"Steamboat Trade on the Red River"
Topic of Discussion at Thursday Night
Genealogical Society Meeting
by: Bobby McDonald
It was an interesting program at Thursday night's regular monthly Hopkins County Genealogical Society Meeting, as Mike and Carolyn McCrary brought their extensive research and work on the history of the Red River Steamboat Trade to Hopkins County. The McCrarys, who live near the Red River in Dekalb, Texas, have worked for years on the importance of the steamboat trade to the settlement of Northeast Texas.
Mike McCrary related that they have evidence of over 175 individual steamboats that actually brought goods up the Red River to Northeast Texas, north of Shreveport, Louisiana. "I'm almost certain that as the research continues, we will have the names of over 200 actual boats that did trade on the upper Red River," exclaimed McCrary.
Mike McCrary of Bowie County shows Hopkins County's connection to the Red River Steamboat
Trade, as this part of the state was settled.
McCrary and his wife have researched the subject for over 35 years and continue to find interesting bits of information as they continue their work. They have used the resource of Charles DeMorse's Newspaper published in Clarksville beginning in the mid-1800's as a valued source of information. "There are numerous listings of boats, lists of goods for sale, and marketing data in these newspapers," relate McCrary. "And, we continue to piece parts of the puzzle together of the major years that the steamboats were in operation beginning in the 1830's. Steamboats were a major influence in the settlement of this region of the state and it was a major business in the 1830's through about the 1880's."
McCrary read an excerpt from DeMorse's newspaper for 1856, that told of a new flour mill being built at Old Tarrant, in Hopkins County, and that parts of the mill were "enroute on the Red River." "So, that explains how important the river trade was to the people of Hopkins County, for getting parts, supplies, and in exporting their crops, via the Red River," denoted McCrary.
Carolyn McCrary reads a list of steamboat goods listed in 1845 that showed what
goods were delivered to the early settlers via the Red River.
McCrary also related that in 1857 there were an estimated 22,000 head of cattle in Hopkins County. "Cattle were among the first exports to the Red River, from Hopkins County," stated McCrary. "The cattle were driven to Jefferson to the Black Meat Packing Plant, where many were slaughtered and the meat sent via the steamboats to New Orleans and other points of trade. This was an important marketing tool for the earlier settlers of Hopkins County. And, another early export from this area was wool, as Hopkins County had a large sheep industry in the early days, with a need of exporting the clippings from those sheep!"
McCrary read from a February 17, 1849, shipping list from a steamer on the Red River as follows...."sugar, coffee, flour, salt, raisins, tobacco, axes, nails, gun powder, and lead!"
However, he also read from a July 12, 1845 shipping list, that indicated there were luxuries to be had, even during the early times, if you had the money to pay for them. The shipping list read as follows...."500 bolts of print cloth, silk cloth, woolen cloth, boots, shoes, bonnets, caps, ribbons, rifles, needles, thread, lace, pins, coffee, brown sugar, refined white sugar, pepper, sweet and water crackers, cigars, tobacco, jellies, syrup, horse shoes and nails, crockery, cutlery, china, glassware, pianos, an organ, furniture, coconuts, sardines and salmon, almods, mutton, whiskey, brandy, champagne, rum, gin and wine!"
The shallow Red River was hard to navigate by Steamboats but still offered an important
way for goods to be delivered to settlers and products marketed from the early farms and ranches.
"The Red River was a hard river on steamboats, as trees would wash into the river and would 'snag' the bows of the boats and cause damage to them, that sometimes could be repaired, but other times would destroy the steamer," stated McCrary. "The life expectancy of a steamer on the Red River was from 3 to 5 years!"
"And, the Red River navigation was very, very dependent upon the rains in the region to make the river deep enough to navigate," continued. "The newspapers reflect a drouth in this region in the 1950's that was so severe that it stopped river trade for a long period of time, due to low water levels in the Red River."
McCrary also stated that the steamboats were vital in transporting immigrants and settlers to the region, with cabin passage from New Orleans to Jefferson requiring a fee of approximately $25.00. Some steamers carried about 40 passengers, while others would carry upwards of 100 people.
Settlers came to Northeast Texas via the steamboats and brought goods with them and replinished
supplies via the Red River Steamboat trade.
Exporters in Northeast Texas began to raise cotton and deliver it to the port in Jefferson where some of the steamboats could carry as many as 1500 bales of cotton, while the traditional 140 foot boat carried about 600 bales. The steamboats would deliver the Northeast Texas products of cotton, wool, and meat to New Orleans and bring back goods that the settlers in this region needed for their farms and homes.
"The steamboat actually brought the very things that made its demise to Northeast Texas," allowed McCrary. "They brought the goods for laying the first railroad that was established in 1876. However, there was some steamboat trade on the Red River after 1900!"
Program Chairman John Sellers thanked Mike and Carolyn McCrary for their very interesting and informative program and several members of the local genealogical society asked questions regarding the presentation.
Sellers won the door prize at Thursday night's meeting.
Hopkins County Genealogical Society President, Ronny Glossup, announced that the board of the local society has plans to conduct a "Cemetery Walk" in Sulphur Springs City Cemetery, on April 25th, with members of the society depicting notable people buried in the cemetery and telling about their life stories. The walk will begin at 2:00 p.m. and cost will be $10.00 per person. You may contact the Hopkins County Genealogical Society for reservations and additional information!
Barrels of wiskey, rum, and wine were some of the items that were delivered to Northeast Texas,
via the Red River Steamboats.
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