Chapter
XX
WHEN MONTROSE WAS A LIVE TOWN
___________
LIGHTERING FREIGHT SHIPMENTS OVER LOWER
RAPIDS.
Circus Gangs and Other Bad Men Who Were
Beaten Up in the Attempt to Terrorize the Town.
During my time on the
river the rapids at Rock Island and Keokuk were serious
obstructions to navigation. But little work had ever been
done to improve the channel. On a down stream run it was
difficult to make all of the short angles and crooks with a
boat, and we frequently bumped the rocks. At a low stage
there was more water on the upper rapids than on the lower
one. Before the war R.E. Lee, then a government
engineer, did some work on the lower rapids. For the greater
portion of the distance the channel was along the Illinois
shore. Lee’s plan to widen and deepen the channel appeared
to have been to take the rock from the bed of the river and
pile it on the west side, and near the channel. The rock
piles were circular in shape and ran up to a peak. This work
widened the channel but it did not increase the depth to any
extent. The rock piles appeared to scatter the water. To
throw a portion of it into the channel and a great deal of
it to the west of the stone piles. At a low stage the boats
could bring a fair load over the upper rapids but on the
lower one there would be from 15 to 24 inches of water. At
such times the freight from above was transferred to
lighters and manned by oars, these boats were floated to
Keokuk. The lighter was a long wide flat boat which would
carry a good load on little water. When there was sufficient
water these lighters were towed back to Montrose by
the steamer Dan Hine. When the Hine could not make
the trip the lighters were towed back along the shore by
horses. The steamer Dan Hine was a light draft stern wheel
boat, with good power. Her bottom was of six inch lumber and
she could crack the rock without breaking the plank.
However, she wore out three of such bottoms during the years
she operated on the rapids. Capt. Patton was her
commander and Robert Faris her pilot. It was conceded
by all that Faris knew more about the lower rapids than any
other man on the river. His daily trips had enabled him to
locate all the rock piles and chains and at a low stage, I
have seen him send the Hine along at full speed without
hitting any of them. We had much trouble along there and
were frequently hung up on the rock piles and chains, all
the while hoping that the canal, then in course of
construction, would be completed in time to do us some good
during the remainder of our time on the river. But the work
was going slowly. Now and then the annual appropriations was
turned down by Congress and the work would stop until next
session.
The transfer of freight at the head of the lower rapids
furnished employment to a large number of men and in those
days Montrose was a live town. These freight handlers
were a healthy, well developed bunch of fellows and thorough
believers in the doctrine of home rule. Outsiders were not
permitted to interfere with their ideas and customs. A raft
crew landed there one day and after taking some drink,
intimated that they could run the town and paint it bright
red. In this they were mistaken. The war cry of the Montrose
legion was heard and the men from the lumber regions of the
north were thoroughly whipped, driven on to their raft and
the raft cut loose and started over the rapids.
A circus gang under the management of one Grady arrived
at Montrose one morning and after loading up with whiskey at
Fred Green’s saloon announced that they were bold, bad men
and that they were looking for some of the noted fighting
men of that town. And a few hours later they found them. It
so happened that the writer was present on this occasion and
witnessed the entire contest. Tho. Burns of Montrose,
was a trained fighter and had seen much service in the ring.
He passed the word around that the Grady gang must be licked
and he led the attach on the showmen. The tents were all
torn down, the circus men severely punished, driven onto the
ferry boat and forced to leave Montrose without giving a
performance. The boss canvas man was so badly disfigured by
Burns that he looked as though he had been run through a
corn sheller.
At one time during the progress of the battle I
discovered that the air around my head was full of tent
stakes, stones and other missiles and in front of me I could
see the glittering steel of knives and the business end of a
number of guns. As I was not there to be either killed or
wounded, I fell back. The line of battle was moving toward
me, and I took a new position behind a tight board fence,
where I could see just as well and be in less danger. I had
learned this much in the Army that when a position could not
be held, the thing to do was to retire or fall back. My
reverse movement on this occasion was strictly in accordance
with military science as we had it from Grant and Sherman.
At least this was my defense in after years when Wm.
Spain, Wm. Owens, Steve McBride, Charlie Patton and the
rest of them accused me of showing the white leather on the
day they gave the circus gang such a drubbing. These
handlers of freight at the head of the rapids were good
fellows when let alone. The steamboat men had no trouble
with them. But it was not a safe proposition for a
non-resident gang to come in there and attempt to run
Montrose.