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
So, what’s happening on the river? Around here at Aurora Bend, middle Ohio River Mile 496, a lot is changing with all sorts of rumors flying about.
Who’s seen the new docks and the head boat and a couple of small towboats pulled in at the former Lischkge Harbor and Aurora Marina site at the mouth of Hogan Creek? From a river man’s perspective, I like it. It’s all being kept on the QT until more progress is completed, I heard. Stay tuned, hold onto your hats. Wait and see. Okay.
The biggest news I’ve heard personally is that my former sternwheeler, the Rafter CLYDE, was recently sold to a “local businessman,” or so I was told by the last intermittent owner. Big plans also await the humble paddlewheeler that hasn’t seen a good day since I sold her, or so, again, I was told. Hopefully, CLYDE will find new happiness with her new daddy. Crossing my fingers.
July is about gone. This is the last Sunday of the month. Next week is the beginning of the last third of 2026. 1926 still doesn’t seem that long ago. Of course I wasn’t around 100 years ago, but most of those who raised (or is it “reared”) me were. Writing on my busy Facebook page while researching a steamboat’s past, I am frequently surprised to find that someone I knew or worked with on the river was on so-and-so boat in 1926 or ’27. Where did the time go?
Speaking of boats, one of the most popular steamboats I post photos about from my big collection is the steam towboat SPRAGUE, the largest steam towboat ever built. She was constructed at the Iowa Iron Works in Dubuque, Iowa, and completed in 1902. Her engines and mechanicals were the brainchild of the Scotsman William Hopkins, whose first iron-hulled steamer was the sidewheeler CLYDE, completed at the Dubuque boatyard in 1870.
Hopkins received his training in constructing iron hulls on the River Clyde before he came to the United States to help build ironclad monitors for the Union Navy. After the war, he began working at the Iowa Iron Works and eventually became its vice-president. Under Hopkins’s leadership, the Iowa Iron Works became the preeminent producer of iron-hulled steamboats, ferries, towboats, and an occasional ocean-going vessel.
Besides the original CLYDE and the SPRAGUE, William Hopkins also had his hand in constructing the BETSY ANN in 1899, a steam packet made famous by the writings of Captain Frederick Way, Jr., and the 1902 PELICAN, a 306-foot sidewheel railroad car transfer ferry which operated from Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Helena, Arkansas.
While at Helena as an 18-year-old deckhand on the steam excursion boat AVALON, I was mesmerized by the sight and sound of the gigantic PELICAN as she “scaped” off her roof while she got underway, utilizing the power of her two 40-foot-diameter side paddlewheels. Watching her steaming by was definitely a trip back in time. The PELICAN was Mr. Hopkins’s steam-powered time machine, and I was enraptured to observe her perform as she tore out of her backwater-slough moorings and into the seething current of the mighty Mississippi River.
These many years later, I’m still thrilled by the memories alone of what I witnessed of the handiwork of Mr. Hopkins, who is remembered as one of the most influential figures in American inland boatbuilding history.
Pictures and stories of the DELTA QUEEN always attract interest among steamboat enthusiasts. Her great wooden paddlewheel is especially a charmer. On the QUEEN during the early 1970s, Captain Wagner charged me with the responsibility of keeping the “brushpile,” as old-timers call them, looking good and in sound physical and mechanical repair. Cap often emphasized that the first object anyone coming aboard wanted to see was the paddlewheel. If the wheel passed their casual inspection, he reminded me, then they assumed that the rest of the boat was also in good shape, and so they felt safe while onboard.
Of course, many viewers of my page remind everyone that the DELTA QUEEN remains in a state of limbo near Houma, Louisiana, awaiting rescue and revitalization. How strange it seems to know that in this Semiquincentennial year of our Nation, this once most beloved steamboat suffers a forgotten past and a forlorn and uncertain future.
“Save the DELTA QUEEN” was the catchphrase heard nearly everywhere when I returned to her in the spring of 1970 after a four-year hiatus serving in the military. Say that all you want these days, and what meaning does it have? What the QUEEN needs is another rousing campaign with lots of old-time steamboat ballyhoo.
Some capable steamboat supporter should reprint the bright red pin-on buttons with the Warren Stichtenoth DELTA QUEEN paisley-smoke logo we all wore “back in the day.”
“SAVE THE DELTA QUEEN — KEEP STEAM BOATING ALIVE”
Of course, a lot of excitement and activities are happening on the river from one end to another. All the rivers and tributaries are alive, energetic, and making the most of the 2026 boating season. Like Granny often said, “Make hay while the sun shines.”
The same goes with boating. My trouble, though, is I’m sitting on the sidelines watching everything happen. Then too, Granny also said, “Every dog has his day.”
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 and will share his stories of growing up in Covington and his stories of the river. Hang on for the ride — the river never looked so good.
Click here to read all of Capt. Don Sanders’ stories of The River.
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.