Exodus over the Mississippi

A recent United Van Lines survey of where Americans are moving from indicated that people are leaving the state of Illinois. That may be so but on Memorial Day weekend 2018, there was practically no traffic on the Mississippi River bridge at Muscatine, Iowa.

Unicorn Face Painting in Marquette, Iowa

Labor Day weekend in Marquette, Iowa means experiencing an annual flea market under the bridge which connects Iowa to Wisconsin over the Mississippi River. One of the vendors at the market offered face painting.

Kristi, a face painting artist created a colorful design on the forehead of a girl named Ella. Nearby, Ella's grandmother supervised the work. As the design took shape, I thought it was going to become a Batman design because of the color and wings, but I was wrong.

With a few additional touches, the finished work turned out to be a unicorn which Ella had selected. She was delighted with the outcome, as was her mother and grandmother.

Barge Work on the Mississippi River at Muscatine, Iowa

River commerce is alive and well on the Mississippi River. Barge traffic is quite common along this portion of the river at Muscatine, Iowa where grain and other terminals are located. Marquette Transportation Company's Jacob Michael Eckstein, an inland towboat positions a 15 barge array for the journey northward.

According the U.S. Coast Guard database, the Eckstein was once called the Seminole Princess. The vessel was built in 1984, is listed as 130 feet long and hails from St. Louis, MO. More data can be found here.

The Pearl Button Docked at Muscatine, Iowa

The Pearl Button is a modern day, old-time looking excursion boat located in Muscatine, Iowa. When visiting southeast Iowa I am on the lookout for the paddlewheeler cruising on the Mississippi River. While the boat seems to be always present at its dock, I did see a crew member preparing the boat with supplies for an excursion a few years ago. The Pearl Button's website indicates that the boat is available for river cruises but has no set schedule. For scheduled cruises, boats like the Riverboat Twilight can be accessed in LeClaire, Iowa, home of the History Channel's American Pickers on the Mississippi River. And for even longer cruises you can jump onboard other lines at St. Paul, St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans and other ports on the great river.

The Pearl Button is docked at Muscatine's city dock landing. Attached to a floating dock which is anchored by three huge poles, gives the Pearl Button plenty of room to stay put should (and when) the river floods. On this day the Pearl Button remained docked while the Riverboat Twilight, sport boats and barges passed by on Old Man River.

Lock & Dam Chains

An eye bolt sunk into concrete holds a ring of iron on Lock & Dam #10 in Guttenberg, Iowa. This anchor is located on the exterior wall of the lock entry wing. Presumably it is used to secure recreational craft to the wall outside of the lock before launching or recovering a boat. These irons may have originated when the L&D system was constructed in Guttenberg in 1937. Despite some pitting the hammered ring is in good shape for being 78 years old.

Mid-November Tug Traffic on the Mississippi River

On November 15th the temperatures along the Iowa - Wisconsin border were near 60F. Tugs and barges took advantage of the weather to move northward on the Mississippi River towards Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin (upper left.)

A small tug pulled along side of the David L Griggs tug. Both vessels belong to the Marquette Transportation Company which operate from Paducah, Kentucky on the Ohio River. David L Grigg's present location can be seen at this link.

The smaller tug detached from the Griggs, rotated and helped to push a formation of barges just outside of the frame.

Another tug was busy assembling the formation just north of the smaller tug and the DLG. This island, which is visible from Iowa's Pike Peak State Park is probably a staging area for barges as there is evidence of tie offs and signs.

Color on the Muddy Mississippi River

The color of the Mississippi River at Guttenberg, Iowa is brown, organic brown, the color of coffee and crème. At Lock and Dam number 10 a ladder connects the lock portion to the top of the structure for maintenance or emergency situations. At this time of year the brown water could have been white or contain chunks of clear ice. No so on this 60 degree plus day.

A Towboat Captain's Detailed Map of the Lower Mississippi River near Rodney Island

In the days before easily updatable mapping software, towboat captains on the Mississippi River detailed sections of the river in their log books by hand drawings. Captain C.W. Elder's map book can be seen at the George M. Verity River Museum in Keokuk, Iowa. The 1920's towboat was decommissioned and sold to the city of Keokuk in 1961 for the purpose of educating generations about towboats on the river.

This map appears to show the hazards of the water along a stretch of river between Mississippi and Louisiana, just north of Natchez, MS. South is to the top of the map. Rodney Island is the key to trace this hand drawn waterway illustration to modern maps like Google Maps. Discover for yourself.

What to Wear on the Bottom of the Mississippi River

While two of your best buddies hand crank the air supply to your helmet you go overboard some nine feet down to inspect the towboat. Its caught on a snag or lodged on a sandbar on the Mississippi River. Weighted lead shoes, lead vests and lead belts stabilize you against a fierce river current, you will be lucky to see anything let alone function. A few tugs on the ropes that connect you to the surface and you will be pulled up into the air world. Just remember not to anger your buddies or they might forget to turn the crank of the air pump while you are watching catfish swim by.

Chief Keokuk Oversees the Mississippi River

Atop a limestone bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in southeast Iowa is the gateway city called Keokuk, named after the region’s Sac and Fox warrior chief. He died during 1848 in Kansas. The Chief's remains and "other materials of historic value" were reinterred at the base of this moment in the city named in his honor. The town is one of Iowa's oldest communities as explorers coming up the Mississippi stopped at the confluence of the Des Moines and Mississippi Rivers to settle. Later the town became one of the jumping off points for pioneers setting out on the Mormon trail to Salt Lake. Its a very historic town that brims with the sights of the past.

Towboat James F. Neal Passes Through Lock & Dam 15

The Ingram towboat, James F. Neal passed through Lock and Dam 15 on the Mississippi River at the Rock Island Arsenal across from Davenport, Iowa. Look closely on the brown concrete wall as the level of the lower river is marked within the lock. The waters will rise up to the red bricks below the control house before the barges are pushed upriver.

The James F. Neal pushes barges upriver and ties together another barge segment before moving north towards Lock and Dam 14 about 10 miles away.

I have included these photos to show those who have never visited a lock and dam system on a big river. The sights are impressive with boats and people moving grain, fuel, metals and assorted goods from region to region. These 24/7 operated boats and lock systems truly demonstrate how America works.

Single Seagull Gliding Over Lock and Dam 11

Spring has come to the 42N latitude. That means the Mississippi River is open to boat traffic, which also means waterway birds are back in numbers. Yesterday a single seagull glided over the empty lock enclosure at Lock & Dam 11, Dubuque, Iowa. Those of you in the know already guessed that the first four words of this blog posting title are from Paul McCartney's underrated classic song, Single Pigeon. Watch this animated video.

A Muscatine Look from Iowa to Illinois

A statue looks across the Mississippi River from Muscatine, Iowa to Illinois.What really makes this scene a head scratcher is the spelling of Muscatine as found on the plaque. 

It reads,"Presented to the City of Muscatine by Musquitine Tribe No. 95, Improved Order of Red Men, and dedicated to the Moscoutin Indians 1926." Take your pick of the city's spelling. My guess is that its probably a progression from Native to French to English.

Frozen Button on the Mississippi River

Muscatine, Iowa's The Pearl Button excursion boat remains solidly ice locked in the downtown harbor along the Mississippi River. This past week local temperatures plummeted well below zero due to the arrival of the polar vortex. But three days later the temps warmed a bit and made some progress in local melting. However except for some water atop ice near shore, the ice looked pretty thick and extended from Ioway to Illinois. The 42N crew did spot several bald eagles along the way especially along the Cedar, Iowa and Mississippi rivers.

Modern Day Tom Sawyer Drawn to the River

Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer lived along the Mississippi River in fiction a century and a half ago. Fast forward to 2013 and you can still see the how the river attracts youth to its banks. Fishing just feet from Lock & Dam 11 at Dubuque, Iowa this boy forgets about catching a catfish while focusing on Marquette Transportation's downbound barge and tow named, Show Me State. The barges contained covers, scrap metal and coal. Churn from the tow activates fish and lures nearby pelicans to feed.

Flag Day 2013 from Dubuque's New Veterans Memorial

Happy Flag Day 2013. Dubuque, Iowa's new Veterans Memorial was dedicated this spring. The memorial is located near the ice arena along Highways 151/61 on City Island, near the Mississippi River. A month ago the winds blew fast while snapping this brand new flag.

A Winter's Ride Near Indian Creek

Three days ago we received the season's third measurable snowfall. Not too much to complain about. A sure sign of Spring is non-Winter activities like this bike rider. While we expect another 3-5 inches of snow Tuesday midday, we know that warmer temperatures are just around the corner. Now if only this moisture could recharge subsoil depths rather than running off and thus ending the yearlong draught. However, the upside to this dilemma is the neighborhood snow melt will drain into nearby Indian Creek, then to the Cedar River, merging with the Iowa River at Columbus Junction, then finally joining the Mississippi River near Toolsboro, Iowa. Old Man River has been near historic low depths since last Fall forcing tow barges to operate only below St. Louis. Perhaps this melt will help.

Mysterious Objects Missing Among Upper Mississippi River Antique Stores

Stops along Mississippi River towns in the upper Midwest from Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota generally include visits to local antique stores. Its taken a while but a general observation made of these stores' inventories all exhibit the same missing items - riverboat and related industry items. Steam powered side- and stern-wheelers worked these waters from the mid-1800s to roughly the late 1920s. While you occasionally find illustrations (above) and books on river life, like Steamboating on the Upper Mississippi, there are no authentic ship pieces to purchase. No ship's wheel, bells, ropes, dinner ware, doors, hinges, engine parts, planks, etc. are to be found. Several store owners when asked about the lack of steamboat pieces offer the explanation that the boats were salvaged for metal during the World Wars and the wood was generally burned. They suggest that the ship captains may have been offered or took the boat's service, nameplates, wheel and bells as tokens of their work. While some of these items may still be kept in the families through generations other pieces may have been released for sale and quickly purchased.

A recent stop in Clinton, Iowa offered the Delta Queen watercolor print for $32.50. You can generally find this particular print in several stores as it was mass produced near the 1976 Bicentennial when a resurgence in passenger boat interest surged. Other pieces of possible riverboat items can also be found such as wooden and metal pulleys and other work related equipment. While you cannot be sure whether it came off a boat or was used in factory, warehouse or farm you can assume it was used in the area. Just think all these mint condition soft drink bottles (that sell for about $7 each) were filled and distributed locally long after the boats disappeared. Maybe one day they too will be highly sought after beyond what they fetch currently. That will be no mystery.

Clinton, Iowa's Ice Bound Mississippi River

On Sunday, December 23rd the Mississippi River at Clinton, Iowa moved ice flows south as air temperatures reached 23 F. The region's first major snow of the season closed the river to commercial traffic. A recent concern of barge owners and the U.S. Corp of Engineers is the river's channel depth. Drought  conditions over the past year have decreased the river's depth throughout the Upper Mississippi. Channel depth at the nearby Quad Cities measuring station indicated 9.86 feet today and dropping.

Got Snow?

Remember the milk campaign of a few years ago showing famous people with a white milk mustache? That was on my mind when in Clinton, Iowa today I spotted this sculpture of a catfish sporting remnants of Thursday's blizzard in its mouth. Each of this downtown block' s corners features different animals of the region - just a block from the Mississippi River. And yes the entire eastern Iowa region still is reeling from the storm that deposited the first measurable snow of Winter 2012-13 in this portion of the state.