Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/192

 132 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI to four mouths to make the trip from New Orleans to Ste. Genevieve. One of the Span- ish commandants boasted that he had just come from New Orleans to St. Louis in one of the king's bateaus'in the very short time of ninety-three days. It was in boats like these that the produce, the lead and food was exported from Ste. Genevieve to New Orleans. It was not a great while, however, until the pirogue gave way, as a carrier of freight, to the keel-boat. The keel-boat was a large, flat bottomed boat, somewhat resembling a canal-boat. It was strongly built, equipped with a mast and sail, had space for carrying considerable cargo, and sometimes accommodation for a passenger or two. The bulwarks of the keel- boat were flat and usually from fourteen to eighteen inches in width, forming a walk en- tirely around the boat. It was fitted with a large oar, mounted in the rear, by which it was steered. It was propelled in a number of different ways. Sometimes it was rowed by means of oars; occasionally, when the wind was favorable, the sail was set and the boat propelled by the wind; sometimes it was towed as the canal boat was towed. A rope was fastened at the top of the mast, then brought down through a ring in the bow of the boat, and extended to the bank of the river where it was grasped by a number of men. They walked along the tow path and pulled the boat. Perhaps the most charac- teristic method of propelling the keel-boat, however, was the use of setting poles. These were long poles which were used in the fol- lowing manner : If the water was of the right depth, the men engaged in propelling the boat, took their places along the bulwarks forming a line on either side as near as pos- sible to the bow, with their faces toward the stem. Each man grasped in his hand one of the setting poles, planted one end against the bottom of the river, put the other to his shoulder and then the line of men pressing against these poles walked toward the rear of the boat. The leading man in each line, upon reaching the rear, dropped out of line, made his way quickly through the boat to the bow, took his place at the rear of the line of men and again walked toward the stern of the boat, pushing as he went. This method of procedure gave a continuous impulse to the boat and was the method most favored by the keel-boat men. Whatever method was used for the propul- sion of these boats, their progress was slow. Twelve to fourteen miles a day was consid- ered a fair rate of travel and eighteen miles a day, remarkable. If the boats were towed by a cordelle or little rope, there was constant trouble, owing to the entangling of this rope in the ti'ee limbs that lined the bank of the river. Constant stops must be made for the purpose of untangling these lines, and there were many other ob- structions to be overcome, too. Very fre- quently at short intervals there were great rafts extending from the bank out into the river, sometimes for a distance of fifty or sixty feet formed of drift wood which had been caught by some obstruction. Such a raft was called bj' the French an emharras. Some- times, too, great trees that had been washed down by the streams extended out for a dis- tance of a hundred feet into the river. The keel-boat must make its way around all of these obstructions, and there was always found a swift and violent current around each of these. In spite of all of these difficulties, however, the keel boat continued for years to be the principal means of travel on the river. Large quantities of lead, corn, and wheat, and occasionally passengers were car-