Steamboat era may have ended on Monday

Published 12:00 am Sunday, November 9, 2008

As the saying goes, sometimes we don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone.

What could well be the last visit of the last authentic Mississippi River passenger steamboat took place during the week. The Delta Queen headed downstream about midnight Monday and, perhaps, into history.

From all reports, Majestic America Line, the glorious old boat’s owner, is selling off the Delta Queen plus its more modern sisters, the Mississippi Queen and American Queen, both diesel-powered.

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Only the newest and by far the largest of the trio, the American Queen, is really viable. The Mississippi Queen is reportedly drydocked and gutted for remodeling, which may or may not be completed. The Delta Queen has run out of safety exemptions from Congress. The steamer can still make daylight runs, but, due to its wood superstructure and steam power, is not legal for overnight passenger trips.

If there’s a buyer on the horizon, we haven’t heard about it. Certainly these financially trying times lessen the prospect.

But if what we are writing is an epitaph, at least for the “DQ,” let’s remember the good times.

Let’s remember the aromas of sun-warmed wax on the polished wood mingling with aromas of river water churned by the sternwheel and fine Southern foods being prepared in the galley. Let’s remember the polished brass, the luxurious sofas in the lounge and melting into the deck chairs with a glass of iced tea. Let’s remember that calliope and the merry sounds it made when steam destined for the pitman arms was diverted through its pipes.

Like residents of all cities along the Mississippi and its tributaries, we hope a way will be found for the Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen and American Queen to remain in operation. Their visits to City Front should never have been taken for granted, but two centuries of Vicksburg being a port of call for steamboats may have come to an end this week. Sometimes we don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone.