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Above left, the only known photograph of the Robt. E. Lee in the race against the Natchez, shown right. It is hard to tell how much the Lee was gutted or stripped for the race, though she seems relatively intact. Photos courtesy Ralph R. DuPae, Murphy Library, University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse.
The Greatest Race of All by James V. Swift, Contributing Editor, The Waterways Journal Steamboat racing was a fact of life in the days when the packets were the principal means of transportation on the western rivers of the United States. For the most part, they were not the roman tic type of encounter as told in most books . There were some grudge matches, to be sure, but most races were for profit and for recognition-a name well known among shippers . The boat that reached a landing first got the choice freight with the highest rate, and often all of it. A fast boat got the nod from the shippers the next time they had goods to move. Having said this , though , it should be stated that the most famous steamboat race of all was a grudge match , even though there was in the background the knowledge that the winner would be famous and her notoriety would pull in the freight after the contest was over . This was to be a race of considerable length, not just a trial of speed between two towns or landings. The contestants would cover over a thousand miles of the Mississippi River between New Orleans and St. Louis . In addition to simply winning the race, the captains also hoped to set time records between landings and cities. The principals in this match were Capt. John W. Cannon and Capt. Thomas P. Leathers, well known lower Mississippi steamboat owners and operators. They had been at it for many years . Since they ran in the same trade (or part of the river) there was a natural competition between them exacerbated by the different temperaments of the two men. It is said to have gotten so fierce that they actually came to blows, although the passing years have blurred the lines between legend and fact. Captain Cannon had built his Robt. E. Lee at New Albany, Indiana , on the Ohio River in 1866. She was a big boat, 285 by 46 by 9 feet. Three years later Captain Leathers constructed the Natchez at Cincinnati, and she too was large-301 by 42 .6 by 9.8 feet. Both held records for speed. But which was actually the faster? When both boats were advertised to leave New Orleans on the same day, and hour, the fact was not missed by those living and shipping along the river. They would find out now about the relative speeds of the Lee and Natchez. Sides were taken and bets placed. It is said that money was put down not only along the Mississippi but in the East and even in Europe. Both Cannon and Leathers played down the rumors of a race. Captain Leathers even put an ad in a New Orleans paper stating he did not intend to race any boat and that the Natchez was bound for St. Louis . Ads for the Lee indicated she was bound for Louisville. SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1987
But there were signs that a race was really in the wind. The Lee was stripped of doors and other wind-catchers, and even the hogchain braces were slackened to give her hull a better " working " in the water. The Natchez usually carried two big swinging stages on her head , and these were taken off. Then ori 30 June 1870, sailing day, neither boat was accepting freight--only passengers. That day , the Lee left a few minutes before 5 pm and the Natchez a few minutes after the hour. In spite of what the artists show in their pictures of the race , the boats did not run together at all , and most of the time they were out of sight of each other. But all along the Mississippi the boats were greeted by huge crowds gathered around bonfires at night. At Memphis there were fireworks , too. The morning of the Fourth of July the Robt. E. Lee was in St. Louis; she had traveled from New Orleans in three days, eighteen hours and fo urteen minutes. No commercial vessel has ever equaled this time since. The Natchez did not come in until six hours and thirty-three minutes later. But some kind words must be said for the loser. Actually, the running time of the Natchez was only twenty-eight minutes less than that of the Lee . She had made stops to discharge passengers at Vicksburg and Greenville, Mississippi, and Memphis , while the Lee did not land anywhere. The cold water pump on the Natchez went out and the boat had to land for repairs during which she lost another thirty-three minutes. Finally, above Cairo, fog came up, and the Natchez tied up for five hours and fifty-five minutes. Meanwhile the Lee, although also in the fog , kept running on a slow bell and did not go to the bank. St. Louis honored the captains and crews of both steamers at a big banquet in the Southern Hotel on 5 July 1870. Then the Lee went back to Mound City , Illinois, to have her hog chains tightened and to pick up things taken off her for the race. The Natchez re-entered her trade . The race of the Robt. E. Lee and Natchez had become a legend, and today , it is probably the event most often recalled when people think of Mississippi River history . J,
Mr. Swift, for decades managing editor of The Waterways Journal, is a resident of St. Louis. For more fascinating details of the race he recommends The Great Steamboat Race by Capt. Roy L. Barkhau, published in 1952 by The Picture Marine Publishing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio . 13