The following information is taken from A Century in
Review. This book was published in 1959, the year of the Elk
Point Centennial.
Steamboat Wrecks on the Missouri River
In the Annual Report of the Missouri River Commission for the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1897, Captain
Hiram M. Chittenden published a compilation showing the loss of
295 steamboats on the Missouri River from the beginning of steam navigation
to the date of the report. Of these, 20 were lost within the boundaries
of the present state of South Dakota. Captain Chittenden’s report
may be found by those interested as Appendix W. W. of the Annual Report
of the Chief of Engineers of the Army for 1897.
Following is an account of one of these wrecks that took place in
the Elk Point vicinity.
The first wreck noted is that of the Kate
Swinney (usually written Sweeny) which occurred August 1, 1855,
at what has since been known as "Kate Sweeny Bend", between
Vermillion and Elk Point, where the line dividing Union and Clay counties
meets the river. The boat was a side-wheeler of 328 tons and was returning
to St. Louis from a trip to Fort Union and was loaded with fur. She
was owned by Captain
Pierre M. Chouteau. George
Anderson, her mate and Henry Dickson, her fireman started to walk
from the wreck to Sioux City and were never again seen and were supposedly
killed by the Sioux. The boat was named for Miss Kate Swinney, daughter
of Captain
W. D. Swinney, of Glasgow, Missouri. From the St. Louis newspapers
of the period we are enabled to get some of the particulars of the
wreck; Fetco
the pilot and Black the carpenter got away in a lifeboat and reached
St. Joseph in safety. Before leaving the wreck the Captain sold the
salvage to "some nearby settlers" for $300.1
1South Dakota Historical Collections, State Department
of History, Vol. 9 (Hipple Printing Company, 1918, Pierre, South Dakota.)
