Steamboats navigate Rio Grande in the 1800s

The first steamboats on the Rio Grande were used during the Mexican War to transport troops and equipment up the river. After the war Mifflin Kennedy and Richard King entered the business, purchasing military steamboats for a fraction of their original cost.

Charles Stillman also had steamboats, and approached Kennedy and King about going into partnership. M. Kennedy and Co. began operating on March 1, 1850. They decided that navigation of the shallow, twisting river would be more successful if a new boat were designed. The new vessel sailed from Brazos Santiago to Brownsville, while smaller vessels were used to reach destinations upstream.

Competition in the steamboat business was intense at times, but Kennedy and Co. eventually bought out their competitors, at times giving them an interest in their company. They dominated the business for many years.

River steamboats encountered strong currents, low water, a twisting river channel, driftwood and other objects floating in the river. Travel was limited to daylight hours.

Voyages on the river were slow, requiring many hours. A steamboat trip from the mouth of the river to Brownsville required sailing 60 miles, about twice the distance if traveling by land. It required four to six days to travel from the mouth of the river to Camargo.

Ranches along the river had docks where wood to fuel the engines was stored for the boats to pick up.

Although steamboat travel was, for the most part, safer than overland travel, at times bandits attempted to rob steamboats. In 1859 and 1860 Juan Cortina led a group of men who created much turmoil in the area. Cortina planned a daring attack on the Steamboat “Ranchero,” which was carrying cargo valued at $200,000, including $60,000 in gold. Some 35 miles above Brownsville there was a sharp bend in the river, requiring the boat to slow its speed, and Cortina planned his attack there.

Major Samuel P. Heintzelman of Fort Brown learned of the planned attack, and placed troops and two cannon on board. Texas Rangers supported the Army troops.

On Feb. 4, 1860 the vessel began its voyage, and as it slowed to navigate the bend in the river Cortina’s man began firing. About 35 Texas Rangers crossed the river and attacked the bandits, who quickly fled. The vessel was escorted to Brownsville, with Texas Rangers patrolling the south bank of the river and Army troops on the north side.

Most reports of steamboat journeys describe problems, but Anna Kelsey, of a Starr County ranching family, described a pleasant trip on the river, probably in the late 1800s:

“It was pleasant to sit on the deck in the cool of the afternoon, and in the moonlight, and listen to the guitar music and singing of the native deckhands. A man sat on the prow and measured the depth of the channel with a long pole, calling the depth of the water. Sometimes it would be “Six feet!” sometimes “Seven feet!” and sometimes “No bottom!” Should the boat strike a sand bar the pilot would reverse the engine and tug away until the boat was freed and could proceed on its way.”

“There is quicksand in many places along the river and I often would see poor cattle sunk in it beyond their power to extricate themselves. This grieved me so much that I would ask Captain Best if he could not do something. If the cow was not too deeply mired, he would tell one of the deck hands to throw a lasso around the animal’s neck and draw it out of the mud and into the water, where it would have a chance of saving itself. Many head of livestock have been lost by high water and by quicksand on the Rio Grande.”

Carl Chilton has written several books on Brownsville history and is working on a manuscript describing our voyage from stagecoaches and steamboats to jet aircraft.