Harry G. Dyer
The Log of Harry G. Dyer: Steamboatman,
Upper Mississippi, 1881-1902 Excerpts from
Upper Mississippi River Rafting Steamboats
Edward G. Mueller, Ohio University Press,
1995.
1889 A Season on the LOUISVILLE
I came up from the lower river in May 1889
and shipped on the LOUISVILLE again but this
time H. C. Walker was master; Frank Wild,
second pilot; Tom Chambers, chief engineer;
David Shaw, second engineer; Owen Corcoran,
mate; and George Newton in charge of the
kitchen. Our trade was the same as last
year, meeting the LINEHAN. I worked as night
watchman all this season. All this season I
only went to sleep once on watch and I
picked a good night for the nap. We were
lying at the head of Shohokan Chute with a
raft. I was supposed to have ninety pounds
of steam at five o'clock A.M., and then call
the fireman. I went into the engine room
about four o'clock and the steam was at
seventy pounds, so I sat down on the foot
box alongside one of the engines and soon
was dead to the world. One of the boys woke
up and saw me and woke me up. I looked at
the steam gauge. I had sixty pounds. I ran
out to the fire box and had about a hat full
of fire under one boiler, called the fireman
and went up and called the engineer. It
happened that the second engineer and second
pilot came on watch that morning. When it
came time to call the pilot, we had ninety
pounds of steam and Dave said, "Go up and
call him, Harry." I did, and Dave backed her
out with ninety pounds of steam. If I had
called the chief, we would have laid right
there until we had 150 pounds.
Frank Wild was a fairly good pilot, but very
cranky. One night we were coming up river
near Muscatine and he called me and told me
to turn down the lights in the cabin as they
blinded him. I turned them down and pulled
down the curtains over the cabin doors. In a
few minutes, he called again, same trouble
that time. I put the lights out. Another
call "I said, what is it now?" He said go
down and call the captain. I went down and
called the "old man" and told him Frank
wanted him. He got up, dressed and came out
in the cabin, fell over a chair, ran into
the table and said, "Harry, what have you
got it so dark for?" I told him and he
started for the pilot house and Frank told
him that the d n watchman had his lights so
bright he was blinded. The old man took the
wheel and told him to go down and fix the
lights just as he wanted them and the
trouble was over.
I laid the LOUISVILLE up that fall and when
I left her I was hired to go as mate on her
the next spring, but that winter the Knapp
Stout boats were all sold to McDonald
Brothers of LaCrosse, Captain Walker was put
on the MOUNTAIN BELLE and I went with him.
Captain Bob Cassidy was put on the
LOUISVILLE and Captain Decker Dixon on the
BELLS MA C. Cassidy and Dixon were old
Knapp Stout men.