In 2007 my nephew Jim Berry was having a May wedding in the San Francisco area and I wondered if it was possible to arrive there via boat, picking up family as close as we could to where they lived. After researching the matter and finding it indeed possible I posted the route on the Johnson family blog. Here is what I found (map at bottom of post):
We undo the mooring ropes of the Jimmy B. at Lake Macatawa in Holland (after the Kuipers arrive down the Grand River from Grand Rapids), head out the channel to Lake Michigan and go south to Saugatuck where we venture up the Kalamazoo River, past Kalamazoo, to Galesburg, and then back through Kalamazoo to Lake Michigan. We then beeline across the lake to Milwaukee, turning south to the Navy Pier in Chicago, and then down the Chicago Sanitary Canal to the Des Plains River.
Near Joliet we pick up the Illinois River, winding our way south through Peoria to just north of St. Louis. At that point we pick up the Mississippi River south for a short distance before heading west on the Missouri River, winding through Missouri to Kansas City where the Missouri River heads north along the Missouri/Kansas border, north along the Missouri/Nebraska border, and when we get to the northern part of Missouri we take a short detour up the Nishnabotna River which gets us to a few miles from Sidney, Iowa.
Retracing our route south to the Missouri River we then head north to just below Omaha, Nebraska, picking up the Platte River. The Platte River will take us west, through Kearney, through North Platte, then into Colorado and onto Denver.
Once again we retrace our route east to pick up the Missouri River again, go north, past Omaha and head to Pierre, South Dakota, then to Bismark, North Dakota, then northwest to Great Falls, Montana. At Great Falls we need to pick up the Jefferson River south to Beaver head River to New Hawkins Lake. There is a little tributary from New Hawkins Lake in Montana to the Lemhi Pass, which is 8000 feet high.
At this point we need to carry our boat a few miles over the pass, into Idaho, to pick up a tributary which flows into the Salmon River in Idaho. We should be ready for the portage at this point because there are about 200 dams we had to go around on the Missouri River to get this far so we have had plenty of practice. Hopefully we picked up a lot of family along the way for just this occasion.
Anyway, the Salmon River goes northwest and meets up with the Snake River on the Oregon border. We still head north through Idaho to Washington where we pick up the Columbia River which goes west and exits into the Pacific Ocean. Next we need to go south to California and dock nearest to where the wedding will be. Once there we break up the boat for firewood and have a grand bonfire before the wedding. One note, in order to make it in time we need to leave on January 15.
This lead to a subsequent post:
Easter on the Jimmy B
I
talked to Holli today and she wanted me to let everyone know how things
were going on our boat excursion West. Here is my report:Spring has come in all its glory. The 1st wildflowers are visible along the river banks, bugs of all sizes and colors dart to and fro over the placid, sun baked river surface, and river dolphins jump playfully over our wake.
When my great great grandfather, Captain Joseph LaBarge, piloted his steam powered paddle boats along the Missouri River, they would have to replenish their fuel by stopping at wood piles along the way. This could be dangerous because Indians knew that these were good locations for an ambush. In the years since the mid 1800's the tribes have become much more sophisticated in their tactics, making riverboats anchored at major port cities into gambling establishments. So far our intrepid group has managed to escape with our lives.
We are in Montana now and while docking for supplies I took a side trip South to a town called LaBarge, Wyoming. During WWII my uncle Jack was on a troop train going West and the train made a very short stop at LaBarge. He jumped out of the train and ran into the nearest bar and asked the bartender "Are there any LaBarges here?" The bartender replied "See that large oak tree out front? Hung a LaBarge on that tree last week." At that point my uncle spun around and trotted back to the train.
My brother Jim, not deterred by our uncles experience, visited there a couple years ago. He went to the local library to read about the towns history. Seems that at one time oil was discovered there and the name of the town was changed to Oil City. When the oil ran out the town fathers, in their great wisdom, changed the name once again to LaBarge.
When I got back to the boat I thought about how the route we are taking is very much the same as that traveled at the start of the 1800's by Lewis and Clark. Lewis would ride the boat while the crew would pull or pole the boat upstream. Clark however would walk the entire way. On the Jimmy B. the captain is called behind his back, the Lord High Commander. He has been known to enforce discipline by making certain passengers get out of the boat. We call that "Doing a Clark." If they have to jump in the water to push us off a sandbar we call that "Doing a Clark bar." We find humor where ever we can after several long months on the river.
One last post went with this series:
THE WRECK OF THE JIMMY B. sung by Gordon Lightfoot
Twas the seventh of May
we had traveled all day
down the lake they call Pac-if-a-goo-me
Our spirits were high
not a cloud in the sky
we were getting to San Fran so surely
From galley to head
really kicking the lead
but the captain was getting a bit surly
"There's a storm brewing mates
when we get to the gates
of the golden bay near Salsalito
We've traveled this far
not by train, air or car
all on water to here from Toledo
But the oceans turned white
while day changed into night
and our engine is working like jello
So he went down below
at a break in the blow
when he tasted last nights burrito
No one had the wheel
and a wave hit the keel
and the boat went all kinda curly
The captain it's said
didn't exit the head
when the gales of November came early.
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