Nettie Quill was queen of the river

Alabama's rivers have always been a major transportation artery for commerce and travelers. In the early days of Alabama, flat boats and canoes made the journey down rivers and creeks carrying news and supplies to far flung settlements and villages. Before the War Between the States, the advent of the steam powered river boat brought rapid transport to cotton and commerce. Stories of the ships created an allure of romance and adventure.

Sometimes the ships gave rise to legends even bigger than the ships themselves and sometimes even foreboding accounts of death and destruction followed in their wake. Once an old African American man named the "Prophet" lived along the Tombigbee River, he had been old as long as anybody in the area could remember. He was a "seer", or others would say he was born with a "veil" over his eyes whereby he could see visions of things to come. His slow, deep tone often haunted the superstitious crews of the riverboats as deck hands and others sought his advice as to whether or not they could expect a safe trip.

On one trip, a man asked the Prophet about a ship called Big Jim. "Will this be a safe and successful trip?" asked the inquisitive crew member. Yet the Prophet just sat in his wooden chair, perhaps clutching his corn cob pipe in one hand and staring across the river at some distant shore.

Asking again the ancient mariner pressed on, "What you see Prophet?" After being pressed by the young man the wise old man responded, "It ain't good, what I see ain't good," said the old man as he peered through the shroud of cataracts which dampened his earthly vision but which left his ability to peer into the spirit world unharmed.

The Prophet, sitting motionless in the chair, conjured up the energy to continue and said, "This is Big Jim's last voyage. I won't see her no mo.'"

Within a few days, the Big Jim was tied at Powe's Landing, about 125 miles north of Mobile and loaded with freight. Around noon, as the crew was finishing lunch, a huge explosion ripped through the front of the boat. Soon scalding water, unleashed from the boat's boilers, sealed the fate of any unlucky enough to be within reach of the destruction. The ship soon caught fire and drifted south towards Baldon Springs. Soon the mangled and burned remains slipped quietly beneath the Tombigbee River.

The Prophet's vision had come to fruition. Twenty-six people died in the disaster, twenty were injured in the explosion. A story began to circulate immediately after the disaster that the crew had abandoned the engine room after seeing an apparition under the boilers.

Other river boats were famous as well.

The "Nettie Quill", one of the Alabama River's most famous sternwheelers. She was constructed in 1886 in Wheeling, West Virginia, her hull and framing being constructed at Freedom, Pennsylvania. After construction, the elegant steamer, of 299 tons, began runs between Mobile (her home port) and Selma. Her principal cargo was cotton and passengers.

When the river's waters were high enough, she made runs to Montgomery. James F. Quill, was one of the most famous captains of the "Nettie" as she plied the river waters for over a quarter century. The ship eventually earned the sobriquet, "Queen of the Alabama." In 1915, after one of the longest careers in Alabama River history, the Nettie Quill was sold by Captain Quill to a Monroe, Louisiana firm. She was renamed the "Monroe", and was taken to New Orleans. During a violent storm she sank in the Mississippi River.

Now available at the Wawbeek Store: The Butler Street Chronicles (selected histories of the Butler Street community area), Shadows and Dust I-III and Canoe History of a Southern Town. Copies can also be purchased from the author or at Amazon.com or Lulu.com and at The Monroe County Heritage Museum in Monroeville, Alabama.

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