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Old
Times On the Mississippi
By J. D. Barnes
Port
Byron Globe
March 14, 1935
Writer’s Experience as a Riverman
Soon as my arrival at Le Claire from St. Luis I
ran across George Tromley, who was airing men for the
purpose of taking a big a raft to St. Louis, but the cholera
was raging in the latter place it was somewhat difficult to
ship the required number. I decided, however, to go with
him. The raft was one that had been brought as far as Le
Claire by another pilot who had returned with his crew to
Stillwater. It had to be delivered to the firm of
Overstalze & Riorden of St. Louis. But we never reached
our point of destination. Salt river was far as we ever
got and it was known ever afterwards as George Tromley’s Salt
River trip.
The crew made up from, Le Claire as near as I can remember
were as follows: Pilot, George Tromley; clerk, Little
Jim Davenport; cook, John Wesley, also known in
Le Claire as Injun John, and he was one of the finest cooks
that was ever on board a floating raft. Tho’ to relish
his cooking you did not want to see him, for his appearance
was not at all inviting. He will be remembered as having
been murdered a few years later and his body thrown in the
river by “Red handed Mike,” who was captain of a
floating house, while lying at the island this side of Rapids
City. His remains were found and identified a little
below Hampton. The names of the remainder of the crew
were Walt Henderson,
Miles Swank, Hayden Franks, Bill Amonds, Tom Miller, Daniel
Gallager, Ike Pinkerton, Bill Webb, who afterwards
proved to be a notorious jailbird, and others that I cannot
recall to mind. When we arrived at Muscatine, Tromley
was not feeling very well and he was certain he was going to
have the cholera, so he employed a doctor and we remained
there three days. Tromley however, got better and we
once more pulled out.
Arriving just above the town of Hannibal about dust one
evening we made a landing with the intention of getting some
provisions, as we were about out. Accordingly, Tromley
with the clerk and several of the crew started for town on
foot, but they had not proceeded far before they met an old
farmer coming out of town. The enquired if there was any
cholera in Hannibal yet. Three men died there today.
That settled it. They all turned and stamped back to the
raft and the result was we went without any breakfast the next
morning. The news from Hannibal in regard to the cholera
the night before was anything but encouraging, so accordingly
a vote was taken, whether to lay the raft up or proceed to St.
Louis, so in order to settle the matter a vote of the crew was
taken and it was decided to lay the raft up. And now the
question was who would return to Hannibal, the nearest
station, and dispatch to St. Louis. The clerk had
refused to go so Tromley came back to the stern of the raft,
where I was working and he said: “Jo, you “fraid dem cholera?”
I said, “George, I ain’t afraid of nothing.” He says:
“Well, here is a dispatch and a twenty dollar bill to pay your
expenses and we will see you ashore and you foot it back to
Hannibal and send it Overstaize & Riorden, and wait for a
reply.” The dispatch was to the effect that the crew was
in mutiny and refused to proceed further and asking what he
should do with the raft.
So they put me on the bank about eight miles below Hannibal,
and I struck out. But fortune favored me for I was soon
taken in by an old farmer with a spring wagon and we had a
very pleasant ride to town. I made inquiries in regard
to cholera, but there had been no case in Hannibal. The
proceedings of the night before was only a scare. The
people were eating watermelons and scattering the rinds over
the streets. I sent the dispatch and the reply soon came
back to lay the raft up in Salt River. I then boarded
the steamer Andy Johnson and overhauled the raft at dark the
same evening and made a report of what had transpired during
my absence.
Salt River is a little sluggish stream flowing into the
Mississippi just this side of the town of Louisiana, Mo.
The place is noted for being home and birthplace of the
original Jo Bowers “all the way from Pike.” In the evening Tromley and most of the crew concluded they would visit the
town for the purpose of seeing the sights and get something to
eat. Among the rest was notorious Bill Webb, who
on the down trip had boasted of serving in the rebel army.
Several of them, however, entered a billiard hall, when Webb
supposing he had met some confederates he began boasting of
his prowess in the rebel army, but he was mistaken in his men,
for two of them whipped out their knives and made for him.
He ran out of the room and down the street in the direction of
the river and they after him. They soon caught him had
began slashing him with knives. He yelled “Murder!” and
the officers came to his rescue. He felt sure he was
going to die, so he made a confession to the effect that he
had been a very bad man in his day. He was sent to the
hospital and it was found that he had five knife wounds on his
body. However he survived and returned to Le Claire.
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