A FORGOTTEN RIVER

 A Forgotten River

      A large, water logged tree trunk who’s origin will never be known, found a temporary home on the banks of the Missouri river within view of downtown Kansas City. Worn smooth from years of exposure to Mother Nature’s elements, it will make a perfect place for the occasional visitor to sit and day dream before heavy spring rains raise the water and free the tree so it can continue its journey down stream.   

   The quiet, tranquil, almost intoxicating view, punctuated with an occasional stunning sunset, can have a soothing, hypnotic affect on a person. Without much of an effort, you can let your imagination take you back in time to the pre civil war days as you watch the swift moving Missouri flow by.  The area where the Missouri and Kansas rivers meet would be much different a hundred and forty plus years ago. The tall Kansas City skyline, inter city viaduct and the bridges crisscrossing the river wouldn’t be there. In their place would be a busy, vibrant water front bustlingly with activity. The deafening blast of a steam whistle would draw your attention downstream where columns of dark black smoke could be seen pouring from the twins stacks of a magnificent steam boat as its powerful engines struggled against the mighty Missouri. Well over a hundred passengers from all walks of life jockey for position on the decks to get a better look at the frontier town of 4,000 people as the boat dodges snags and eases in to the wharf. Stevedores hustle to set the gang plank in position and begin unloading personal belongings and general commodities for the local merchants. I wonder how many of the passengers question whether they made the right decision to leave their homes back east for a new start in the Wild West as they disembarked.

 Unfortunately, we can’t day dream for ever and have to return to reality. Sadly, the hustle and bustle of the water front has been reduced to the barren banks and occasional fishing or tow boat we see today.

   Former northeast resident and river boat pilot, Rick Lynn grew up in a two room shack on the banks of the big muddy about a mile east of the Choteau bridge in the 1950s and remembers a more vibrant river during his childhood.

“It wasn’t at all unusual to see 20 or 30 pleasure boats on the river back then.” Rick said. “People camped on sand bars, fished and pulled skiers up and down the river. I can remember sitting on our dock at night looking across the river at the city dump. They deliberately set the trash on fire every few nights. The flames reflecting across the smooth as glass water created a beautiful view.”

  There were not any marinas on the river to take care of all the boats so Rick’s family started one next to their shack in 1957.

   In addition to the dock, the marina also had a boat ramp, carried fuel for their customers convenience and repaired boats in the fiberglass and machine shops.  At an age when most of us were more worried about playing with our childhood friends, Rick was helping the young business get off to a good start by doing every thing from pumping fuel to working in the repair shops. At age nine, he started driving the jeeps they used for launching close to 5,000 boats in to the river every year at 75 cent each. “It wasn’t that hard.” Rick said. “The jeep had a trailer hitch on the front bumper that made it relatively easy to steer the boat down the ramp.

    With so many people enjoying the river, Rick’s father, Richard, decided to buy his first excursion boat in 1965.  Powered by twin,six cylinder Norburg engines that came out of World War two surplus halftracks, the 69 ton Delores Philly took as many as 200 people at a time up and down the river by the Choteau bridge for twenty years.

   Business was so good that Richard added the 650 passenger Missouri River Queen in 1985.  Built in 1984, she was specificity designed for the rigors of the Missouri river.  It took two weeks to sail her from Paducah, Kentucky to Kansas City. Richard’s third and final boat, The Spirit of America, made it’s appearance in Kansas City in 1990.

   “She was more modern than the Queen, could hold 800 people and looked similar to the love boat.”  Rick said.  “We sold her to the gaming people in 1995. They turned her into a gambling boat for off shore use along the coast of Florida.” 

  The Missouri River Queen was sold in 1998 ending a 30 year run of excursion boats in Kansas City.

    Rick, who served in both the Navy and the Marines, started as a deckhand on the family boats and became a riverboat pilot in 1969.  He achieved the rank of riverboat captain when he earned his 100 ton master mariner license in 1993.

     In his travels, Rick Lynn has seen every thing from heroics to tragic deaths on the Missouri river.

   “It was like a scene out of a movie.” Rick said as he searched his memory. “We were approaching the Hannibal Bridge on a brilliantly blue day when I noticed a man that looked like James Dean on the highest part of the bridge. He was dressed in a white tee shirt and blue jeans. The police were running along the bridge trying to get close enough to talk him down. A helicopter circled over head and a small boat with several officers on board took a position under the bridge. The man calmly took out a cigarette, smoked it and jumped. He popped up like a cork and started swimming like he was in the Olympics. He was handcuffed and placed under arrest when he reached the shore.”

   It was four in the morning on a pitch black night in 1968 when Richard Lynn steered the Queen towards the Choteau bridge. A strong wind was creating white caps across the swirling waters as they went under the bridge. First mate, Nelson Perry was working on the second deck when he heard some thing hit the water hard, which was amazing since he is deaf in one ear and wears a hearing aid in the other one. He was in his late fifties at the time and only had one eye but some how managed to spot the woman who jumped from the bridge struggling in the water. He dove into the dark water from the second deck and reached her in time. The Queen had a full boat of passengers and no other deck hands on board so Richard had no choice but to return to port and contact the authorities. Nelson fought to keep the woman afloat for three hours as the current took them downstream. They were both rescued and Nelson received a presidential citation from President Nixon.

  In another act of heroism, Richard was awarded the Congressional Life Saving metal from Senator Dole for saving a woman who jumped off his boat. He dove in and fought the current to catch up to her. In the fight to try and reach the bank they both became tangled up in a dredge line. Eventually, the couple broke free and made it to the shore. The woman was alive when Richard handed her over to the paramedics but later died.

    It’s any ones guess why the occasional depressed and suicidal person chooses the Missouri river as a place to end their lives. Perhaps they should do just the opposite and embrace the river as a means of self therapy.  A few hours of sitting on the log in the serene place I wrote about might go a long way towards finding inner peace.

  The area where the Lewis and Clark expedition once camped has made such a lasting impression on Rick that he has decided to have his funeral services there when that inevitable day arrives.

   He has purchased an unusual but beautiful coffin that bears a remarkable resemblance to the Missouri River Queen. It will sit high atop a peninsula where the Missouri and Kansas rivers meet below it and the Kansas City skyline towers above it. Rick is donating his remains to science so he will only be there in spirit. Instead of his body the coffin will contain his captains uniform, a boat oar, a box of cigars and a bottle of Jack Daniels. There will be a band, a bag pipe player and Lewis and Clark re-enactors. The public is invited to attend the services. The price will be 20 dollars in advance and 100 dollars at the gate. It will cost you a quarter to peek inside the coffin. All proceeds will go towards the building of a discover center at the confluence of the rivers. The coffin will be on display there along with its contents.

      I think Rick put it best when he said the only news we see about the Missouri river is usually negative such as the discovery of a toxic waste site or a body being found.

   “The reality is, its beautiful.” Rick said. “It’s in better condition now than it ever has been. We have a wonderful resource right here in our back yard and choose to ignore it. Smaller cities and towns up and down the river have better riverfronts than we do.”

    I tried the river for the first time last year and couldn’t agree more. In two evenings, we caught a total of 183 pounds of catfish from our boat. You can safely eat one meal of catfish a week since they are a bottom feeder or practice the catch and release method like I do. I can’t think of a bigger thrill than fighting a fifty pound Bluecat in the swift current of the Missouri and you don’t have to spend a fortune in gas to get there.

  It looks like those hardy pioneers from the 1800s made the right decision after all when they got off the steamships