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Hand Crafted Models Depict Early River History

Editor
Posted 4/17/04

By Sylvia Forbes Democrat-Leader Correspondent Five miniature boats, all replicas of early boats which previously traveled the Missouri River during the early nineteenth century, are on display for …

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Hand Crafted Models Depict Early River History

Posted
By Sylvia Forbes
Democrat-Leader Correspondent

Five miniature boats, all replicas of early boats which previously traveled the Missouri River during the early nineteenth century, are on display for the next month in the window of Missouri Life magazine on the south side of the square. (Possum Haw Antiquarians, a bookstore specializing in used and out-of-print books, previously displayed them.)

The boats have all been handmade by James Meler, of New Franklin, a retired vocational education teacher. Meler developed an interest in Missouri River steamboat history several years ago when he did some preliminary work with Bob Biesmeyer (also of New Franklin) on a project to raise a 19th century steamboat which sank in this area. This steamboat has been buried for well over 100 years, and is located in the south Howard County river bottoms. The boat actually sank in the river, but over the years the course of the Missouri River has changed, so that the boat is now in a field, under tons of dirt.

As Meler read about the history of the Missouri River, he got interested in the different types of boats that were used for travel. In the last four years, he has made replicas of five boats. These boats are not to scale, but were made from adapting pictures and drawings of boats he has seen. The boats cover the approximate period of boating on the Missouri River from 1800 to 1821.

The most recent miniature, built earlier this year, is the Lewis & Clark keelboat. He saw a picture of the keelboat on a recent cover of a Missouri Life publication, which inspired him to give it a try. It took him about three weeks to make it.

When Lewis & Clark made their journey in 1804, there were no motorized watercraft on the Missouri River. Keelboats were commonly in use on many American rivers at that time, and were the main way of transporting supplies. Keelboats could be rowed, towed with a rope (called cordelling), pushed up the river using poles, or, if the wind was just right, a sail could be attached to the single, central mast.

Another boat Meler has reproduced is the Independence, which was the first steamboat to make it up the Missouri River as far as Franklin. That first journey from St. Louis to Franklin took 13 days, and the Independence arrived on May 28, 1819, the boom of a cannon signaling its arrival. The passengers and officers of the steamboat and the townspeople celebrated the momentous arrival together at a large banquet, during which many toasts were given to honor the accomplishment. The final destination of the boat was the town of Chariton, before it turned around and headed back to St. Louis. Chariton was located a few miles up-river of Glasgow, at the mouth of the Chariton River, but no longer exists.

Meler has also built a miniature of the Western Engineer, which was the second boat to travel up the Missouri River. The Western Engineer was part of a government expedition of six steamboats, which was to transport an army and several scientists up the Missouri River as far as the Yellowstone River, with the goal of studying the plant and animal life in that area. Unfortunately, there were many problems with the steamboats, and most of them never made it as far as Franklin. The Western Engineer eventually made it to Council Bluffs, on Sept. 17, 1819, after leaving St. Louis on June 9th, but due to all the problems, such as burning holes in the boilers of two boats, having to completely replace another boiler, and other problems, the expedition was eventually cancelled, never reaching its destination or accomplishing its mission.

The Western Engineer was unusual in that the bow of the stern-wheeler was built to resemble a large, black serpent. The smoke from the engines exited out the mouth of the serpent. It was thought that the design would scare the Indians, helping to protect the men as they traveled on the expedition.

The first boat Meler tried his hand at recreating in miniature was the Washington, a steamboat built in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1816. The Washington was made of logs salvaged from Ft. Fincastle, also called Ft. Henry, an early colonial fort in West Virginia.

The Washington had a brand new design, never seen before, which included a shallow hull, engines placed on top of the deck, two stories, the paddle-wheels placed much farther toward the back on the boat, and other features which were well ahead of the time. The designer was also the captain, Henry Miller Shreve, whose innovations in steamboat design led to what we now think of as the 'Western' steamboat. Shreve also invented the snagboat, which cleared rivers of dangerous logs. Shreveport, La., was named in his honor. Shreve is buried in St. Louis, in Bellefontaine Cemetery.

It is thought that the Washington sank in the Missouri River, and this is the boat that Bob Biesmeyer is hoping to be the one he's digging up. According to Meler, the Washington came to Franklin in 1821. It brought a variety of commodities from St. Louis, many of which William Becknell took with him on the first Santa Fe Trail expedition.

According to Meler's research, Lon Vest Stephens (a previous governor of Missouri, from Boonville) tried to raise the Washington in 1880. They worked on the project, digging for several months before reaching the deck. Before they could finish, however, the flood of 1881 washed all their equipment away, and reburied the boat.

Meler has also reproduced a small bullboat, which is a simple type of watercraft ' not much more than a circular willow frame covered with hides. One or two Indians often used this crude type of boat for transportation, which they propelled using oars.

Meler is currently working on his next project, which is building miniatures of two pirogues, to go with the replica of Lewis and Clark's keelboat. These three boats made up the river transportation for the 1804 expedition, whose bicentennial we are celebrating this year.

It seems fitting that Meler, a previous Navy man, who spent his entire tour, from 1950-1953, traveling around the world twice on a DD857 destroyer (The Bristol), has developed a new interest in boats.

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