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
“What do you do with your days?” someone asked. “Do ya miss steamboatin’?”
“Certainly,” I replied, “But I do my best steamboating betwixt the sheets.”
Last night, for example, I was all over the DELTA QUEEN. But without a regular position on board, I’d been doing some fill-in work. With the boat scheduled to sail, I should have gotten off. I didn’t, and was contemplating stowing away. Captain Ernest E. Wagner, master of the QUEEN, decked out in his dress uniform, sat on a comfortable-looking cushioned chair in the dining room. Or was he seated in the Texas Lounge? (You know how dreams are.) My watch said 15 minutes before the hour. Why was the Captain still sitting there? He should have rung “nine bells” — departure time.”
By and large, with a couple of exceptions, that world’s all but gone now. I’m not saying there aren’t some boats or ships, or whatever they want to call them, offering cruises on the Mississippi River System. It’s not the same, though. Something’s missing.
Now it’s all about thread counts in the sheets on the deluxe triple-spring mattresses. No longer is being on the river, away from shore, what it’s all about. They even say, “It’s not the getting there — it’s the being there.” Which translates to cruising at night, waking up to another burg somewhere, and spending all day on bus tours while the boat heads to the next stop. What would Mrs. Greene think?
That’s the way it is. Or should I say, that’s the way it’s been. Help, though, lies on the horizon.
Some unique changes are already happening on the river. In “Music City,” Nashville on the Cumberland River, two paddlewheelers making their debut are the CAPITOL, formerly the PRIDE OF PEORIA, and the NASHVILLE, Captain Dennis Trone’s old steamboat, the JULIA BELLE SWAIN. According to whispers heard on the river’s traditional gossip line, the “Sternline Telegraph,” a return to the one most nostalgic form of river transportation, which fathered the entire river cruise industry into the 21st Century, may be just weeks away.
Various unnamed investors, formerly commercial riverboat men and women, some with more than 50 years of experience on the father of waters, are reportedly backing the unique proposal. Instead of focusing on the creature comforts of a luxury floating hotel and the trend towards spending more time ashore and less time underway, the group proposes a return to river cruising aboard the most traditional of rivercraft.
What is the one sentimental value or emotional response that should fuel the river cruise industry on America’s inland waterways long after transportation methods turned to the skies instead of steamboats and such? It’s simply Nostalgia, pure and simple — a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.
On the river, Nostalgia means a return to the ideas and writings of one particular man– Mark Twain. Besides writing about steam-snorting boats, the one means of river transportation which Twain most glorified and became the most cherished of all was none other than the simple log raft Huck and Jim ventured aboard, down the crest of the Mississippi River and into perpetuity.
Keeping all the above premises in mind, the unnamed investors are reportedly ready to launch a fleet of wooden log rafts, as close as possible to the one Jim and Huck knew. Still, countless questions remain, seeking answers as we enter the second quarter of the 21st Century — so many, in fact, that I won’t attempt to elaborate on them and stick to generalities instead.
The so-called “Huckleberry and Jim Voyages” will, of course, feature rafting adventures of varying lengths. St. Louis is the rumored starting point for the voyages, thereby eliminating hazardous dams and lockages while taking advantage of the normally swift, open current on the lower portion of the Upper Mississippi River below the Gateway City.
Supposedly, the first trip offered will be a 180-mile float downstream to Cairo, Illinois, where the Upper Mississippi and Ohio Rivers meet to form the Lower Mississippi. Once there, participants will tour the once grand city before boarding buses back to St. Louis. Facilities to truck the log rafts back to their starting point are also under consideration. However, several small regional sawmill operators have already proposed buying the rafts to mill into lumber. These options are amongst those still seeking agreement.
Depending on the success of the St. Louis-to-Cairo excursions, trips may be expanded further south along the Lower Mississippi River, with a voyage to Memphis that stops at Mud Island. However, due to the river’s current velocity, auxiliary tugs will arrest the speeding rafts and assist them to shore. According to the Sternline Telegraph, the question remains unresolved of whether to return the Memphis rafters to St. Louis by bus or by air.
Eventually, the investment group proposes a grand raft ride all the way to the Crescent City of New Orleans, with a tour de force stop for a couple of days at Natchez-Under-the-Hill. Additional adventures in historic Natchez-on-the-Bluff include visits to homes such as Longwood, Dunleith, Stanton Hall, and Rosalie, culminating in a grand farewell celebration at the UTH Saloon before departing.
Arriving in the Crescent City, a royal New Orleans-style welcome awaits rafters, complete with riverboats, cruise ships, and floating stevedoring cranes sounding the traditional New Orleans harbor salute on horns, whistles, and perhaps a toot from the Steamer NATCHEZ’s renowned steam whistle with a tune likely played on that steamboat’s celebrated brace of steam calliopes.
Although I’ve likely gone too far out on the proverbial limb divulging these yet incomplete ideas for a return to more traditional, nostalgic cruises on the Mississippi River, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t use my name when telling others what you read here. However, I promise to keep a close ear to the chatter on the Sternline Telegraph, and if I hear any further updates on the aforementioned proposal, I will share them. — so stay tuned to this channel.
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.
Purchase Captain Don Sanders’ The River book
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.
You may purchase your book by mail from the Northern Kentucky Tribune — or you may find the book for sale at all Roebling Books locations and at the Behringer Crawford Museum and the St. Elizabeth Healthcare gift shops.
Click here to order your Captain Don Sanders’ ‘The River’ now.