Old Times on the Upper Mississippi
Appendix B
_Opening of Navigation at St. Paul, 1844-1862_
=====+===============+==========+==============+===========+=====+=========
| | | |Length of | No. | Total
| | | |Season (No.| of | No. of
Year | First Boat | Date | River Closed |of Days) |Boats| Arrivals
-----+---------------+----------+--------------+-----------+-----+---------
1844 | Otter | April 6 | November 23 | 231 | 6 | 41
1845 | Otter | April 6 | November 23 | 234 | 7 | 48
1846 | Lynx | March 31 | December 5 | 245 | 9 | 24
1847 | Cora | April 7 | November 29 | 236 | 7 | 47
1848 | Senator | April 7 | December 4 | 241 | 6 | 63
1849 | Highland Mary | April 9 | December 7 | 242 | 8 | 85
1850 | Highland Mary | April 19 | December 4 | 229 | 9 | 104
1851 | Nominee | April 4 | November 8 | 218 | 10 | 119
1852 | Nominee | April 16 | November 18 | 216 | 6 | 171
1853 | West Newton | April 11 | November 30 | 233 | 17 | 235
1854 | Nominee | April 8 | November 27 | 223 | 23 | 310
1855 | War Eagle | April 17 | November 20 | 217 | 68 | 536
1856 | Lady Franklin | April 18 | November 10 | 212 | 79 | 759
1857 | Galena | May 1 | November 14 | 198 | 99 | 965
1858 | Grey Eagle | March 25 | November 15 | 236 | 62 | 1090
1859 | Key City | March 19 | November 27 | 222 | 54 | 802
1860 | Milwaukee | March 28 | November 23 | 240 | 45 | 776
1861 | Ocean Wave | March 8 | November 26 | 203 | 32 | 977
1862 | Keokuk | March 18 | November 15 | 212 | 18 | 846
-----+---------------+----------+--------------+-----------+-----+---------
Appendix C
_Table of Distances from St. Louis_
=========================+==========+=========+==========
| |DISTANCE |GOVERNMENT
LANDING |ESTIMATED,|BETWEEN |SURVEY,
|1858 |PORTS |1880
-------------------------+----------+---------+----------
Alton, Ill. | 25 | -- | 23
Grafton, Ill. | -- | 16 | 39
Cap au Gris, Mo. | 65 | 27 | 66
Hamburg, Ill. | -- | 22 | 88
Clarkesville, Mo. | 102 | 14 | 102
Louisiana, Mo. | 114 | 10 | 112
Hannibal, Mo. | 144 | 29 | 141
Quincy, Ill. | 164 | 20 | 161
La Grange, Mo. | 176 | 10 | 171
Canton, Mo. | 184 | 7 | 178
Alexandria, Mo. | 204 | 19 | 197
Warsaw, Ill. | 204 | -- | 197
Keokuk, Iowa | 208 | 5 | 202
Montrose, Iowa | 220 | 12 | 214
Nauvoo, Ill. | 223 | 3 | 217
Fort Madison, Iowa | 232 | 8 | 225
Pontoosuc, Ill. | 238 | 7 | 232
Dallas, Ill. | 240 | 2 | 234
Burlington, Iowa | 255 | 14 | 248
Oquawaka, Ill. | 270 | 13 | 261
Keithsburg, Ill. | 282 | 12 | 273
New Boston, Ill. | 289 | 6 | 279
Port Louisa, Iowa | 294 | 9 | 288
Muscatine, Iowa | 317 | 14 | 302
Buffalo, Iowa | -- | 19 | 321
Rock Island, Ill. | 347 | 10 | 331
Davenport, Iowa | 348 | 1 | 332
Hampton, Ill. | -- | 10 | 342
-------------------------+----------+---------+----------
=========================+==========+=========+==========
| |DISTANCE |GOVERNMENT
LANDING |ESTIMATED,|BETWEEN |SURVEY,
|1858 |PORTS |1880
-------------------------+----------+---------+----------
Le Claire, Iowa | 365 | 6 | 348
Port Byron, Ill. | 365 | -- | 348
Princeton, Iowa | 371 | 6 | 354
Cordova, Ill. | 372 | 1 | 355
Camanche, Iowa | 381 | 9 | 364
Albany, Ill. | 384 | 2 | 366
Clinton, Iowa | 390 | 5 | 371
Fulton, Ill. | 392 | 2 | 373
Lyons, Iowa | 393 | 1 | 374
Sabula, Ill. | 412 | 17 | 391
Savanna, Ill. | 415 | 2 | 393
Bellevue, Iowa | 438 | 21 | 414
Galena, Ill. | 450 | 12 | 426
Dubuque, Iowa | 470 | 12 | 438
Dunleith, Ill. | 471 | 1 | 439
Wells' Landing, Iowa | 485 | 13 | 452
Cassville, Wis. | 500 | 16 | 468
Guttenberg, Iowa | 510 | 10 | 478
Glen Haven, Wis. | -- | 1 | 479
Clayton, Iowa | 522 | 7 | 486
Wisconsin River, Wis. | -- | 7 | 493
McGregor, Iowa | 533 | 4 | 497
Prairie du Chien, Wis. | 536 | 3 | 500
Lynxville, Wis. | 553 | 17 | 517
Lansing, Iowa | 566 | 12 | 529
De Soto, Wis. | 577 | 5 | 534
Victory, Wis. | 582 | 7 | 541
Bad Axe, Wis. | 589 | 8 | 549
Warner's Landing, Wis. | -- | 5 | 554
Brownsville, Minn. | 591 | 8 | 562
La Crosse, Wis. | 617 | 10 | 572
Dresbach, Minn. | 627 | 8 | 580
Trempealeau, Wis. | 632 | 11 | 591
Winona, Minn. | 645 | 13 | 604
Fountain City, Wis. | 655 | 7 | 611
Mount Vernon, Minn. | 666 | 9 | 620
Minneiska, Minn. | 669 | 3 | 623
Buffalo City, Wis. | 676 | -- | --
Alma, Wis. | 684 | 10 | 633
-------------------------+----------+---------+----------
=========================+==========+=========+==========
| |DISTANCE |GOVERNMENT
LANDING |ESTIMATED,|BETWEEN |SURVEY,
|1858 |PORTS |1880
-------------------------+----------+---------+----------
Wabasha, Minn. | 693 | 9 | 642
Reed's Landing, Minn. | 696 | 3 | 645
North Pepin, Wis. | 701 | 4 | 649
Lake City, Minn. | 708 | 6 | 655
Florence, Minn. | 713 | -- | --
Frontenac, Minn. | 719 | -- | --
Maiden Rock, Wis. | -- | 10 | 665
Wacouta, Minn. | 723 | -- | --
Stockholm, Wis. | -- | 3 | 668
Red Wing, Minn. | 726 | 8 | 676
Trenton, Wis. | -- | 4 | 680
Diamond Bluff, Wis. | 741 | 6 | 686
Prescott, Wis. | 756 | 13 | 699
Point Douglass, Minn. | 757 | 1 | 700
Hastings, Minn. | 759 | 2 | 702
Nininger, Minn. | 764 | 5 | 707
Pine Bend, Minn. | 775 | -- | --
Newport, Minn. | 782 | 13 | 720
St. Paul, Minn. | 791 | 9 | 729
St. Anthony Falls, Minn. | 805 | 12 | 741
-------------------------+----------+---------+----------
Appendix D
_Improvement of the Upper Mississippi, 1866-1876_
The following table gives in detail the different divisions into
which the river was divided for convenience in letting contracts, and
prosecuting the work of improvement, the number of miles covered in
each division, and the amount expended in each in the ten years from
1866 to 1876:
============================================+=======+==============
DIVISION | MILES | AMT. EXPENDED
--------------------------------------------+-------+--------------
St. Anthony Falls to St. Paul | 11 | $ 59,098.70
St. Paul to Prescott | 32 | 638,498.56
Prescott to Head Lake Pepin | 29 | 111,409.17
Harbor at Lake City | -- | 16,091.62
Foot Lake Pepin to Alma | 12 | 341,439.26
Alma to Winona | 29 | 365,394.25
Winona to La Crosse | 31 | 236,239.39
La Crosse to McGregor | 72 | 308,311.07
McGregor to Dubuque | 59 | 137,236.65
Dubuque to Clinton | 67 | 131,905.29
Clinton to Rock Island | 40 | 228,298.99
Rock Island to Keithsburg | 58 | 70,071.85
Keithsburg to Des Moines Rapids | 60 | 515,971.20
Keokuk to Quincy | 40 | 355,263.71
Quincy to Clarksville | 60 | 552,051.47
Clarksville to Cap au Gris | 43 | 389,959.31
Cap au Gris to Illinois River | 27 | 137,116.97
Illinois River to Mouth of Missouri River | 25 | 70,688.77
Miscellaneous, maintenance of Snag-Boats, | |
Dredges, wages, provisions, etc. | | 549,760.92
| --- | -------------
| 695 | $5,200,707.25
--------------------------------------------+-------+--------------
Appendix E
_Indian Nomenclature and Legends_
The name Mississippi is an amelioration of the harsher syllables of
the Indian tongue from which it sprang. Dr. Lafayette H. Bunnell,
late of Winona, Minnesota, a personal friend and old army comrade,
is my authority for the names and spelling given below, as gleaned
by him during many years' residence among the Chippewa of Wisconsin
and the Sioux (or Dakota) of Minnesota. Dr. Bunnell spoke both
languages fluently, and in addition made a scholarly study of Indian
tongues for literary purposes. His evidence is conclusive, that so
far as the northern tribes were concerned the Mississippi was in
the Chippewa language, from which the name is derived: _Mee-zee_
(great), _see'-bee_ (river)--Great River. The Dakota called it
_Wat-pah-tah'-ka_ (big river). The Sauk, Foxes, and Potawatomi,
related tribes, all called it: _Mee-chaw-see'-poo_ (big river). The
Winnebago called it: _Ne-scas-hut'-ta-ra_ (the bluff-walled river).
Thus six out of seven tribes peopling its banks united in terming it
the "Great River".
Dr. Bunnell disposes of the romantic fiction that the Indians called
it the "Great Father of Waters", by saying that in Chippewa this
would be: _Miche-nu-say'-be-gong_--a term that he never heard used
in speaking of the stream; and old Wah-pa-sha, chief of the Dakota
living at Winona, assured the Doctor that he had never heard an
Indian use it. The Chippewa did, however, have a superlative form of
the name: _Miche-gah'-see-bee_ (great, endless river), descriptive of
its (to them) illimitable length.
Dr. Bunnell suggests the derivation of the name Michigan, as applied
to the lake and state. The Chippewa term for any great body of water,
like Lakes Michigan, Superior, or Huron, is: _Miche-gah'-be-gong_
(great, boundless waters). It was very easy for the white men who