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“Aunt Sally," The First Steamboat
The only reliable account in the Arkansas City Traveler concerning the arrival of “Aunt Sally” was written by James Christian to M. M. Murdock, editor of the Wichita Eagle. The youthful editors handling the paper during C. M. Scott’s absence, in their excitement, had the wrong date on their masthead when the story of the first steamboat arriving at Arkansas City was printed. The Aunt Sally arrived on Sunday, June 30, 1878. The following article was published in the newspaper ten days after the event.
A STEAMBOAT FROM LITTLE ROCK.
Arrives at Arkansas City.
A Spicy Letter from the Hon. James Christian, Who Tells All About It.
Arkansas City Traveler, Wednesday, July 10, 1878.
ARKANSAS CITY, June 30, 1878.
FRIEND MURDOCK: The steamer “Aunt Sally,” from Little Rock, arrived this morning. Our town is mad with excitement. Men, women, and children, some on foot, some on horseback, others in buggies and wagons, rushed “pell mell” for Harmon’s Ford on the Walnut, to witness a sight that our people have thought of, dreamed of, and prayed for the last six or seven years: a real, living, breathing steamboat; as the children sometimes say, “a sure enough steamboat.”
There she was, puffing and blowing like a thing of life. Some two hundred people rushed on board and examined her all over, from deck to Texas—cabin, engine, boiler, water wheel—all were scrutinized. They were in her and all over her.
Steam being up, the captain invited all hands to a ride up the Walnut as far as Newman’s mill and back. The bank was lined with people and the yells and cheers of those on deck and those on shore made the welkin ring. It was hip!—rip!—huzzah!—one after another. A general good time was had.
In the afternoon three hundred persons went aboard by invitation, for a ride down the river. Our cornet band did their best tooting on the occasion. Everything was hilarity and joy.
Little preaching was heard in Arkansas City today, you may depend. “Aunt Sally” was in everybody’s mouth.
She will stay until after the 4th, and will try to get up and see Wichita, if possible. The boat is owned by Captains Burke and Lewis, of Little Rock; is 85 feet long, 18 feet wide, and draws 14 inches light, and about two feet when fully loaded; carries 40 tons; made the run from Ft. Smith to this place in six days; met with no difficulty or obstructions on the way; the pilot thinks the river even better above than below Ft. Smith.
At this stage of water a railroad is nowhere alongside of a steamboat. Hurrah for the navigation of the Arkansas! It is no longer a matter of speculation, but is now a fixed fact—a reality. The “Aunt Sally,” the pioneer steamer of this great Southwestern river, has proved it. JAMES CHRISTIAN.
The “Aunt Sally” was a regular river packet between Perryville, Arkansas, and Little Rock, Arkansas, carrying cotton most of the time. The “Aunt Sally” was 85 feet in length, 18 feet in width, and drew 12 inches light and 18 inches loaded. At the registering office in Memphis, Tennessee, it was registered at a capacity of 65 tons. The steamboat left Little Rock, Arkansas, on Tuesday, June 18, 1878, reaching Ft. Smith, Arkansas, on the following Friday, covering a distance of 280 or 300 miles. It left Ft. Smith, Arkansas, on Friday, June 21, 1878, reaching Arkansas City, Kansas, on Sunday morning, June 30, 1878. In coming from Ft. Smith, it was estimated that the steamboat ran for 107 hours and covered a distance of about 450 or 500 miles.
Plans were formulated to navigate the Arkansas river with a line of barges. In 1878 the citizens of Cowley County were paying about $60 per thousand for pine flooring; they learned that they could buy it at Little Rock for $15 per thousand. They figured that they could save a tremendous amount of money for supplies and make a lot in products that they would send to areas such as Little Rock. Freight charges were exorbitant from Arkansas City, which had no railroad at that time.
