MISSISSIPPI RIVER HAS LANGUAGE ALL ITS OWN

At night when the sounds of traffic have subsided, whistles on Mississippi towboats may be heard many miles inland. Every boat has an individual sound to its whistle, and also its bells, and residents of river cities become accustomed to listening for the sounds.

This is true today, and was true back through history. Residents of river cities learn what to expect about the river and the weather from learning the language of the river. The Mississippi is fascinating. The more the river is studied, the more interesting it becomes. And as the fascination increases, an observer soon realizes the language of the river is never completely understood. It remains forever a mystery.

When boat travel was the accepted way to travel from place to place, when long-distance travel was required, and before trains were extended into Southeast Missouri, residents of the area learned to pay attention to details about the river and the boats that frequented the Cape Girardeau wharf.

When the area was settled in the late 18th century and early years of the 19th century, the eventual arrival of other than hand-powered boats caused much excitement. It is difficult for today's residents to fully appreciate what a wonderful achievement machine-operated boats were. When the Ellis family came to Cape Girardeau in 1806, their journey up river from Georgia was long and difficult. Letters from Elizabeth Ellis in the file of this writer describe her relief in arriving at Cape Girardeau, and the sorrow she carried in her heart and mind at the realization she would not be able to withstand a trip again on the river to return to her home in Georgia. The Ellis family established the hotel that occupied the site on the northwest corner of Lorimier and Broadway where today the rebuilt Royal N'Orleans Restaurant is located.

When settlers from the East and South began to move into the Missouri Territory after the Louisiana Purchase (1803-04), the river was their road of communication to the outside world. Boats were small then, and hand built. In 1810, Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston built the New Orleans. It was the first steamboat, but it could only go down stream. A one-way boat did not meet the public's need.

Then Henry Shreve built the Washington in 1816, and it could go two ways up and down the Mississippi River. The lock on steamboat building was opened and the era of steamboats began. It continued to grow rapidly until the outbreak of the Civil War. After the war it picked up for several years until railroads made a dent in the steamboat business, and railroad whistles, not boat whistles, became more interesting to the public.

River language was not dead, however, only temporarily brushed aside. Since more boats on the river required navigation rules, the first River and Harbor Act was passed in 1824, and the Corps of Engineers, which until then had been engaged in removing snags and boat wrecks from the river, was given the added responsibility of making river surveys and plans to shorten rivers where unnecessary bends developed, remove sandbars, and keep a specified depth to the channels. This was essential on the Mississippi because of the river's importance to the nation's business. The towboat is the river carrier today.

From St. Louis south, the river flowed over flat plains and no locks were needed to assist boats in traveling. But from St. Louis north to Minneapolis, there are 27 locks that enable boat travel.

The locks nearest St. Louis are 24, Hannibal; 25, Winfield; 26, Alton, Ill.; and 27, Chain of Rocks.

There were three Cape Girardeau boats plus others in the line that were operated over the years by the Eagle Packet Co., founded by Henry and William Leyhe of Warsaw, Ill., in 1861. They eventually expanded and had business in Cape Girardeau, operated from their main office in St. Louis. The boats developed a close relation with the residents of Cape Girardeau, who learned many things about the river from their interest in the Eagle Packet boats.

Bell signals often were subject to being misunderstood and depending on the weather, sounds from bells could be misinterpreted, while whistles, that had been in use since steam power was used on boats, gave a more distinct sound, and as a warning or a message sender were a safety factor.

In travel, one blast of a whistle was used when a boat passed another on the left; and two blasts were often used by captains greeting each other.

Three bells were sounded as a boat pulled away from port, and when danger was eminent the bells continued ringing without stopping until all danger had passed.

The weather sends many messages down and up river to residents along the shore. These are soon learned by those who read the river daily, just as though it was a daily paper. They also learn the more they learn, the more they realize they do not know.

The fascinating Mississippi continues to extend a challenge to all those who would like to learn the language of the river. The river is a tireless teacher.