering the green vegetation
with live or six inches of snow. The strange appearance
produced by this contrariety of nature may be better imagined
than described. Floating ice almost filled the river above Prairie
du Chien. and for half a day the vessel was obliged to remain
landed, the storm preventing an outlook. General Crosby, of La
Crosse, in a conversation upon pioneer times, recalled having
witnessed the snow fall in New York, where he then as. The
storm lasted for a day and the next the snow melted away.
ABILITY AS A RAFTSMAN.
Mr. Nichols has had considerable experience in the management
of rafts, both before and after steamboats were employed
in running them As soon as his father’s ,lumber business
had become settled upon a stable footing lie was called
into its employment, and for four years he ran rafts from the
mill. Mr. B. F. Heuston, an old friend of the family, thus
sneaks of the young riverman at this period.
“I first met the family of Jonathan Nichols at Roaring
Creek in September of 18. A raft of lumber was just in
readiness to be run, and I was surprised to hear that a beardless
boy was to steer the raft to Dubuque. This was the youthful
George C. Nichols, destined to become the ‘Star Pilot’ of the
Upper Mississippi, I was also present on his return, and heard
him relate the story of piloting the ‘strings’ down Black river,
the separation of the strings into ‘platforms,’ and how the ‘chutes’
‘that formed the mouth of that difficult river were run; heard,
also, a discussion of the respective merits of ‘Raft Channel,’
‘Broken Gun,’ and ‘Black Snake’ chutes, (this was before the
Gibbs and Harward chutes were opened;) heard the story of
running the Mississippi and making the then difficult harbor if
Dubuque, and, as a climax of surprise, heard young Georo
tell of steering the boat on which he returned Prairie La
Crosse.
“The question as to how a raft should be made to ‘hug the
point,’ and how to ‘lay to,’ ‘make the bend’ below, how it should
be landed and where the best eddies were for tying up rafts,
how to judge which side of an island a raft was drawing, how
to lay a raft to prevent ‘saddlebogging’ on an island, and a
hundred other technical maneuvers, as well as the latest changes
in the channel, were all vigorously discussed by him to many
eager listeners, who in those days of small enterprises and self
dependence were interested in such matters; for rafts were not
then run by steamboats as now, and owners were often compelled
to trust to their own skill in getting their lumber to market.
George Nichols at twenty was authority in all these river matters.
“It is not, however, strange that his youthful mind should
have been filled with river affairs and ambitions, when we recall
the stirring experiences of his hoyhood as indicated by his
fathers narratives of river travel in which the boy was a participant;
nor would the wonder be increased were we to allude to
the story of his mother. who told me herself that she was
reared in sight of the Susquehanna, where, in high water, she
could see all day long the running of rafts past her father’s
door, and how, as long as she lived, she wished to be where
she could see a river and watch the rafts that floated upon its
current.”
This interesting account of an early period in Mr. Nichols’
long career shows conclusively the natural inclination he possessed
for the occupation he had chosen, and there came soon
to him both opportunity and compensatory practice, following
in the train of that fortune which gave him, through his mother,
a river-loving inheritance. But of late years he has not had
much practice in the running of rafts, though. perhaps, his
greatest feat in this line was performed while pilot on the Bill
Henderson, in 1367, taking one of the largest rafts which ever
floated down the Mississippi river, from Stillwater to Alton
Island. This raft measured 700 feet long by 400 wide, and
compares very favorably with to-days rafting.
In 1848, arrangements were inaugurated with a view to the
removal of the various Indian tribes along the Mississippi river
to some distance place further inland, where the encroachments
of civilization had not yet manifested themselves, and to which it
might be years before they would extend. For, the gradual
settlement, in the river towns, of a more cultured population commenced
an incessant struggle between the Indians and the
whites, between savage and civilized life, between races, for the
possession of total s.1premacy over the rich uplands and ferthe
prairies of the Northwest.
The steamer Dr. Franklin, Captain M. . Ludwig, piloted
by Mr. Nichols, was employed by the Government in removing
the Winnebago tribe to a point on the Minnesota river, some
fifty or sixty miles from St. Paul. H. L. Dousman had the
contract of removing, which occupied three months, The Indians
were picked up along the whole course of the Mississippi
from Prairie du Chien to Fort Snelling, and collected in large
‘gangs at convenient places of shipment.
But the whole undertaking was very laborious, for when
the decision to remove the savages was proclaimed to them it
was not accepted with any spirit of willingness or resignation.
The Indian nature in common, perhaps, with that of an other
human race whose native soil was rapidly being invaded by a
strange people, is notoriously deficient of those characteristics
which breed these doubtful virtues. The two characteristics which
met upon this glorious land of ours, in the Caucasian and the
American, were, and are, irreconcilably inconsistent.
Not only were they opposed to the fact of being forced to
move, but the land assigned them was far from being satisfactory.
On the contrary, they swore they would not go, and
employed every means available to give emphasis to this determination.
At one time, when a ship load had been collected at
La Crosse, and everything was in readiness for taking them
aboard, they broke through the place in which they had been
confined, and taking their ponies from the adjacent corral, galloped
away in all directions.
The trials of the transfer are described as very exciting
About 300 persons were taken aboard at each trip, the cabin
was given up to them, and a squad of soldiers left aboard to
guard against any hosthe maneuvre. Still many of them
jumped overboard, and, while several succeeded in swimming
the river and making good their escape, the rest were caught
again, except a few who were drowned. The women and
children were generally the most bothersome.
On these occasions, when their discontentment culminated in
outward manifestations, appeared the true Indian character in
all its cunning, wily and smirking attempts upon life and property.
Many illustrations were here presented of the reasons
why their intimate association was not desired by the whites.
Even after they had been landed at the places assigned them
they would return again and again to their native haunts, and
it was only through the most persistent efforts of the officers
having them in charge that they were coaxed to remain upon
the new reservation.
EARLY POPULATION OF RIVER TOWNS.
The population residing in the river towns between St. Louis
and Fort Snelling, the extreme navigable points, a quarter of a
century ago, was composed of all grades and conditions of men.
The opposite sex was but sparsely represented, and the consequent
absence of the softening influence of women was immediately
made apparent when thrown into this incongruous association.
And there were but few resorts in those days kept free
from the contaminating influence of outlaws, gamblers, thieves
and suspicious middle men, who always infest new regions with
their presence.
The river boats received their share of this mixed assembly
of men, both in the form of crews and passengers. Still
Mr. Nichols recalls the early captains and pilots, as well as
mates and clerks, whom he was thrown into company with, as
upon the whole a gentlemanly set of men, far above the average
crowd he was wont to meet. And the incidents lie recalls
of his acquaintances among these fellow associates, breathe a
flavor of old-time chivalry and thorough manliness. But as he
is of a quiet, unobtrusive disposition, never addicted to the use
of stimulants in any form, we may infer that he only made the
acquaintance of those days’ society
The steamboats usually landed at every town and trading
post along the river, and as these events occurred with pleasing
irregularity, the sight of a steamer drew the less occupied inhabitants
to the river banks. And a motley assembly they surely
constituted; besides squaws and braves, struggling in agreeable
fellowship with ragged boys and women for the loose
scraps they might pick up on the decks, or bothering the passengers
for a multitudinous array of small favors. On the
other hand, the village inhabitants had also their cause to complain
when the boats landed and the ‘mariners” were let loose.
The “rafters,” especially, did justice to the proverbial habits of
“river man.”
The steamers passing up the river brought squads of immigrants
to the villages which soon began to spring up along the
the banks. The more northern places were the most favored
by the settlement of these throngs of half-clad and half-starved
people. The rich lumber yield of the Black river country
drew toward it an enterprising, thrifty set, of men who soon
laid the foundation to independent fortunes and gave renown to
the forests of Wisconsin.
St. Paul, called “Pig’s Eye” in its early day by the jealous
scorners of other localities, also seemed to “boom” in the tide
of the inflowing population. Each vessel coming up the river
brought a hundred or more persons to this point. They were
the most destitute people the steamboatmen have ever seen, and
many of them had not the bare necessaries of life. Poorly clad
and half starved they would greedily eat anything given them.
The steamboat captains were then a set of very humane men,
and would take from their own pockets to provide the half-
starved creatures with food and clothing.
Improvements were slow, there being no particular demand
for them. The few travelers happening along were accommodated
in the houses of the inhabitants, and the happy-go-lucky
style of life was but seldom interrupted. With the removal of
the Indians and the stirring advent of the war, a more enterprising
spirit began to develope, augmented by the rich products
of the pineries, until a start was given a few towns, which sent
them steadily onward in a rapid growth, and constituted them
the milestones of the Mississippi river.
SOME ANECDOTES AND PERSONALIA
It was along in the neighborhood of the 50’s that Nichols
was pilot on the Pearl, Captain Armor, with George W. Girden,
now steamboat inspector at Galena as clerk. On one of the
trips from St. Paul to Galena a heavy south wind arose, so
strong that the boat was thrown about in a perilous manner and
could make but slow headway. Upon arriving at the head of
Lake Pepin the vessel was, therefore, laid to the shore until the
storm should have subsided.
But the clerk was not at his ease about this arrangement;
for, knowing the pilot’s boldness and intrepidity, lie feared that
an attempt might be made to cross the lake during the night
before the weather had cleared up. As he could not swim, the
risk such a passage would involve appeared very great, and
without mentioning his intentions to any one he quietly stole
from aboard, taking the watchman with him for company and aid.
In the night they walked the whole length of the lake,
about thirty miles, through brushes amid trees, without a road
or even a footpath, arriving at the other extremity in the morning,
where the boat soon after reached them. The watchman
related afterwards that he was obliged to carry Mr. Girden upon
his back the last six miles, as - the young man’s strength gave
entirely out and they did not dare to delay for rest, fearing the
boat might pass and leave them. This little incident becomes
particularly interesting from the fact that these were,
probably, the first white persons who ever completed this journey
on toot regardless of the obstacles of a wild country, wild
men and wild animals.
While Mr. Nichols was pilot on the Menominee, in the fall
of 1850, his father came down from Black River Falls for the
purpose of meeting him at one of the ports along the river.
The old gentleman was accompanied by Wm. T. Price, now
Member of Congress from Wisconsin, and drove in a lumber
wagon and with a team of which Mr. Nichols owned one horse
and Mr. Price the other. They were bound for Madison to
attend court there, and waited two days at Prairie du Chien for
the Menominee to arrive up the river, in order to obtain some
money from the pilot.
Upon meeting the father explained to his son that he came
to borrow about 200 with which to wind up a divorce case in
which his daughter was one of the parties. George C. called
upon the clerk for that amount out of his wages, and upon it
being immediately counted out to him he gave his father the
money, and saw the pair start off upon the remainder of their
journey, while the steamboat proceeded up the river. It may
not be amiss to mention here that Mr. Nichols has never heard
more of the $200.
A little incident which occurred while our pilot was employed
on the Davidson Line, under Captain Moulton, in 1865,
may be inserted here, to show the whole-souled nature of
steamboat men of that day.
A woman with two or three children had conic on board of
the boat to take passage with it, but when the clerk came to
collect the fare he found she had only a small fraction of the
amount necessary to defray that expense and therefore ordered
her to get off. She begged to be allowed to stay telling him her
destitute circumstances, and the dilemma in which she would
be placed if left behind. As her story had the appearance of
coming from a truthful source, and she herself seeming a worthy
woman, Mr. Nichols stepped down from his place at the wheel,
and offered to have her expenses on the trip charged to his
account.
This magnanimity on his part drew forth the thankful tears of
woman, and the scene collected quite a crowd around the
group Captain Moulton came up to inquire the cause of the
disturbance, and, upon hearing the voluntary offer of the pilot,
called out:
No, you won’t, George, I will see that the woman is properly
cared for, myself,”
This conclusion was perfectly satisfactory to our pilot, and
he quietly returned to his post and sent the boat on her
way.
It was late in the fall of 1855, about the first of November,
that the steamer Greek Slave, Captain Louis Robert, master,
and George Nichols, pilot, was being loaded at Galena, preparatory
to making her last trip for the season. When about to
start a portion of the crew abandoned her, fearing that the vessel
ould be caught in the floating ice; and they thus experienced
difficulty in returning to their homes. But the pilot and the
engineer, with the mate and a firehand, promised the captain to
remain with him.
With this crew the heavily loaded boat, with two
barges attached, started out one morning in very pleasant
weather, though the low stage of water caused considerable
difficulty in crossing the various bars below Winona. At the
Winona bar they became stuck fast, and it took the few men six
hours to loosen the boat and barges. It was now four o’clock
inthe afterncon, and the whole crew was completely exhausted.
Mr. A. L. Larpenteur, an old pioneer and now merchant at
St. Paul, Minn., was among the passengers, and having been a
close observer of the events of the trip, came forward at this
moment and proffered his services to the captain. The offer
was immediately and gratefully accepted, and the control of the
boat passed over to Mr. Larpenteur. That gentleman pressed
on up the river with all the maneuvres of an old steamboatman,
discharging a little freight at Winona, and reached Fountain
City at about supper time.
Here the boat laid up until midnight, giving the crew five
hours’ rest; by this time the improvised captain had the steam
up, and the refreshed men pushed ahead for their destination,
Mr. Larpenteur standing watch in his turn. This narrative is
recited as an illustration of the many trials river men were exposed
to in the days of sparse settlements, and when beacon
lights and other aiding contrivances ere totally unknown to
the navigator.
THE REMUNERATION OF A PILOT.
The wages of a steamboat pilot are, and have always been
ranked as very high, and, though the present earnings of the
lass fall far below the compensation allowed twenty or thirty
years since, they still compare favorably with any other employment
requiring similar or contiguous attributes in the performer.
Considering the very few good pilots upon the river
before, amid during the war, and the many hardships amid difficulties
they were exposed to, it is not to be greatly wondered at,
that a liberal pecuniary share of these high priced times should
be allotted them. And a recital of few of the wages received for
services rendered in the capacity of a first-class pilot may, perhaps;
prove interesting.
We will pass back to 1846, when Mr. Nichols piloted
he Anthony Wayne from Galena to Fort Snelling and return, a
six day’s trip, and the Prairie Bird from St. Louis to Marine
Mills, Wis., another weeks trip, during a short lay-up of his
own trip; for the first of these tours lie received $200, and for
the second $250. And during the three months lie was occupied
in moving the Winnebago Indians (1848) he was paid $200
per month while his net income during 1851, obtained in piloting
transient boats, was $6,ooo.
Captain Nichols then took charge of the Greek Slave, (1855)
receiving from Captain Robert, its owner and master, a salary
of $900 per month, in addition to the present of a lot on St.
Anthony’s Hill, St. Paul, which he subsequently disposed of for
$1,200. But in order to accept this position he was obliged to
pay a forfeit of S500 to the Minnesota Packet Company, the
receipt of which payment he has still in his possession, and
which reads as follows
Received from George Nichols Five Hundred Dollars being
the amount of his forfeit in his bond with Minnesota Packet
Company if he failed to work out the season.
“Galena, July12, ‘55. Galena & Mm. P. K. Co.
ORRIN SMITH, President.
In settling accounts with the Adelia, at the close of the
season of 1857, Mr. Nichols took the boat’s note for $620, payable
as Soon as the owner could sell the vessel or dispose of
some other property. Late in the fall he succeeded in raising
enough money to pay the crew, and so sent for his pilot. Mr.
Nichols came, and the captain drew forth a 500-dollar bill, asking
him if that scrap of paper would not square up accounts.
“seeing as the Captain seems hard-up.’ answered our pilot,
“I think I can afford to spare the odd $120, so give me the
500 and you can have your note.”
This is an instance of the ease with which money was
parted with, and will serve as a counter illustration to the ease
with which it was earned.
While piloting on the Davidson Line, in 1864, he was paid
$300 per month, and even as late as 1876 he could sometimes
earn S3o a day taking boats over the upper rapids at Davenport,
an eighteen-mile trip, at $io per tour. To av that Mr.
Nichols has received upwards of $150,000 in salary, during his
career as a steamboat pilot, is a moderate estimate.
And yet the vast sum has entirely disappeared, as rapidly
and quietly as it was acquired. With a kind heart and an open
hand, Mr. Nichols has always met adversity and want in his
fellow men, sharing with his less fortunate associates as long as
his means lasted; and adding to such a nature the demands of
an extravagant family, it is a wonder he has even kept himself
out of debt.
“I have seen the day,” says Mr. Nichols, “when I could
buy out this town,” referring to La Crosse, his present home,
and when the men who now dwell amidst opulence, were struggling
along in no better condition than I am now.” But thus
the ups and downs of life; it may demand a certain degree
the ability to earn but a superior degree of prudence is
requisite to retain it. There are said to be circumstances in
each man’s life, which if taken it the flood will lead on to fortune;
but there are also circumstances in every man’s life,
which if taken at the ebb will lead on to poverty. And, although
Mr. Nichols has not been entirely landed at the foot of fortune’s
ladder, he has still experienced the humiliation of witnessing
his own decline simultaneously with the advance of those who
were once behind him. This refers to his pecuniary, and consequent
social position only his physical and mental capabilities
have merely suffered from the gradual demands of advancing
age coupled with a stirring life and conjugal misery.
A WRECK AND A DISASTER.
Two eventful occurrences, happening in close succession,
and deserving to constitute a special topic, may he introduced
at this point in our narrative of a pilots life. They illustrate
alike the thorough ability requisite in men occupying this and
similar positions, and the courage and fortitude which they so
often display.
About ten years after tr. Nichols was engaged in the removal
of the Indians, in the Dr. Franklin, he found himself
again as pilot upon this boat, and Captain Ludwig was still her
master, Toward the close of this season occurred the event
about to be described, whieh so suddenly cut short the existence
of the familiar steamboat. With about 400 passengers aboard,
she steamed gallantly down the broad waters of the Mississippi
one dark, dismal evening of October, entrusted to the care of
Jerome Smith, the second pilot.
At midnight came Mr. Nichols’ turn to take the wheel,
and when they were about six miles above Dubuque, he
emerged from the cabin and passed forward to go on duty.
Just as he emerged above the cabin he saw a huge, dark object
heaving in sight, and immediately called to the man at the
wheel
“Back, back her! Don’t you see that you are running into
something ?”
But the pilot seemed to have lost his wits, and exclaimed
in his excitement
“I don’t know what to do with her, George; come and help
me!”
Mr. Nichols hurried forward, but before he had taken
many steps the sombre obstruction appeared in the outline of a
steamboat, and—crash they came together. Then all became
confusion. The Dr. Franklin sank rapidly amid the cries and
shouts and clamor of an excited throng, and the few moments
allotted the crew and the more cool-headed of the passengers
to save this human cargo were expended in almost superhuman
exertion and deeds of individual bravery.
The strange boat came aloniiside and proved to be the
Galena. The saved were hurried aboard of her in the habit
and with the simple effects they had assumed in the precipitated
light; with many this comprised only their under garments.
upon arriving at Dubuque it was found that only four or five
f the entire number aboard the sunken vessel were missing,
and these persons were accounted for as drowned. Sury. a
grateful termination to an accident which might have numbered
its victims to twice the tens it had units. And Mr. Nichols
recalls the event with the manly satisfaction of having done his
duty.
In close proximity to the above event occurred (1858) the
collision of the Gray Eagle and the Itaska. The former boat
as returning from a trip to Minneiska, Minnesota, with Smith
Harris as master, and Nichols as pilot. Proceeding quietly
down the stream, the Gray Eagle rapidly approaching one of
the many abrupt turns which especially characterizes the Mississippi,
and just as it arrived at the point the Itaska coming up
stream, ran into her at full speed.
The larboard wheel of the Gray Eagle was torn completely
off but otherwise she suffered only a few bruises, not sufficient
to force her to land for repairs. As there were from 406 to 500
passengers aboard a delay of this nature would have become
extremely annoying. But Mr. Nichols took the vessel, in the
dilapidated condition it now was, to Galena, a distance of 800
miles down the river, and earned well the praise that was bestowed
upon him for skill and boldness.
SPIRITED RACING.
The absolute necessity for ever’ steambaat upon the Mississippi
river to maintain its character and reputation against
the willful encroachments and usurpations of any’ other boat,
was in early days so vital that the racing propensity of a river
steamer has become almost proverbial. A captain would rather
expose himself to the possibilities of wrecking his boat on an
impediment, or exposing the overtaxed boilers, than allow an
approaching rival to outdistance him. And the pilot was his
right hand in every such encounter.
It follows as a natural consequence that such an old pilot
as Mr. Nichols should have participated in an extensive number
of these spirited contests. among the river boats, for superiority
of speed. And from a vast repository in this line he selects the
race of the Adelia and Gray Eagle, in June of 1857, as especially
typical of these old-time races. Both vessels were at this
time lying at the St. Paul wharf, ready to proceed down the
river. The former was commanded by Captain Gillett and
piloted by Mr. Nichols, while Captain Smith .Harris was the
master of the latter.
“How soon are you going out George ?“ Captain Harris
called over to the pilot of the Adelia, and was answered:
“Right away, Captain.”
The Adelia immediately swung off, and turned down stream
with the Gray Eagle right behind her. Hastings was the first
port on the route, and, upon arriving here, the Adelia was
already 400 yards ahead of her rival, Seeing a man with a
horse and buggy at the landing the boat’s head was turned up
stream, preparatory to stopping, and Captain Gillett called out
“If you want to come aboard, stranger, be quick
about it.”
“I am going on the Gray Eagle,” answered the man.
Upon which response the Adelia lost no time in regaining
her course and slipping out into the stream, just ahead of the
Gray Eagle. The latter boat paid no attention to the demands
of the party on the river bank, but throwing ashore the freight
bound for the .place, and without stopping, she hurried after the
Adelia, from the deck of which boat we will continue to view the
race.
At Red Wing a sufficiently long stop was made for a few
passengers to get aboard, but the Adelia managed to swing out
into the stream just as her ardent follower appeared in sight.
Reed’s Landing was the next port, and here the Adelia had a
half-mile start, while at Winona she was a mile and a half ahead.
But after leaving this point her supply of wood became very
scarce, and a stop must soon be made to replenish this indispensable
factor to her progress.
So at a place of supply, ten miles below Winona, the Adelia
rounded to the shore, threw her rope around a convenient tree,
and sent all the available crew out to carry on board the wood
piled along the river bank. When about five cords had been
secured the Gray Eagle appeared from behind a turn in the
river, close up to them. And now came the tug of war. The
men threw down their filled or half-filled loads wherever they
happened to be, and while a few ran to untie the rope, the remainder
hurried aboard to get everything in readiness for an
immediate start. But the line with which the boat had been
tied became entangled, so that it would take a few minutes to
unfasten it, seeing which Mr. Nichols called out:
“Never mind the line, boys, but get aboard.”
And thereupon sent his boat into the stream, breaking the
pc and iosing about sixty feet of it; but lie managed to get
few yards ahead of the Gray Eagle, and what more could be
shed. Even if his finger had been cut off in the endeavor to
the race we believe it would have been willingly sacrificed
ird such a result. Every man whose services were not
elsewhere required, crowded upon the deck with the passengers,
the exultation of their boat’s success, and the lively interest
the company found vent in the jesting remarks and triumphant
expressions vhicli were freely bestowed upon the gradually
losing boat.
The chagrin of Captain Harris and his company at meeting
with this disappointment, after being offered so grand an
opportunity to beat their competitor, somewhat cooled their ardor
lessened their enthusiasm; but the Gray Eagle still continued
the chase, and, though to gain it was out of the question,
she sought to lose as small a distance as possible.
In the next twenty miles’ run to La Crosse the Gray Eagle reached
the landing just as the Adelia had completed her business
there and was leaving, and when Ir. Nichols landed his
boat at the final destination, at Dubuque, the Gray Eagle was
at Eagle Point, three miles above.
Thus ended this eagerly contested race of 400 miles. Both
vessels had maintained a break-neck speed and curtailed their
landings to the briefest time allowable. For when a steamboat
the racing fever there are very few exigencies in this world
of sufficient significance to pacify it. Captain Harris admitted
that he would rather have bribed the pilot of the Adelia three
or four hundred dollars than to have been beaten so completely,
and the following season he hired Mr. Nichols to hold the wheel
on board the Gray Eagle.
While employed upon this boat lie soon had an opportunity
offered to show his skill as pilot, and also to retrieve the honor
of the Gray Eagle by winning for it a lively race in the middle
part of this season, The Queen of England’s message
had just been received at Dubuque. through the eastern papers,
and was to be transmitted to the press of St. Paul with all possible
rapidity. The latter city was then the only great center
of the Northwest capable of being reached within a short time,
and consequently its publishers vied with ea c other in promulgating
important news with all the rapidity that the absence of
railroads and telegraphs would allow.
The Gray Eagle lay at the Dubuque wharf, with two or
three other boats, waiting for the important papers to be brought
aboard. She was also fortunate enough to obtain her paper the
first of all, and started off immediately with the others soon
behind. A few landings were made, but many others were
omitted to save time. Throughout the whole trip of twenty-two
hours the Gray Eagle kept perseveringly at the head, and when
about a rod from the St. Paul shore the clerk fastened the paper
containing the message to a club of wood and threw it ashore
into the outstretched hands of a newspaper reporter. He ran
away with it up the street and Mr. Nichols soon left the city
with his boat.
TOWING.
To transport successfully a heavy tow brings into requisition
all the ability- and shrewdness of the pilot, as well as of the
captain. And the following feat in this line may, perhaps, be
classed with the most difficult achievements of this nature.
While Mr. Nichols was pilot upon the Victory, (1876,)
Captain Duncan, he took her from La Crosse to St. Louis, with
a tow consisting of an old steamboat hull and two barges, filled
with grain. The span at the Burlington bridge was too narrow
for such a broad fleet, and there was no convenient place above
the bridge where part of the load could be temporarily left.
So a neat, though hazardous, plan was resorted to ; one of the
barges was let loose and dropped through an adjacent span,
simultaneously with the passage of the steamboat and the remainder
of the tow through the main opening, and was caught
and attached again just as it emerged.
This splendid job can not be performed but by’ a skillful
management, and it required just two such fast steamboatmen
as Nichols and Duncan to accomplish it. At the Keokuk,
Quincy and Hannibal bridges a part of the tow was left above
while the rest was taken through ; but at the Louisiana bridge
the entire fleet passed beneath the span at one time. This is
only an example of the class of work entrusted to Mr. Nichols,
and illustrates alike the talent lie could boast of and the confidence
he commanded.
An incident akin to the preceding and requiring as subtle
maneuvering was the running of the Gray Eagle up stream
through Coon Slough during the night, and clown again in the
daytime, without stopping a wheel. This slough is a crooked
strait eighteen miles below La Crosse, and the boat was 250 feet
long, with forty feet beam. Mr. Nichols is perhaps the only man
who ever attempted and succeeded in this performance, and he
accomplished it away’ back in ‘58.
THE EPILEPTICAL ATTACK.
For nigh unto eighteen years Mr. Nichols suffered from the
dreadful attacks of epilepsy, a disease which first appeared when
he went over the rapids above Davenport, in 1 864, while piloting
the Jenny Baldwin. The captain was obliged himself to steer
the boat ashore and then send to Davenport for a pilot. A
doctor was also brought, and under his treatment Mr. Nichols
soon recovered. During the following five or six years, after
tills first experience, the attack came on but seldom, once or
twice in the season at the most; but after the seventies he became
more frequently prostrated by their onset.
These enervating spasms cannot be said, singular as the
statement may seem, to ever have occurred while he was on
duty at the wheel, with the exception of the first attack. For
they had he could not have satisfactorily held the many
responsible positions he occupied during the succeeding years.
It may be mentioned, however, that his immediate associates
were, for many years, the only individuals aware of the pilot’s
trouble; and being a general favorite among the crew of what
river boat lie was on lie excited their sympathy and good feeling
in his behalf, so that he was quietly nursed and the affair kept
as much private as possible.
A worthy illustration of the man’s energy and will-power is
furnished in the fact that lie often resisted an approaching spell,
in the earliest stages of the disease: while lie stood at the wheel,
and only fell exhausted and unconscious when he reached his
cabin. But at length the attacks became more and more frequent.
All work had to be abandoned, and with a constitution
entirely deprived of all its nerve and strength, and bodily and
mental ruin staring him in the face, threatening a premature
end, the veteran pilot dragged himself to the home of his
son.
“Why” the interested reader will exclaim, “Could he not
be cured?” It seemed so. No stone had been left unturned
to consult the physicians of every port at which lie landed;
and ever since tue first doctor had him in charge and the first
medicine was administered, away back, in i 864, he has been
iii the hands of a host of able practitioners and expended a
large sum of money in the hope of, at least partially, effecting
a cure.
Then it was that he came to consult Dr. George E. Powell,
(Night Hawk,) one of the well known Powell brothers, at his
institute, in La Crosse. This was in February of 1883, and the
disease had then culminated into such a stage that his whole
strength was exhausted. He could barely drag himself into the
office, and had several spells in succession after he had entered
the room. The doctor made a thorough study of the case
which was so vividly portrayed before his eves, and after an
analysis of the symptoms presented he prescribed for the
patient.
“The fourth spoonful cured me!” exclaims the captain
whenever this topic is mentioned. And cured lie has been,
though it was probably not so rapidly effected as by a few doses.
The epileptical attack \vas banished as suddenly as it appeared.
Dr. Powell has given the Captain a written assurance that no
apprehensions of a return of the disease need ever be entertained;
and an acquaintance with Captain Nichols to-day must
confirm one in the belief that he is in the possession, both of
bodily vigor and mental equilibrium. He has furnished the
materials for this history, reciting them impromptu from memory,
and what stronger proof of the statement here contained
can be offered than a perusal of these pages.
The disease sprang from no hereditary taint or innate defect
in the mans nature, but had its root in deep family misery
and collateral circumstances. To employ his own words he has
had “a heap of trouble.” He speaks of the Doctors, George E.
and Will. A. Powell, associated in “Powells’ Medical and Surgical
Institute,” with considerable warmth, for their gentlemanly
conduct and humane treatment, and considering the debt he
owes “Night Hawk” the loudest praise in his favor will not appear
exaggerated.
CONCLUSION.
The preceding pages present the most important incidents
in a pioneer steamboat pilot’s varying life, and a few entertaining
sketches of his recollections from fort years’ active experience
upon the Mississippi river. We have not sought to
create a hero by the fabrication of startling adventures or
romantic occurrences; by predicting prodigious feats of valor
or astonishing accomplishments of lucky accidents. But a
truthful history, unembellished beyond a decorous propriety, has
been the Editor’s aim in the preparation of the preceding pages.
And, though their material may not be admired for its splendor,
we are satisfied if it be appreciated for its simplicity.
Mr. Nichols belongs to a class of men of whom but little
is known outside the river-traveling public, and who are often
omitted when their similarly employed fellows in other occupations
are mentioned. His object, therefore, is to bring to the
front and call attention to the steamboat pilots, as staunch and
worthy an order of men as any other vocation can boast of.
And by the recital of his own trials and vicissitudes, his own
fortune and success, Ile presents a fair type of the men engaged
in this employment.
The Captain has fully’ recovered his health, and looks as
pale and hearty as ever. Although anxious once more to turn
the wheel, he has been obliged to refuse some very good offers
in this direction, wishing to devote his time at present to the
publication and sale of this work. His whole time and energy
has been, and will be, given to the successful termination of this
long-cherished wish. For, though his existence has had its
unhappy and sorrowful periods, in common with the rest of
mankind, yet he believes in the suppression of the memories
their mention calls forth, and the unsevered enjoyment of the
happy and pleasant recollections with which his life is studied.
In appreciation of this sentiment we join with Joanna Ballie,
when she says that—
“From the sad years of life
We sometimes do short hours, yea, minutes strike,
Keen, blissful, bright, never to be forgotten;
Which, thro’ the dreary gloom of Time o’erpast
Shine like fair sunny spots on a wild waste.”
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