There is no perfect tool for managing the Boats and Bones project. It is so unwieldy. Some would no doubt call me gullible. I prefer to consider myself ambitious. But I believe I can create a useful tool.

Here’s the issue. Once I realized that boats didn’t stay on one river, I jumped into identifying all the boats. Every boat. Every single boat that has ever touched the continental United States, as we now know it. I was possessed.

I had already realized that boats spend time on multiple waterways. A boat might be built on one river, and spend most of her time on another river. She might winter in warmer climes, where she might continue working on the water—or she might be put into storage. Eventually she might need repairs, upgrades, or general tune-ups and, in many cases, she would travel on water to have such work done on another body of water.

Some of those boats were owned by one or more individuals who, often as not, were not her captain. A captain might only serve one season, or maybe even less. Then there was the crew who, somewhat surprisingly, were sometimes more well-known the captain. The crew interacted with the traveling public and often were praised in newspapers. By name. Who knew?

Then there were the ticket sellers. Scalpers, as they were called from early on, seemed to have always been interesting characters. Follow Boats and Bones long enough and you will learn why a scalper was a respected person. In fact, prior to 1900, in the United States, you might very well find a ticket agent who was highly respected in his community used the local city directory to advertise his occupation as Scalper.

There have been individuals and groups who have made an effort to create a database of boats that touched in the United States. Those collections are priceless. They largely meet the definition of databases, but they are paper.

I will be sharing information about those collections, starting with the Way’s Directory. It’s the most widely known—and revered. The proper title is “Way’s directory of western rivers packets.”

The “Way’s Directory” has never been made available as a database, at least not an electronically searchable database. I was stunned that no one had ever created such a database and immediately set to work.

Fortunately, before long, I asked myself about that name. Way—spelled “Way” without an “s”—was Frederick Way, Jr. and he had been a riverboat captain. In fact, he owned a steamboat. Way pondered how to get people interested in buying a book about boats. Today that quandary applies to building a subscription-based database. How many people would pay for access to the most extensive database of boats in use on American waters from 1711, or so, until today?

Ask yourself why anyone would be interested in all those boats? Probably because their ancestor built a specific boat, or was the captain, or traveled aboard her. Maybe because we know what kind of mechanical equipment operated her. Then there were all those steamboat accidents—and they were a-plenty! Oh, yes, there were fun things like steamboat races. A few people died in those, too. But, really, how much would someone pay for a subscription to a database—because they are interested in just one boat?

I suspect that Capt. Way started identifying boats as early as the 1930’s, when he was a young man. In 1950, he speculated that as many as 10,000 boats were busy on the American waterways, and that did not include towboats. No, he created a separate directory of towboats. As a rule towboats tended to travel shorter distances, and existed to tow boats to safety or to storage. Towboats are also not as pretty as riverboats, steamboats, paddleboats, and the like.

Way was fascinated with photographs and devotes no small space in his 1950 directory of boats on the Western waters to lauding photographs, and indulging in explaining why everyone should love them.

Soon, Frederic Way—the riverboat captain and list-keeper of boats—started a new venture. He formed the Steamboat Photo Co., in Ohio. No, he didn’t take pictures; he collected them and sold copies for revenue to help garner interest in his writing and listing. And captaining.

Steamboat photos were a new concept in 1844 and Capt. Way appeared to have come upon the idea that anyone interested in a steamboat would want to see a photograph of her, and to own a copy of that photograph. Boats are pretty and no two have ever been alike!

Robert Cornelius holds the distinction of taking the first photograph, in America, when he took a selfie in 1839. The oldest documented photograph of an American vessel was reportedly a daguerreotype of the Tempest, of Maine. Albert Gregory holds the record for that photograph (a different process than daguerreotype) of the USS Constitution, in May 1858.

Capt. Way’s list of boats began in 1844—or thereabouts. Even if a boat existed long before that, the earliest photograph that could have been taken of her was dated 1848.

Yes, the earliest boat I have documented was in operation in 1711—do the math. We weren’t even a country until 1776. A generation is generally considered somewhere between 20 and 30 years, depending on the model you choose. So, let’s average it out to an estimated 25 years for a generation. The United States was a country for more than two generations before photography began.

No offense to Capt. Way’s pioneering efforts but, thanks to the age we live in, we have access to more information than at any other time in history. We can, indeed, document more than two generations of boats on the American waters. No doubt there were more and maybe someday we will have the tools necessary to identify them.

For now, anyone interested in the history of boats in the United States would do well to begin with dear Capt. Way. His legacy is not only extensive but, keep in mind, he was navigating her rivers while collecting photographs, and eventually selling photographs, and selling his writing.

Search “Frederick Way, Jr.” in WorldCat, and you will find at least 65 entries. These are well-researched items. These are not whimsical opinion pieces. This is true history, Way gathered while he traveled the waters.

I’m in awe. My goal is not to upstage Way. My goal is to add to the body of history Way gave us.

There is a digital version of Way’s “Way’s Directory of Western Rivers Packets: 1950 Edition.” But, a WorldCat entry reads, “A revision of the abridged packet ed., 1944, of Way’s Steamboat directory 1955 date from binding; verso of title page shows copyright date 1950.”

I bought a hard-copy of the 1950 publication before I discovered that someone had digitized it. I have been slow to appreciate digitized works. I can search them so much faster. I largely remain a Luddite: I want to hold a book in my hands. Plus, no one—and I mean no one—has figured out how to autograph a digital book.

The copy I own was autographed: “To Donald Tonjes with all good wishes, the author—Fred Way, Jr.” I admit I’m curious who Tonjes was but will save that search for another day. Tonjes was the owner, and presumably the first person to purchase No. 81, of 450 limited editions published of that printing.

Fences

So, by 1950, Way was selling boat pictures and this directory. There are a few things to unpack here.

Quickly searching for a few lines of text describing a particular water vessel sells Way short. He could have been a writer—with or without being a boat captain. In fact, he was a writer. One can be more than one thing.

Frederick Way loved words. He adored words. He knew how to use words. Anyone who reads Way, without reading the introduction, doesn’t know Way.

He started by talking about “fences.” What he called fences, we call database fields. But, I don’t believe I have ever heard anyone write so charmingly of a database field.

“Before commencing this cruise a little forecastle, boiler deck and fantail chatter is in order.”

The Introduction to the 1950 directory is specific. It is restricted to boats on the “western rivers.” Way used a geographical “fence” of “steam vessels which have operated on the Mississippi River and tributaries, streams emptying into the Gulf of Mexico and the Red River of the North….” (Way)

Way also limited his inventory to packets. The packet ship initially carried mail, primarily within a continent and on a consistent and fairly fixed schedule. But, that changed quickly, as packets began carrying mail between Europe and within the continental United States. A packet could very well carry mail, plus cargo including human beings.

Not every boat was a packet. Not every packet carried mail. Not every packet carried cargo. Not every packet carried people. But, a packet did try to follow a schedule, on a specific route. Packets catered to certain customers and routinely delivered to, or from, them and other ports.

As is the way of humans, there were rogue ship-owners who really just wanted to literally test the waters. They might pull into any port, at any time, and wander around the waterfront looking for someone wanting to ship something or book passage. Whatever the destination, these folks were game and their game was “have boat, will travel.” Not all were scrupulous. They didn’t travel by the clock. They pretty much spent time in a port until they took on enough cargo and humans heading to a similar location—and one that would pay the captain a living wage.

Money was not his goal. He was out to see the world and he was willing to take you along, provided the price was right. He might also be a little more willing to head into treacherous waters, or among dangerous people or wildlife, or travel in the off season.

The packets actually came along later, after ship owners could identify frequent routes of travel, as settlers built up towns or mining communities or whatever would offer enough coming and going of the boats to bring a profit—or at least a wild story to tell!

If you’re new to this, it sounds baffling. So, read up on some of the sources Way recommended. We will talk about them, in future posts.

According to WorldCat, there was a 1944 edition of what later became Way’s 1950 edition. It was an annual printed magazine, or journal, published as the “Inland River Record: Steam and Diesel Vessels of the Mississippi River System,” published by the Sewickley Printing Shop, Incorporated, in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. This was Frederick Way’s hometown. Some issues are available online.

 

Bibliography

Way, Frederick, Jr. Way’s Directory of Western Rivers Packets. 1950.

Next up? Deep dive into our Bookshelf.

“… just think of WordPress as the equivalent of the Bluesky service and the Mastodon service. And the reason you can do that is because it’s really comparable. They’re all text databases, that’s what they are.”—Dave Winer, guest of Nathan Wrigley, on his podcast the WPTavern, Episode #186.