The River: The ‘Great Steamboat Race,’ a grand river tradition as legendary as the Kentucky Derby itself

The riverboat captain is a storyteller. Captain Don Sanders shares the stories of his long association with the river — from discovery to a way of love and life. This a part of a long and continuing story.

By Capt. Don Sanders
Special to NKyTribune

Last Monday, April 28, the sternwheel excursion boat BELLE OF CINCINNATI peeked around Aurora Bend, paddling her way to the annual “Great Steamboat Race” in Louisville. Since 1963, with a few exceptions, a boat race featuring the Steamer BELLE OF LOUISVILLE precedes the legendary Kentucky Derby, the horse race held in the Falls City since 1875.

The first Louisville Great Steamboat Race of 1963 found the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE (the former Steamer AVALON) challenging the DELTA QUEEN on a cold, dreary May afternoon. That morning in my Eastern Kentucky State College dorm room, I listened to the news on a Louisville radio station touting the upcoming boat race. Without hesitation, I slipped on a suit, white shirt, tie, warm jacket, walked out to Lancaster Avenue, stuck out my thumb, and began hitching the long road to Louisville.

Once there, the Louisville waterfront was unlike anything I’d witnessed before. Two of the last remaining steamboats snorted and pawed like angry bulls fitting for a tussle. The smell of black fuel oil smoke filled the air. The constant hushed murmur of tens of thousands of spectators crowding along both shores of the Ohio River smothered the sounds of everything except for an occasional steam whistle toot or the unexpected trill from a steam calliope. But when I found my way to the landing stage of the DELTA QUEEN, where my former Captain and Mate, Captains Ernest E. Wagner and Clarke C. “Doc” Hawley from the AVALON, now reigned supreme, a troupe of former AVALON shipmates were already queued for a free ride as I had anticipated, too. Mrs. Letha Greene, owner of the DELTA QUEEN, assessed the situation and decreed that all passengers needed a pass or a paid ticket to come aboard.

To my great relief, Mrs. Rosalee Wagner, wife of the Captain, approached and handed me an envelope, explaining, “The Captain’s wife shouldn’t need a ticket.” Gladly, I accepted Mrs. Wagner’s unexpected gift and followed her aboard without looking back. That was my last glimpse of my old comrades, disappointed and left standing on the muddy riverbank.

At this writing, I am the only known surviving member of the Navigation and Engineer Departments of the Steamer AVALON. The only other verified survivor of that long-ago vessel is the Honorable John “Corky” Bickel. Now an Iowa attorney, Corky spent a summer aboard the steam excursion boat behind the popcorn machine in the Steward’s Department.

Heavily salted popcorn, a favorite among the AVALON’s passengers, encouraged them to purchase Wagner Brand sodas in tall cups copiously loaded with ice. An errant “Cabin Boy” working behind the popcorn or soda stands could easily find himself out of a job and cast ashore for failing to load the cups chock-full of ice or neglecting to salt the popcorn generously.

My first two days of employment aboard the AVALON saw me behind the orange and grape soda machines, where I quickly learned the art of mixing soda drinks with the proper amount of crushed ice to satisfy the thirsty client while maximizing the profit margin for my employer. Though I enjoyed my short cabin boy experience, my quest to become a Steamboat Captain guided me towards the deck for one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

Once aboard the DELTA QUEEN on that cold, miserable Spring day in 1963, I enjoyed every delight that palatial steamboat offered while making written observations in a ring binder I remembered to bring. The sumptuous buffet spread in the Orleans Dining Room on the QUEEN’s Main Deck featured the most enticing tidbits the Greene Line offered its cruising customers. The traditional Steamboat Round of Roast, Southern-style Fried Chicken, Natchez Creamed Okra, Red Louisiana Beans with Rice, and those succulent Memphis Sweet Yams soaking in Beale Street Barbecue Sauce, followed by two slices of Lower Mississippi River Mud Pie, filled me to the brim. My, oh my. Sixty-two years later, the enduring aroma of that opulent banquet wafting above the Orleans Room’s ironwood deck still lingers on the taste buds of my memory.

The BELLE OF LOUISVILLE, then newly acquired by the city/county government of Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, had many kinks to iron out, or replace. To the disappointment of the BELLE’s original crew and thousands of local well-wishers crowding every inch of space along the shoreline, the hometown steamer suffered a disappointing loss to the Cincinnati-based DELTA QUEEN. Once moored back at the Louisville Public Landing, the venerable steamers reposed alongside the cobblestone grade.

At the same time, the vessels’ officers, local officials, and the news media went about the usual hoopla after such a publicized event. By then, the Sun, now low on the horizon, warned me that Richmond lay nearly 125 miles southeastward. Again, I found a road heading in my direction and extended my thumb. Hitchhiking, back then, was not yet the hazardous undertaking it is six decades later. By the next morning, I was back on campus, rested, and on time for my first class.

As I said earlier, the sight of the BELLE OF CINCINNATI at Aurora Bend bustling toward the race at Louisville was a sight to behold. Along the way, riverboat buffs recorded the BELLE as she passed by with her usual complement of crew and some 200 passengers aboard for the boat ride from the Cincinnati Harbor to Louisville. While the diesel-powered paddlewheeler can accommodate guests on extended day and evening excursions, the BELLE has no overnight accommodations. Instead, a stop at Vevay, Indiana, 68 miles down the Ohio River from her departure, allowed bus pickups bound for an overnight stay at Belterra Casino & Resort, where the passengers enjoyed a night’s stay. Then, they journeyed on to Louisville for two nights, where they enjoyed the Derby Dinner Playhouse, Frazier History Museum, and Kentucky Derby Museum before the Great Steamboat Race.

The only overnight riverboat trip that might be better enjoyed would be onboard the historic Steamer DELTA QUEEN. No other riverboat company in the two-legged trade could operate a rejuvenated DELTA QUEEN better than BB Riverboats, owners and operators of the BELLE OF CINCINNATI. Passenger boat aficionados agree that the Newport, Kentucky-based company has the necessary moxie, with a crew and staff capable of operating the last remaining overnight steamboat on the Western Rivers.

But before contenders lined up for the latest Great Steamboat Race, a leak in the fuel system aboard BELLE OF LOUISVILLE scratched the venerable steamboat from the competition. In her place, the much smaller, diesel-powered MARY M. MILLER, also belonging to the Louisville city fleet, lined up alongside the BELLE OF CINCINNATI, awaiting the starting gun.

To the surprise of many river rats, including myself, the MILLER whalloped the much larger Cincinnati-based riverboat.

When asked how that happened, a fan of the Queen City-based BELLE quipped, “We wuz cheated.” Falls City buffs, however, disagreed. “Proud MARY MILLER took off like a shot at the beginning and never looked back.”

As anyone associated with steamboating racing agrees, as far as rules go, THERE ARE NO RULES.

Whatever anyone says about the outcome of the 2025 Great Steamboat Race, the winner officially remains the MARY M. MILLER with the BELLE OF CINCINNATI in second, or last place.

Next year is another opportunity. Perhaps then, the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE will resume her position as the hometown contender for the annual “Run for the Antlers.” Speedy MARY will assume her usual function, carrying observers along for the ride, while the Cincinnati-based BELLE gets another crack at the winner’s award.

Tickets for next year’s Great Steamboat Race will go on sale soon.

Captain Don Sanders is a river man. He has been a riverboat captain with the Delta Queen Steamboat Company and with Rising Star Casino. He learned to fly an airplane before he learned to drive a “machine” and became a captain in the USAF. He is an adventurer, a historian and a storyteller. Now, he is a columnist for the NKyTribune, sharing his stories of growing up in Covington and his stories of the river. Hang on for the ride — the river never looked so good.

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Capt. Don Sanders The River: River Rat to steamboatman, riding ‘magic river spell’ to 65-year adventure is now available for $29.95 plus handling and applicable taxes. This beautiful, hardback, published by the Northern Kentucky Tribune, is 264-pages of riveting storytelling, replete with hundreds of pictures from Capt. Don’s collection — and reflects his meticulous journaling, unmatched storytelling, and his appreciation for detail. This historically significant book is perfect for the collections of every devotee of the river.

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