Clinton Iowa Riverboat Days Celebration

 

Riverboat Days crowd in the 1960s

Riverboat Days was one of those things you didn’t really think about… until it was gone.

If you lived anywhere near Clinton, you just knew. Late June, sliding into the Fourth, you were going down to the river. Didn’t matter if you planned it. You ended up there anyway.

It started in 1961. Didn’t look like much at first. Small-town festival stuff. A queen, a parade, some events, people figuring it out as they went.

In 1963, Gertrude—(maybe Georgene. The papers weren't sure.) Krogman—got crowned queen. A few years later, in 1966, Gertrude Lego took her turn. Same names popping up, same families, same faces. It still felt local.

But even then, they were swinging bigger than they probably should’ve.

Morrill Marston Commandant of Fort Armstrong 1819-1821

Fort Armstrong at Rock Island

Morrill Marston served as commandant at Fort Armstrong from August 1819 to June 1821. After leaving Fort Armstrong, Marston became the commandant of Fort Edwards. His primary duty was to stop boats going up the river and search them for whiskey to ensure it did not get to the Indians.

After leaving the army when Fort Edwards was abandoned in 1824, he began farming near the fort. Unfortunately, Marston drowned in a drunken fit in 1831.

Fortunately for us, he penned a series of letters on the Sac and Fox customs to Reverend Jedidiah Morse in 1820. In addition, Marston said he talked with four of the principal chiefs of the two nations.

They called the land around Fort Armstrong Sen-i-se-po Ke-be-sau-lee or Rock River Peninsula. Government agents had been trying to get the tribes to relocate for some time but had no luck. A Fox chief told him they would not leave because their chiefs and friends were buried there.

Denkman Lumber Yards Fire Davenport 1901

 

(Davenport Democrat. August 7, 1901)

The largest fire in Davenport’s history swept through the city’s riverfront district on July 26, 1901. Twenty acres of homes and businesses were swept away in the conflagration.

The Weyerhaeuser and Denkmann Lumber Yards were burned to the ground. Two hundred people lost their homes, and nearly one hundred eighty men at the lumber yard lost their jobs. 

“A strong wind fanned the flames, reported The Moline Dispatch. “They shot hundreds of feet into the air. Then, they jumped across streets and alleys and rushed forward with the force of a monster blast furnace.”

Everything from the foot of Federal Street to Oneida Street lay in ruins. The flames were so hot that the rails melted, and the ends flung themselves in the air like “snakeheads.” They stood up over a foot in some places. All that remained of the wooden sidewalks were ashes.

The telephone lines were out for nearly a week as the company raced to replace the burned poles and restring its wires. The trolley line replaced two blocks of tracks, most of the poles and wires that powered their lines, and railroad traffic was disrupted for weeks.

The bricks on East River Street were gone from their places, “as though they had popped out of their beds like so much corn.” Many more bricks were shattered, most likely from the cold water thrown on them. 

Fat Men's Baseball Club Waterloo Iowa 1909

 

Frank C. Kee of Waterloo, Iowa, traveled the United States in 1909 and 1910, putting together the fat men’s baseball club. When he finished, the team had a combined weight of 4,487 pounds (about twice the weight of a Clydesdale horse). 

Although the team members were big, the Des Moines Register told its readers, there was nothing funny about the way they played baseball. “Their lining up at the lunch counter when out on the road,” said the paper, “is the immediate signal for the proprietor to send out for additional supplies.” 

 “Baby” Bliss, the first baseman, weighed in at 650 pounds and was thought to be the heaviest man in the world. E. Holm, the pitcher, weighed 350 pounds. J. A. Brownwell, the second baseman, weighed 400 pounds; outfielder Harry Vorwold weighed 325 pounds; shortstop Ed J. Sheean weighed 390 pounds, and W. B. Hinds, the third baseman, tipped the scale at 400 pounds. And strange as it may seem, Oliver Kimball, the umpire, was a teensy guy who stood 4 feet tall and weighed 138 pounds. 

Nile Kinnick University of Iowa Football Star Killed In Action WWII

 

Iowa Hawkeyes fans were stunned in June 1943 when they learned that former halfback Nile Kinnick had died in action.

Kinnick’s parents told reporters they hadn’t heard from him since May 22. They thought he was assigned to an aircraft carrier somewhere in the Atlantic, but weren’t sure where. The Navy subsequently reported Kinnick’s Grumman F4F Wildcat suffered a catastrophic oil leak shortly after takeoff from the USS Lexington. He followed protocol and ditched his aircraft in the water about four miles from the carrier. Unfortunately, his body was never found.

When Kinnick enlisted in the Naval Air Corps in September 1941, he told reporters, “I would be lacking in appreciation for all America has done for me did I not offer what little I had to her.

“And I’m going in with both fists swinging.”

Antoine Le Claire Fur Trader Interpreter Businessman

 

Antoine Le Claire started his life as an Indian trader and interpreter. After the Black Hawk War, Le Claire launched his second career as a town builder.

At first, he worked as a jack of all trades. Le Claire became the first justice of the peace in Iowa in 1833. The following year, he established a ferry service between Stephenson (present-day Rock Island) and Davenport. On April 19, 1836, Le Claire became the first postmaster of Davenport. Early accounts say he carried the mail in his coat pockets.

After the City of Davenport was laid out in 1836, a steamboat loaded with investors arrived at Davenport in time for the sale, but fewer lots were sold than expected. At best, fifty or sixty lots sold, and then, for lower prices than expected. The new city was off to a slow start and would continue at that pace for nearly a decade.

From all accounts, Le Claire cultivated his town much as a farmer would his fields, watering it and adding a touch of fertilizer when necessary. Everything written about Antoine Le Claire referred to his generous nature. “Mr. Le Claire is a wealthy man,” reported the Rock Island Weekly Argus, “and he knows what use to make of his wealth. Mr. Le Claire has always been the first on the list in every enterprise intended to benefit the town and state in which he lives.”

When the town was laid out, Le Claire set aside Lafayette Square for a courthouse. Several other lots were provided for parks and playgrounds. He donated land or money to build many churches in Davenport and gave an entire block on Main and West Fourth Streets for St. Anthony’s, the first church in Davenport.

Ronald Reagan The Early Radio Days In Iowa

Before the speeches, before Hollywood, before anyone ever called him “Mr. President,” Ronald Reagan was just a young guy trying to get a job during the Great Depression.

He didn’t have a master plan. No five-year vision. No idea he’d end up in the White House someday. He just had a friendly voice, a little confidence, and the willingness to walk into a radio station and say, “I think I can do this.”

Somehow, that worked.

He landed in Davenport at WOC radio, and like most first jobs, it wasn’t glamorous. Early radio wasn’t slick or polished. It was closer to organized chaos. Equipment was finicky. Scripts were loose. And if something went wrong, you were already on the air when you found out.

WOC had a reputation, though. The Palmer family ran it, and they enjoyed pushing things forward—new tech, new programming, and fresh voices. That also meant expectations were higher than you’d expect for a Midwestern station in the 1930s.

So, if you bombed, people noticed.

Fatal Joyride in Sioux City 1930

 

Adelaide Anderson was dropped off at home shortly before the shooting. Leonard Bornholtz, 17, was shot and killed by the police while trying to stop the car.

A joyride in Sioux City ended with a dead teenager and a handful of shaken kids sitting in a police station.

 

Detectives Lou Miller and Roy Gillis knew the car was stolen when they spotted it. They tried to stop it, but the driver, Harry Dial, 22, kept going.

 

The car cut into an alley. Miller fired two shots into the air. Warnings.

 

The car didn’t stop.

 

He fired again.

Drake University Advertisement 1930

 

The Des Moines Register ran this advertisement for Drake University in its August 31, 1930 issue. It gives a great view of the campus and the observatory.

Florence Gamble Boone, Iowa Matrimonial Swindler

(Des Moines Register. January 19, 1913)

Florence Gamble, better known as the Champion Heartbreaker of Iowa, was arrested in Boone, Iowa, in January 1913 for swindling lonely men around the country. Authorities said she corresponded with over 500 men, taking anywhere from $15 to $50 from each man.

She advertised in matrimonial papers around the country, then corresponded with the marriage minded men who responded. After writing back and forth for several weeks, she asked for a few dollars to cover her railroad fare to visit them.

J. L. Prater of Arlington, Texas, contacted federal authorities after sending her $30. After checking into his complaint they learned that she sent a picture of a nineteen year old marraige minded girl. After receiving money from the men, Florence conveniently cut off her correspondence.

Fairies Dance At Drake University May Festival

(colorized image from Des Moines Register. May 16, 1915)

The annual May Festival held at the Drake University stadium featured many dancers and performances.

Performers in the Fairies Dance include: (left to right) Margaret Collins, Martha Knudson, and Martha Peterson.

The above picture shows the grounds at Highland Park's Seventh Annual May Festival. The Des Moines Register said it drew over 6,000 spectators.

Donna Reed From Iowa Farm Girl To Movie Star

 

Donna Reed was born Donna Belle Mullenger in Denison, Iowa, in 1921.

 

She had brains. Looks, too. After high school, she headed to Los Angeles City College. That’s where things tilted. A Hollywood scout spotted her and thought, yeah, that one.

 

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed her, gave her a new name, and just like that Donna Mullenger became Donna Reed.

 

The early years were a grind. Small parts. Background smiles. The roles where you’re basically furniture with dialogue. She showed up. Hit her marks. Paid attention.

 

In 1946, she took a role in It’s a Wonderful Life.

 

She played Mary Hatch. Started off as the girl next door. Ended up the backbone of the story. The movie belonged to Jimmy Stewart if you were going by billing, but Reed was the one holding the emotional line.

Bernhard & Turner Auto Company Advertisement

 This advertisement for the Rauch & Lang Worm Drive Automobile was published in the Des Moines Register, circa 1912-1915. Bernhard & Turner Auto Company ws located at 508-10-12 Seventh Street in Des Moines.

Iowa Sculptor Nellie Walker

Nellie Verne Walker’s early art education took place in her father’s monument shop.

He carved tombstones for a living. Nellie grew up around that work—stone, tools, long hours—and before long she was carving too.

At seventeen, she made a limestone bust of Abraham Lincoln. The piece was good enough to be shown at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, labeled simply as “the work of an Iowa girl.”

That got attention, but it didn’t solve the bigger problem.

She wanted training and couldn’t afford it. So she worked—six years as a legal secretary—saving until she could go to the Art Institute of Chicago. When she got there, she knew exactly what she was after.

That’s where Lorado Taft comes in. Taft was one of the leading sculptors in the country, known for large public monuments and a classical style. He also made a point of supporting women artists. He saw something in Nellie and pulled her into his studio circle.

L. F. Walker Drumcorps Waterloo

The Waterloo Courier published this picture of the L. F. Walker Drumcorps on September 30, 1915.

Left to right - standing: (unknown first name) Smith, Roscoe Frisbie, Lou Frossele, Frank Snyder, and E. M. Wyant.

Left to right - sitting: John P. von Lackum, Geo. Crownover, Arthur Slade Frank Worcester, and Oscar Slade.