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CARROLL
Excerpted from
THE TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT OF INFANTRY
By CAPTAIN OSKALOOSA M. SMITH, C. S., U. S. ARMY.
(LATE FIRST LIEUTENANT 22D INFANTRY.)

pg. 685
parties, one of which fired into the camp at Pompey's Pillar and then beat a hasty retreat, having done no damage. From Pompey's Pillar the expedition marched to the Musselshell river, thence to the Great Porcupine, following it until the Yellowstone was again reached. This was a new and unexplored country and it was a very difficult thing to take a large command and wagon train through it. There was a great deal of hardship, especially from frequently having to drink alkaline water and sometimes having no water at all. The command marched into Fort Lincoln, arriving there September 22d, thence the companies proceeded to their respective stations. They had marched during the expedition over twelve hundred miles and returned in excellent physical condition.

The following year was a happy one to the regiment, as it was ordered to exchange stations with the 1st Infantry. This was accomplished in July, and stations were taken as follows: Headquarters and Companies D, F, and H, at Fort Wayne (Detroit), Michigan; A, Madison Barracks (Sackett's Harbor), N. Y.; B and K, Fort Porter (Buffalo), N. Y.; C and G, Fort Brady (Sault Ste. Marie); E, Fort Mackinac; I, Fort Gratiot, Mich. This was a new and happy experience for the regiment which had been so long on the northwestern frontier, but it was not to last long without interruption. On the evening of September 16 telegraphic orders came for Companies A, B, D, F, H, I and K to repair without delay to New Orleans to aid in maintaining the peace which had been broken by a complication of affairs, one of the principal elements being the organization known as the White League. The companies were packed and ready to start by midnight, and took the train early on the morning of the 17th, reaching New Orleans on the night of the 20th. It had been intimated that the duty would be of ten days' duration, instead of which it lasted eight months—until May, 1875—the battalion quartering from time to time in various parts of the city and at Greenville, one of its suburbs. Companies A and K were for a time at Jackson Barracks. Early in July, 1876, the news of the Custer massacre was flashed through the country, and the 22d Infantry was again placed under marching orders from the lake stations to go to the field. Never before or since were the troops at those stations sent on active service, but it appeared to be the fate of the 22d to remain in repose for short intervals only. On July 4 the companies at Fort Wayne participated in the parade at Detroit; on the 11th, except Company A which remained at Wayne, they left to join General Terry's command at the mouth of the Rosebud, Montana, being joined at Fort Lincoln by the other companies ordered out, the battalion then consisting of Companies E, F, G, H, I and K, Lieut.-Col. E. S. Otis in command. In a few days the steamboat Carroll was sent to take the battalion and a detachment of recruits for the 7th Cavalry to the Rosebud. On July 29, when the boat was passing the mouth of Powder River, the Indians in large number from the right bank of the Yellowstone made a vigorous attack upon it. The troops responded promptly and the boat was landed and two or three companies sent onshore. The fight lasted some time, engaged in by the troops on the boat as well as those on shore, until the Indians were driven back into the hills, with what loss we never knew. Their camp was taken possession of and burned, a few firearms and other trophies being found and taken on the boat.

CHESTER

Excerpt from: the book:
City of the Future, A Narrative History of Kansas City 1850-1950
by Henry C. Haskell, Jr. and Richard B. Fowler
1950
Frank Glenn Publishing Co. inc., Kansas City Mo. Page 111 Cir. 1933

Of the boats in the river fleet (Kansas City, Missouri River Navigation Company) the only one to become well known to Kansas City was the combined passenger and freight vessel, the CHESTER. Because a packet boat of this kind was impractical for a general freight business it was turned into an excursion boat. Many a Kansas City romance was reported to have warmed under the combined influence of the moon, lapping waves and music on the CHESTERS deck.

CHESTER in Kansas City
Photo from Mark Frazier

From
Kansas City Times July 27, 1979

Every day during the summer of 1915 the steel-hulled steamer Chester left the docks on the Missouri River at the foot of Delaware Street, twice daily at 2:30 and 8 p.m. for a 2 1/2-hour pleasure trip up or down the river. The fare was 50 cents.

The Chester at one time was in the freight packet service, but her long, narrow hull was not well adapted to freight traffic. She was tied up, before her conversion, at Kaw Point for several months, while carpenters and painters remodeled her as a pleasure craft.

Excursion steamers had had a bad name in Kansas City. One boat, the Saturn, was ruled off the waters.

The Chester, operated by the Kansas City, Missouri River Navigation Company, changed this.

No liquor was sold, no gambling tolerated and the ordinary rules of conduct were rigidly enforced. Staterooms on the upper deck had been converted, along with dining salon, into a ballroom.

Crew members of the Chester were uniformed and all concessions were operated by Boy Scouts. S. Irvin Flournoy, formerly credit manager of the Webb-Freyschlag Mercantile Company, acted as purser.

The boat was open to charter. Lodge and social organizations made dates in advance. Six hundred persons were accommodated comfortably aboard.

***

From the
Kansas City Star, June 11, 1916

The Chester Is now Declared to be the finest, safest and best arranged excursion boat on the western rivers. It is nearly a block long, is laid on a broad secure steel hull, and is certified by the government to carry a thousand passengers.

The three decks have been rebuilt with elaborate care to attract a high-class patronage. The dance floor is unexcelled in Kansas City, the refreshment deck and Japanese service and the obversavation deck attract those who do not care to dance.

The boat is chartered for practically every night of the season, except for Saturdays and Sundays and holidays which are always open to the public. The matinee excursions are open every afternoon except Monday.

CONSTITUTION

From site visitor Mary Gregg

Dave,
Here's another one I don't believe you have - The last sentence seems to be
messed up but this is as it given in book from which copied it.
Mary Gregg

EARLY NEWSPAPERS OF NATCHEZ MISSISSIPPI 1800-1828.
Gloria Lambert Kerns

WASHINGTON REPUBLICAN/NATCHEZ INTELLIGENCER.
March 7, 1817

Explosion steamboat
CONSTITUTION

Captain Bezeau left Natchez about 10 oclock on Saturday morning 3rd instant for New Orleans with a number of passengers. The next morning, about 7 o'clock, off Pointe Coupee, her boiler burst with a dreadful explosion and mortally wounded following persons who were sitting at breakfast in the cabin: Elip. Frazer of Port Gibson; William Steele of Warrenton; John Larken of Natchez; Thomas Brown from Scotland; Mr.McFarland of Washington County, Ky.; George D. Wilson of Kentucky; Joseph Carpenter of Kentucky; Alexander Philpott of Henry Co., Virginia; Peter Herbert of Baltimore; and R. Robertson, age 18 years.

Ten of the sufferers had expired previous to Monday night, among them Larken, Frazier and Steele. Another death was expected at any time. We have the above information from Robert Williams, Esquire, of Natchez, and Captain Nichols (who) were at Pointe Coupee when the accident happened and who visited with the passengers at few hours after the event.

CRYSTAL CITY

From site visitor Larry Wegmann
Attached is the photo [not available yet] of the Crystal City. There is a newspaper account of the sinking on the back of the original photo.
Following is from the Ste. Genevieve FAIR PLAY, March 14, 1892

The new and elegant Anchor Line steamer, CRYSTAL CITY, struck a hidden onstruction in the river near Perry's Towhead, 40 miles below St. Louis yesterday. causing a serious breach in her hull. She was struck under the larboard boiler, and the break extends backward to the point under her larboard cylinder, a distance of 40 feet, but the break is not continuous, the boat apparently having risen and settled down alternately, with the waves, two or three times, before she freed herself from the snag.

She was struck under a row of stanchions, and her deck is bulged upward over each break in her hull."The water rushed into the hull and the pumps wre put to work but were unequal to the task. The boat was headed from the Illinois shore, and sunk in 5 1/2 feet of water some distance from the shore. The water is not up to her deck and she is in easy position. Her cargo is not damaged. She had about forty passengers aboard, may of whom were not awakened by the shock. The steamer, DORA, came up shortly after and the passengers were transferred to her and brought to St. Louis. Her cargo was taken off later by the ARKANSAS CITY.

The harbor boat, with suitable pumps, left last evening to go to her resuce, in command of Capt. Ford with Ed Calahan as pilot. Divers, John and Howard accompanied the harbor boat and the task of raising her will begin today.

The CRYSTAL CITY was sunk in the same manner some months ago at a point some miles below the scene of this recent mishap.