Steamboat Lithograph
By E.E. Burke
“When I was a boy, there was but one permanent
ambition among my comrades in our village on the west bank of the Mississippi
River. That was, to be a steamboatman. We had a hope that if we lived and were
good, God would permit us to be pirates. These ambitions faded out, each in its
turn; but the ambition to be a steamboatman always remained.”
~ Mark
Twain
TAMING HUCK FINN, inspired by Mark
Twain's iconic adventurer, begins in the summer of 1870 in Atchison, Kansas, which
served as a bustling port along the Missouri River. In those days, steamboats
transported goods to settlements and army forts up and down the river, as well
as hauling miners traveling to and from the Montana gold fields. Freedom-loving
Huck Finn works as a part-time steamboat pilot when he's not off searching for
gold.
The
sprawling, unpredictable Missouri River provides the perfect landscape for my
story about a restless man whose goal is to stay one step ahead of civilization.
In those days, it took nerves of
steel to pilot a steamboat on the wild, untamed Missouri River. A few of the
things steamboat pilots encountered: elusive, ill-defined and ever-changing
channels, getting stranded in low water, innumerable and often invisible snags,
whirlpools, Indian attacks--to name but a few.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
close to 300 steamboats went down in the river between 1830 and 1902. Historians
estimate almost half of all the boats that plied the Missouri were lost to
various accidents, with snags taking most of them to their watery grave. The
“Muddy Mo” had a voracious appetite for steamboats!
Near Kansas City, a construction company dug up a steamboat
from the 1850s out of a farm field (the river had long since changed course).
While there were no human casualties, the boat went down with its entire load
of supplies. The Steamboat Arabia exhibit at the Kansas City
riverfront is filled with some of the most well preserved displays of 19th
century goods you’ll find anywhere.
The type of boat Huck pilots is a
"mountain boat.” These sternwheelers were smaller and lighter, equipped
with spars, which were a bit like stilts to help the boat "walk" over
obstacles. One of the best-known mountain boats was the Far West, piloted by
Captain Grant Marsh.
Far
West pilothouse replica
Courtesy Dave Thomson Gallery.
A replica of the Far West pilothouse shows a pair
of antelope antlers mounted in front to indicate it was a "fast boat"
-- Grant made a record-breaking run down the Missouri River in 1876 after he
picked up the wounded from the Battle of Little Big Horn.
Packet steamboating on the Missouri River lasted
from the 1820s to the 1880s, with the greatest period of activity between 1840
and 1860. The railroads contributed primarily to the demise of steamboat
business by siphoning off long-haul passenger and freight business. In 1867,
there were 71 steamers regularly plying the Missouri River. Three years later
there were only 9. (Wild River, Wooden Boats, Michael Gillespie,
Heritage Press).
Some of the landing points mentioned in Taming
Huck Finn were busy ports in the 1870s: Weston, Missouri, Sioux City, Iowa,
Fort Sully in the Dakota Territory, Kansas City, and eventually St. Louis,
where the Missouri and Mississippi rivers converge.
His greatest adventure is about to catch up with him.
Steamboat pilot Huck Finn lives life on his own terms and steers clear of
messy entanglements that might tie him down—until he takes charge of an
orphaned boy that needs rescuing.
Starched and proper, Miss Hallie MacBride is determined to atone for past
sins by raising her estranged sister’s son. She doesn’t expect footloose Mr.
Finn to challenge her, much less up and run off with her nephew.
On a wild journey fraught with danger, a freedom-loving adventurer and an
avowed spinster battle over the destiny of a young boy, who is doing his level
best to convince them they belong together.
Excerpt
June 2, 1870,
Atchison, Kansas
“What you
layin’ in there for, mister?”
A childish
voice disturbed Huck’s sleep. He screwed his eyes tightly shut, willing his
mind to return to dreams of pleasanter things than inquisitive children.
Something
struck the bottom of his boot.
He jerked
awake, his head connecting with a crack against the inside of the hogshead
barrel. “Ow! Blame it.”
Gingerly, he
touched a rising lump and grimaced at the painful reminder of where he’d ended
up. After celebrating into the wee hours, it appeared a convenient place to
await the next packet chugging up the Missouri River. Sobriety declared it a
bad idea. Only halfwits and drunks slept in discarded barrels. Not men who
commanded steamboats.
Curling
around, he squinted at the opening where his legs were exposed. Daylight
outlined the figure of a child. Hopeful it was just a dream Huck shut his eyes.
When he opened them again, the boy had bent to peer inside the barrel.
Gap-toothed
smile, snub nose, merry eyes that held the promise of mischief…
“Tom?” Huck
rasped.
The boy
giggled.
No, he
couldn’t possibly be. Tom had been nearly full-grown fifteen years ago.
Huck rubbed
his stinging eyes. He must’ve gotten ahold of some bad brew like the Fire Rod
his old man used to swig by the jug full; that stuff made Pap see crazier
things than a boy that wasn’t there.
The spitting
image of Tom laughed again. “Uncle Huck?”
Uncle? Huck shook his head to clear it. By God, he’d swear
off whiskey forever if it brought on these strange imaginings, and it had to be
his imagination. Huck Finn weren’t nobody’s uncle.
~~~
Giveaway
E.E. Burke is giving away one autographed copy of of her fabulous book “Taming Huck Finn.”
To be in with a chance just answer this question...
I’ve always wanted to go back in time and take a steamboat journey up the Missouri River. If you could travel in a time machine, what kind of adventure would you want to pursue?
Giveaway Rules
• Leave your answer in the comments at the bottom of this post.
• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm GMT on March 4th.
• You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is open *internationally.
*International winners will receive ebook version.
•Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
•Winners will be announced in the comments.
You can join the adventure. Pick up your copy of
Taming Huck Finn at the following retailers:
E.E. Burke
E.E. Burke is a bestselling author
of historical romances that combine her unique blend of wit and
warmth. Her books have been nominated for numerous national and regional
awards, including Booksellers' Best, National Readers' Choice and Kindle Best
Book. She was also a finalist in the RWA's prestigious Golden Heart®
contest. Over the years, she’s been a disc jockey, a journalist and an
advertising executive, before finally getting around to living the
dream--writing stories readers can get lost in. 