State

Steamboat Trips in the Mountains ll may bo hard to boliove but st cam boats did make trips up aiul down I lio Frouch ISroad Hivor and many mountain folks wont on sloamhoat excursions. Bi; SADIE S. PATTON The summer of 1881 was extremely dry, and water in the streams was at the lowest point in twenty-five years. Instead of its anticipated trips of 25 miles or more up and down the French Broad, the Mountain Lily could make only short, forays. More jetties were erected and more shoals removed, and for a brief time the trips were extended. But again many difficulties were encountered. After an arid summer, heavy rains and freshets on the headwaters of the French Broad and its tributaries brought down large quantities of sand and mud, and the river channel was soon so filled that the Mountain Lily became stranded at King’s STEAMBOAT excursions in the mountains of western North Carolina ! That sounds like an exaggeration, to say the least. But, a little more than fifty years ago, residents and visitors in that sec¬ tion of the state found trips up and down the French Broad River on the Mountain Lily a highly exciting and diverting experience. The thrill of traveling on a steamboat traversing a stream which was more than 2,200 feet above sea level, constituting the most lofty boat-line in the world, was for a while the last word in social pleasure for those seeking novel and intriguing pastimes. And here’s how it all came about. Trips Long and Arduous For a hundred years after the first settlers came into the French Broad Valley, the lack of adequate transpor¬ tation was the greatest hindrance to the development of the country. Roads had penetrated the mountains through two or three gaps, but travel from the western sections to markets to the southward, by wagons and stage coach, made these trips long and arduous and at times even dangerous. Crops were an entire failure in the mountain area of the state about 1845. Corn was scarcely to be had even at high prices in the western section, while it rotted in the fields of the eastern part for the lack of a market. The French Broad Valley residents had much difficulty with the transpor¬ tation problem for many years. But about 1S7S, a progressive-spirited citi¬ zen of Hendersonville had an idea which he believed and hoped would solve that problem, in a measure, at least. Begins Work on Vessel lie was Colonel >S. V. Pickens, who obtained a charter for the French Broad Steamboat Company, and be¬ gan the construction of a vessel to be used for the transportation of both passengers and freight on the French Broad River. His plan was to run this vessel, operated by steam, from a point near Hendersonville up the river to Bre¬ vard, and on downstream to Asheville, Robert B. Vance, at that time a Con¬ gressman, succeeded in securing the approval of a $25,000 appropriation which was to be expended in making the river navigable along the route the Mountain Lily was to traverse. Much of the fund was spent in blasting away rocks and shoals which hampered river traffic, but most of it was used in the construction of jet¬ ties, which had the effect of narrow¬ ing the channel and deepening the water. An experienced boat-builder was found in Norfolk, and preparations were made to begin work on the new vessel. A rather large force of men was employed, and for months these workers labored to construct the Mountain Lily. She was a side- wheel steamer. There was a 12-horse¬ power engine on each side of the ves¬ sel, each under separate control, to as¬ sure safety in rounding the river’s short curves. The jaunty little craft had a capacity of one hundred passen¬ gers, and it was said that the ship drew only eighteen inches of water when loaded with that many travelers or an equivalent weight in cargo. For a while after the Mountain Lily was put into service early in 1881, it seemed that the venture would prove a success. The novelty of the steamboat excursions was attracting hundreds of passengers and a consid¬ erable amount of freight, but the ele¬ ments and the vagaries of the moun¬ tain stream finally forced a cessation of the vessel’s operations. Vessel Finally Dismantled Held there with its nose buried deeply in the mud for several years, the vessel finally was dismantled. The boathouse, which had been erected at Johnson’s Bridge when construction work was begun on the Mountain Lily, was used as a meeting place by the Baptist congregation at Horse Shoe for a long time after the steamer was forced to discontinue its river journeys. Later, in another effort to make the navigation of the river practicable and successful, another smaller boat was placed into service. That venture, however, also was destined to end in failure. Residents of the French Broad Valiev at that time had become very proud of the Mountain Lily and the distinction it gave their sec¬ tion, and were keenly disappointed when all the efforts of the boatlinc promoters to keep her in service proved futile. “The Mountain Lily,” which proudly traversed the French Broad River for a limited period of time. But the river wouldn't stay put, so the craft was finally run up on a mud-bank and was dismantled.