The Mississippi River
Chicago to New Orleans, June-July 1964
On the way 1 2 3
Preparations
On the way
Arrival
Daily Log
Where are they now
Click on images to enlarge
Bluffs along the Mississippi
Towboat pushing a log raft
Caving bank
Towboat pushing empty barges
The glorious Mississippi
Their arrival in St. Louis marked a milestone for the three rafters—it now seemed certain to them that they would complete the journey. In the summer of 1964, the Gateway Arch was still under construction, a symbol of achievements yet to come. The nature of travel changed at St. Louis, as the free-flowing Mississippi River now made for true rafting—following the current of the river wherever it would take them.
At St. Louis, we spent an extra day with Wismar relatives of Ron and a Concordia college friend, Phyllis Bergsieker, and her family. When we left, we had to work our way through all of the debris in the river, but the best part was that we no longer needed the motor, as the strong, natural current of the river carried us along. The motor was only needed occasionally to keep us in the channel, to avoid passing tows, and to help us land at docks or along the banks when we had to make stops. Once in the free-flowing part of the river, we could travel nearly 60 miles a day (15 hours a day at about 4 miles an hour). Relieved of the burden of operating the motor all day and being in a much wider river, we could really enjoy the scenery and the fascinating features of the river—the bluffs below St. Louis, sandbars on the inside of the bends, caving banks on the outside, and all the unusual patterns of the water, including whirlpools and eddies, created by the combination of wind, currents, and obstructions in the river.
After 218 miles, we reached the end of the Upper Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois. This is the point at which the Ohio River joins the Mississippi. Here the Lower Mississippi River begins—869 miles to go.
Our days from here on had many similarities, but there was never monotony or boredom, as there was always something to learn about the river and its surroundings. The slow pace of travel as we drifted down the river gave us many opportunities for observing the natural world, and we learned about life on the river as we stopped at many small towns to buy gas, food, and other supplies, get water, send mail, and occasionally phone home. At a number of the stops we were either greeted by the local newspapers or television stations or we called them ourselves, so there was publicity about our journey up and down the river.
To try to stay on the schedule we established for ourselves, we would try to sleep when it was dark and get up before daylight to be ready to leave. First light was around 4:00 a.m. When night came, we found a spot out of the channel—usually at a sandbar—where we used our anchor or tied the raft to a tree to keep us secure and allow for a safe night’s sleep.
Our meals were pretty simple–dried soups, canned meats and vegetables, and powdered drinks and milk. We often had pancakes and fried eggs for breakfast, lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, and something warmed up for supper, usually out of a can, like stew or spaghetti and meatballs. We all took turns preparing the meals and cleaning dishes.
We made a brief stop at Memphis, Tennessee, on June 29th. The following night we traveled late into the night, eventually stopping just north of Helena, Arkansas.
Special Thanks
St. Louis was a great place to take a one-day break. We enjoyed the hospitality of Ron's cousin, Mark Wismar, and his family, who put us up two nights, showed us the town, and sent us off with food and funds. Also thanks to classmate Phyllis Bergsieker and her family who picked us up and helped us enjoy a relaxing afternoon and evening at their home. We are grateful to Captain William Cook of the Mound City Boat Yard for allowing us to dock at his facility and for providing valuable insights into the challenges of the river still ahead of us. The “development” of the St. Louis riverfront forced the closing of his boat yard some years ago, but his kindness to the rafters will not be forgotten.
On the way 1 2 3