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
Two hundred fourteen years ago this year, steamboating began on the Western Rivers. By definition, the “Western Rivers” are not the streams of California, Oregon, or Washington. Instead, the Western Rivers are the Mississippi and its tributaries — the Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, and countless other fluvial highways and byways making up the entire drainage system, which ultimately empties into the Gulf below New Orleans.
This past year, on February 20, 2024, at 5 p.m., overnight steamboating on the Western Rivers ceased when the AMERICAN QUEEN shut down its overnight passenger-carrying operations. One hundred thirteen years of river tradition became fodder for the history books. SLAM! Just like that — Whispers echoing in the grave.
Fortunately, at least two steam-powered paddlewheelers still carry excursionists eager to relive the “Mark Twain experience.” The Steamers NATCHEZ of New Orleans and the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE, in the Falls City of the Middle Ohio River, have regularly scheduled rides with frills attached to appease the 21st Century wayfarer. Soon, another authentic steamboat, the NASHVILLE, the former JULIA BELLE SWAIN, will begin steamboating at the “Home of Country Music,” Nashville, Tennessee, on the Cumberland River. The NASHVILLE’s running mate, the diesel-driven sternwheeler CAPITOL, formerly the BELLE OF PEORIA, will also provide nostalgic riverboat passenger service in the Capital City of Nashville.
For those looking for the whole steamboat experience, this afternoon, the day of this article’s publication, then Louisville’s the place to be. The Steamer BELLE of LOUISVILLE’s going to take folks aboard a two-hour ride up the Ohio River and back. There’s nothing else like riding a 111-year-old steamboat on a lovely day on the Ohio River. Sixty-six of those 111 years ago, I began my commercial river career aboard that very steamboat as a 17-year-old lad freshly graduated from high school.
What a great year 1959 was. Finally, I was free of the constraints of boring school and away from home for the first time. Still, I was under the constant scrutiny of a stern master, Captain Ernest E. Wagner, skipper of the AVALON, as the BELLE was known then. Naturally, I gravitated to the constraints of steamboat life. Before long, I gained the attention of Captain Wagner, the greatest steamboatman of the mid-20th Century, who nurtured my youthful enthusiasm into a lifelong career on the river.
After the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE’s two-hour excursion, this Sunday, the Howard Steamboat Museum, across the Ohio River in Jeffersonville, Indiana, is presenting a unique program entitled, “River Ramblings 2025: What Does It Take to Run a Steamboat?” The question immediately reminds me of the cookbook for Delmonaco’s Restaurant, the world-famous New York City eatery, founded in 1837. The recipe for their turtle soup begins, “Procure one turtle…” Naturally, I assume the first step for running a steamboat is to have at least one steamboat on hand. The only way to honestly know is to attend what should be quite a gathering of river rats, boat buffs, and steamboat wannabees who possess a profound interest in riverboats propelled by vapors released when water is heated to high temperatures and captured within an enclosed mechanical system designed more than 200 years ago.
This past Friday, August 1, my long-time mentor, boss, and friend, Captain Clarke C. “Doc” Hawley, had he still been among the living, would have been 90 years of age. I remember when he turned 21, sixty-nine short years ago. Throughout my now 266 columns for the NKY TRIBUNE, Cap’n Doc has received his fair share of coverage. Whenever we talked on the phone, I made sure I took notes. Some of those notes became stories I passed on through these pages.
During the 1988 first Tall Stacks, John Hartford and I were walking on the cobblestones of the Cincinnati Public Landing after a visit with Captain Hawley aboard the sidewheeler PRESIDENT. I asked John for his opinion about why Cap’n Doc was so deeply ingrained in the river, even more than both of us.
“You know,” John began, “although you and I have been on the river a long time, ever so often we leave to do something else, though we eventually return. Doc’s not been like that. Once he came onto the river, he’s stayed and hasn’t left — even for a short while. That’s why I believe Doc Hawley became so thoroughly immersed in the river.”
Though 90 years is a very long time in the human scale of life, it is, as John Hartford also so aptly described, “but a moment in time.” To sum all this up, I am sure that when the steamboat clan meets on the Middle Ohio River at Falls City later today, the name of Captain Clark Campbell Hawley, better known as “Little Doc” onboard the Steamer DELTA QUEEN some years ago, will be a matter of discussion, affection, and remembrance.
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.