In April, our special issue saluting 200 years of Memphis history, we told the story of Tom Lee, who rescued 30 people when the steamer M.E. Norman sank in the Mississippi River just south of here.
Two boats carried members of the Memphis Engineers Club on an outing to inspect work being performed along the riverbanks — the M.E. Norman and the Choctaw. When the Norman, overloaded with passengers, rolled over and sank, the Choctaw never knew about the disaster because the faster ship had already steamed ahead.
Once it reached port in Memphis, the passengers and crew were told of the disaster, and a rescue team swarmed onto the vessel, which returned to the site of the Norman sinking, and helped search for any passengers that survived. There seems to be no record if they were successful. Tom Lee, and a few others, it seems, had rescued as many as they could. The other passengers were lost.
Searching through a publication called the S&D Reflector, I came across a rare image of the Choctaw, which you see here. The magazine's title refers to the fact that it is published for the Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen, and as you might expect, it includes lots of arcane information about the rivers of America and the boats (and people) who made their living on it.
It's not clear when this old photo was taken, or where, but the Reflector has this to say about the boat:
"The CHOCTAW (TO417) accompanied the M.E. NORMAN (T1673) on an excursion from Memphis to Pinkney Landing on May 8, 1925. On the return trip the Choctaw pulled away from the smaller steamer and the crew didn't learn of the Norman's accident until reaching Memphis.
Now, this much you know already, since I just told you, and that story was recounted in detail in the April issue. But I bet you didn't know this about the Choctaw: "The Choctaw was built at Dubuque, Iowas, in 1899 with an iron hull for the Mississippi River Commission [and] transferred to the U.S. Corps of Engineeers in 1905."
What happened to this boat later? I don't know. If I find out, you'll be the first to know.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE S&D REFLECTOR, SEPTEMBER 1998.
