T 



lie river roarers 



Traffic on the Oliio and Mississippi had become heavy. 

 It brouglit in a new breed of boatman, "a sort of am- 

 phibious animal — kind-hearted as a Connecticut grand- 

 mother, but as rough as a Rocky Mountain bear." Their 

 exploits became legendary, and some of the characters 

 may even have been mythical. 



Among the boisterous crews who were to be found on 

 the boats were a number whose existence was not a sub- 

 ject of later doubts. Conspicuous among them were such 

 "river rats" as "Little Billy the Earthquake," out of 

 Florida, an expert at eye-gouging and, most notably, 

 Pittsburgh-born Mike Fink, so skillful a marksman that 

 he was frequently referred to as "Bang-All." 



They were to be found as "captain," or sometimes as 

 a crew member on barges or flatboats (the "Kentucky 

 broadhorns" ) , manned by 40 to 50 hands and carrying 

 loads of 50 to 60 tons. Keelboats, which did not have to 

 be laboriousl)' rowed or dragged against currents up- 

 stream when returning to Louisville, usually freiglited 

 20-30 tons and had a crew of ten. Louisxille was the 

 boatmen's meeting-grounds, Natchez their recreation 

 center, the rivers their home. 



K 



eel boatmen 



Mike Fink had graduated to keelboats early in his 

 career on the Ohio. It was a convention of the blustering 

 boatmen tliat they announce their presence in saloons 

 or elsewhere b>' roaring out a brag. Fink's was typical. 

 After assuring any audience that he had drunk only 

 whiskey in his cradle and boasting of similar accomplish- 

 ments he would go on to say . 



33 



