- ^^

lit

A traffic history of the
Mississippi River System,

hy
Frank Haigh Dixon

THE LIBRARY

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

^'^"Nrrrj ^^ational waterways Commission f"^"^^^^'"''

A TRAFFK HISTORY

OF THE

MTSSrSSlPPI RIVER SYSTEM

FRANK HAIGH)Di;s:ON

I'rofesaor of Economics, Dartmouth College

SHIX(iT()N

T rKINTIX<; OKFICK

1 !»(»!!

THE LIBRARY
WTVEP.SJTY Or CALU'CP.^.-*

T A BL K OF VON TKNT>

I 'age.

Soun-ey uf information 5

Devplopinoiit of transportation on the Mississippi River system previous to 1860. 9

I , I'ofore the I imc of steam 9

1 1 . The stoamlxjat and its comjjetitors 12

1 1 1 . ( )hio River conimorff' 17

1\ . I'pper Mississippi commorcc 20

\' . Missouri River commerce 22

V I . St. Louis 24

\' 1 1 . ' 'anal-lake competition 24

\' 1 1 1 . Rates and fares 26

1 .\ . Speed and accidents 28

X . The beginning of railway comijet ition 29

Decline of river commerce after 1860 37

i . Tlie war antl the railways 37

II. Ohio River commerce 40

111. Upper Mississippi comm(>rce 48

I \' . St . Louis 52

\ . Missouri River commerce 54

\' 1 . Lower Mississippi commerce 55

Summary 64

UNI . -

-::rORNIil

1949S0

SOURCES OF INFORMATION.

Tiaflic statistics ol' the vvutcrways of tho United States, paiticu-
larly oi the river systems, have been very unsatisfactory, and in spite
of the care now taken to obtain information from the most rehable
sources, they can be re2;arded even at present as only approximately
correct. This is due to the fact that the United States Government
has never assumed control of waterway traffic as it has of that of
railways and hen<^e has nevei' requested fioni water cai'riers unj
statistical reports.

Such statistics as have been collected lai»j;ely come from two
sources: First, the oro;anized conunercial bodies of the larger cities,
and, second, the reports of the Corps of United States Engineers, who,
in their investigations and construction work upon the waterways,
have collected under instructions such commercial statistics as were
available and as were likely to assist the authorities in judging
the probable commercial value of any engineeiiiig project. The
United States engineers have in most cases collected their own in-
formation, but in some instances they have taken their facts second-
hand from the conunercial organizations, so that this vohmtary
machinery is frequently almost our only source of information.
That the information secured in this wa}^ is far from satisfactory
must be apparent at once. In the first place, many of the chambers
of commerce have had no systematic plan for the preservation of
records: some have lost their records by fire, others by the ravages
of war. The annual reports of only one river city — Cincinnati — have
been available preA'ious to 1860 and these reports could be secured
only as far back as 1S4S. Whatever of information, therefore, is
desired from these sources must be obtained from such reprints as
have been made by the commercial journals of the time or by the
reports of the United States engineers. Moreover, such information
us is available is almost useless because it lacks uniformity, is local
in its outlook, and is presented in sucli haphazard fashion that no
comprehensive picture of river commerce for any one year can be
obtained l)y any combination of the local figures. Of more serious
importance, however, is the fact that the statistics are probably in no
case complete. If a boat captain, after secui'ilig a full load, chose
to leave the dock without submitting a record of his cargo to the
harbor master, there was no power that could prevent, and complaints
of this character M^ere frequent. Again there was no compulsory
.system of waybills or records of any sort, and products were fre-
quently taken from port to port with no more fornuility than the
transfer of the freight money to the purser's pocket. No reliance
should l)e placed, tiierefore, upon the statistics of traffic presented in
this discussion as a picture of the actual business of any particular
year. However, it is fair to assume tiiat they are of some value

6 TRAFFIC HISTOEY OF MISSISSIPPI EIVEB SYSTEM.

when looked at comparatively. It is probable that the statistics
of one year were taken in about the same manner as those of another.
Hence,' however inadequate the information may otherwise be, we
may fairly draw conclusions as to the increase or decrease of traffic
over a period of years.

Aside from occasional special studies which bear either directly or
indirectly upon the subject under consideration, most of the informa-
tion here given for the period previous to 1860 is derived from
congressional documents, including special reports of government
officials, or congressional committees, the annual reports of the Chief
of Engineers, United States Army, and from current publications,
such as Xiles' Register and Hunt's Merchants' Magazine. Reference
should also be made to the careful and detailed history of Mississippi
River commerce in the Report on Internal Commerce of the United
States for 1887.

For the period after 1860, the authorities already quoted have
been drawnupon. In addition to these sources, annual reports of the
chambers of commerce and similar commercial organizations of the
principal river cities have been available, including the reports of
commercial bodies in Cincinnati, Pittsburg, Louisville, Kansas City,
New Orleans, St. Paul, and St. Louis. In addition there are the
ollicial publications of the United States Government, which have
been very much more satisfactory in recent years, some of which
have devoted considerable attention to water traffic.

The collection of statistics of trafiic on internal waterways, so far
as it was authorized hj congressional statute, began with the river
and harl)or bills of 1866 and 1867, which required the Secretary of
^^'ar to report on various works and to state the amount of com-
merce and navigation which woidd be benefited by the expenditures.
This legalized a long-standing practice under which the Corps of
Engineers reported the commercial statistics in the manner already'
described. On May 8, 1875, an act was passed which provided for an
annual report by the Bureau of Statistics of "'the actual cost of
transporting freight and ])assengers on the railroads and on the canals,
rivers, and other navigable waters of the United States, the charges
imposed for such transportation of freight' and j)assengers, and the
tonnage transported." A Bureau of Internal Conmierce was set up
in the Treasury Department and the (irst report was issued in 1876
as Part 11 ol' the Annual Report on Cojumerce and .Navigation."

These re])()rts continued to l)e i.ssued with some irregularity until
the inauguiiition of the Monthly Summaiy ot"(\)mmerce and Fiiumce,
in 1901, which devotes a section to internal commeire. The sta-
tistics for the river .systems as they appear in this summary are in
most cases drawn from the monthlv re))orts of the United vStates
engineers, the latter being assisted ui the collection of information
by an ad of Congress ol" l<'ebruary 21, 1801, which rc'cpiires agents
of all vessels iiavignting waterways under fe(l(Mal improvement to
furnish slntcments of their vessel caigoes to the United States engi-
neei- ollicci- in locad charge <»!' such improvements.

o Tht! n'Dort ontitlod "('()inmorc(! and Navipation," devoted solely to foreign com-
merco. had hccn i^'^'llr'd aiinuallv f'ince 1822.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 7

Other official publications of value which cover the period of the
last twenty years include the volume on Transportation by V\ ater, in
the Census of 1S90, and the Special Census Report on Transportation
by Water in 1!)06, and the Preliminary Report of the Inland Water-
ways Commission, 1908, containing nmch information collected by
the Bureau of Coi-porations. This material is now being published
by the Bureau of Corporations in more extended form in a series of
volumes. The first two parts have appeared, and discuss General
Conditions of Transportation by Water (pt. 1) and Water-borne
Traffic (pt. 2). All of these publications have been freely drawn
upon in the preparation of this study.

DEVELOPMENT OF THANSPOHTATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER SYSTEM PREVIOUS TO IHfiO.

BEFORE THE TIME OF STEAM.

In tracing the traffic liistor}' of the waterway system of the Middle
West it is unnecessary to give more than ])assing attention to the
period preceding tlie nineteenth centurj-. The development of our
mternal resources liardly took its heginning until the close of the
French and Indian war, in 1763, when Kentuck}- and Tennessee re-
ceived their first settlers. During the Kevolution a (considerable
trade sprang u]) between the Ohio River settlements on the one hand
and New ()rleans and the eastern seaboard on the other, the ship-
ments of tlie middle western producers being down the Ohio and the
Mississipj)i, but this was suddenly cut oft" with the enforcement by
S|)ain of her commercial restrictions on the lower Mississippi after
17S"). Not until the j^urchase of Louisiana in 1803, or even until
aftei- the war of 1812, was the Mississippi sufficiently free from
obstructions or the traders sufficiently protected from annoyance and
risk to permit the development of a steady and reliable trafhc. The
eighteenth century was to a consideiable degree a time of exploration
and discovery, of ])ioneering and adventure, and not a ])erio(.l of set-
tled commerce. To be sure, commerce of a primitive kind was con-
tinuously present upon these interior waters, but it was only such
commerce as exists wherever human beings who have things t > ex-
change come into contact with one another.

The dates of a<lmission to the Union of the hrst river States indi-
cate, in a general way, the rapidity of settlement and the growth of
a basis for commercial activity. The thites are as follows:

Kentucky 1792

Tennessee 1790

Ohio 1802

Louisiana 1812

Indiana 1816

Mississippi 1817

Illinois 1818

Missouri 1821

In 1810 about one million people were living in the western States
and Territories. This number had more than doubled by 1820.
The period of economic depression after the Kevolution. the Peace
of Amiens, which gave a sudden pause to the ])rosperity of our foreign
carrying trade, the embargo, and the War of 1812, all served as spurs
to drive the people westward into the new lands along the w^aterwavs.

As prosperitv increased and the settlers began to have surplus
pn^lucts for sale, the need for efficient transportation facilities u])on

10 TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

the rivers became increasingly urgent. Devices of all sorts had been
resorted to, many of them borrowed from the Indians and pioneers.
The canoe, often large and capable of carrying much freight, was one
of the earb'est means of transportation. \''ith this went the pirogue,
a boat hollowed out of a log and propelled by oars or setting poles.
The freight carriers were, at the beginning, either the batteau or the
barge. The former was made of rough plank antl was capable of
carrying heavier loads than the pirogue. The latter was one of the
great burden bearers on the Ohio and Mississippi in the earl}^ days.
The barge, carrying 40 or 50 to 100 tons, descended with the cur-
rent and was worked upstream by any one of a number of devices,
which included sail, oars, poles, "cordelles" (ropes by which craft
were towed from the shore), warping, animal towage, and "bush-
whacking" (hauling upon the overhanging branches along the banks).

Audubon, who took a trip up the Mississipjii and Ohio in these chn's,"
states that a barge would leave Xew Orleans on March 1 and fre-
quently would not reach the falls of the Ohio at Louisville until July,
and then it brought onl}- a few barrels of coffee or, at most, 100 hogs-
heads of sugar. The number of barges in 1808 did not amount to
more than 25 or 30 and the largest did not exceed 100 tons burden.
These barges made one round trip a 3'ear or sometimes two under
unusually favorable circumstances. The trip downstream from Pitts-
burg to Xew Orleans took about a month. It was the wearisome trip
back which consumed the time. In a favorable stage of water, goods
could be sent without break of bulk from Xew Orleans to Cincinnati;
but if the water was low, transshipment at the falls of the Ohio at
Louisville was necessary.

The keel boat, a long, narrow craft averaging 12 to 15 feet by 50,
with both ends pointed, ran with the current and was poled upstream.
This cra,ft carried 20 to 40 tons. There were probably not over 300 to
400 of these boats regularly plying the Ohio ni 1810. It is estimated
that 150 of them made three voyages ])er season between Pittsl)urg
and Louisville. Their })eculiar advantage was in their nai'row build,
which j)ermitted tliem to ascend the tributaries of the main rivers for
long distances and to proviih^ the ncM'essi'.rv means of comnumication
for the settlers of the interior. They disti'ibuted necessaries, sucli as
salt and Hour, and did the carrying trade of the i)ortages. As their
operators acfjuired knowUMlge of the (hinger points in the streams,
their j)i'estige grew and theii- patronage developed.

Tliis form of craft was adapted for passengei' tiavel by pr()\'iding
it with a covered deck. A i-eguiar packet sei'vice ran between
Pittsburg and ('iucinnati even befoi'c the begiTuiing of the nineteenth
century. I'^i-om an advorl isemeni of (li(> (list packet lin(>, estal)lished
in 1704, the iullow ing is taken:''

First boat, will leave ('iiuiiiiiati Ihis morning at 8 o'elock and return to Cincinnati
HO as to l)c ready to sail af^^aiii in four weeks from this date. No dauf^er need hi- appre-
heiidfd from the enr'iny as every person (Ui hoard will he under cover made proof to
ritle halls, and convenient |iortlioles for lirinj; out. Each of the hoats is armed with
nix pieces, earryinj; a pound l)all; also, a f,'()od number of niusket.s, and amjjly su|)plied
with amnuinitiou, stron<:ly manned with choice men, and the maHt(>r of ap])roved
knowle(lt;e

" llulherl, Historic IliKhwayH, vol. 0, ])p. It3-I18.
''Jiinnwall, Trans|)(irlalion Systems in t.he United States, p. ||.

TRAFFIC HI.STOHV Ol' MISSISSIPPI UIVKK SYSTEM. 11

The crai't most extensively eiiijjloyod in early Iransportation,
both hy pioneers and re<:;iilar traders, was the flathoal. 1 his was
the boat which never came hack. Constructed ludely and cliea|)ly,
(•ostini!; only tVom S'iO to $50, it was used for downstream traffic
aloiijj: the l)aid-:s of the Ohio and Mississippi. It was about 40 feet
lon^^, built sciuare, and mana<j:e<l by oars. At the end of the journey
in New Orleans it was sold for lumber and its former ownei- made his
danijerous way back to the ii|)per Ohio as best he could. 'Ihe risks
of the trip doubtless led many to undertake it j)urely in the spirit
of adventure, yet much reijulai' tradinir was carried on by this means.

Similar in character to the llatboat was the ark, employed for
passenger travel, and the principal reliance of the emigrant.

In any complete description of early river craft it is necessary to
include sailing vessels, which were l)uirt in the Ohio Valley during the
last decade of the eighteenth century, and grew in importance. They
were exclusively downstream craft, and were the export carriers for
these sections, being constructed with a view to through journeys to
the Atlantic coast or the neighboring islands. These ships were
sometimes built of a capacity as great as 400 tons. They could, how-
ever, never attain any permanent place in the commerce of this
section, because the}^ were one-way carriers only, because the narrow-
ness of the rivers restricted their necessary freedom of movement,
and because the irregularity of water supply and the dangers of
navigation made boats of deep draft impracticable.

The dilhculties of navigation at that time can hardly be overesti-
mated. Aside from the risks of hostile attack and the difficulties of
upstream propulsion, and aside also from the dangers of snags and
bars which have attended the later history of river navigation also,
there were the diHiculties of guiding the rude and unwieldy craft
around the many islands and the numerous sharp bends, particularly
in the upper Ohio.

^'PVom February to June and from October to December were the
best seasons for the navigation of the Ohio, although in the former
sea on the floating ice often made the trip dangerous. Head winds
were another frequent source of trouble. The river was so crooked
that a favorable wind might within an hour become an unfavorable
one, and these contrary winds contending with a strong current were
not unlikely to drive the boat asliore. Boats sometimes pa.sse(l from
Pittsburg to the mouth of the Ohio in fifteen days and usually ten of
these days were used in reaching the falls at Louisville. However,
it was not unusual for a boat to be two weeks in reaching even
Limestone, Ky.""

After the falls of the Ohio wei'e passed, and this could be success-
fully accomplished only in high water. Tiavigation was good for keel
boats and barges of 100 to 200 tons.

The commerce lloateti upon the lower Mississippi and the Ohio in
these first decades of the nineteenth century was of various origins.
Besides that which came fi'om settlements along the river banks,
much traffic came down the tributary streams to be collected and
transported on the main river systems. Manufactured articles and
luxuries from the Atlantic seaboard destined for \ew Orleans and
Vip-river points came to Pittsburg across the mountains, or to New

" Gephait, Transportation and Industrial Dcvplopnu'nl in the Middle West, pp.
G2-().3.

12 TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI Rn':EE SYSTEM.

Orleans bv coasting vessel and tluMi u])8tieain bv barge. The prin-
cipal upstream traffic of the barges consisted of sugar and molasses,
although groceries and other articles needed in the Northwest Ter-
ritory were transported bv this means. Downstream trade was
largely in Hour and whisky, but a more miscellaneous traffic was also
comnion. Xiles's Register of March 29. ISIT, announces the arrival
in New Orleans within the year of 529 flat-])ott<uued boats and 300
barges froju the Western States and Territories, bringing a large
variety of food jiroducts and household necessaries. This traffic was
independent of the boats from lower Ijouisiana bringing cattle, corn,
indigo, molasses, sugar, timber, and the like, and was also exclusive
of the peddling traffic of those flatboats which disposed of their cargoes
at plantations along the river banks before arriving at New Orleans.
Very little information is available concerning the cost of trans-
portation during these early years. Ringwalt states that the charge
between New Orleans and Cincinnati was about $5 to $6 per 100
poimds, or at the rate of about 7 cents per ton ])er mile, which was
much below the average charge for haulage across the mountains from
the east.'* This statement is in ])ractical agreement with that of
Robert Fulton, who, in an argument for the buihhng of Erie Canal
in 1814, stated that the freight on a barrel of Hour from New Orleans
to Louisville was $4.50 per 100 pounds, or %9 per barrel, equivalent
to 6.7 cents per ton-mile. This he contrasted with the downstream
rate of SI. 50 per barrel, or a little over 1 cent per ton-mile, the lower
downstream i-ate l)eing due to the greater ease of navigation and (lie
largei" sup|)lv ol' craft.

II.

THE STEAMBOAT AND ITS COMPETITORS.

The application of steam to interior river navigation began with the
descent of the Ohio and the Mississippi by the steamboat Enterprise,
later called the Xew Orleans-, which left Pittsburg in September, 1811,
!:nd reached New Orleans in January, 1812. stopping on the way to
receive congratulations and once retracing its path upstream for the
purpose of demonstrating to an incredulous public its power to accom-
plish the feat. But it was long before the steamboat was to drive the
less efficient craft from the rivers. In the first place, much experi-
menting was re(|uii<Ml befoi'e a boat could be built that was adapted
to copo with the dangers of this uni(pic navigation. Boats weie at
first t)iiilt on the ship model with deep holds, and with too great
draft for the shoal sections of the rivers. Xot until the peculiar
river type had been evolved — broad and flat, capable of carrying
1,000 tons when drawing oidy 4 feet of water, and with <lraft of only
2^ feet when emj)ty — could the speed and the power be secured to
overcome the many obstacles which the rivers offered.

A secoiul hindiance to I'apid steandxiat developnu'nt was the Tails
of the Ohio which, exce|)t in times of high water, divided the stretch
between Pittsburg and N'ew Orlcjins into two s(M'tions. Inasnuich as
boat building was largely coidincd at (he b(>gimung to the uppei'Ohio
and its allliients, whei'c wood was abundant and the fitting out of
steandK)als could be more readily accomplished, steamboat com-
merce was slow of growth, because of the lack of a basis foi- rapid
truflic <l(!velopment in the spjirse settlements along the upper Ohio.

" I»c\ r.|(>|.iii.'iil <>1 I r:ili-|i<irl;il mil Systems in llic T^Iliti'll StnlCN. p. 17.

TKA KKH' IIISTOHV OF M l.SSlttSU'l'l KIVEK SYSTEM. 18

A third liiiidraiicc was IouikI in the luoiiopdiy granted to Fulton
and Liviii<:;st()n foi- the exclusive (»|)erati<)n of steamboats upon the
Mississippi lor fourteen years within the limits of the State of Lou-
isiana. If steamboats could not reach with their product the o;oal of
river traffic, New Orleans, without payinfj: heavy royalty, there was
little to be piined fi'oni the operation of the Mississi|)pi or of the Ohio
below the falls. This monoj)oly was weakened in 1S18, virtually
abandoned in 1<S2(), and >i;iven its oflicial death blow by the decision
of the Su])reme Court in 1S24 in the case of Oibbons v. Ofjden, which
(iesti'oyeil the monoi)oly in interstate commeice of the same indi-
viduals on the waters of the Hudson.

It is not surprisini:;, therefore, that tlie number of Hat and keel
boats and barges steadily increased clurino; this j)eriod of steamboat
beginnino;s. The count ly was settling; rapidly, tranic was glowing,
the flatl)oats could cairy heavier loads than the first steamboats,
tlieir operators were ex])erienced pilots, who had actpiired custom
and good will, and though slow moving, they ranged I'arthei' in these
early days than their steam-])i()j)(dled c()m])etitors.

Many steamboat tri])s both u]) and down stream were made during
the years immediately succeeding 1811, but students of transporta-
tion are agreed in setting the year 1817 as the one in which steam-
boat navigation passed from the experimental stage into a regular
service. In that year the steamboat Washington made a trip from
Louisville to New Orleans and return in forty-one days, the voyage
u])stream consuming twenty-live days. This tri]) dispelled the last
of the remaining doid)ts and people from this time on accepted the
steamboat as a necessary and noinial fact(U- in their economic life.

Steam navigation, wliile bringing about its results only giadiuilly,
had the elfect of developing trade and, with the disappearance of
monopoly, of lowering rates. The rates and fares prescribed by the
State of Louisiana witli the grant of monopoly to Fulton and Liv-
ingston remained in force until about 1819, when competition drove
them down. As typical of these rates the following are given: F'rom
New Orleans to Louisville, 4h cents })er pound for heavy goods, and
() c(Mits foi- light goods, an average of about n cents j)er pound, or $100
per ton, e<)ual to 7.5 cents per ton-mile. 'I he j)assenger fare from
New Orleans to Louisville was $125. or !).4 cents ])er mile. The rates
were cut in two on downstream traffic. The high ]>assenger fare is

?artly accounted for by the fact that it included board on the trip,
f twenty-five days be allowed for the uptrip and board be charged
at $2 ])er da}', the fare per mile is reduced to 5.6 cents. But no sucii
deduction can be made in the case of fieight where the charges seem
to have been during tlie mon()|)olistic period up to 1820, j)ractically
the same as befoiv the ai)i)earanc(> of steand)()ats. But it should be
rememlxM'ed that steand)oats carried almost no freight until 1819,
and that for many yeais thereafter they met the com])etition of the
more |)iimitive craft.

The llatboats not tmiy |)ersisled but they increaseil in numl)ei's
ami capacity. They finally reached a size of 150 feet by 21 feet, car-
rying 300 tons of produce. Th(Mr tiaffic grew and Houi'ished until tlie
civil war piactically put an end to it. Levi Woodbuiy, who took a
tri]) down tlie Ohio and ^Fississippi in IS.'v'. thus describes tliis form
of trading:

At every villiiyt- \vi> find I'roiu 10 lu 20 tlat-boiiuiut'd boats which, besiden ooru in
the ear, pork, l^acon. flour, whisky, cattle, and fowls, have an assortment of notions

14 TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RTVER SYSTEM.

from Cincinnati and fbewhero. Amon<r the?e are corn brooms, cabinet furniture,
cider, apples, plows, cordage, etc. They remain in one place until all is sold out, if
the demand be brisk; if not, they move to another town. After all is sold out, they
dispose of their boat and return with their crews by the steamers to their homes.

During these years the fiats bore their cargoes to southern ports or
to be retailed along the plantations of the Mississippi. Any enter-
prising man who could build a "flat" bought up the crops of the
neighborhood, put them aboard and was ready to start on the ''fall
rise." A})ples and potatoes were the staple through freight. Goods
for pecklling included cider, cheese, pork, bacon, cabbages, and apple
and peach brandy. The development of the hay traffic from Indiana
to New Orleans in the twenties openetl a new field of usefulness for
them. They seemed peculiarly adapted to the collection of produce
on streams hardly navigable, such as the \Vabash. During all this
period the downstream traffic was the heavier, the upstream traffic
consisting principally of coffee and sugar among the tropical products,
and of manufactured goods and luxuries from the Atlantic seaboard
and foreign ports.

Because the traffic was predominantly downstream and because the
light traffic upstream could be taken care of by the steamboats, the
keel boat found its usefulness at an end and rapidly disappeared.
The flatboats, on tlie other hand, admirabh- supplemented the
steamboats by carrying downstream the produce which the steam-
boats were not able to handle, b}" navigating streams where the risks
of snags and bars were too great for the more valuable vessel, and
where the settlements were sparse and the business light, and by
converting themselves into lumber at New Orleans and thus removing
themselves from the field of competition for the meager upstream
traffic. As late as 1840 nearly a fifth of the freight handled" on the
lower Mississip])i went by fl;itboat, keel, or barge, principally by flat-
boat. Steam towing of flatboats was tried as early as 1829, but was
not successful, owing apparently to the lack of proper organization
and to the prejudices of the flatboat owners.

The published statistics of flatboat arrivals at New Orleans are
very incomplete. The craft was so informal in its movements that
its arrivals and departures could not readily be registered. It should
be noted, however, that two-thirds of the annual arrivals took place
in Januarv and February. It is estimated that in the decade
1820-1 8.sn", .S,000 flatboats annually descended the Ohio.

The following table |:)resents the most satisfactory statistics avail-
able of flatboat arrivals at New Orleans for a series of years:

Arrirah of llathantx at Nrir Orlcnns.

1845-40 -2. 763

1846-47 2, 702

1847-48 J. Ill

1848^9 1 . 196

1849-50 1. 184

1850-51 1 , 145

1851-52 1.468

1852-53 1 . 047

1853-54 701

1854-55 (i!4

1855-56 718

1856-57. . -.(1

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

These fi<i;iires shov, ;i steady decline in flatboat business up to 1<S6().
Tlie decline in <i;eneral trallic of this form of craft becomes clearer if
it be noted that of the 541 arrivals in LS.Ki-o? at New Orleans 119
were coal flats from Pennsylvania and 136 were hay flats from Indiana.
There was not in this year a sin<]:le flatboat from the upper Mississippi
or the ^lissouri, and only 12 from the Illinois. Flatboat tradin<; after
the original manner was resumed on a small scale after the civil war,
the boats starlinjz; from Pittsbur*:: and W heelin*:;, and was continued
until the hi^h price of lumbei' put an end to the pe(hllin<:; business.

Sailin<i- vess<ds of various kinds also continued to play a part in
lower Mississippi trade, esj)ecially below New Orleans, althou<;:h they
sometimes ascended as far as Natchez to brin<^ down cotton and
sugar. But the steand>oat was ^ainin"; rapidly on all its competitors.
In 1826, 57 per cent of the freii2;ht was carried to Xew Orleans by
steamboat and only 43 per cent by other means. '^

The <j;rowin>i: importance of the steamboat can be shown by pre-
sentiuiT statisticallv the arrivals at Xew Orleans for a series of vears.

Arrival of steamboats at New Orleans."

Year ending September .SO—

Number.
21

Year ending September 30—

Number.

1814

1839

1,551

1815

1840

1,573

1819

191
198
202
287
392
436
502
608

1841

1,958

1820

1842

2,132

1821

1843

2,324

1822

1844

2,570

1823

1845

2.530

1824

1 1846

2,770

1825

' 1847

''4.024

1826

18?7

\ 1848

2,917

715

i 1849

2,873

1828

698

1850

2,784

1829

756

1851

2,918

1830

989

1852

2,778

1831

778

1853

3.252

1832

813

1854

3,076

1833

1,280

1855

2,763

1834

1,081

1856

2,956

1835

1,005

1857

2,745

1836

1,272

1858

3,264

1837

1,372

1859

3,259

1838

1,549

1860

3.566

a Report on the Internal Commerce of the I''nitcd States, 1887

b This figure is probably incorrect.

It will be seen that the steamboat arrivals, with certain slight
recessions, steadily increased from the begimiinii; of steamboat navio;a-
tion until the civil war put a stop to commercial activity.

New Orleans, at the terminus of river transportation, "irew with
great rapidity, and was rated in 1?!40 as the fourth port in point of
commerce in the world, exceeded only by London, Liverpool, and
New York. Its exports were out of all proportion to its imports. It
shipped heavy articles up the river, but for the finer classes of manu-
factures it left the Central West almost entirely dependent upon the
eastern seaboard. Later, when the West went into manufacturing
and Pittsburg and Cincinnati sent their manufactured goods south
by river, New Orleans received them and reshipped them to the

« Report on the Internal Comnierce of the United State?, 1887.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

plantations, and these shipments constituted most of the upstream
traffic from Xew Orleans. There seems to have been very httle
direct tr'ade between the western cities and the southern plantations.
To present a detailed table of traffic receipts at New Orleans for a
series of years is impracticable, because the units of measure in which
the products are set down vary so frequently as to make comparison
difficult, if not impossible. An incomplete presentation of receipts
in tons is here reproduced from the Report on Internal Commerce for
1SS7. together ^vith a statement of total value of receipts. The latter
is partly estimated and is affected by currency and mai^ket conditions.
Xevertlieless, the general conclusion to be drawn from it is obvious.
It should be noted that the statistics of traffic do not include rafted
products or goods brought to market in small boats by planters, of
which no record was kept, but do include products received by way
of Lake Pontchartrain, principally cotton, which varied in amount
from 1 per cent to 6 per cent of the total.

Tonnage and value o/rereipla at Xew Orleans from the interior, 1801-1860.

Year ending Sept. 30 —

Quantity.

Value.

Year ending Sept. 30—

Quantity.

Tons
327, 800
399, 900
437, 100
401,500
449,600
399, 500
537, 400
i 542,500

'"''

Value.

1801

Tons.
.38. .325
45, 906
49, 960

67, .560

77,220

94,560

80,820

100,880

1.36, 300

106. 706

99. 320

136, 4(K)

129, .500

136,240

176,420

193,300

235,200

257, .300

245, 700

260,900

.307,300

244,600

291,700

.S3. 649, 322
4.47.5.364
4.720,015
4.27.5.000 \
4,371.545
4,937,323
5,-370,555

1835

1836

1837

18.38

1839

1840

1841

1842

1843

1844

1845

1846

1847

1848

1849

1850

1851

1852

1853

$29,820,817
.37,566,842
39,237,762
43,51.5.402
45, 627. 720
42. 26;J, 880
49,7()3,825
49.822,115
4.5,716,045
.53.728,054
(K). 094,*716

1802.

1803

1804

1805

1806

1807

1814

1815

1816

9,749,2.53
8.773 379
13,-501,036
16.771.711 !
12,(537,079
11.9(57,067
!.■>, 126. 420
14,473,725
1.5,063,820 •
19.044,640
20,446,320 |
21.730,887
22,886,420
20,7.57,26.5
22,0&5,518
26,044.820 i
21,806,763 i
28,2-38,432 !

1817

1818

67,199,122

1819

1820

77,19.3,464
90,(K53,256
79, 779, 151

1821

1822

81.989,692
96, S97, 873
KXi, 924,083

1823

1824

1825

108,051,708

1826

134 233 735

1827

1854

185.5

1856 i

1857 ■■

1858

1859

1860

11 5.. 3.36, 798

1828

117,106.823

1829

144.2.56, 081

1830

1,58.061,369

1831

167, 1.5.5, 54t)

18.32

172,9,52,669

1833

185 211 254

At the beginning tlie i)ro(hi(ts were miscelhmeous in character,
but they gratUially became specialized, southern products such as
cotton, sugar, and molasses predominating. Cotton, which in 1816
represented only 12 per cent in vahie of total receipts, came to
comprise in the later |)art of the jjcriod from 60 to 75 per cent of
the whole. 'Western pnxhice," which was 35 per cent in value of
the fot;il I'eceipts in 1S."){), .iMKinnted (o oiilv aboiil 21^ per cent in
]S6().

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 17

TIT.

OHIO RIVER COMMERCE.

Up to 1820 and for some little time thereafter the trade of the
lower Mississippi took its origin lar^^ely in the Ohio basin, where
settlement was most advanced. In 1820 the State of Ohio alone
shipped 200,000 barrels of flour by river; in 1824 the total exceeded
300,000 barrels, which was one-quarter in value of all the products
w^hich descended the Mississip))i.

Durintr this ])erio(l much en<z;ineerin<ji; work of varyin<i; utility was
executed on the Ohio and its tributaries, which contributed to a
greater or less extent to the efficiency of the river system. vSo far
as the open channel of the Ohio was concerned, improvement work
was begun as early as 1827, although little of value was accomplished
before I860." Of the two tributaries at the head of navigation, the
Allegheny was given up entirely to flats and rafits and was not
navigable for even the lightest draft steamboats except during high
water. So long as the supply of luml)er upon its banks endured
it furnished traffic for the river. Some of the lumber in the form
of rafts of logs was floated to Cincinnati and below; much of it was
converted at river ports into flats for downstream trading. To some
extent it was converted into boards and shingles on the Allegheny
and brought down in arks to Pittsburg, where the arks, relieved of
their burden, were loaded with coal for Cincinnati, Louisville, and
Natchez. It was estimated in 1848 that one-quarter of the lumber
was sold at Pittsburg and the rest was carried farther dowai the Ohio.

So late as 1859 it w^as stated that the lumber annually run down
the Allegheny amounted to over 150,000,000 feet.**

The Monongahela River, which in its original condition could
float light-draft flats and rafts in high and medium stages of water
and steamboats at high water, was improved by a private corpora-
tion — the Monongahela Navigation Company — which completed six
locks before 1860, two of them near Pittsburg being in operation in
1841. Upon this river the coal trade of the Ohio originated — the
one form of river traflic which has persisted with any vigor to the
present time. This trade began about 1840. In 1844 the total ship-
ments amounted to 2,500,000 bushels. By 1847 the coal handled
was about 12,000,000 bushels.

lentil 1850 the method of handling was by means of large flat-
bottomed boats or barges about 125 feet long and 8 feet deep. Each
boat carried from 12,000 to 15,000 bushels of coal. They were
ordinarily lashed together in pairs and floated dow^n the river to
destination, there to be sold for lumber. Each pair rec{uired the
services of about twelve men. Inasmuch as the barges drew from
5^ to Ih feet when loaded, they could only be floated safely during
seasons of high water. There were generally two such stages a
year, and during these relatively favorable seasons fleets of 250 to
300 barges set out upon their journey. Because their lading brought
them so near the bed of the river and because the}^ protruded so
little above the water's surface, they were continuously subject to

« For more detailed discussion see Report of Commissioner of Corporations on
Transportation liy Water in the United States, Part 1, 1909.
^Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, vol. 40. p. 604.

19830—09 2

18 TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

wreck from snags and rocks. Soon after 1850 the method of towing
coal flats by steam towboats began.

Other tributaries of less importance which were impro^'ed to
create more efficient connections with the main river, were the
Muskingum, upon which the State of Ohio constructed eleven locks
and dams, completed in 1840; the Kentucky, Green, and Barren
rivers, improved by the State of Kentuckj^ between 1835 and 1845
by the construction of locks and dams; and the Wabash River, upon
which a lock and dam was built by the Vrabash Navigation Com-
pany, chartered bv the States of Illinois and Indiana, in 1846 and
1847.

Of more importance to the commerce of tliis section than any
of the Oliio River tributaries just mentioned were the Cumberland
and Tennessee rivers, both navigable for several hundred miles by
steamboat. Indeed, the Tennessee River with its tributaries is
navigable for steamboats a distance of 1,300 miles, and for rafts and
flats an additional distance of more than 1,000 miles. Congress
and the State of Kentucky made several appropriations for the im-
provement of the Cumberland between 1830 and 1840, and in 1846
the Cumberland Navigation Company was incorporated to improve
navigation below Nashville, but little was accomplished during this
period. From inland points in Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky
by way of these two rivers came a large quantity of cotton, and most
or the tobacco for southern markets and for export. Durino; the
few montlis of the je&r when the stage of water permitted, flatboats
were extensively emploj^ed in this trade.

Probably the most important piece of river engineering from
the standpoint of navigation, was the building of the Louisville
and Portland Canal around the falls of the Ohio between Louis-
ville and Shippingport, Ky. This was constructed by a private cor-
poration chartered in 1825, the United States Government buying
a majority of the stock. It was completed at the close of the
year 1830, and in spite of the imposition of what seemed to be
exorbitant tolls it had a most stimulating influence upon river
commerce. Previously' the flats and steamboats had been obliged
to transfer their freight at Louisville to other craft sailing from
Shij)]ungport, below the falls, necessitating a laborious }K)rtage of
2^ miles, or else, if they desired to make the through trip, the run-
ning of the rapids. Either expedient involved heavy expense and
loss of time. Running the rapids meant waiting for a favorable
stage of water, with loss of interest on capital, additional wages, and
loss by depreciation in the value of products, and also the direct
expense of pilotage. Transfer at Louisville meant damage to goods
arul diayage cost. The opening of the canal united the two river
lines between Pittsburg and New Orleans and uninterru])ted through
traffic was possible. Boats which had l)een limited to a maximum
load of 000 tons coukl now cany 1,700 tons. During the year 1831,
406 steand)()ats, 46 keel boats, and 357 flats, a total of 76,323 tons,
passed through the locks.

The growth in steandjoat tonnage on the Ohio may l)e observed
from the statistics of the Louisville and Portland Canal. The varia-
tion in different years is due to the stage of water, which, when suf-
ficiently good, diverted the boats from the canal to the direct route
over the falls. Yet the figuics show a fairly steady increase in number
of boats.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 19

Number of sirambnats pausing through the Louisville and Portland Canal, lS.31-1849

1831 406

1832 453

1833 875

1834 938

1835 1, 256

1836 1, ] 82

1837 1, 501

1838 1 , 058

1839 ■ 1, 666

1840 1, 231

1841 1 , 031

1842 983

1843 ] , 206

1844 ] , 476

1845 1, 585

1846 1, 626

1847 1 , 432

1848 1 , 523

1849 1,272

Amono^ the cities alono; this commercial route, Pittsburg, as a
result of its stratcfjic location, early assumed a position of importance.
It had been the outfittint]:; })ort for emigrants in the pioneer days, and
was now, because of its situation at the junction of the Alleirheny
and M<)nono;ahela, in a position to profit by the extensive traflic in
lumber and coal. It had develo])e(l into an important shipbuilding
center, and but for the difhculties of upper Ohio navigation and the
extraordinary enterprise of the Ohio commercial interests, might
have overpowered the city of Cincinnati to such an extent as to make
of it merely a port of call.

However, Cincinnati during these decades, because of its situation
at the head of good navigation, became one of the leading commercial
cities of the AVest. During the entire period to 1860 it was surpassed
in ])oj)ulation by only one western city, Xew Orleans, and in the census
statistics of 1850 and 1860 its total population very nearly equaled
that of the seai)ort city. It began building steamboats in 1819, and
from that time on was the center of this industr}'. Wheeling, a little
below Pittsburg, became early an important outfitting point for flat-
boat traffic.

Louisville, at the head of the falls of the Ohio, early acquired an
importance, because it was the transshi])})ing ])oint between the upper
and lower river. The construction of the Louisville and Portland
Canal did not tlo away altogether with this geographical division of
steamboat lines, and Louisville retained its place of im])ortance as a
river port throughout this period.

Evansville, situated equidistant from the mouth of the Ohio and
the falls, was an important distributing point for a well-settled
territory; its largest export by water was tobacco, brought in from
the Kentucky fields across the river.

On the lower river,' the more important ports, aside from New
Orleans, were Memphis, Vicksburg, and Natchez. Each of these, in
1843, shi]iped more cotton by river to New Orleans than it did in 1887.
The average annual shipments of Memphis steamers down river were
100,000 bales, of Vicksburg, 75,000 bales, and of Natchez, 50,000.
Natchez was, however, a more important river point than Vicksburg,
because it was the center of a more populous district. Nashville, on
the Cumberland, was the center of a rich tobacco country, and sent
larj^e numbers of steamboats to New Orleans.

TBAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

IV.

UPPER MISSISSIPPI COMMERCE.

The section watered by the sources of the Mississippi was occupied
in the early part of this period by mihtary garrisons and Indian
traders. But it became before the war a region of active settlement,
and furnished to the river a large amount or both freight and passen-
ger trafhc. The first steamboat that ascended the upper Mississippi
is reported to have reachetl Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, in 1813. But
the arrivals from that date until 1840 were few and far between, as the
boats could be used only to transport supplies for traders and troops.

The total number of steamboat arrivals at St. Paul for the years
1844-1857 are here given, together with the length in days of the
navigation season.

Number of steamboat arrivals at St. Paul and length of navigation season, 1S44-1S57.

Year.

Steamboat
arrivals.

Length of

navigation

season.

Year.

Steamboat
arrivals.

Length of

navigation

season.

1844

41
48
24
47
63
95
104

Days.
231
234
245
236
241
242
239

1851

119
171
200
256
560
837
1,026

Days.
238

1845

1852

1853

1854

1855

216

1846

233

1847 ...

223

1848

217

1849

1856

1857

212

1850

198

The sources of the traffic may be shown in a general way by a
statement of the ports of departure of steamboats for St. Paul during
the year 1857.

Arrivals of steamboats at St. Paul, 1857. o
From—

DuVjuque 123

Prairie du Chien 138

Galena 213

Fulton 65

St. Louis 156

(Mncinnati 12

Pittsburp; 27

On the way to the Minnesota River 292

Total 1, 026

The years 1845 to 1860 covered a period of active settlement in the
Northwest, and the Mississippi was the most available moans for
reaching the new territory. Most of the boats woi-e built in the
shi[)yai(ls along the Ohio. They were operated largely by their
indivi(hial owners. Duiing the fifties, when Minnesota was rapidly
preparing for statehood, and when Wisconsin and Iowa had just been
received into the Union, the demand for transportation up the river
far exceeded the supply, and almost any price was ])aid for the
privilege. The result was that boats often paid for themselves in two
years out of their earnings. But the risks of snagging and burning

oHunt's Merchants' Magazine, vol. 38, p. 117.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 21

were very great, and the depreciation on these boats was conse-
quently heavy. The best boats for the upriver trade were the stern-
wheelers of 200 to 300 tons, which were not liable to be hindered by
the midsummer drouo;hts. The boats that made the larfjest profits
were those which in tlie later days of this period controlled the jobbing;
business and the railway connections at certain ports. This control
was effected throu<]:;h tiie creation of j)o()ls between steamboat oj)era-
tors, which later developed in many instances into stock companies."

The three principal paints on the river above St. Louis were Rock
Island, Galena or Dunleith, and Prairie ilu Chien. The immi^^rants
who settled Minnesota antl Wisconsin reached the river at these points,
beinii; transported that far by rail after 1854. But these towns were
not only transfer points for passengers. Galena was at this time
second only to St. Louis as a wholesale center. Other important up-
river ports were Burlington, Dubuque, and Davenport, Iowa, and
Quincy, 111. These places had their beginnings as river junctions, in-
creased in importance as connections with the interior became closer,
and continued even after the advent of railways to confine their
interest to the river so long as the lumber supply endured. They
were all important lumber-manufacturing towns.

The freight traffic by steamer seems to have been of the miscel-
laneous character natural in an exchange between primitive com-
munities lacking railway facilities. Potatoes, barley, and furs are
found in the list. Wooden ware was shipped from St. Paul as far
south as St. Louis. One of the principal products from the upper
river was wheat, which was shipped in 2-bushel sacks. A 200-ton
boat would carry 300 tons of grain. There were also shipments of
flour, which grew in importance as capital was invested in milling
in the Northwest. Flour shipments on the Mississippi for the years
1841-42 to 1844-45 were as follows:

Shipments of flour on the upper Mississippi River.

Barrels.

1841-42 439, 688

1842-43 521, 175

1843-44 502, 507

1844-45 533, 312

But by far the most important product of upper Mississippi trans-
portation, from the beginning until its decline at the close of the
century, was lumber. This was handled almost entirely in rafts or
barges propelled by steamboats.

In the lower section of the upper Mississippi a large trallic was for
many years carried on in lead, principalh^ from the Galena mines,
and a smaller tratle in Wisconsin copper. Large quantities of lead
were annually transshipped at St. Louis for New Orleans, amounting
in value in 1843 to more than SI, 000, 000, and estimated to be worth
3^ cents per pound. A small ])art of this total came from ])oints in
Missouri by way of the '\lissouri River.

a Merrick, Old Times on the Upper Mississippi, 1909.

22 TKATFIC HISTOEY OF MISSISSIPPI EIVEE SYSTEM.

The following table gives the shipments of lead from Galena,
Dubuque, and all other up-river ports for a series of years:

Total shipyjicnts of lead, in pigs, from Galena, Dubuque, and all other ports of upper

Mississippi, 1841-1854-°'

Pigs.i>

1841 452,814

1842 447,859

1843 561,321

1844 624,601

1845 778, 460

1846 732, 403

1847 772, 656

1849 590, 293

1850 573,502

1851 : 503, 571

1854 402,343

After 1854, when the railway reached the Mississippi, the lead
traffic on the upper river rapidly disappeared.

The steady growth in the business of this portion of the river
may be observed from the statistics of steamboat arrivals at St.
Louis from the upper Mississippi for a series of years. These include
all arrivals from Mississippi River ports north of the mouth of the
Ohio.

Arrivals of steamboats at St. Louis from upper Mississippi ports, 1841-1852.

1841 143

1842 - 195

1843 244

1845 647

1846 663

1847 717

1848 697

1849 806

1850 635

1851 639

1852 705

The uj)per ^Mississippi business was considerably augmented before
it reached St. Louis by that of the Illinois River and the Illinois and
Michigan Canal. The latter was opened in 1848, and while inade-
quate for extensive traffic, it furnished, nevertheless, some freight
to the Illinois River steamers, which transported goods back and forth
between Peoria and other interior Illinois j)oints on the one hand,
and St. Louis and points on the Ohio and lower Mississippi on the
other.

MISSOURI RIVEH COMMERCE.

The liallic of the Missouri River has never reached a position of
great imj)ortance, and statistical material bearing upon it is very
meager. Such commercial value as the river possessed was confined
largely to the period preceding ISGO, and even then its service con-
sisted priiuipally in facilitating the fur trade and carrying products
to the inilitiiry garrisons on its up|)er reaches. The American Fur

*Prom Hunt's Merchant's Magazine. >> A pig weighed about 60 pounds.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

Company and some in(lcM)on(leiit tiaders employcMl a numljcr of
steam])oats and other crait, and at least once a year ascended the
river to the mouth of tlie Yellowstone with supplies for fur trading,
and the United States Army carried its supi)lies })y boat up as far as
Foi't Benton. So late as ISGO the total value of the fui' trade of St.
Louis was $529, ()()(), of which nearly all came down the Missouri River
by boat. The river was also used to a considei-able extent as a means
of approach to the Santa Fe trail, which made junction with the river
at Independence. The i-iver trade ])ctween St. Louis and Santa Fe
was valued in 1848 at S5()0,0()0 per year.

The first steamboat ascended in 1810, and from then on steam-
boating slowly developed. River navigation for the years 1888-1843
was as follows:

Sleainboat navigation of the Missouri River, 18oi>-lS4oM

Year.

Boats.

Trips.

1838

17
35

28
32
29
20

1839

141

1840

147

1841

162

1842

1843 •

205

a Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, vol. 18, p. 103.

The arrivals at St. Louis of boats from the Missouri River for the
years 1845-1852 are presented in tabular form.

Arrivals of steamboats at St. Louis from the Missouri Eirer, 1845-1852.

1845 249

1846 256

1847 314

1848 327

1819 355

1850 390

1851 301

1852 317

This table shows that commerce did not develop rapidly in this
section. The hgures are more significant if compared with the
arrivals from tlie upper Mississip])i, the Illinois, and the Ohio, which
were much in excess of those from the Missouri, and were increasing
rapidly. Aside from the difficulties of navigation due to the turbid
and uncertain channel, the snags, the floods, and the droughts,
there was the fundamental condition present that there existed on
the upper Missoui-i j)revious to 1860 little inchistrial basis for an
extensive river commerce. After 1860, tlie railways were the active
agenc}" in the settlement of this section, and the country once settled,
this more efficient means of transportation was almost exclusively
resorted to. The Missouri River has played practically no part in
the industrial development of the west.

24 TBAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVEE SYSTEM.

VI.

ST. LOUIS.

St. Louis was one of the iinportaiit river cities of this period. It
enjoyed the advantage of being a port of transshipment for a very
large proportion of the river traffic, and was the great wholesale
center of the Middle West. Most lines of steamboats engaged in
through traffic on the Missouri, the upper and lower Mississippi, and
the Ohio had St. Louis as one of their termini. The only important
exceptions were the steamboat lines between Ohio River points and
New Orleans, most of which did not touch St. Louis at all.

Hence, b}^ reason of its location, there are found among the receipts
of this city by river all the products wliich the rivers handled, in-
cluding the grains and flour, lumber, lead, pork, lard, and bacon, the
southern products, sugar, coffee, and molasses, and the miscellaneous
food products. In and out of this metropolis the steamboats also
carried what was for the time an enormous passenger business.
Gold seekers, fur and Indian traders, immigrants, pioneers, and
home seekers poured into St. Louis in the fifties, and found their way
in and out by the river gate. The number of passengers carried on
steamboats to and from St. Louis for the year ending September 30,
1855, is reported as 1,045,269." The central location of this city
and its growing commercial importance is seen from a statement of
the steamboat arrivals.

Arrivals of steamboats at St. Louis, 1839-1859.

1839 1, 476

1840 1, 721

1841 1,928

1844 2, 105

1845 2,050

1846 2,412

1847 3, 069

1848 3, 159

1849 2, 905

1850 2, 897

1851 2, 628

1852 3, 184

1853 3, 307

1855 3, 449

1856 3, 065

1857 ; 3, 443

1858 3,160

1859 : 3, 149

VII.

CANAL-LAKE COMPETITION.

The first danger that thn'iitciicd the continued pros)KMity of river
commerce ciime with the coni|)leti()n of the Krie Canal in 1S25. The
people of the Middle West and of the Ohio A'alley were not slow to
realize the advantage which a route including the CJreat Lakes and the
Erie Canal would have in reaching seaboard markets, over the
2,000-mile river trip to New Orleans and the long coastwise jour-

aHunt'8 Merchants' Magazine, vol. 33, p. 637.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 25

ney. So early as 1832 the onterprisino; population of X)hio had com-
pleted canals from Portsmouth, on tiie ()hio,to Cleveland, and from
Cincinnati to Toledo, and in 1S35 there was shij)j)e(l from this State
to New York, by way of the ErieC^anal, <S6,()()() barrels of Hour, 98,000
bushels of wheat, 2, 500, 000 of staves, and much miscellaneous frci'^ht.
The Ohio canals were built for local reasons and it was the local trade
which sustained them durint:; tlu ir years of j)rosj)erity. Yet they
served as feeders for both the southern and eastern routes and helped
to draw traffic away from its old course."

Indiana likewise soufiiht to reach eastern markets by the northern
route, and constructed a canal from Evansville northeastward to con-
nect with the Cinciimati-Toledo enteri)rise. Both in Indiana and
Illinois the same competitive conditions existed as in Ohio, but with a
stronu'er tendency in the former toward the river route. Not only
did sliipments, by way of the Krie Carnal, particularly of wheat and
flour, steadily increa. e, but the PcMUisylvania Canal also transj)orted
a variety of products, includino; tobacco, which had formerly gone
down the river, and took manufactures from about Pittsburg, and
large ciuantities of lard, bacon, and other western produce. It im-
ported various manufactured goods and household supplies for the
people of the upper Ohio Valley. In 1846, Buffalo for the first time
exceeded New Orleans in its receij)ts of flour and wheat.

The Cincimiati Price Current in 1852 contained a letter from
Cincinnati merchants urging the greater cheapness of the northern
route, and making the folhnving comparative estimate of the cost of
shipping a single hogshead of tobacco from Louisville:

BY NORTHERN ROUTE.

Dray, Louisville $0. 25

Frei<!;ht to Cincinnati 1. 05

Charges in Cincinnati 50

Freight by canal and lake 7. 75

Insurance 1.12

10.67

BY SOUTHERN ROUTE.

Dray, Louisville $0. 50

Freight to New Orleans 2. 50

Insurance to New Orleans 62

Charges in New Orleans 1. 75

Freight by shij) 7. 00

Insurance 2. 00

14.37

The point of highest traffic on the Ohio canals was reached in 1857,
when the total amount carried was 1,635,744 tons. B}' 1850 the line
of division between products moving south to the river and north to
the Lakes had become rather clearly tlefined, and w'as somewhere
near the center of the State. The tendency of breadstufl's was
toward the Lakes, as already indicated, but beef, lard, pork, bacon,
antl corn still went mostly by river. This was in part due to the
natural distribution of the su])ply of ])roducts in the State, ami in
part to the location of the denumd for the tlilferent kinds of produce.

o Gephart, Transportation and Industrial Development in the Middle West, pp.
118-119.

26 TEAFFIC HISTORY- OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

But it appears certain that the river trade did not suffer seriously
from the competition of eastward water routes during the period
1825 to 1850. Kather was it changing its character and inchuUng a
larger proportion of southern and a sniaUer proportion of western
products.

The following tables give the value of products received at the
seaboard and the movement toward the interior in 1851 by the
various routes:

Reported value of products received at seaboard, 1851 .^

Via the Mississippi $108, 051, 708

Via canals and the Hudson 53, 027, 508

Via the St. Lawrence 9, 153, 580

Via the New York railroads 11, 405, 350

Movement toward the interior, 1851.

Via the Mississippi $38, 874, 782

Via the Hudson and canals 80, 739, 899

Via the St. Lawrence 10, 956, 793

Via the Xew York railroads 44, 556, 000

These tables, besides showing the relative importance of Mississippi
River traffic, bring out the preponderance of export over import
traffic at Xew Orleans referred to elsewhere.

VIII.

RATES AND FARES.

No satisfactory material is available on the question of rates during
the period preceding the introduction of railways into the West, and
only general statements may here be ventured. In 1819, when
steamboating on western rivers was first freed from the Fulton
monopoly, through passenger rates upstream were about 10 cents
per mile, varying somewhat for the longer distances, and 12^ cents
per mile for way passengers. The downstream rate was about 6
cents per mile. It is probable, however, that these rates included
board en route, and allowance should be made for this in comparing
them with modern rates. A few typical fares may be quoted.

Passenger fares by steaviboat, 1819.

Miles.

Fares.

New Orleans to Natchez

2C3

9()1
1,328
1,328

3G7
1,065

129

$30

New Orleans to month of Ohio

New fjriean.s to falls of Ohio

125

Falls of Ohio to New (Jrleans

Kalis of Ohio to mouth of Ohio

Falls of Ohio to Natchez

Cincinnati to Louisville

On the u|)])('r Mississippi, the fares had fallen by 1810 to from 4 to 5
cents per mile for short distances and 3 cents ])er mile for loitg dis-
tances. Deducting the jirice of meals and stateroom, the charge was
from li cents to 8 cents per mile. Deck passengers, who were

oRingwalt, Devclojunent of Transportation Systenifi in the United States, p. 121.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 27

expected to provide their own food, traveled at fares wliicli frequently
did not exceed a half cent per mile, and this they could still further
reduce by assistin^j the crews to gather fuel at the various sto]>])ing
places.

There were no such thin<i;s as typical frei<xlit rates durint^ the era of
steaniboating. Rates varied widely with the suj)ply and demand of
boats, the stao;e of water, and the quantities of freight oliered, and it is
difficult to give any itlea of them at all. For example, one writer
quotes a rate in 1819 of 15 cents per 100 ])ounds from Cincinnati to
Louisville, or 2.3 cents per ton-mile, and another rate in the same year
from Cincinnati to St. Louis of 50 cents per 100 pounds, or $1.44 per
ton-mile. Gephart states" that the freiglit rates from New Orlenns to
northern cities in 1822 were as follows: General merchandise, 3 to 4
cents per pound; cotton, 1 cent per pound; sugar, $7 per barrel.
These rates were probably not more than half as high as the rates
charged before the appearance of steamboats. So early as 1839,
rates were quoted from New Orleans to St. Louis of 75 cents per 100
pounds or $0,013 per ton-mile, and from New Orleans to Louisville of
50 cents per 100 pounds, or $0,008 per ton-mile, the latter rate being
lower because of the greater Qompetition on this line. In seasons
when a good stage of water prevailed, between 1850 and 1860, freight
was carried from Pittsburg to St. Louis and Nashville at 43 mills per
ton-mile, and from Pittsburg to New Orleans at 36 mills per ton-mile.
Merrick'' states that freight rates varied on the upper Mississippi in
the fifties from 25 cents per 100 pounds for short distances, to SI. 50
per 100 pounds from Galena to St. Paul, the latter being nearly 10
cents per ton-mile. No package was carried for less than 25 cents.
To the rates themselves must be added the cost of marine insurance,
which, because of the hazardous nature of the steamboat business,
was a very heavy expense. In 1840 the insurance rate quoted was
about If per cent of the value of the goods for a distance of about 200
miles above New Orleans; then it steadily increased to 4 per cent and
above on the upper Mississippi. On the Ohio the rates varied from 2^
to 3f per cent, on the Misso\u'i from 3^ to 6^ per cent.'^

Downstream rates for both passenger and freight traffic were
usually lower than those levied on upstream business, because, the
time consumed being less, the cost of operation was less in fuel
and power expended, and, in the case of the passenger business,
the expense of boarding the passengers was reduced. But these
factors might be entirely offset by the su])ply of and demand for
space in the two directions at diflFerent seasons of the year. In fact
too much reliance should not be placed upon any casual statement
of rates or fares, because, being subject to no control whatever except
such as the laws of trade enforced, steamboat captains chargetl in
all cases what the traffic would bear. It was frequently much more
advantageous to a prospective passenger to pay the exorbitant fare
demanded than to stay in port and take his chances with the next
boat, and a shipper had to get his products to market at any cost.
The days of ]n'osperous steamboating were the days of unregulated
monopoly, and the variations in water depth and the uncertainties

a Transportation and Industrial Development in the Middle West. p. 98, note,
bold Times on the Upper Mississippi, 1909.
'"Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, vol. 2. p. 80.

TRAFFIC HISTOEY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

of travel often so crowded the limited traffic season that in the
direction of traffic movement passengers and shippers were wholly
at the mercy of the steamboat captains. Small wonder that boats
were often paid for out of the earnings of a couple of years. Yet
they were continuously liable to destruction from snags, bars, col-
Usions, explosions, and burning. And even if they survived these
terrors, so flimsily were tliey built and so recklessly were they run
that most of them were unfit for service after five years.

The following table is made up fi-om monthly quotations of rates
on typical shipments on two steamboat lines which were operating
where conditions were probably more stable at the time than on
any other part of our inland waterway system:

Summary of monthly quotations of river rates of freight, Cincinnati to New Orleans,

1849-185S.a

Product shipped.

1848-49.

1849-50.

1850-51.

1851-52.

1852-53.

$0. 30-$0. 75
.40- .75
. 45- 2. 50

$0.25-51.25
. 25- . 875
.40- 1.00

$0.35-81.00
.40- .90
.50- 1.50

SO. 30-$0. 75
.35- 1.00
.45- 2.50

$0.30-81.00

Pork, per barrel

.35- 1.00

Whisky, per barrel

.50-2.00

Summary of monthly quotations of river rates of freight, Cincinnati to Pittsburg, 1849-

1853a

Product shipped.

1848-49.

1849-50.

1850-51.

1851-52.

1852-^3.

Whisky, per barrel

$0. 35-Sl. 50

$0.35-$0.75
.10- .55

$0.33-50.75
.10- .25

$0.30-$1.50
.10- .50

$0.35 -$1.50

Merchandise, per 100 pounds

.10- .50

.125- .75

a From Hunt's Merchants' Magazine.

IX.

SPEED AND ACCIDENTS.

Steamboat disasters on the Mississippi during the forty years from
1810 to 1850 have been thus summarized:*^

Total number of steamboats lost 1, 070

Tonnage 85, 256

Cost .$7, 113, 940

Persons killed and injured 4, 180

Many of the accidents were due to conditions of navigation over
which the navigators had no control, but many more were due to
reckless steamboating. So long as there was no rail competition,
speed was an ol)iect. A speed record was a profitable means of
advertising, and the de.^ire to attain it led to racing and resulted fre-
quently in collisions and explo.sions.

Steaml)()ats were being steadily perfected, and the length of time
consumed between river })()rts was constantly reduced. The average
rate of speed on the Mis.sissippi and Ohio in 1840 was about 6 miles

f)er hour upstream and 10 to 12 miles downstream, but this rate was
reriuently exceeded.

The following tables sliow tlie increase in steamboat power during
the [)erio(l up to lS(i().

« Report on Internal Commerce of the United States, 1887.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 29

Average time of steamboats between points nam^d.c-

Year.

Time.

New Orleans to St. Louis 1815

1823

1826

1 1828

I 1800

New Orleans to Louisville i 1819

1826
1840

Louisville to New Orleans 1819

1826
1840
1819
1840
1819
1840

Louisville to Cincinnati.
Cincinnati to Louisville.

2.5 days.
12 days.
9 days, 12 hours.

9 days, 4 hours.

3 days (running time).
20 days.

10 to 14 days.
6 days.

10 days.
6 days.

4 days.
40 hours.
15 hours.
18 hours.

11 hours.

a Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, vol. 48.

The following are taken from a list of speed records of individual
boats : **

New Orleans to Cairo (961 miles)

New Orleans to Louisville (1,328 miles).

New Orleans to Cincinnati (1,457 miles).

Time.

6 hours, 44 minutes.

3 hours, 40 minutes.
1 hour, 1 minute.

, 2 hours, 4 minutes.
. 4 hours, 20 minutes.
, 10 hours.

4 hours.
14 hours.
20 hours.

9 hours, 19 minutes.
18 hours.
12 hours.

THE BEGINNING OF RAILWAY COMPETITION.

With the appearance of railways in the West begins the downfall
of river commerce. In order to make clear the manner in which
railways invaded the territory previously served by the waterways,
the following table is presented, showing the more important rail-
way lines opened for business previous to 1860 which touched any
one of the waterways under consideration, together with the date of
opening, the water terminus of the line, and the present name of the
corporation:

Table of 'principal western railways, 1841-1860.

Name of railway.

Date

of
open-
ing.

Water terminus.

Present name of owning or con-
trolling corporation.

OHIO.

Little Miami

1846
1851

Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago and

St. Louis.
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and

Cleveland, Columbus and Cincin-

nati.
Cleveland and Pittsburg

1852

1857

Cleveland, Pittsburg..
Cincinnati

St. Louis.
Pennsvlvania.

Marietta and Cincinnati

Baltimore and Ohio.

b Report on Internal Commerce of the United States, 1887.

30 TEAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI EIVER SYSTEM.

Table of principal uestern raihcarjs, 1841-1860 — Continued.

Name of railway.

Date

of
open-
ing.

Water terminus.

Present name of owning or con-
trolling corporation.

INDIANA.

1847

1 1853
1854

1858

1851

1854
1855

1855
1856
1856
18&4

1857

1857
1858

1853
1859

1850

1854
1850
1837
1858
1859

1859
1841

Madison

Across the State

New Albany

Pittsbujg, Cincinnati, Chicago and

Indiana Central

Indianapolis and Terre Haute

St. Louis.
Do.
Chicago, Indianapolis and Louis-

ville.
Evansville and Terre Haute.

KENTUCKY.

Louisville

Rock Island

Louisville and Nashville.

ILLIXOIS.

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific.

Galena and Chicago (jointly with
Illinois Central).

Galena

Chicago and Northwestern.

Alton

Chicago and Alton.

Chicago, Burlington and Quiney...
Illinois Central

Quincy

Cairo, Dunleith

Alton, 111

Cincinnati, Ohio; East
St. Louis, 111.

Prairie du Chien

La Crosse

Chicago, BurUngton and Quincy.
Illinois Central.

Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and

St. Louis.
Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern.

WISCONSIN.

Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien

Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul.
Do.

MISSOURI.

Pacific of Missouri (40 miles)

St. Louis

Hannibal, St. Joseph..

Chattanooga

Missouri Pacific and St. Louis and

San Francisco.
Hannibal and St. Joseph.

TENNESSEE.

Western and Atlantic of Georgia

Nashville, Chattanooga and St.

Nash\nlle,Chattanooga
Chattanooga

Louis.
Do.

Norfolk and Western.

Memphis,Chattanooga .

Southern.

East Tennessee and Virginia

Do.

Columbus, Kv.; Mo-
bile, Ala.

Louisville, Ky.; Nash-
ville, Tenn.

Vicksburg

Mobile and Ohio.

Louisville and Nashville.

MLSSISSIPPI.

Alabama and Vicksburg.

It appears from this table that railway builtlino; in the West began
in the decade 1840-1850, and that the practice of building compara-
tively short railway lines to connect with the waterways developed
rapidly diiriniz; the next decade. These water and rail junctions were
cstabHshod all llie way down the Ohio and lower Mississippi and on
the upper Missi.ssi|)|)i us far north as La Crosse, Wis., as well as on the
Cumberland, Tennessee, and Missouri. Among these junction points
were Pittsburg, Pa., Cincinnati, Ohio, Louisville, Ky., Madison, New
Albany, and Evansville, Lid., on the Ohio Kiver; Chattanooga, Tenn.,
on the Tennessee River: Nashville, Tenn., on the Cund)erla.nd River;
Cairo, 111., Columbus, Ky., Mem|)his, Tenn., and Vicksburg, Miss., on
the lower Mississippi; St. Louis and Hannibal, Mo., Alton, Quincy, Rock
Island, (lalenn, and Dunleith, 111., Prairie du Chien and La Crosse, Wis.,
on the ui)per Mi.ssissii)j)i; and St. Joseph, Mo., on the Missouri River.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 31

There is some basis in this situation for the statement so often made
that railways at the beginninjij were merely short lines conneetino: in-
terior eommunities with waterways and were intenfh'd to suj)|)lement
and not eonijx'te with waterway facilities.

For examj)le, the Vickshiir^ and Jackson acted merely as a tribu-
tary to the river and transported cotton from the inteiior for ship-
ment. Its business in cotton <i;rew from 34, 001 bales in ](S47 to 97,868
bales in 1853." The Penn.sylvania Railroad for a time after reaching
Pittsburg was dependent upon the Ohio for trafhc connections with
the West. The president of the Madison and Inilianapolis, in his
annual report for 1850, made the following statement:

The wharfa.o-e in front of the freight depot at Madison has been completed. The
Cincinnati and Louisville i)ackets now receive and discharge their freight and pas-
sengers at this point.

One reason why railways at the beginning did not at once supersede
the waterways was that it was some time before they were properly
organized and equipped to carry freight. The Baltimore and Ohio
in 1831 had carried only 593 tons of freight, but had transported
81,905 passengers. The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton was
opened in 1852 for the operation of passenger trains only.'' It
refjuircMl some effort on the part of railways to draw the bulky freight
away from the waterways.

Yet, if the policy of cooperation prevailed at the beginning it had
only a brief term of existence, for the economic conditions were such
as to drive railways inevitably into the position of competitors.
Referring again to the railways mentioned in the table, it may be
noted that in Ohio the Little Miami, in connection with the Mad
River Railroad, formed in 1848 the first through line between Lake
Erie and the Ohio River, and that a second through line was created
in 1851 by the Little Miami and the Cleveland, Columbus and Cin-
cinnati. These highways across the State were inclined, like the
canals, to divert trallic northward to the Lakes and thence to the
eastern markets. But it was not long that the Lakes had to be
relied upon for transportation eastward. The trunk lines of the
Atlantic seaboard, spurred on by the rivalry of the seaboard cities,
were pushing their way rapidly westward, and many of them took
their course through the advantageous opening south of the Lakes
and north of the mountains offered by the State of Ohio. The last
link ])etween Chicago and New York in what is known to-tlay as the
"Vanderbilt system" was completed between Cleveland and Toledo
in 1853. The Cleveland and Pittsburg, which formed a part of the
Pennsylvania, began operations in 1852, and the Pittsburg, Fort
Wayne and Chicago reached Chicago in 1858, forming the first con-
tinuous line through Ohio from tlie Ohio River to Chicago. The
Baltimore and Ohio, as it passed through the State, extended its
line to Cincinnati in 1857 by means of the Marietta and Cincinnati.
The State of Ohio was therefore b}' 1860 opened up by rail lines
in all directions. The same influences were at work elsewhere.
Across the State of Indiana ran several hues, including the Indiana
Central and the Indianapolis and Terre Haute. The Tcrre Haute
and Alton and the Ohio and Mississippi both paralleled the Ohio River

o Report on Internal Commerce of the United States, 1887.
t> Gephart, op. cit., p. 172.

32 TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

and reached out to the Mississippi. The New Albany and wSalem,
opened in 1854, was the first Hne entireh' within the State of Indiana
connecting the Ohio Kiver, at the foot of the falls, with the Lakes.

Farther south railroad buildino; was less advanced, yet even in that
territory- roads from the East were seeking western waterway connec-
tions, with no other possible purpose than to turn traffic eastward which
had earlier been moving west and south. For example, the Western
and Atlantic of Georgia opened a route from Atlanta to Chattanooga
on the Tennessee River in 1850, the Virginia system of railroads
made connection with the same city through the opening of the Vir-
ginia and Tennessee in 1856 and the East Tennessee and Virginia
in 1858. At the same time Chattanooga was pushing its influence
westward, and had secured a connection with Nashville on the Cum-
berland in 1854 and with Memphis on the Mississippi in 1857. Two
years later there was direct connection by rail between liouisville
on the Ohio and Xashville, and between Mobile, Ala., and Columbus,
Ky., on the Mississippi, a short distance below Cairo. In 1860 the
Vicksburg and Jackson was extended to jSIeridian, where it met the
Mobile and Ohio, and thus made possible the diversion of trafuc
from the Mississippi eastward.

On the upper Mississippi the first railroad connection with Chi-
cago was made at Rock Island in 1854. Previous to this time only
a small proportion of the exports of Illinois had been sent to market
by the Lakes and the Erie Canal. The Illinois River, navigable to
within 100 miles of Chicago, and the ^Mississippi along the western
border of the State, had given a southerl}^ direction to a good share
of its products. All the products of the west bank of the ^Mississippi
and tlie greater part of those of the east bank had gone to New Orleans.
But now all was to be changed. The Rock Island connection with
the jMississippi was followed by junctions at Galena and Alton in
1855, and the next year the Illinois Central had a line paralleling
the river all the way from Dunleith, opposite Dubuque, to Cairo.
Lines also connected Milwaukee, on Lake Michigan, with Prairie du
Chien and La Crosse, on the Mississi|)pi, in 1857 and 1858. West of
the river there were no railways of importance previous to 1860,
except the Hannibal and St. Joseph, opened in 1859, the Mississij^pi
and ^Iissouri from Davenport to Iowa City, Iowa, 55 nu'les, and the
Pacific Railroad, constructed westward from St. Louis for a short
distance.

That these various short roads to the Mississippi and the Ohio
ceased construction for a time with the attainment of their river
junctions was due in no sense to the fact that they regarded themselves
as waterway feeders. The leading causes for the suspension of rail-
road building were found, first, in the financial situation which
culminated in the panic of 1857; second, in the disturbance to busi-
ness and credit wnich came with the civil war; and third, to tlie
didiculties in the way of l)ri(lging the Ohio and Mississippi. The
first two causes recpiire no discussion. The bridge problem was an
interesting one. A highway drawbridge had been erected over the
Ohio at Wheeling in IS 10, and between 1853 and 1856 the Chicago
and Rock Island iiad huiU a bridge across the Mississippi between
Rock Island and Daxcnport to make connection with the Missis-
sippi and Missouri ivaih'oad in Iowa. Botli bridges had ])een built
by stat(! authorization alone, and without th(> sanction of Congress.
Both interfered seriously with navigation. For these reasons further

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

bricl<;iii<:; was bitterly f()ii<rlit. The ()])|)().siti()n ol" steainl)()at interests,
prompted in part, at least, by a desire to cheek railroad advance and
compel alliance with the waterways, had a le<j:itimate l)asis in the
contention that unless brid<i,('s were j)rovided with draws, reconstruc-
tion of the smokestacks and pilot lupuses of iJic steamboats would be
necessary, and that unless the piers were placed wide apart, and
spans of 500 feet were constructed, raftin<; and bar<;in^ would be
seriously hampered. ( 'on<j;ressional investif^ation followed, resulting
in oeneral leijislation under which bri(l*!;es were built in the late
sixties and in the seventies. Then the railways continued their
course west and south, or made lines continuous which were already
in existence on eitluM' bank of the river; but until congressional
authorization had been secured, the railways rested in tlieir westward
and southward advance.

Even in the decade previous to the civil war the railways, with
their through lines from Chicago to New York and their connections
with the Mississippi and the Ohio, had already begun to draw traffic
eastward, and to diminish the river commerce to New Orleans in
northern products, or in what was known in New Orleans as "western
produce." This may be shown in a general way by presenting a
table whicli gives for the eleven years j)receding the war the value of
"southern produce," in detail, and the aggregate value of other
products, mainly from the North and West.

Value of receipts of produce at New Orleans, 1850-1860.C

Year ending
September 30—

Cotton.

Sugar.

Mola.s.ses.

'■-^bacco. pOth-,

Total.

1850

$41,885,150
48.750.704
48.592.222
08,759.424
54.749,002
51.390,720
70,371,720
80,255,079
88.127.340
92.037.794

109,389,228

812,390,150
12,078,180
11, 827,. 350
15.452.688
15,720.340
18,025,020
10,199,890
8,137,300
17,900,008
24.998.424
18,190,880

82,400,000
2,025,000
4.020,000
5,140,000
3,720,000
1.25.5.0tX)
4.582.242
2.085.300
4.001.015
0.470.817
0,250,335

$0,100,400 $34,049,173
7,730,000 1 35.127.539
7,196,185 i 30,409.9.-)!
7.938.660 1 37.442,973
4.228,100 30,912,7.50
7,111,370 ! 30,424.713
7.982,800 ; 45,119,4-29
U. 892.120 i 49,091.510
13.028,327 42.798.2.50

$90,897,873

1851

100,924,083

1852

108,0.51.708

1853.

1.34.233,735

1854

115.330,798

1855

117,100,823

1850

144,256,081

1857

158.001,369

1858

107.155.546

1859

1800

9,101.750
8,499,325

40.283,879
42,881.480

172,9.52,609
185,211,254

While the vahie of receipts at New Orleans during these 3'ears in-
creased !)3 per cent and while receipts of cotton increased 166 per
cent, sugar 50 per cent, molasses 160 per cent, and tobacco about 33
per cent, both sugar and tobacco having been still higher in value
in some of the intervening years, the value of "other products" in-
creased only 26 per cent. These statistics do not show quantities,
iience final conclusions can not be drawn from them, but they clearly
show the tendency, inuring the years 1854-1858, western produce
represented but 18 per cent of the total receipts at New Orleans as
compared with 61 ])er cent in the early years of river commerce.**
Traffic in large cpuintities still continued to be handled on the Ohio
between Cincinnati and Pittsburg and between Cincinnati and St.
Louis, and also to a considerable degree on the upper Mississippi

"Report on Internal Commerce of the United States, 1887.
19830—09 3

34 TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

as far south as St. Louis, but dependence upon New Orleans as a
market was being crradually lessened.

The year immediately ])recedin2; the outbreak of the war, 1859-60,
was the best year on the river for New Orleans. The city received the
heaviest shipments and the steam river tonnage entered at the ])ort
was the largest ever recorded. There reached New Orleans that sea-
son b}' river 2,187,560 tons of freight, and the total river trade of the
city was valued at $289,565,000." The significant fact concerning
this trade, however, was its comparatively local character. Of the
total steamboat arrivals at New Orleans for the year 1859-60,
amounting to 3,540, 1,835 were from the State of Louisiana and 576
from the neighboring States of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas.
New Orleans had no railway worth mentioning in 1860, but the city
controlled the entire river trade, commerce, and crops of the State of
Louisiana. By means of the Red River, she secured a hold on the
crops of northern Texas. The greater portion of Indian Territory, the
larger part of Arkansas, all the Ouachita and Arkansas valleys, a por-
tion of the White River trade running up into Missouri, were at the
command of the Crescent City. The State of Mississippi was subject
to New Orleans, except for its eastern portion through which the Mobile
and Ohio Railroad now ran. Western Tennessee and a large portion
of Kentucky still sent their products south, and probably one-fifth of
the produce of the Ohio Valley and one-third of that of the u])per
Mississippi still found its way to New Orleans. But the significant
thing was that the western produce then moving south was wholly
for local consumption and not for export. It was to supply the
planters with food products and supplies, in order that they might
devote their attention exclusively to cotton raising. The export
business in northern products had turned eastward.

The traffic of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and their tributaries
had been ta])ped at many points. Produce formerly traveling to New
Orleans by flatboat from tlie upper Tennessee was now carried largely
to Charleston, Savannah, and other seaboard cities. The receipts at
New Orleans from northern Alabama were less in 1860 than in 1845,
notwithstanding a steady gain in the prosperity of that section. At
Cincinnati a large portion of the flour and grain formerh" sent down
the Ohio now went to Pittsburg by river and thence by rail; or by
canal to Toledo, and thence by lake and canal or rail to the seaboard,
or to some slight extent '' all rail." With the establishment at Galena
of through connections with the east in 1855, the lead trade on the
river which had gone via New Orleans to New York and Europe
suddenly droi)ped off and soon disa|)peared altogether.

At Cincinnati, for the year 1857, there were received a total of
886,900 tons of merchanclise, and there were shipped 528,110 tons,
of which a little over 10 per cent in and out was handled by rail.
This was an increase of 17 per cent in rail tonnage over the year
previous. At Louisville, in 1857, 13 per cent of the flour, 8 per
cent of the wheat 29 per cent of the corn, 26 per cent of the whisky,
and 10 jx'rcent of the coffee were received by rail. At St. Louis, of
the Hour received in barrels 15 per cent came by rail in 1857, 27 per
cent in 1858, and 3:5 j)er cent in 1859. I)aveii|)or(, Iowa, the river
terminus of the Mississij)})! and Missouri Railroad, opposite Rock
Island, 111., received in 1857 large quantities of lumber, shingles,

« Report on Inleriial Coiniueire of the United States, 1887.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 35

railroad iron, coal, and corn 1)V way of the Chicafijo and liock Island
Railroad, and wheat, pork, Hour, and wool from the West by the
Mississippi and Missouri llailroad. By way of the river the principal
product received was lumber, which amounted to nearly twice that
received by rail. The aggregate exports and imports for the year
were estiniated at 93,683 tons, of which 87 per cent was handled
by rail. But Davenport had tlie first bridge across the Mississippi,
and thereby had earlier secured rail connections with the P^ast.

The following table, presenting the shipments of flour and grain
in bushels from Chicago for a series of years, shows in a striking way
the influence of railway extension westward from the city. It will
be observed that in 1854, the fh'st year of railway connection with the
Mississippi River, the shipments were doubled.

Total shipments cnstivord of flour and (jrain/rom Chicago, 1838-1863. «

Bushels.

1838 78

1839 3, 678

1840 10,000

1841 40, 000

1842 586, 907

1843 688, 907

1844 923,494

1845 1 , 024, 620

1846 1 , 599, 819

1847 2,243,201

1848 3, 001, 740

1849 2, 895, 959

1850 1, 858, 928

1851 4,646,591

1852 5, 873, 141

1853 6, 422, 181

1854 12,902,320

1855 16,633,645

1856 21,583,221

1857 18,032,678

I860 31,109,059

1863 54,741,839

pLThese instances cited do not completely cover the extent and power
of the railroad influence in the decade before the war, but it is unneces-
sary to go further into detail. The examples are tyi)ical of the
situation.

The develo])ment of transportation agencies before ISGO may be
summarized broadh^ by the statement that up to 1850 watev routes,
including the coastwise and gulf lines, constituted the principal w^ays
of freight movement, while the business on the Lakes and interior
rivers was increasing. Railways were preeminently passenger lines.
Before 1850 railways in the East had begun to compete with the water-
ways, but, so far a.s they existed at all in the West, they were feeders
to the water lines. Cojnpetition with the waterways of the Mississippi
Valley came frojn the water route formed by the Hudson, I^lrie Canal,
and Lakes, with the cooperation of short railway feeders. But in the
decade 1850-1860 railways made a good beginning toward the assump-
tion of that competitive relationship which was soon to prove so dis-
astrous to the water lines. In some instances the competition by
1860 had become so serious as to endanger the existence of river
traffic.

o Monthly Summary of Commerce and Finance, January, 1900.

DECLINE OF RIVER COMMERCE AFTER 1860.

THE WAR AND THE RAILWAYS.

The war served at once to close all southern ports to commerce,
and destroyed the greater part of the river trade. Steamboats
continued to a small extent to ply the waters of the upper Mississippi
and the Ohio, but throu<:;h traffic southward ceased altoo;ether.
Railway buildino; continued. The rail lines which most seriously
threatened river commerce were located north of the Ohio, and were
undisturbed by military operations. Although hampered b}^ lack
of capital, extension of lines was not wholly checked, and the progress
in railway l)uil(ling made (hu'ing the time of disturbance was suflicient
to increase materially their competitive power. Bridges across the
Mississippi and Ohio were authorized by Congress in 1866, and the
connections between the two banks of the river were soon thereafter
made. The building of the Union Pacific gave an added impetus to
the westward moving railways, all of which were eager for this
transcontinental connection. The Union Pacific was opened in 1869.
In 1867 the Chicago and Nortii western and the Chicago, Burlington
and Quincy controlled lines reaching to the Missouri River. In
1869 the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific was running througli trains
from Davenport to Council Blufi's, and early in 1870 the Illinois
Central was operating under lease a line from Dubuque to Sioux City.
In 1867 a line was completed from Milwaukee to St. Paul via Prairie
du Chien. The Pacific Railroad of Missouri was completed from
St. Louis to Kansas City in 1865. Farther south, where the ravages
of war were more severe, progress was naturally slower. Mobile
and New Orleans were united by rail in 1870, and in 1874 a continuous
line had been formed from Chicago to New Orleans paralleling the
Mississippi by the extension northward to join the Illinois Central at
Cairo of the New Orleans, Jackson and (ireat Northern and the
Mississippi Central.

The following table shows the growth in railway mileage from
1851 to 1868 in the States bordering the rivers. It will be observed
that in all excei)t the Southern States there was railway building
during the war period, and that in some cases, notably Illinois, Iowa,
and Ohio, th(> progress from 1860 to 1865 was remarkable.

38 TBAEFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

Total number of miles of railway in designated States, 1851-1868.

State.

1851.

1855.

1860.

1865.

1868.

Ohio

Indiana

Illinois

638
86
116

1,486
1,406

887

2,946
2,103
2,790

3,331

2,217

3,157

213

1,010

891

925

567

1,296

898

335

122

3,398

2,600

3,440

572

i87
68
139
242
466

905
655
817
534
1,253
38
862
335

1,235

1,523

1,354

Kentucky

813
1,436

Mississippi

Louisiana

60
50

278
203

898
335
648

920

Diirino; this period of waterway inactivity the raihvays were not
only extending: their lines, but they were makins; more efficient their
existing facilities. Consolidation of connecting lines into single
systems for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of long-distance
operation was proceeding rapidly. In the sixties appeared the first
of the fast freight lines, which facilitated enormously the handling of
through business from the West. Cooperation of railways in the con-
struction of union stations, connecting tracks, and similar facilities
increased in the decade 1860 to 1870. It is interesting to observe
that one of the causes assigned for the building of cars by ship-

Eers was the fear of the railways that the restoration of river
usiness after the war would have such a serious effect upon their
business that it would be unwise for them to make the necessary out-
lay themselves. The fact that northern agricultural production
actually increased during the war" and that there was a growing
demand in Europe for our breadstuffs were favoring conditions.
Shippers became accustomed to the new transportation agency.
They found it more eflicient, and it relieved them of the burden of
marine insurance. In short, business relationships were established
which carried over after the waterways were again available, and,
except at certain periods when circumstances were exceptional, the
rivers did not even approach their former position of im])ortance.

The consolidation of connecting railway links had given the
eastern trunk linos control of their western connections, and with it
the power to reach out to the source of traffic and control its transit.
By the end of the sixties, the railways had gained a considerable
degnic of coididcuice in theii ability to c()m])ete with western rivers
and lakes. In 1809 it was said that grain could be moved by rail
from St. Louis to the north Atlantic seaboard for a much smaller
sum than the usual rate for carrying it from St. Louis by steamboat
to New Orleans. In 1872 the railways carried to market 83 per cent
of the grain and provisions of the West.'' Tiie overland movement
in cotton, which liad iun<»unt(ul in 1852 to only 175 bales, reached
109,000 biiles in 1800, 350,000 hi 1870, and 1,134,000 in 1880.
When business wms resumed on the river in 1805 the Cincinnati
Price-Current estimjited the decline in the shij)m(Mit of western pro-
duce south by river at from 75 to 90 per cent, the produce still

" Sliij)tiiftiiH of flour am! K'niin from Chicago east increased from 31,000,000 bushels
1 iw;(l lo r,r,, OOO.OOO ImihIioIs in I8(i;}. Sec lahlc, p. ;}5.
'^ Iliiigwall, op. (it., p. liM.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MlSSISSirPI UIVER SYSTEM. 39

shii)pod in this manner beinoj for local consumption only. The
(liveision of commerce from river to rail at St. Jjouis was aided by the
fact that in river traflic transfers at this point were necessary.
Because of the shallowness of the upper river, vessels of much less
draft o})erated abov(^ tlu^ city than below. Because of this break
in shipment, the railways found their oj)portunity to step in and take
the busintvss.

Passen_tj;ers naturally s()uji;ht the more rapid means of travel, and the
passen<i;er steamboat, whicli had played such apart in the settlement
of the West, be<!;an after the war to diminish in importance. Passen-
j:;er transportation is now confined to excursion trips southward
in the winter and northward in the summer, and to ferry and short-
distance local service. Stenmboats have since 1860 been constructed
with special reference to the carrying of freight. Since the war,
also, has appeared on a larger scale the towboat, or pro])eIling steamer,
built with powerful engines, stern wheel, and shallow draft, to handle
the tows of barges, flats, or rafts. It has been a factor in the devel-
opment of the coal trade of the Ohio River, it played a necessary
Sart in the development of the barge line between St. Louis and
ew Orleans, and it has been and is still regularly engaged in the
declining rafting operations of the upper Mississippi. Its stern
wheel gives it peculiar facility in backing and turning and in handling
its tows and rafts successfully around the innumerable sharp bends in
the rivers. The barge became employed extensively as a freight
carrier, because the shallow depth of the rivers made a develop-
ment of steamboat capacity w4th vessels of deep draft an impossi-
bility. It was necessary to devise a shallow craft which could
spread out over the water and which could be loaded above the
water line rather than below decks. By this change in transporta-
tion methods a very great reduction in cost was obtained.

With the exception of the civil war, there was probably no single
influence which played so large a part in diverting traflic from the
lower Mississippi to the railways as the condition of the mouth of
the river. So long as exports from New Orleans were carried in
clipper ships with sharp keels which drew when loaded not more than
16 to 18 feet, there was a reasonable probability that they could get
over the bar in Southwest Pass with tlie aid of towboats. Doubtless
the poor channel diverted some commerce from this port, yet the
demand for cotton abroatl led vessels to make special effort to reach
New Orleans, and commerce at this port continued to grow. But
with a change in build and size of snipping seeking the port, the
shallow entrance became impracticable. When there was added to
this the unreasonable charges and the ar])itrarv regulations of a
monopolized towboat company, the situation became intolerable. It
was not relieved until 1877, when the Eads jetties at South Pass were
completed. Towing charges and insurance rates both fell at once,
and the dangers of stranding and the costs of delay were no longer
to be feared. There have been other physical difficulties also in the
way of the development of lower Mississippi commerce. Aside from
those due to a shifting chaimel and the presence of snags, ice and
low water have been constant hindrances. Between St. Lotus and
Cairo, navigation has been regularly suspended for a greater or less
time each year because of ice. The average number of days of inter-
ruption per year for the ten years 1871 to 1880 was thirty-iive. A

40 TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM;

more serious interference over this same stretch has been the frequent
low water, due both to hick of water supply and to the sediment
brought down by the Missouri. The full advantages of river com-
merce can not be attained unless boats which draw 8 feet of water
when loaded can be employed. At times vessels ch'awing only 4 feet
could alone be used at what is estimated to have been double the
cost. The Select Committee of the Senate on Transportation Routes
to the Seaboard found that during the nine years 1865 to 1873 the
average number of days in whicli the water was less than 8 feet was
one hundred and fifty nine. For the ten years 1871 to 1880 the aver-
age was one hundred and twenty-six days. From 1900 to 1909,
however, dredges have continuously maintained an 8-foot depth dur-
ing the navigation season. Below Cairo a 9-foot navigation is sel-
dom obstructed by either ice or low water. The frequently reiter-
ated charge that certain kinds of products were injured by the climate
of New Orleans, and that this had led to a diversion of traffic east-
ward, was investigated by the Select Committee on Transportation
Routes to the Seaboard in 1874, and found to have no legitimate
basis except, possibly, to some shght extent in tiie case of corn.

The passage of the interstate-commerce act in 1887 aroused the
well-nigh forlorn hope of the steamboat interests. These interests, as
a rule, had not been able to raise their rates because of the sharp
competition of inchvidual steamboat owners. They had watched the
raihvays lower their rates at competitive water points until they had
taken the business, and then, to some extent, at any rate, recoup
themselves by higher exactions from shippers at inland points which
had no water facilities. The interstate-commerce law forbade dis-
crimination, and complaints were promptly presented to the com-
mission with reference to the river situation. But two months after
the passage of the act the commission rendered a decision in the
petition of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and others, reliev-
ing the roads from the necessit}^ of conforming to the long and short
haul clause where water competition was present. With this deci-
sion went the last hope of the steamboat men that they could main-
tain themselves against the su])eri()r service of the railways, and
orders for new steand^oats, which had been held u]) awaiting the com-
mission's action, were canceled.

II.

OHIO KiVEH ('<)>im?:rce.

An the Ohio Kiver \'alley had earliest develoj)ed its waterway as an
eflicieiit transj)ortali()ii agency, so it was the hi'st to be iiilluenced by
the cxten.'-ion of railways. By 1875 the iour leatling east and west
trunk lines with western connections at Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville,
and C incinuiiti had become the imi)ortant commercial highways, and
had greatly indiieiiced the coiii'se of trade in the States south of the
Ohio and of Missouri. The commercial centers of this section were
now St. Louis, Ijouisville, and ( iiiciiHiali, in competition with Mobile,
New Orleans, and (ialvesjon. The three foimer drew their suj)j)lies
j)rin(i|)iilly i'roni At lantic seapoits. By 1880 ( incinnati had I'ealized
the I'utihty ol the waterway as an aid in the conipet itix'e struggle,
and in that yeai' had completed her ( incinnati Southern Ivailway to
( 'hat t anooga wit li t he purpose of securing a grip on sout liern territory.

TRAKFIC IIISTOKY UK M ISSlSSU'l'l KIVKK SYSTEM. 41

C/ompetition between the two forms of tiunspoitiition liud a
steiulyinji; effect upon water rates. The river rates had earher been
(letcnnined wholly by the supjjly of and demand for trans|)ortation,
and this had been inlluenced <;"reatly by the condition of na\i<iation.
But by 1870 it ap|)eared that an eidiancemcnt of the water rate dur-
infi; a season of low water had a tcMulency to divert traffic to the rail-
way, and that the boats could therefore no lon^<'r enjoy the full benefit
of their situation. To some extent, agreements for jjnnatin^ on
thr<)uj2;h traffic were entered into between rail and water lines. For
example, the Chesa])eake and Ohio prorated with Ohio steamboats
on an allowance of two miles of waterways for one of rail. These
agreements, however, were diflicult to arran<2;e and to keej) in force
because of the lack of boatin*:; or^ianization and the necessity of
makin<i; contracts with so many indixidual steamboat owners.
Nevertheless, ))roratini:; arran<;ements l)etween railways and the
])ackets ojx'ratinjx on the Ohio for the pur])ose lar^i;ely of handlin*:;
Pittsburg steel i)roducts continued until about 1900, when they wei'e
terminated in response to the desire of railways serving the Pitts-
burg district."

The gradual absorption of the general merchandise traffic of this
whole section by the railwaj^s may be illustrated in the commercial
development of Cincinnati. The trade of this city was until about
1S()() chi(>lly (lepend(>nt upon the Ohio River and its connections, ex-
cej)t for that portion of its products which went north by canal and
the Lakes, "^riie outbreak of the war arrested the commerce of Cin-
cinnati, and the diversion of traflic to the railways, following upon the
restoration of normal industrial conditions, not only made Louisville
and St. Louis more active competitors of Cincinnati than before, but
also brought Chicago into the field as a pow erfnl rival. The river trade
was inactive from 1861 to 1872, the down-river traffic below Louis-
ville being limited by the capacity of the Louisville and Portland
Canal, which admitted oidy boats of a maxinnim capacity of GOO to
700 tons. In that year, lioweA^er, the enlarged canal was completed.
Two years later the tolls were reduced and in 1880 were abolished
altogether. These improvements made p()ssil)le the employment of
boats of 1,700 tons upon an unimpeded river and gave some impulse
to river commerce. But so rapidly did traffic on the Ohio decline
that by 1887 there was but one regular steamboat line between Cin-
cinnati and New Orleans. No boats ran from New Orleans to the
Cund)erland and Tennessee rivers, and there was no regular Louis-
ville boat.

The following table of Cincinnati ex})orts shows the steadily
increasing ])i'ei)onderance of rail traffiQ:

Exports from Cincinnati, 1855-1880. b

Year ending August 31—

Shipped by
river.

$20,733,234
77,498,017
43,832,099
45,537,607

Shipped by
rail and canal.

1855

$18,044,160

1865

110.292.294

1875

157 571 924

1880

208. 2S9, tiOO

"Report of Commissioner of Corporations on Transportation by Water. Part II.
b Report on Internal Commerce of the United States, 1880.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

The shipments by canal were a small and declining; amount, and
the large })roportion of slii])ments shown in the second column were
handled by the railways.

The sanie tendency may be also illustrated by a table of steamboat
arrivals at Cincinnati for a series of years.

Number of arrivals of steamboats at Cincinnati, 1848-1880.

Year.

From New
Orleans.

From
Pittsburg.

From
St. Louis.

From other
ports.

Total.

1848

319

880

292
210
206
111
U5
27
93

2,499
1,809
2,264
3,127
2,339
2,442
2,785

3,780

1855

159 407
185 330

2,585

1860

2,985

1865

41
107

71
103

211

151

182

3,490

1870

2,712

1875

2,602

1880

3,163

The only arrivals in which there has not been a shar]:> decline are
those from "other ports," which consist, principally, of local and
ferry service.

The following table gives the steamboat trafhc out of Cincinnati
for the years 1855 and 1905, and shows its change in character and
its marked decline. The comparison is disturbed, but not wdiolly
destroyed, by the variety of units of measure em])loyed:

Principal shipments by river from Cincinnati, 1855 and 1905.
(Compiled from reports of Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and Merchants' Exchange.]

Article.

Ale, beer, and porter barrels.

Alcohol do . . .

Apples, green do . . .

Beef do. . .

Do tierces .

Beans barrels .

Brooms dozens.

Butter barrels.

Do tubs.

Do firkins, kegs.

Butterine pounds .

Bran, etc sacks.

Bagging pieces.

Cattle head .

Candles boxes .

Castings pieces.

Do tons.

Cement and plaster barrels.

Cheese casks.

Do boxes .

Coffee bags.

Do sacks .

Cooperage pieces .

Corn : busliels .

Do sacks .

Corn meal barrels.

Cotton bales.

Crockery packages, cases, etc.

Eggs barrels.

Do -. cases .

Feathers sacks.

Do pounds.

Flour barrels.

Fnilt, dried potmds.

Do bushels.

Fresh iii(>at.s pounds.

Fumiturc packages.

1855.

19, 956
3, 427

17,584

13,977
1,297

18,275
1,300

24, 196

11,456
2,485

10,285
131,191

80, 263
2,073

4
102,352

42,283
108, 105

64,344
2,772
10, 021

5,014
'7,'3i9'

199, 276
"is, 029'

1905.

9,523
'3,664

440
56,630

916

231
3,591

7,615
10,079

11,083
8,042

127
2,846

3,151

3,300

6, 663
93, 000

11,400
17,723

TRAFFIC HISTORY OV MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 43

Frincipal shipments by river from Cincinnati, 1855 and 1905 — Continued.

o Iron and steel

44 TRAPFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI EIVER SYSTEM.

The commodity predominant in Ohio River commerce, in fact the
only commodity of importance now transported on the Mississippi
River system, is bituminous coaL For over twenty-five years this
has far surpassed all other commodities in tons carried. For the
sixteen years 1886 to 1902 the total amount of freight carried
througl/the Louisville and Portland Canal was about 81,000,000
tons, of which nearly 75 per cent was coal.

Transportation of this commodity began ver}^ early in the nine-
teenth century with the aid of the flatboat already described. But
the dangers of the upper Ohio in a "rise" and the difficulties of navi-
gation in low water made the floating of coal flats too precarious to
be profitable. Ohio River coal handling assumed importance about
1850, when steam towing or. better, propelling was permanently intro-
duced, and the business was extended beyond the Ohio River itself
as far as New Orleans. This traffic on the Monongahela has steadily
increased because of the extraordinary cheapness with which it can
be handled, and it alone has saved river commerce in this section
from destruction. While the size of craft employed and the efficiency
of propelling steamboats have been increased, there has been no
fundamental change in the method of handling the traffic during the
last quarter century. There are three typical craft employed, which
are, in the order of size, the coal boat, the barge, and the flat or float.
The coal boat, drawing 10 feet of water, has a capacity of over 1,000
tons or 25,000 bushels^ It costs about $800, and was formerly com-
monly sokl with its cargo at destination. The barge, with a little
less (h-aft, has about half the capacity of the boat, but is better
built, costs about SI, 000, and is returned empty for reloading. This
is used more commonly in the trade which does not extend beyond
Cairo or St. Louis. The float or flat is a still smaller craft, of about
200 tons or 5,000 bushels capacity, drawing about 4 feet, and costing
$400. This fragile craft has also commonly been broken up at the
end of its voyage. These three kinds of floating equipment, together
with fuel boats and the steam towboat, constitute. the fleet.

The method of handling as the fleet proceeds tlownstream is
simply that of a ])rogre.ssive accumulation of units into larger aggre-
gates, as navigiition grows more reliable. The oiigin of the traflic
is on the Monongahela River, where the coal is now loaded mechanic-
ally from the mines into the barges. However, the coal has always
been in sufficiently close proximity to the waterway to make water
handling ])rofitable, even before the introduction of mechanical aids.
At the hegirming of the coal business, flats and rafts were floated
down the riv(>r at high and medium stages of water. The river was
first im|)foved by a ])rivate company, incorporated by the State of
Pennsylvania in 1836, whose works were ac(|uire(l by the United
States in 1897. The river is now navigable by means of locks to
Faii'niont, W. Xn., 131 miles above Pittsburg. Coal is pro|)elled
down this river in small tows to Pittsburg Harbor where the boats
and baiges are moored awaiting a favorable stage of water, when
they are sent in large aggregates to ])oints below on the Ohio ami
Mississippi. Fleets of 25 boats, bai'ges, and flats containing 350,000
to 500, ()()() bushels of coiil are now handled fioni Pittsl)urg to Louis-
vill<'. Tliere they are moored above the falls of the Ohio at rJell'er-
soinille, Ind., are towed in sections throu";h the Louisville aiul

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 45

Portlund C-anul, oi" entire over tlie l';i,lls as tlu' sta<i;e ol" water deter-
mines, ami are reassembled l)elo\v the falls into still lar<z;er fleets for
the final stretch of their journey. One of the lar<;est fleets I'ccorded
carried from below the falls 56, ()()() tons, or 1,400, ()()() bushels of coal.

The rapid increase in this trallic in the eighties was due, so far as
southern demand was concerned, partly to the rapitl ^^rowth of manu-
factiu'inj^ at New Orleans and other Louisiana and Mississi])|)i points
reached by the river and its tributaries, aiul partly to the demand
for coal in the T^ouisiana sui:;ar houses. Nine-tenths of the Louisiana
sufjjar j)lantations were then on the bank of some stream, and coal
could be delivered to them directly by water in these shallow bar«jes.
This coal is still used by the su<i;ar and rice mills of J^ouisiana. It is
also in demand in the gas, domestic, and steam coal trade of New
Orleans, by coastwise and ocean steamships, and by railway loco-
motives. None of it is used at any distance from the river bank;
none is sent for sale to domestic ports beyond New Orleans. Of the
total annual receipts at New Orleans of about 1 ,()()(), 000 t(ms, about
500,000 tons are used by ocean steamships, and about 400,000 tons
are unloaded on the west bank of the river lar<2;ely for railway use.

Coal is now landed to some extent at important ])oints along the
river system, such as Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, Yicksburg,
Natchez, and Baton Rouge. Moreover, the coal barge furnishes a
most satisfactory and economical method of provitling the river
steamers with fuel. The old picturesque method of "wooding up"
disappeared with the exhaustion of tlie wood supjily, and barges of
coal are npw moored to the river banks at designated points. The.se
the steamers pick up, unload while in motion, and then moor again
to the bank, where th(>v are afterwards collected by the towboats
and assembled for the return trip to Pittsburg. With the exhaustion
of the timber supply of the Allegheny River, and the necessity of
obtaining lumber from the Pacific coast, the coal barges are being
returned to the mines in larger numbers, and less of them are being
sold with the cargo.

The perfecting of this method of coal transportation has kept
always in mind as the one object the attainment of the greatest pos-
sible economy of service. This has been accom|)lished by the use of
propelling boats which do not attempt to make great speed, but
which have the power to guide the huge unwieldy fleet of barges
safely to their destination, and also by the method of s])reading out
the cargo over a wide area by means of craft as shallow as possible,
in order to minimize low-water difficulties. As a result, coal is car-
ried from Pittsburg to New Orleans at a little less than half of 1
mill per ton-mile, a rate which is quite beyond the reach of railway
competition." The develoj^nent of the u])per river business in coal
ma}^ be shoAvn, a])]iroximately, by the following table, which gives for
the 3"ears 1844 to ISSO the number of bushels of coal and slack shipjied
from the Monongahela according to the books of the Monongahela
Navigation Company, and from 1890 to 1907 the number of bushels
passed through the locks of the Monongahela River, as shown by

official reports.

*_.

o In view of the fact that the same corporation owns the mine, the loading and
unloading facilities, the boats and barges, and to some extent llie wharves, this rate
is a mere matter of bookkeeping, and too niucli reliance should not be placed upon it.

46 TEATFIC HISTOEY OF MISSISSIPPI BIVEB SYSTEM.

Coal and slack shipped from the pools of the Monongahela slack water, 1844-1885 A

Bushels.

1844 737, 150

1850 12, 297, 967

1855 22, 234, 009

1860 37, 947, 732

1865 39, 522, 792

1870 57, 596, 400

1875 63, 707, 500

1880 84, 048, 350

1885 82, 459, 050

Movement of coal through Monongahela River locks, 1890-1907. b

1890 116, 302, 600

1895 104, 589, 900

1900 145, 446, 575

1905 212, 233, 500

1907 257, 086, 500

It is unnecessary to follow statistically the water traffic in coal
from port to port down the river, but the following summary of the
business of 1907 is illuminating. In that year there passed through
Lock No. 3 on the Monongahela Riyer, which is approximately the
total coal traffic at its origin, 8,957,712 short tons. There was
receiyed in the Pittsburg district in this year from the Monongahela
locks 6,840,816 tons, a small portion of this being mined within
the pools between the locks, and hence not included in the first
figure. There passed Dayis Island Dam on the way down the riyer
2,883,965 tons. There was receiyed at Cincinnati from the Mononga-
hela Riyer 1,244,720 tons, and a slightly smaller quantity from the
Kanawha and other riyer sources. Through the Lousiyille and
Portland Canal and oyer the falls of the Ohio at Louisyille, there
passed 1,154,991 tons on their way to destinations farther south.
The receipts by riyer of coal at New Orleans are estimated at about
1,000,000 tons'per year.

While the coal traffic has steadily grown, as already indicated, the
growth during the last ten years has been almost wholly in the
section between the mines and Pittsburg and Cincinnati. Below
Cincinnati there has been no marked change in riyer traffic during
this decade. Moreover, it is not to be assumed that this product is
handled exclusively or even predominantly by water. For example,
of the total coal shipped into and tlu'ough the Pittsburg district
during the years 1900 to 1906, the railways handled an average of
71 per cent and the waterways 29 per cent. For the Pittsburg
district alone, however, a larger proportion has always been received
by water. In 1906 the proportion carried by water to Pittsburg
was 57 per cent, while to the territory west of Pittsburg it was only
11 per cent. At Cinciiniati, wliere the I'cceipts consist almost wholly
of bituminous coal from the Monongahela and Kanawiia rivers, the
proportion of coal recc^ived by river fell from 93 per cent in 1880 to
60 })(!r cent in 1895 and 33 ])er cent in 190(). Of the total shipments
out of Cincinnati in 1906 only about 6 ])er cent went by river. It is
impracticable to ship coal in any quantity by water to St. Louis, and
only a small amount, used for gas-making purposes, is brought in from
Pittsburg by river.

« Report on Internal Commerce of the United States, 1887.
b Monthly Summary of Commerce and Finance.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 47

Passinfj from coal to other iiiipDrtaiit sources of traffic, a Jjiief suiu-
niary of the rej)ort of tlie Coinniissioiier of ('or|)oraf ions on Transpor-
tation by Water in the United States will suffice to present the existing
situation. Of the tiaffic at)ove l^ittsl)ur<:, that on the Allej^heny is
reduced to l)ulk freij^ht, as railways parallel the river and handle
<j;eneral niei-chandise. This frei<]:ht consists principally of lumber, a
raj)idly decreasin": (luantity, rafted downstream, coal carried a short
distance upstream for the use of steel mills, and gravel, sand, and
stone dredged along the river and carried to f)oints in Pittsburg
Harbor. The total traffic amounted to about 2, 500, ()()() tons in 1906.
The ^lonongahela is likewise paralleled by railway lines, which take
care of the merchandise business. Of the traffic outside of coal, the
only ])roducts of imj)ortance are sand and gravel, of which the pre-
<l()minant movement is upstream. Coal constituted <S4 ])er cent of
the traffic in 1007 and sand and gravel nearly 15 per cent. Of the
commerce of Pittsburg Harbor in 1907, 75 oer cent consisted of coal
and 22 per cent of sand and gravel. Small slii])ments of iron and
steel products still take place. Of the total commerce uj) and down
stream at Davis Ishuul Dam below Pittsburg in 1907, SO per cent was
coal. Sand was next in order, with 17 |)er cent of the total tonnage.
At Wheeling the total receipts and shipnu^nts by river for the year
1906 amounted to only 161,550 tons, mostly general merchandise.
The Muskingum River has a small miscellaneous traffic of fittle
im])ortance. Down the Little Kanawha are floated saw fogs and rail-
road ties, which nearly absorb the entire tonnage. The total traffic
of this river does not reach 100,000 tons annually. Of the traffic of
the Kanawha, nearly 90 per cent in 1906 consisted of coal shipped
almost wholly to (-incinnati. Timber and railroad ties are the otlier
products of importance. The Big Sandy Kiver had a traffic in 1906
of 205,452 tons, of which 94 per cent consisted of timber and ties.
The Census Report on Transportation by Water in 1906 shows river
receipts at Cincinnati of 2,131,(S47 tons and shipments of 231,368
tons. Some traffic is found on the Kentucky Kiver, consisting
principally of lumber and loose logs, and to some extent of coal, but
the total amount is not large. At Louisville, according to the
Census Report on Transportation by Water in 1906, the river receipts
were 1,116,955 tons and the shipments 86,772 tons. Coal constituted
more than half of the receipts, stone and sand ])eing important items.

Through the I^ouisville and Portland Canal and by way of the open
river in good stages of water the river traffic moves southwartl. Of
the total tonnage passing Louisville by these two avenues in 1907,
88 per cent was coal. The other items of sullicient importance to be
separately mentioned were iron ore, manufactured iron, and lumber.
At Evansville, according to the Census Report on Transportation by
Water in 1906, the river receipts, consisting principally of coal and
lumber, amounted to 358,371 tons and the shipments to 57,762 tons.
The Green and Barren rivers have a small tonnage, com])osed largely
of timber and ties and some coal. The Cumi)erland Kiver, although
navigable for 500 miles, has a total tonnage not to exceed 600,000
tons, consisting largely of forest prtxlucts, especially railroad ties.
The Tennessee, navigable in the main river for 1,300 miles, hud a
tonnage in 1906 of 1,578,760 tons, consisting principally of iron ore
and sand transported locally.

48 TRAFFIC HISTOEY OF MISSISSIPPI EIVER SYSTEM.

The census figures show a total traffic on the Ohio system of
15,797,000 tons in 1889 and of 15,227,000 tons in 1906. The decHne
in miscellaneous traffic and in lumber is offset by the increase in coal
movement, so that according to the report of the Commissioner of
Corporations on Transportation by Water in the United States the
volume of traffic, with lumber, sand, and coal included, seems to have
increased to some extent. But the striking characteristic of the com-
merce of this valley is the comparative lack of through business to
the lower Mississippi which characterized it during the first seventy
years of the nineteenth centur3^ With the exception of coal and to
a slight extent lumber, commerce is now confined to short-distance
movements between local points. In spite of the fact that along the
Oliio River between Pittsburg and Cairo there are forty railway cross-
ings or terminals, this local trafhc reaches back but a few miles from
the river bank. Traffic requiring transfer and a rail haul of any con-
siderable distance no longer makes any use of the river, but is handled
the entire distance by rail.

III.

UPPER MISSISSIPPI COMMERCE.

It will be recalled that previous to the civil war the upper Missis-
sippi was the sole highway into the Northwest and that freight and
passenger tralHc by water developed extensively. After railways
reached the river in 1854 and 1855, close relations were established
between rail and river, and pioneers and their supplies traveled by
this avenue to their destination. But after the war the upper river
was soon paralleled by railways, and lines were also extended north-
westward from Chicago and Milwaukee direct to Minnesota and Wis-
consin river points. This promptly put an end to the steamboat
passenger business and began the transformation of the freight
trafhc into a purely local trade.

Moreover, these railway lines tapping the river at so many points
served as efhcient distributing agencies for traffic brought down the
river by steamboats, and this had its influence toward the destruc-
tion of through river trade. For example, of the southbound river
tonnage which passed the bridge at ])ubu(iue in 1878 more than half
was stopped at Fulton and Rock Island and transferred to railways
for shipment to Chicago."

The building ol" railways west of the river already described had
brouglit tliat vast territory almost completely into sid)jection to rail
transportation. By 1879 seven-eighths of the surplus pro(Uicts of
the trans-Mississippi States north of vVrkansas crossetl the Missis-
sippi River on railways at St. Louis or between that city and St.
Paul, and was transported East to local or foreign markets. Only
()08,555 tons were moved south by river in 1878, as compared with
4,58)^,844 tons moved east by rail by way of St. Louis and points
north, from the territory west of the Mississippi. During 1878 the
eastward shipments from St. Louis by rail excee(kMl the southern
shipments from that city by river.'*

"Report on Internal Commerce of the United Slates, 1879.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 49

This ti'iuloncy to divei't ti-aflic from the wnleiw ay was accent iiattHl
by the K)nji; suspension of upper Mississippi naviii:ation (hniii^ the
winter months, ))y the vai'iations of the statue of water, and hv tFie
hick of facihties for ach^quate meehanieal and eomniercial handhnj^ of
])ro(hu-ts at river points. It was not surj)risinn; that seUers of western
pi'ochiee shouhl prefer to send tlieir shij)nients tt) (.Miie.a«j:o rather than
to some river town whieh had no wharves or docks, no warehouses,
no unloachnp; machinery, and no crecht ov bankinjij facilities beyond
what was necessary to meet a nai'row Io(!al (h'niand. Not only in
lloatin<2; equij)ment on the rivers, but in all mechanical aids and in all
the various devices of orijani/.ation that a.ssist commercial exchange,
tlie I'iver sA'stem was totallv lackin*;. In ISSO there were 1.3 rail-
way l)ri(jo;os l)etween St. ]'aul and St. Louis, and not a city with com-
mercial power sufficient to divert tiallic from its eastward course.
Products once loaded in trains west of the Missi.ssippi j)roceeded
direct to Chicago and other large connnercial centers, and water traffic
declined.

The character of the traffic on the Missi.ssippi and its tributaries
during the ten years after the close of the war changed materially.
As already noted, upper Mississippi l^iver traffic, except hunber, to be
later discussetl, had been largely diverted from its southwai'd course.
On the lower Mississippi what remained to the stciunboats consisted
to a large degree of the lower classes of freight cai'ried locally from
point to point along the river. This trafhc the railways luul not
cared to struggle for, but higher classes of freight from liver towns,
and practically all freight from the important interior centers in
States south of Missouri and the Ohio River, were now moved their
entire tlistance by rail.

It would hardly be worth while to trace in detail the decline in
general-merchandise traffic, which began about 1<S70. Railway lines
were extended on both banks of the river and at a tlistance l)ack from
the water, and were in a ]Kisition to control all the merchandise traffic
which they cared to hamlle. On the upper Mississippi, because of the
uncertainty and brevity of the navigation season, water carriage has
not to any great degree affected rail charges. Farther south, how-
ever, the railways have made special rates to divert river business.

General-merchandise traffic on the upper river is now wholly con-
fined to the trading of small steamers between local j)oints, exce|)t for
such traffic as is handled by one ])assenger line between St. I^ouis and
St. Paul, which is operated largely for excursion pur])oses. No one
of the formerly important river towns, such as Burlington, Quincy.
Alton, Davenport, Rock Island. Clinton, Dubu(jue, Lacros.se, and
Winona, has any considerable river traffic to-day. As alreaily stated,
grain was carried before the war during the prosperous days of steam-
boating to the maximum capacity of the boats. This continued in
diminishing quantities into the decade 1880-1890, some of it being
transshij)j)ed by the barge line from St. Louis to New Orleans. But
this has now ceased altogethei'. Wheat raised near enough to the
river t(^ make water handling possible and ])rofitable is now consumed
almost whollv by local mills. Conditions of navigation have discour-
aged flour ship]H'rs and that trade is at an end. l^aige tra<h' in mer-
chandise freight does not exist on the uj)per Mississip|)i. According
to the CensUs Rejiort on Transportation by Water in 1906, the total

19830—09 4

TEATFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI EIVER SYSTEM.

receipts and shipments of the upper Mississippi, exclusive of logs and
rafts, amounted to 1,193,010 tons, of which 728,000 tons were stone
and sand.

The growth of railway traffic in this section coincident with the
decline of river traffic is shown hj a comparison of business done in
1870 and 1880 by railways serving the Mississippi Valley, some of
them paralleling the river, others crossing it.

Table shorving tons of freight carried and tons of freight carried 1 mile by certain western

railways, 1870 and 1880.

Name of railway.

Tons of freight carried.

1870.

Chioaeoand Alton 1,261,432

Chicasfo, Burlington and Quincv 1,052,754

Chi a'o. Milwaukee and fet. Paul 1.522.753

Chifa?o and N'orthwestem I 2,222,978

Chi -aijo and Rock Island 85(;, f ( 8

Illinois Central I 1, ( 23, 994

Hannibal anl S\ Joseph ' 411.831

Ohio and Mississippi I . 528,702

1880.

3,071,788
6, fi39. 180
3,210.353
5.574,(35
2, 9' (>. 763
2,703,582
71(i, 739
1,284.254

Tons of freight carried 1
mile.

1870.

145,000,000
147,409.207
181,428,573
3(:4.747,240
130,(83.871
2(5.409.400
70,858,854

1880.

484, 474, 730
1,(124.4(1, 793
504,870,154
8( 5, 909, 542
(:-8C',458,954
381,288.400
120,065,740

o For the year 1876.

The traffic which during the most of this period used the upper
river to the exclusion of the railway was that of logs and lumber of
various kinds, which were floated loosely in the upper tributaries
and then converted into rafts and propelled downstream to various
points between St. Paul and St. Louis. ^'.lost of this traffic origi-
nated on the Wisconsin rivers, the St. Croix and Chippewa })rinci-
pally. Lumbering was carried on during the winter months, wlien
snow made transportation for short distances to the rivers easy. In
the spring, with the break-up of the ice, the logs were floated down
these streams, and when they reached the navigable river, where
guidance through the bridges was necessary, tlie}^ were taken in
charge by towboats. Every town of any size from St. Paul to St.
Ijouis was either a lumber manufacturing and distributing point for
the logs delivered to them or a mere distributing cenler for the rafts
of latlis, shingles, and various forms of manufactured lumber brought
down from the mills on the upper river and tributaries. As early
as 1876 there were 73 mills in operation on the main river between
St. Paul and St. Louis." Supplies of lumber were shipped from these
points by rail from 10 to 100 miles east of the river, and from 500 to
1.000 miles west.

T^ut even this source of traffic has been slowly slipping away.
TMiereas in 1876 there were 100 raft boats engaged in towing logs and
lumber on Ihe upper } ississipjii. in 1006 there were only 20. Sta-
tistics of the amoiint'of Nvhite |)ine now floated on the river are not
available, l)ut the estimated number of feet of logs, lumber, and
shingles transported is here given for a series of years up to 1891.
The wide variations in di '(M'ent years are due to conditions of naviga-
tion.

a Report on Internal lommerte of the United States, 1887 .

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 51

Number of feet ofvhite pinejldhled on the upper Mississippi River (estimated):

Feet b. m.

1875 1, 0(iO, 000, 000

1876 • ] , 350, 000, 000

1878 1,1 5:^, 000, 000

1880 2, 000, (JOO, 000

1886 1, [iU,, 000, 000

1891 1 , 240, 000, 000

The decline in this form of IrairK' is duo in ])art to tiie coiiditions
of navif^ation. Actual low water, the uncertainty of an ade^juate
stage of water, and the delays ckie to log jams have cHverted much
trallic to the railways. Tt is doubtful, however, whether the short
navigation season of Wisconsin and Minnesota has had any great
influence, for the winter season has been admirably adapted for the
primary lumbering operation. The most important cause of decline
has been the exhaustion of the lumber supply along the river courses,
making it more feasible either to ship logs by rail to the mills or to
move the mills into the forests and ship out by rail the manufactured
lumber. Capital for lumber manufacturing has for a decade been
leaving the Alississippi Valley and engaging in southern and Pacific
coast operations.

The following table j)resents the traffic through the government
canal around the Des Moines and Keokuk Rapids from its opening
in 1877 down to the present time. While different kinds of trallic
vary in amount from 3^ear to year in accordance with conditions
affecting the particular industr}^, and while the canal statistics do
not show the entire trallic except in seasons when the water was too
low for passage through the rapids, nevertheless a survey of the
facts for the entire period shows strikingly the decline in the com-
merce of this section of the river.

Traffic through the Des Moines Rapids Canal for a series of years from its opening in 1877.
[Compiled from reports of United States engineers.)

Year ending June 30—

Steam-
boats.

Barges.

Passengers.

General
merchan-
dise.

Grain.

1878

070
802
9(i7
840
7(0

1,107
913
889
784
990
595

1.022
924

548
454
651
270
444
705
245
l(i9
218
318
235
288
477

Tons.
53,346
(;4, ( 58
78, 989
44,9 2
29,043
43,359
54,215
54, 1-20
50,001
52.815
.33,1(0
.iO.018
71.453
43.182
22.035
25.105
14.451
14.098
13.849

BvLsheh,
737,415

1879

1880

1881

1882

1883

1884

1885

188(i

1887

1888

1889

1890

5.008
13,231
10.003

8,588

9 192
13.057
13.005
22,221
20.797

8.330
22.SS0
14.529
14.752
14.141
27.488
33.90(i
38,005
48.825

2.192,(42
2,197,4(9
1,154.092
781.817
729. 174
470.580
77t..432
4(5.(81
3(i(i.432
143.037
;J8 1.559
397.788

1894

(il9 312
ma 340
882 381
928 285
810 (i44
999 144

83.150

1895

55.729

1900

(i. 902

1905

3.700

IX)6

24. (-35

1907

12.:;71

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

Traffic through the Des Moines Rapids Canal for a series of years from its opening in

.Z 577— Continued.

Year ending Jtine 30—

Logs.

Lumber.

Laths.

Shingles.

1878

" FcH

Ffelb. m.

25.000,000

33.347,612

21.832.478

52,256.235

17,150.011

13.093,325

57,018.151

43.119.797

22.769.823

178,754,876

16(), 827, 752

118, .',08, 045

140, 078. .3-29

117,c60.783

155,625,800

78.8.57,6.57

17,190.000

3.622.000

7,358,000

'Number.

4,000.000

8,721.796
27,8(>3.640
11.6,57,6.55

3,112.825
11.. 5.58,000
15,924.645
13.473.205

4,302,800
19.961.781
S3.(;42.4i0
50.221,099
44.316.167
42.112.415
5.5.0(H,938
18, .502. 200

8.262.000
637.000

4.232.000

Number.
3.700,080

1879

8.056,000

13,11.0,900

11,013,410

4,47.5.000

1.040,000

9.399.764

2.779.670

3. 195. SCO

24.837.000

34.505.000

26.3.33.320

26.089,300

11,749 600

1880

30, 561 . 150

ISSl . . .-.

15.091,000

1882 i

4, 8S5. 250

1883

4,435.000

1884

25, 182. 250

1885-

25. 018, 750

1886

8.253,000

1887 ... ....

90. 450, 922

1888

1889

49.848.840
37.413,810

1890

1894

1895 . . .

29.545.910
32.142,5.50

4.475,000
425.000

6. 700, 000

55. 670, 204

1900

24. .564, 771

1905

1903

1907

4.6,55.000

400,000

1.300.000

Of the traffic on the lower poitioii of the upper river that alone
requires special mention which is handled on the Illinois River, mostly
between St. Louis and Peoria. The total traffic on this river was
given by the census in 1906 as 207,828 tons, of which the largest sin-
gle item was grain. Of the two canals of this section which feed into
the Mississippi the Hennepin Canal, which enters the river by way of
the Rock River near Rock Island, was opened to navigation late in
1907 and handled in that year 3,742 tons of freight and 2,862 pas-
sengers. The Illinois and Michigan Canal from Chicago to La Salle
is now partly replaced by the Chicago Drainage Canal, but the re-
maining portions of the earlier waterway control its depth and its
commerce. Traffic on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which in 1889
amounted to 917,000 tons, was only 6.470 tons in 1906.

IV.

.ST. LOUIS.

St. Louis, constituting one terminus of most of the steamboat lines,
has shared the fate of these lines in its river business. To make this
decline clear, it is only necessary to present from the records of the
St. Louis Merchants' Exchange the following statistics, showing at
intervals the receipts and shipments of St. Louis by the different
rivers and the total receipts by rail. It gives, moreover, a striking
picture of the decline of Mississippi River commerce as a whole.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI KIVER SYSTEM.

Shipments aiul receipts of freight, in tons, at St. Louis, hi/ rait and river, for specified

i/ears, 1871- 1906. '^

(Compilpd from Si. Louis Merchants' ICxchariRe reports.]
SHIPMENTS.

Ohio.

112,652

12'J,025
135.:<00

i7.i;«)

Year.

Upper
Mtssissippj.

Lower
MIssi.sslppl.

1871

78,907
90,225
55,200
48,295
-'2.&J7
30, 780
30,075
25,730
30, 000

477,970
307 ''31

1875

1880

1885

1890

1895

Ml 1.1')

1900

1905

1900

3,1, JIM
34.!H)5

KKCEIPTS.

1871.
1876.
1880.
1885.
1890.
1895.
1900.
1905.
1900.

230, 887
198, 100
220.095
117,445
128.900
78, 170
50,070
31,190
31.140

313,211
128,020
223,925
110,950
222, 075
239,090
274,445
107,520
100,070

lois.

Missouri.

10.9311

44,438

18,470

25,100

9,935

10.415

805

10,330

3,020

10.035

7,040

5,505

5,020

1,225

0,225

4,705

7,835

3,505

140, (JOO
153.995
1,55, (i05
84,830
22, 770
:«),000
20,905
8,725
14,550

72. 579
30, KiO
59,025
10,875
21.350
3,270
2, 725
3,580
2,485

101,073
I40,S05
.'14,195
i;(3,.1't.1
10.'. .100
35.440
2.700
125. 755
100,120

SHIPMENTS.

Year.

Cumberland ^.^^ White,
,,1 .Arkansas,

Tennes.see. ^^^^^^^^^

Total t).v
river.

Total 1>\
rail ■

• Iraiid total.

1871 ; 2,534

1875 1 1, 560

1880 1,315

1885 1 9.955

1890 15. 075

1895 17, 535

1900 , . . . 15, 275

1905 1 8,020

1900 6,880

42,995
1,480
0,100
4.750
fi, 180
1.340

770, 498
ta9.095
1.037.525
534, 175
(K) 1.802
303,35.1
245. .180

959. 882
1.301,450 i
2,75.1.tiS0
3.537,133
5.270,850
5. .349, 327
9,180.309 '

.SO. .175 15. -22.1. 973
89.185 17,672,006

1.730.380
1.940,545
3.793,205
4,071,308
5.872,712
5,052,tB2
9,425,889
15,300.548
17,761,191

RECEIPTS.

1871
1875
1880
1885
1890,
1895
1900
1905
1906.

875
345
015 ,.
370 .
135 I
575
825
870
935

4,170
100

132,940

98. 085

73.340

1.210

1.770

.S.S4,401
• «(«. 525
S93.8tiO
479.005

rm.{. 7:«i
.vw.s;«>

.112.01(1
.'VI.S.1()
327.070

2.298,321
3. 232, 770
ti. 090, 524
O.7(>4.108
9.%9.291
10,489.344
15. .375 441
23. 915.0^0
27.292,017

3, 182, 722
3.89ti..'95
<•>, 990. 384
7, 243, 233
10.033.021
10,9J8.174
15 887.451
24,-05.540
27,620,287

o These ntrnres exclude lutnher. lops, and shinele<; handled in r\\U».

St. Jjouis suffered seriously iu her upper-river eoimuerce from the
diversion eastward by the railways of tralfie from the varit)us river
points. As early as 1S7.5, 00 per cent of the lumher jiroduct floated
on the upper Missi.ssippi was diverted before it reachc(I St. Louis, antl
in 1874 this pro})ortion reached 94 per cent. In 1S71 the receipts at
St. Louis from the upper Mississijipi were three times the shipments,
but in 1906 they were about equal in nmoimt and insij:jnificant in

54 TRAFFIC HISTOEY OF MISSISSIPPI EIVER SYSTEM.

quantity. The loss in river receipts of lumber from the upper Missis-
sippi has been partly compensated for by the receipts of southern
pine brought in barges from the Tennessee and the lower Mississippi,
but the amount handled by rail is now far in excess of that by water.
Shipments of lumber to interior points of consumption are now
almost entirely by rail.

In contrast to business by way of the upper Mississippi, the ship-
ments to the lower Mississippi until 1895 exceeded the receipts.
This is largely due to development of the barge lines to New
Orleans, which will be later described. This barge traffic, which was
largely in bulk grain, ceased in 1903. River grain receipts are now
entirely in sacks, handled by packet steamboats from points up and
down the Mississippi, including also the Illinois and the Missouri
rivers. The total receipts by river in 1906 of wheat, corn, oats, barley,
and rye were only 866,199 bushels. Almost no grain is now shipped
from St. Louis bj^ water. Of cotton receipts, less than 1 per cent iri
1906 came by water. Commerce by way of the Illinois, Missouri,
Cumberland, and Tennessee has declined to but a fraction of its
former size, and that of the Red, White, Arkansas, and Ouachita
rivers has disappeared altogether. The total receipts and shipments
at St. Louis for 1906 of the first four rivers mentioned did not amount
to 50,000 tons.

Shipments to the Ohio River ceased before 1890, but receipts from
there still continue, amounting in 1906 to half the total river receipts.
This was entirely coal from the Monongahela River. River com-
merce at St. Louis which in 1871 constituted 34 per cent of the total
rail and river tonnage, aggregated in 1906 only nine-tenths of 1 per
cent of the total traffic.

MISSOURI RIVER COMMERCE.

Missouri River commerce reached its height i^revious to the civil
war and much of the equipment was destroyed during that struggle.
The discovery of gold in Montana in 1862 furnished a slight incentive
to waterway travel, as the Missouri was the only possible means of
reaching the gold fields. Such passenger traffic as was developed
after the war consisted of gold seekers, pioneers, Indians, and United
States troops. Some attempt w'as made to handle through freight
trafiic between St. Louis and the head of navigation at Fort Benton,
2,300 miles away. In 1867, for example, 71 steamers left St. Louis
for Fort Benton and the upper Missouri, averaging 260 tons each
and carrying a total of 16,655 tons. The average time consumed
in the jouiiiey was about two weeks."

Hie river seems very early to have been divided for navigation
purposes into three stretches — that from its mouth to Kansas City
or Omaha; that from Sioux (^ity, Iowa, to Bisuuirck, N. Dak.; and
that from Bismarck to Fort Benton, Mont., or, in low water, to the
moutli of the Yellowstone. The boats which could reach these
up])er waters were of small capacity. The traffic never developed
significant proportions and the details are hardly worth reproduction.

«Ex. Doc, 'lOth Cons., 3d sess., vol. 2.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSII'IM lUVER SYSTEM. 55

It is sufTicient to say that tlie clownslivaiii tradic in tiic most prosper-
ous times, and in the best stau;<'s of water, consisted principally of
ores and hulHon, wool, hides, and skins, and the u|)streain traliiC of
supplies for the pioneers and militaiy ^'arrisons. In ISSl there
were five lines ol steamboats which made tlieir heatlquarters at
Bismarck, and 21 ])oats plied between that town and |)oints on the
Missouri, makinj; in the season loO to 175 trips. 'Ihese boats carried
into Montana 13,780 tons of ])rivate frei<rht and 3.()()0 tons of j^'overn-
ment frei<rht, besides 1,300 ])assen</ers, 2,400 Indians, l.SOO head of
horses and cattle, and GOO head of sheep. '1 he ex|)orts fiom the
upper river so far as ascertained includcil 2;>,000 bu'lalo hides, 180
tons of wool, 253,7")0 tons of hides, and furs and wolf skins."

But the invasion of this tenitory by the niilways practicallv put
an end to what httle commerce the river interests had developed.
Railway rivalry dates from the close of the war, and soon after 1870,
the Missouri Kiver alons; its entire lenp:th was subject to the severest
railway comjietition \\hich any waterway in the countiy experi-
enced. In 1906, above Sioux City, Iowa, only 10 boats were eniiaj^ed
in freight and, passenp^er trafl'.c, the fieijrht cariied including 9,040
tons of grain, 8,250 tons of live stock, 5,507 tons of hunber and wood,
11,780 tons of sand and building mateiial, nnd 8,850 tons of general
merchandise. A line of boats handling grain ami general nieichan-
dise also operated from Bismarck to points on the Yellowstone Kiver.
This part of the river is niainl}' used to-tlay by gasoline barges car-
rying goods to and from railw ay crossings. From Sioux City to the
mouth of the Missouri the princi{)al traffic was sand and stone, with
a small movement of lumber, grain, and general merchandise. In
1906 the total tonnage luuulled on the lowei" Missouii was onl}'
573,348 tons.

The small ]\art played by the Missouri Kiver in internal-waterway
commerce is due not alone to the intense and successful railway com-
petition which has j^revailetl throughout its drainage area. It is
due in part to the tortuous, treacherous, and fre(|uently obstructed
channel, upon which the expentlituies of the Government, amounting
up to June 30, 1907, to §11,191,000, have had as yet httle, if any,
effect in the improvement of navigation. Capital, even if not fearful
of railway competition, has little desire to engage with an unruly
stream in a struggle of which the issue is so doubtful.

VI.

LOWER MISSISSIPPI (O.MMERCE.

One of the most interesting attempts to resuscitate the commerce
of the lower Mississij)))i after the war is found in the organization of
companies for the ojieration of barge lines between St. T.ouis afnl^
New' Orleans. The invasion of river territory by the railways had,
for reasons already noted, led to the abandonment of the old pas-
senger packet steamboat in favor of towboats or j)r<ipelling steam-
boats with tows of barges or Hats which held the freight. This has
already been shown in the descrij)tion of the Ohio Kiver coal trade.
This method appeared again in the St. I^ouis barge lines, but with

" Ex. Doc. 48th Cong., Ist sesa.. vol. 4.

56 TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

this difference, that the barges were much larger and more expen-
sivel}^ constructed, and that the propellers were huilt with a greater
view to speed than was the case with the Ohio boats. It was intended
that these lines should handle general merchandise as well as grain,
and should deliver their products speedily and on schedule time at
New Orleans.

The boats carried fuel for a round trip and no passengers except
the crews. They made stops only long enough to pick up additional
barges at points along the river, and in this way could avoid steam-
boat delays and make a high average speed.

The barges had a capacity of from 50,000 to 60,000 bushels of grain
each, and could be loaded c[uickly from elevator spouts. A tow boat
often left St. Louis with from 4 to 6 barges attached. At New Orleans
stationary and floating elevators received the grain. The character
of trafhc other than grain handled by the barges is best illustrated by
the description of a shipment from St. Louis in 1880 quoted by the
St. Louis Republican. The contents of the barges were as follows:

4,371 barrels of flour.
1,296 barrels of meal.
1,090 barrels of grits.
5,258 sacks of corn.

802 sacks of oats.

650 sacks of bran.
1,296 packages of lard.

204 packages of meat .

150 bales of hay.
24,992 bushels of bulk corn.

This total was estimatefl as equivalent to 155 carloads of freight.

In 1875 there were only 4 tugboats and 30 barges employed
between St. Louis and New Orleans, but in 1887 four barge lines were
operating 16 tugboats and 120 barges. These barge lines were later
consoliihxted into one corporation known as the "St. Louis and
■Mississippi Valley Transportation Company."

The most important traflic of the barge lines was tliat in bulk
grain, and tlie commercial history of this commodity is worth a
moment's attention. In the early part of the nineteenth century
New Orleans had received large quantities of cereals by river for
export to foreign ports and to Atlantic seaboard cities. This traflic
fell off after the invasion of the primary grain markets by the rail-
ways, with tlie result that in 1873 New Orleans exported less than
2^ per cent of the corn and less than one-half of 1 per cent of the
wheat. Grain, particularly corn, still moved soutli for local con-
sumption, but in increasing proportion by rail. Tlie Select Oom-
mittec on Transjiortation Routes to the Seaboard stated that the
(export of wheat from New Orleans in 1873 was 243,027 l)ushels out
of a total export of 50.733,672 bushels, of which New York liandled
21,221,254 bushels. Of corn <>46,457 bushels were exported in 1873
from New Orleans out of a total from the United States of 38,541,930
bushels.

In the liiiiidling of grain out of S( . Louis (here ;i,pp('a.is Ncry early
to iiave Ix'CMi genuine competition between rail and water routes.
'1 he lirst shipment of grain from St. Louis cast by rail took j)lace in
1805, and fi'oin that date tlie railways extending to the Atlantic sea-
boai<l frequently engaged in i-ate wars, at one time tiansporting

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI KIVER SYSTEM.

<^iiiiii fioiu St. Loui.s t(* tlic si'ii.l>()uril at as low a rale as 9 cents jicr
bushel. In 1S7.S a pool was formed (Mnl)racin<; all the road.s conned-
in^i; the Atlantic- iseahourd with St. Louis and other conipetin^ western
points. 1 he laihvays, bein^ bound to maintain theii- rates, could no
lonf!;er meet the watei' rates. This, coming coincidently with the coin-
|)letion of the jetties at the month ol" the river, <iave such a stimulus to
livercommerce that almost the cut iic <i,raiii exports fi-om St. Louis went
to New Orleans. But this sudden burst of |n-ospeiity was .short lived.
The railways were at war a^ain in ISSl, and the liver boats weie
unable to carry "jrain at war rates. For a time thereafter the <^rain
traflic by river (luctuated with the condition of harvests, and with tlie
signinti; or breakinjij of treaties of j)eace between the railways, but
after 1896 it entered upon a decline, and in 11)0.3 it ceased altoj^ether.
To the destruction of l)arj!;e-line tralllc not alone railway competiti(jn.
but also a rapid depreciation of e(|ui|)ment and hi<j;h marine insur-
ance rates contributed. The following table, compiled by the Bureau
of (\)rj)orations," shows th(> trallic in grain from ISTO to 1!)()M.

Shipmetitt) of bulk grain from St. Louis to New Orleans riu Mi-sifixsippi Hi nr boats,

1870-1903.

[Compiled (roui Si. Louis Merchants' Kxchouge reports.]

Year.

Wheat.

Corn,
Bushels-.

Rye.
Buxliels.

Oats.
Builiels.

Total.

1870..."

Bushels.
66,000

BusliClJi.
66.000

1871

309,077
1,711.039
1,373.969
1,047,794

172.617
1,737,237
3,578.057
2,857,056
3,585,589
9,804,392
8, 640, 720
2,529,712
9,029.509
4,496,785
8,180.039
7,501,730
7,365.340
5,844,042
12.398,955
8.717,849
1,482.731
3, -228, 645
3.293.808
1,26:1,310
l,2ol.8a3
8. :}58, 087
3,827.96;{
3,006,488
1.748,517
2,871,870

535,705

226,400
1,025,221

3,000

312,077

1872

1,711,039

1873

1 , 373, »(i9

1874

365,252

135, %1
37, 142

351,453
1,876,639
2,390,897
5,913,272
4,197,981
5,637,391
1,4.35,043
1.318,688
50.000

743, 439
3,973,737
1,247,952
1,651.950
1.409.440
6,940,215
5, 149, 708
3,710,3tW
1,042,193

438.614
1,732,563
1.191,032
2, 747, 994

234.720

169,241
1,828,244
2,308,714
1,724,220

10,000

1 , 42.3, 046

1875 .

;«>x, 578

1 876

1.774.. 379

1877

171, »43

609,041

157, 424

45,000

22, 423

15,994

2ft5,4.30

344,864

36,093

4, 101.. 353

1878

108,867
30,928

5,451,603

1879

6,164,838

1S80

15,762,664

1881

i;j2, 82.3
150,320
389. 826
487,221
401,787
598, 755
217,722
160,584
89,707
89,960

12,993,947

1882

S.:«3,417

1883

1 1 . a^9. 808

1884

6,(i47,558

1885

8,667,919

1S86

8,843,924

1887 .

11, .5.56, 799

1888

7,252,578

1889

17,432
45,"o66"

14,158,044

1890

10.217.249

1X91

8.4t>.s,54«i

IH92

36,587
75,430
40,000

8.414.940

1,S93

7,079,598

1894

2, .345. 503

1895

1,690,417

1896

43«"i,558
265,379
633,505
249,998
273,049

10..527.2»»8

1897

{90,908
212,7-20

5.475.;n2

1898

6,600.707

1899

2. 233, 2;«

UJ03

.{,314,160

1901.

2,3(i3,949

1902

28,212

28,409

2,591,735

1903

2.749,441

For the seventeen years from 1SS7 until l!>()o the avera.u'e pub-
lished rates on s:rain from St. Louis to Liverpool by river to New Oi-
leans were from 5 to 9 cents j)er bushel lower than tho.s<' via rail to
New York. If these published rates were the actual rates char<;eil,
it is evident that other considerations were sullicient to offsei .i con-

o Transportation by Water in thf» T'lnioil Siatos, Part TI.

TKAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

siderable advantage in the transportation charge. The following table
gives the comparative rates for this period :

Average published rates of freight St. Louis to Liverpool on wheat, in cents, per bushel,

1887-1903.a

Year.

Via river
and New
Orleans.

Via rail and
New Yorlt.

Year.

' Via river
and New
Orleans.

Via rail and
New York.

1887

15^

15f

14.71

11.69

12i

24J

22.95

24.97

21.48

23. 55

21.72

18.71

18.33

1896

13.50
12. 89
14.24
12.33
14.64
9.48
8.53
10.00

19. 67 J
20.33

1888

1897

1889

1898

20 32

1890

1899

17 88

1891

1900

18.41

1892

1901 . .

14 03

1893

1902

15 33

1894

1903

16.02

1895

o Report St. Louis Merchanls' Exchange, 1908.

Lack of railway facilities in the South before the war and the exe-
crable condition of the roads led the planters to locate their cotton
lands along the river banks, and transportation of cotton was almost
wholly by water. Alabama planters sent their cotton b}^ way of the
Tennessee River to New Orleans, and such points as Memphis, Vicks-
burg, Natchez, and Shreveport became important collecting and
shipping ports. In the decade 1850-1860 cotton w^as by far the most
important product received by river at New Orleans.

With the development of railways in the South after 1865, tlie
establishment of cotton-manufacturing plants at various points in
the South, the extension of cotton culture westward beyond the Mis-
sissippi into territory not served by waterwaj^s, and the change in
the methods of purchasing, compressing, and shipping cotton, the
waterw^ays became of decreasing importance. The immense cotton
territory extending up the Mississippi and along the Red, Ouachita,
Arkansas, and White rivers, which had sent its cotton to New Orleans
wholly by water, began to ship its product by rail. By 1880 ship-
ments of cotton from the Arkansas and the White rivers had prac-
tically ceased. The Red and the Ouachita still clung for a time to
traflic which was too remote from a railway to be economically han-
dled in that manner. But in 1881 a branch of the Texas and Pacific
was completed which paralleled the Mississippi to Baton Rouge, and
followed in general the direction of the Red River as far as Shreve-
port. This soon rechiced the commerce of the Red River to insig-
nificance.

In tlie early (hiys Vicksburg was one of tlie most important com-
mercial (h'pendencies of \ew Orleans, shipj)ing immense (juantities
of cotton and receiving supplies for distribution inland. But th(^
Yazoo country was lost to the river when the Yazoo and Mississij)pi
Raihoad, running througli the Mississippi delta region, was opened
in 1884. In 1899 this railway carried 483,000 bales of cotton or
40 per cent more than all the rivers combined. The Natchez, .lack-
son and Columbus Railroad was com])leted in 1882. Natchez, for-
merly the most important river town between New Orleans and
Ijouisvillc, was soon thereaft(>r without any regular pack(^t liiu^ from
New Orleans. By 188" Ihic'e-fourths of the cotton of Natchez and
Vicksburg was being h.-mdlcd by rail. Northeastern Mississippi,

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

0\)

northern Georo;ia, western Tenne.s.see and Kentucky in thi.s neriod
be<jjan sendinc^ their cotton by rail to Savannah, ( harleston, and Nor-
folk. Mcmpliis, altlioujj^h still receivin<; a considcrabh* quantity
of cotton by river, 2o,'M)'2 ton.s in WHH), send.s out nio.st of it by rail-
way.

New Orleans has been compensated lor her river losses by rail
receipts from Texas plantations, so that the total cotton receipts at
New Orleans have steadily increased. The following; table slunvs
the receipts of cotton at New Orleans lor a serii's of years, and tlie
percentage received by river:

Receipts uf cotton at ^ew Urleamfi

Year.

RweipU
by rail.

BaUi.

4;«.495

40<i.076

(i27.577

1,018,201

1,722.473

l,9;i5.177

1,833,7.55

2,082,053

Receipts
by river.

rcrcentac*
by river.

1873

BtUn.

908.877

7.50,080

1,087. .522

080.37<i

08. 8

1875

04.8

1880

03.5

1885

40.0

1890

425,828 19.8

1899

343.450 1.5.0

1904

192,842 1 9.6

1907

231,381 1 10.0

Reports New Orleans Cotton Exchange.

The decline in grain and cotton traffic on the lower Missi.'^sijtpi is
t}'pical of the movement on this section of the river. By 1887 there
was not, with the exce])tion of J^ayou Sara, a town on the lower Mis-
sissippi of over 1,000 population which was without railway connec-
tion with New Orleans, St. Louis, or Menii)liis. To the boating inter-
ests was left undisturbed only the local cominerce between the river
villages. Evansville, Puducah, and Wheeling had no longer tlirect
lines of stejimers to New Orleans. The ( incinnati trade had been
reduced to one-quarter of its former size, and one line ()f through
steamers was sufficient to care for the (incinnati and Louisville trade
with New Orleans. The latter city had almost entirely lost its earlier
trade in "western products," as the following table shows:

Western produce exported from New ()rhiuu,J'or the years 1856 and ISSG.'

Arliclc.

Year endln
185C.

B June 30—
1886.

Wheat flour

barrels..

251.501

1.177,700

3. MO. 150

4,075.900

20,0tiC..901

25.833

24,832

Beef

pounds..

1-2C.,540

r.do....

149.481

Pork

do....

801,588

do....

:{47,196

eallons..

3,540

a Report on Internal Commerce of the I'nited States, 1880.

Since 1887 the situation has not iiui)roved and to-day the river
from St. Louis south, aside from the transportation of cotton on its
lower stretches, and the receipt and conveyance of coal from the
Ohio, is a negligible transportation factor.

60 TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

There are no longer any through passenger or packet boats from
St. Louis to New Orleans. All through freights (except on barges)
must usually be transferred from packet to packet at Memphis and
Vicksburg. Occasionally a few passenger boats make the through
trip upstream or down for the benefit of excursionists, but only
a few times a year." Between St. Louis and Cairo there is nothing
but local traffic between river towns. The total tonnage handled
in 1906 amounted to 458,000 tons, of which the largest items were
coal 171,000 tons and logs 120,000 tons. Cairo was formerl}^ an
important river shipping point for grain, but the railways destroyed
the water traffic by low rates, and by granting certain transit privi-
leges and establishing switch connections. It is a typical instance of
the struggle of efficiency against inefficiency, which will be referred to
again in the conclusion to this discussion.

Between Cairo and Memphis the through business is controlled
by railways on both sides of the river and, except for coal south-
ward and lumber northward, the traffic is insignificant and local.
One packet line only operates between Memphis and St. Louis and
Cincinnati. Between Memphis and Vicksburg there is a considerable
traffic in logs and lumber brought down from the tributaries. South-
ward the logs are propelled in rafts, but northward they are handled,
like lumber, in barges. The season is a long one, usually about nine
months, and the radius of movement is 250 to 300 miles from Memphis.
In 1906 about three-quarters of a million tons were handled.

Cotton begins to appear in the river statistics from Memphis south-
ward. Iron and steel products to some extent come down the river
to Meinphis from the Pittsburg district. From Memphis southward
are shipped general merchandise and plantation supplies; return
shipments, which are considerable, consist of cotton and cotton seed.
Commerce on the White River in 1907 amounted to 128,000 tons,
most of which was logs, ties, and lumber. On the Arkansas in 1907
the total tonnage was 105,000 tons, largely logs and lumber.

Between Vicksburg and New Orleans the local tradic is greater,
and miscellaneous merchandise plays a larger part. Only a few
local lines remain in operation from ^ icksburg south, as this stretch
of the river is under almost complete railway dominance. Yazoo
River commerce amounted in 1907 to 228,000 tons, the largest items
being Unnber and logs. The Red River still ships some cotton,
lumber, and plantation supplies, the extent of the traffic varying
with the condition ol" navigation, and cotton and lumber still come
from the Ouacliita. Of the total commerce on the Mississippi i)roj)er
between Vicksburg and New Orjeans, iimounting in 1906 to 2,55-1 ,000
tons, 832,000 tons, or 33 per cent, consisted of coal from the Ohio,
and 859,000 tons, or 34 per cent, of gravel, sand, and stone.

The commerce of the river j)ort ol New Orleans has been discussed
already in connection with tiie coal, grain, and cotton trade. Aside
from the.se products, and the lumber and logs received from the
Missi.ssi|)pi tributaries, there is some traflic in rough rice, in petro-
leum, and in miscellaneous mercliandise. The total river commerce
of New Orleans is estiiunlcul bv the Bui(>!iu of Corpoi'ations to be over
1,800, ()()() Ions. If tiiis fi.'ure be c()m[)ared with a total in 1880 of

oR. Doc. No. 50, eist Cong., 1st sess.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI KIVER SYSTEM. Gl

2,959,250 tons, not including rafts, it will be seen that tlicrc lias been
a heavy falling off in river commerce at this jxjrt.

Neither has this port been able, even with tlic aid which railways
have all'orded in later decades, to maintain its position as an export-
ing and importing point. In ISliU, 27 per cent of the total exports
from the L nited States went by way of Aew Orleans and 0.;-{ per cent
of the imports were received through this port. In IhSG the j)ercent-
age of exports was 12 per cent and of imports l.l per cent; in 1907
the percentage of exports^ was 9.07 i)er cent and of imports '.i:2\ per
cent. However, other causes, beyond the scope of the present dis-
cussion, have affected the position of New Orleans as a coiniucicial
port.

The present condition of traflic on the lower Mississip])i may be
clearly shown by the reproduction of a table presented m a re<-ent
report of a board of United States engineers."

ttH. Doc. No. 50, Gist Cong., Ist aeea.

TRAFFIC HISTOEY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

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TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

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64 TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

SUMMARY.

It is difficult to summarize statistically the present traffic condi-
tion of the Mississippi River system. The reports of the corps of
United States Engineers cover specific sections of the river, and are
pui)lished as made, with no attempt to unif}'^ them and eliminate
duplications. The Census Report on Transportation b^" Water in
1906 excluded all logs and lumber in rafts, and confined its statistics
to the traffic transported by some form of vessel. Inasmuch as
rafting has always been one of the chief sources of reliance for interior
river commerce, this leaves the total figures incomplete at a vital
point. The total receipts and shipments on the entire system for
vessels of over 5 tons, including harbor traffic and car ferries, amounted
in 1906 to 31,626,981 net tons. To this should ])e added, according
to the report of Bureau of Corporations, at least 6,000,000 tons of
logs and rafts. Of the total freight movement, exclusive of iiarbor
traffic and car ferries, amounting to 19,531,093 tons, more than 56
per cent was coal, and 20 per cent stone and sand. This was an
increase in coal traffic since 1889 of 29.4 per cent, and in stone and
sand of 1,147 per cent. Lumber and logs in rafts not being included,
it is impossible to determine exactly their movement during these
fifteen years, but the decline has probably been fully 25 per cent.
The movement of grain, cotton, and iron ore has fallen to insignifi-
cant amounts.

A- characteristic feature of river transportation, which has been
growing steadily more pronounced since 1865, is the predominance
of the unrigged craft over the packet steamboat. In 1906, out of a
total of 9,622 vessels on the river system, 8,187, or 85 percent, were
unrigged, and of the steam vessels only 390 were employed for the
carrying of freight and passengers in regular river service. The
remainder were tugs and towing vessels, ferryboats and yachts.
By these unrigged craft most of the traffic was transportetl, the largest
part of tlie commerce being in Ohio River coal. Out of a total of
19,531,093 tons carried, 13,980,368 tons, or 71 per cent, were trans-
ported on the Ohio in barges and flats. Aside from bulk traffic in
barges, flats, and rafts, the business on tlie i-iver is almost wholly
local and for short distances.

This decline has been tlie subject of much comment, particularly
by those who have observed the extended use to which waterways
have been put in many of the European countries. Yet the causes
are not far to seek. It slioidd be remarked, however, that they are
so interwoven one with the other that it will be somewhat difficult
to discuss them separately witliout apparent exaggeration of the
importance of the particular cause as it is consideied.

The first cause which suggests itself is that of the influence of com-
petitive agencies, Ix'giuuing with the eastward movement by lake
and canal early in the thirties, and followed by the rail movement in
the next two decades. This latter agency was undoubtedly more
edicicnl fiom the very beginning, })ecause of its greater power to
a(lai)t itself to varied Iraflic re(|uiivments. It is llexible in matters
of s|)eed, extensibility, terminal adaptability, and the like, and it is,
moi>'over, much more rcliahle. (\)ns(H|uent !y, it (\w\y away at once

TEAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 65

all |)assenger tiavcl, ('.\cej)t excursion husincss and lociil <»r Unvx
tiaflic, and all mail, oxpiess, and I'ast-lVoitjht hiisiness, uliioli deprived
the steanihoats of their most lueiative sources of euinings, l)eing
greatly aided in this endeavor hv the interruption to water trans-
|)ortation during the war. But not only was the railway naturally
more eflicientj but it grew more eflicient, relatively, as the years went
on, for the steamboat l)usiness stood still ordeclineil nffer isfio, cxcei)t
in its handling of a few products by barge.

Whether it is true («• not, as frecjuently charged, that rail\\a\s have
secured control of steamboat lines, have purposely kept them inefli-
cient, and hav(> operated them to keep eJiicient sei'vice off the rivers,
it is undoubtedly true that they have, as earlier noted, reduced rates
at water competitive points and recouped themselves elsewhere. In
this practice, supporteil as they are by judicial decree, they have a
monopolized advantage fi'oni w liicli competing steamboat lines are
excluded.

The ({uestion whether the livers any longer exert an inlluence u|)on
rail rates has been fre(juently dehated. emj)hatic assertions by the
railways that such influence is still ))otent IxMng met by e(jually
em])hatic statements that the river in its present condition is power-
less to afi'ect the rail late. In th(> j)r(>liniinary leport of the Inland
Waterways Commission are included elal)orate com[)aiisons of rail
and water rates to various j^oints for different classes and kinds of
commodities. It would api)ear from a careful study of the tables
healing upon the Mississijipi Kiver situation that the waterway,
inedicient as it is, exerts an influence to-day upon the rail rat(» varying
in degiee according to ciicumstances. This is made clear by a com-
})aris()n of rates charged by railways paralleling the Mississippi north
of St. Louis, where water traflic still i)ievails, with rates chai'ged for
similar distances by railways ])aralleling the Missouri, which is no
longer a commercial factor. Kates on this stretch of the Missi.ssippi
are lower for the same commodity and distance. Yet when the cost
of marine insurance is added to the river rate, and also the drayage
charges which so frequently accompany the consignment and receipt
of river ti'aflic, it is a question whether I'ailways could not. if they saw
lit, absorb most of the water Irallic. provided their e(|uipinent was
adecpiate.

The table given l)elo\\ includes typical rates drawn from an exhibit
presented in a recent special i-e|)ort of a board of United States
engineers. It .shows in parallel columns the rail and water rates on
sections of the lower Mississippi. It will be oh.served that in some
cases the rail rates are lower than the water rates, in some cases
maleriallv higher, and in some cases the rates are identical. Not-
withstanding these variations, however, most of the traffic .seeks the
lailwav. One further fact should b(> noted. The distance Ix'tween
terminal points is in every case materially shorter by rail. This is an
advantage which the I'ailway almost inv!iri;il>ly eiijoxv.

19SM 0!) 5

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

Freight rates per ton by rail and water, December. 1908."

Mileage ' Sand and Manufao- i Grains and , cnnnr^
distance. gravel. ^ tured iron. seeds. «-^oiiou.

SsTs' I- ore.

points.

Water.
Rail.

Water.
Rail.
Water.
Rail.

$3. 40
2.00
2. .50

2.00
2.00
2.00

Rail.
Water.

From St. Louis
to-
st. Paul

729
182
420

366
284
132

576
150

$2. 00 '$i. 70

$2.80
2.00

$4.20
2. 10

$2.80 $3.00 i$8.00 $5.20
3.00 |.

$3.20 $2.00

2.72

6.00

2.00

1.50

$3.00
1 68

Memphis

From New Or-
leans to—
Vicksburg. . .

Natchez

Baton Rouge

311

227
214
89

2.50
"."36'

1.60

1.60
1.60
1.40

.3.00

2.60

2.40
2.40
2.40

5. 00 2. 40 1 3. 60 2. 20

2.40 2.40 I 4.00

2. 40 1 2. 40 4. 00

2.00 1.60 3.00 ! 3.00

1 1

3.00

3.40
3.40
1.40

a H. Doc. 50, 61st Cong., 1st sess.

The lack of development of river equipment, alie.idy referred to,
has been based in larp:e ]"art upon legitimate groimds — an unwilling-
ness to invest capital in an industry so highly speculative. The
risks are not alone those of railway origin, but they arise in part from
the natural difhculties of navigation. Obstructions due to snags
and bars on all the rivers except the Missouri have to a considerable
extent been removed, although they are constantly liable to reappear.
The barrier at the mouth of the ^Mississippi, which until 1878 gave the
railways a decided advantage, is now gone. But there still remain
many obstacles. Ice stops navigation for many months of each year
in the upper river. The swiftness of the current demands a costly
adjustment of business methods to meet the requirements of upstream
traffic — a difficulty absent in the Lakes. The shifting and irregular
current and the uncertainty of the water supply menace navigation.
To such an extent is this true on the upper Mississippi that the one
line now operating between St. Louis and St. Paul declines to make
season contracts, and accepts shipments for single trips only. Then
there are the variations in dc])th of water, most strikingly shown on
the u])}5er Ohio with the January and February floods, when the
river sometimes rises at Cincinnati to 70 feet above low^-w^ater mark.
This variation in water depth is not alone dangerous to navigation,
but it prevents the application of capital to the greatest economic
advantage. On the Lakes, with an assured depth of water, the largest
vessels can be em])loved and loaded to their ca]iacity. It is not ])rofit-
able to build vessels on the rivers which can run only in the best stages,
and whicii mii.st lie idle during the rest of the year. But light-draft
vessels are not economical in good stages of water. Moreover, these
sharj) and sudden variations in the stage of water have made fixed
wharves im|)ossible and have compelled the use of the less enici(Mit
flcjating dock. In low stages the cost of loading and unloading is
.sensibly increased in many ])laces by reason of the stee]i and high
river banks.

liut navigation is hindered not alone by variations in stage of water
due U) floods and droughts, but also by tlie normal dill'eience in (iej)tii
of the did'erent sections of the livei- system, 'i'lie lack of development
in the past of any through trafiic from the upper Mississipj)i to New
Oi'leans, and the jxMsistence ol' the costly i)ractice of transfer at St.

TRAFFIC HISTOKV OF MISSISSIl'IM UIVKK SYSTEM. H7

Louis, have hccn duo to t his (lillcrcncc iu dci'lli ol" the lower .'iikI iipjx'c
river, and to the conseciuent diU'ereiue in draft of vessel ('ni;>loyed.
It was to meet this dilliculty that the harL'e system was introduced,
whose units, similar to railway cars, eould he dioiJped oi" attached at
will, and handled on did'erent stretches of liver without the necessity
of transfer of load.

Althou<;h it must he admitted that from a mivijration standj)oint
the condition of the Mississij)|)i is much sujx'iior to what it was in
the days of its commercial j)rosperity, vet nnich icmains to i)c done
and much which is once done has to l)e frequently rej)eated. The
destruction of hanks due to shiftin<; channels, an<l the fact that the
Missouri uses the lower Mississii)i>i as a dum])in<^ *i;roun<l, make
continuous dredffing lu^cessarv, and any iessenin*^ of vi<);ilance in
this direction tlirouo;h failure of conjiressional appropriations is
promptly punished bv a seiious impairment of the m>vit;ability
of the stream. Yet liowever serious navi^ition diflicidties may
appear to us, they can not, except to a small deo;iee, explain the
decline of liver comnuM-c<\ For in spite of all obstructions, we possess
fi'ee waterwavs which are in many respects snperioi- to those of
Europe; yet we have but a fraction of their tonnajje. A dead low-
water channel of 4V feet pi'cvails throughout the year from St. Paul
to the mouth of the Missouri. Four feel draft prevails on the Mis-
souri at low water as far as Kansas City. From St. Louis to Cairo
there are only a few days in the year when a boat drawino; 8 feet can
not operate freely. Below Cairo for S40 miles theie is a 9-foot
depth during low water, and for the last 270 miles boats of 25 to 30
feet draft can oj)erate. On the Ohio from Cairo to Pitt.sburg, there
is a 9-foot de]>th during nnvlium stages of water, which is being
improved to a 9-foot depth at low water. In comjiaiison with these
figures it should be noted that much of the canal and uj)rivei- boat
traffic of Europe is performed on 1 meter (3.28 feet) draft; most of it
is done on 2 meters (6.56 feet) draft and 10 feet draft is exceptional."
Hence it is lack of uniformity in ililferent sections of the river, and
a resulting inability to use equij)ment to the best advantage, rather
than the shallowness of the streams which must be accounted the
important navigation o})sta(de.

In the third ])lace, whether, as a result of the two causes just men-
tioned, railway competition and navigation obstacles, or whether,
because of a lack of initiative on the part of river interests after the
war, the steamboat business has been wholly lacking in the admin-
istrative organization necessary to cope with so superbly organized an
industry as the railway. Capital has kept out of it. The river steam-
boat, except that it has changed from a passenger to a freight carrier,
is the same craft as always. As late as 1906, out of a total of 1,435
steam vessels on the Mississi])i)i Kiver system, 1,358, or 95 per cent,
were of wood. The old inellicient "roustabout" labor is still em-
ployed, and no attempt whatever has been made to introduce mechan-
ical appliances for loading and unloading. There are very few
satisfactory wharves and docks, jnany of the landings being juade (m
the river bank, and the goods dumped on shore without cover. As
the rivers are at the lowest levels, goods must be hauled u])hill to
reach a place of sale. Good natural landings are few, and artificial

"H. Doc. 50, p. :i29. »51st <'(>nir.. 1st sess.

68 TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM.

ones are too expensive to l)e within the reach of small communities.
Thus the terminal expenses as compared Avith the more flexible rail-
way are veiy heavy.

Adequate terminal facilities are in very few instances owned or
controlled by water lines.

St. Louis, Mo., has little wharfage, either public or private, except the graded
river bank; East St. Louis has almost no public landings and few pri\'ate ones; Cairo
111., has several piers and slips and some few floating boat landings and warehouses,
but all under private monopoly. Memphis and Mcksburg have limited public land-
ings, con.-isting merely of graded banks and occasional floating warehouses. The
other cities are less well pro\"ided. Such transfer facilities as exist at the Lake Supe-
rior and Lake Erie grain, ore, and coal harbors are unknown on the Mississippi. The
injury to freights and cost of transfer by reason of necessary rehandling at the water's
edge, and subsequent cartage up the bank and across the city to the consignee, are
usually sufficient to outbalance a decided higher freight rate by rail."

In many cases all satisfactory terminal property has been acquired
by the railways. For example, portions of the river front at Pitts-
burg, Xew Orleans, St. Louis, and Vicksburg are owned by railwa}'^
corporations. The primary jjurpose of the railways is not to check
the development of water transportation, but to secure desirable
land for switch tracks and yards, yet its effect upon the development
of steamboat traffic is disastrous.

Furthermore, nearly half of the steam vessels operated on the Mi.s-
sissippi, representing, however, onh' about one-c(iuirter of the ton-
nage, are owned by individuals, and are run independently with very
little thought of securing united action toward better organization
of river traffic. This makes it impossible for ship])ers to arrange for
through handling of goods. Repeated rehandlings by irresnon.sible
steand)oat caj)tains cause (himage to the goods, and make location
of resj)onsibihty for the damage (lifficult and the .settlement slow and
costly. Practically the only traffic which is well organized is that of
coal on the Ohio, and this is largely under the control of a single
corporation. Of the total tonnage in 1906 of unrigged vessels, 96.6
per cent was owned by corporations.

Finally there was and still is a funtlamental cause of decline of river
commerce to be found in the relation of trafiic movement to traffic
agencies. So long as wheat and corn were produced near the water-
ways and could l)e (lis])osed of at markets located on the rivers,
traffic by river continued ; but so soon as either of these coiulitions was
no longer present, the railway began to take the business. If grain
was sliipped from a river port and recjuired transfer to rail for delivery
at a pi'imary market, like Chicago, the expense of transfer ami the
lack of all facilities for satisfactory handling turned the traffic at its
source to the railways. When gi-ain began to be produced away from
the waterways, it had to be loaded at first into railway cars, and once
in the cars it remained theie until it icached its market. The move-
ment of the wheat area northwestward to a region west of Lake
Supei'ioi- and the advance of the corn aica westward eidianced this
tencK'ncy, and the railways encouraged it l)()th by the provision of
suitahic facilities for storage and handling and by the adjustment of
their rates. Tlie effect upon the Mi.ssissippi liiver is strikmgly shown
by the fact that although in the fifties there were many towns with
prospects of raj)id and successful development, yet at the census of

" If. Doc. 50, (ilst Com,'., 1st sess.

TRAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM. 69

1900 there was not a river town from St. Paul to St. Louis wath 40,000
people and only three, Quincy, Davenport, and Duhutpie, with over
25,000 inhabitants. The same principle niaj' be illustrated in other

garts of the system. For example, Madison and Xew Albany, Ind.,
oth declined in population between 1890 anrl 1900, and neither of
them had 25,000 people in the latter year, whereas Indianapolis, pre-
eminently a railway center, which in 1840 had less po])ulation tlian
either of the towais mentioned and in 1850 almost exactly the same
number, had in 1900 a population of 109, 000.

So far as export business by way of Xew Orleans is concerned, the
long roundabout journey, combined witb hick of satisfjictory steam-
ship facilities at Xew Orleans, has had its influence in turnin*!: traffic
eastward by rail.

The kind of business which has most satisfactorily developed on
the Mi.ssissii)pi Kiver system has been that trans])orted in the form
of rafts, the lumber Inisiness, and that handled by baro:es, of which
coal is the best examj)le. The former flourisiied on the upi)er Mis-
sissippi, and is still ])r()sperous on the lower Mississip])i and the
Ohio and tributaries, because, as already indicated, it can l)e slipped
mto the water and carried to its market with little exi)enditure of
labor an<l with no necessit}" of transfer. So soon as the forests were
cut ofl' on tiie banks of upper Mississi])j)i tributaries, rafting be^jan to
decline, and a ra])idly increasing proportion of lumber and log outjiut
was carried by rail.

The Ohio River coal traffic illustrates j)ecidiarly well the kind and
method of business to which the river system is at j^resent a(la|)ted.
In this industry, to be sure, are some of the advantages whicli are
lacking in any other, namely, administrative* organization, mechan-
ical loading aj)))liances, and the highest development of barg(» traffic.
But in atldition to all this, coal can be loaded direct from the mines
into the barges and can then be transported without any rehandling
to its destination, which is the river steamboat, the ocean-going
steamship, the sugar plantation on the bay, or the railway coal yard
on the river bank. In (Hher words, the Mississij)pi can at present
handle traffic successfidly which begins and ends within its banks,
but ti-aflic lequiring transfer to the railway at any point on its course
Avill have a tendency to resort to the railway for tlie entire distance.
AVhether this situation is due to a control of teruiinal and transfer
facilities by the railways and a refusal to ])ro rate with the waterway,
whether it is due to lack of initiative on the ])art of river interests in
developing transfer facilities, or whether it is due to the greater
cheapness of an all-rail haul, the fact remains that carriage involving
transfer no longer makes use of the Mi.ssissij)pi River system.

A recent si)ecial report of a board of I'liited States engineers" calls
attention, in explaining the insignificant commerce of the lower
Mississipj)i, to the fact that the i)opulation in sections bordering the
river is as low as 86 to 24 per square mile, including cities, and that
in a total length of about 1.265 miles there are only seven towns or
cities of over 10,000 population and only 23 of over 5,000 population.
In rei)ly to this and in answer to the statements which picture the
declining condition of river commerce the advocates of water-
ways insist that if they were given an improved channel commen-

"H. Doc. No. 50, 61st Cong., l3t sess.

70 TKAFFIC HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI BIVER SYSTEM.

surate with the needs of business, traffic would come and the thinly
settled sections along the rivers would be built u]). They also con-
tend that even if commerce were not developed by the waterway
the existence of a waterway ready for use would so affect railway
rates as amply to justify the expenditure for construction. This last
contention ma}' be dismissed with a few words. No expenditure by
the National Government would be justified for the construction or
improvement of a useless or idle waterway unless the saving could
be clearly demonstrated in advance. Such a demonstration would,
in the nature of things, be (juite impossible, for it is evident that the
comparative attractiveness of rail and water routes is not a simple
question of comparative rates. A variety of factors which can be
summed up in the word "serviceability" actually determine the
method of shipment, and such factors can not be ])redetermined. If
the pur})ose is to reduce railway rates, there are more direct and less
costl}' methods of accomplishing this result.

The influence of a waterway in developing traffic is somewhat
problematical, and no final answer can be given to the claims of
those who insist that trade will follow the lock and the dam. Al-
though there are real obstacles at present to successful navigation,
as already noted, nevertheless it is difficult to understand why the
commercial interests, if they are so eager foi' a waterway, have not
made better use of existing facilities. The inference is a natural
one that the trouble lies elsewhere than in the condition of water
navigation.

But it must be admitted that there is some basis for the conten-
tion that good traffic facilities develop traffic. The truth of this has
been often demonstrated by the railways. The waterway advocates
haA'e reason to count upon a repetition at least in part of railway
experience, but hardly to the extent claimed by some of the ex-
tremists among the supporters of the policy. They have, however,
the right to a reasonable assurance that such improvement work as is
now being carried on and such plans as have been undertaken for
further betterment shall be continuous, in order that such invest-
ments as they may make in floating equipment shall not be lost by
an abandonment of improvement work.

To four general influences, then, may be assigned the decline in
Mississi})pi River commerce: First, C()mj)etition of rail and lake;
second, natural obstructions to navigation: third, lack of adminis-
trative organization of the water trans|)ortation business; and
fourth, certain fundamental principles of ti'aHic movement which
unchM- existing conditions work to the disadvantage of water carriage.

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