CHAPTER XXVI THE DAYS OF STEAMBOATING AND STAGING Taken from the Early History Of Omaha at RootsWeb.org
STEAMBOATING on the Missouri was a large and profitable business from the time Omaha was located up to the year 1867, when the railroads reached here. A very large amount of money was invested in river transportation during the years that Omaha remained the principal head of navigation on the Missouri. Freights were sometimes very high, and to show what was occasionally realized on a single trip, we will relate a little incident. In the fall of 1856 a couple of adventurous river pilots bought an old stern-wheel steamer in St. Louis, and loaded it with goods, putting on all it could possibly carry. They made the trip to Omaha, reaching here about the middle of November, and delivered their freight at five cents per pound from St. Louis.
They then returned to St. Louis with their steamer before the river closed, clearing on the venture enough money to not only pay for their boat, but to have a surplus of a few thousand dollars beside.
The principal steamboat agents during the period previous to the railroads were John R. Porter and H. P. Deuel, under the firm name of Porter & Deuel. Judge Porter came here in the spring of 1856 and went into the commission business with Riddler, and shortly afterwards with Bremen, with whom he continued in business two or three years. The first fire in Omaha was the one that destroyed their store in December, 1856, by which $9,000 was lost. The building stood on the lot now covered by the Grand Central Hotel. In 1859 Mr. Deuel succeeded Bremen, and the firm became Porter & Deuel. They were the agents for the packet line and the Hannibal & St. Joe railroad. Mr. Porter was the first railroad ticket agent in Omaha, and used to carry the tickets in his hat, something after the style of the first postmaster, Mr. A. D. Jones. He continued in the steamboat and railroad ticket business for fifteen years, Mr. Deuel being connected with him for the last ten years of that period.
The arrival and departure of steamers was from two to seven per week, and their arrival was always regarded as quite an important event. When the dull sonorous whistle of a long expected boat was heard far off to the south there would be a grand rush, pell-mell, of nearly all the people in town, on foot, on horseback, and in vehicles of every description, to the landing place and there they would impatiently await her arrival. It was customary in those days, while a boat was unloading her freight, to have a grand dance on board, by the citizens. The first boat up in the spring was always considered the great event of the boating season, as it brought up a fresh supply of goods of every description to replenish the stocks of the merchants who had sold out pretty much of everything during the long winter.
The Western Stage Company ran eastward from Omaha through Omaha now has a fire department which is without doubt the best one in the West. The Pioneer Hook and Ladder Company was organized May 1st 1860, as an independent institution, the members owning the property. The first engine was a hand machine the "Fire King," which arrived here in the Spring of 1866. Steamer No. I arrived in the fall of 1867, steamer No. 2 in 1868, and No. 3 in 1870. The Union Pacific has also a steamer, the "Durant," at the railroad shops. The discipline of the Omaha fire department is excellent, and their success in extinguishing fires has been remarkable so far.
Iowa, and between this line and the packets there existed a great rivalry to catch the passengers. The overland stages also ran from Omaha toKearney, connecting there with the main line for California and Colorado.
Porter & Deuel would, without being certain as to the arrival or departure of boats, nevertheless sell all the tickets possible to passengers who wished to go down the river to travel east by the Hannibal & St. Joe railroad. Of course they would say that the boat would be up by the next day, or that it was expected every hour. Two or three days and nights might elapse, and no boats would appear, probably having been stuck on a sand-bar or detained by heavy wind. The passengers would become uneasy and turbulent. The Western Stage Line men would solicit them to go east by their coaches, and advise them to get their money back. Then the men would go to Porter & Deuel and ask for their money. The reply would invariably be, "Gentlemen, don't get restless, we expect a boat up every hour. We can't refund your money, as we have already remitted it to headquarters, and we don't propose to take it out of our own pockets." The disappointed passengers would wait another day, and becoming more restless than ever, they would call again on Porter & Deuel, who would finally be obliged to pay for their meals and furnish them with blankets to sleep in the warehouse rather than refund the money. When affairs got to this crisis men began to swear and make threats, and Porter & Deuel would consequently keep out of the way till a boat did arrive, and even then the craft might be too small to accommodate all, or the passenger capacity might be sold ahead, and then there would be more trouble. But the agents always managed to get out of these little scrapes, for "there's many a hole in a skimmer," as Deuel used to say then, as he does now.
Porter & Deuel continued in this business until 1867. Judge Porter built the office at the northeast corner of Farnham and Tenth streets for the St. Joe road, the second one to reach Omaha, soon after the Chicago & Northwestern. Mr. Porter was the agent for this road, and resigned upon his being elected Police Judge in 1869.
In 1868 the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad was completed. Harry Deuel became the agent, and has ever since been connected with the road.
John A. Horbach was also engaged in the steamboat ticket and freight business in those days, and Capt. W. P. Wilcox, of the dry-goods firm of Stephens & Wilcox, was one of the early steamboat captains on the Missouri, being engaged for many years in navigating the stream.