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Unlucky M

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.

Nineteenth Century steamboat men were not more than ordinarily superstitious, but by the 1860s, there did seem to be a disturbing pattern among Mississippi steamboats whose names began with the letter M. They seemed to be cursed.

Captain John Bofinger, who became president of the Anchor line claimed that "with barely an exception, all steamboats built and run on the Mississippi and its tributaries, whose names commenced with the letter M were either burnt, sunk, exploded, or an unsuccessful investment." He was referring to the "Missouri," the "Mary," the "Michigan," "Maria," "Monarch," and the "Mediator"—all destroyed.

Two friends ridiculed Captain Bofinger for his superstition, and named their boats the "Metamora," and the "Midas." Both burned. A successful excursion boat pilot, Capt. D. W. Wisherd bought the "Keystone State," and renamed her the "Majestic." She was wrecked thirteen days later. He then bought the "Rees Lee" and renamed her the "Majestic." She burned. He then changed the name of his boat "G. W. Hill" to the "Island Maid." She burned to the hull.

Or consider a steamboat passenger, C. A. Hull, who boarded the steamer "Mammoth," just as it caught fire. He started over again on the "Magnolia" whose safety record was impeccable. The "Magnolia" blew her boilers killing 35 people.

Toward the end of the steamboat era, Captain Frederick Way, Jr., a leading authority on steam boating discovered the curse was not as thorough as was thought. He found that of the 723 steamboats with M names built before 1911, only 218 had met violent ends—not much more than double the statistics for all other boats.

What do you suppose it was? Could the Mississippi be jealous, and want to keep the “M” name all for itself? The Mississippi River does have masculine gender—the Father of Waters. It could be a macho male thing.

Now that steamboats have all gone, where will the Mississippi strike next? I doubt there's anything to all this, but if I lived, say, in Moline or Muscatine, I'd be on my guard.

Rock Island Lines with Roald Tweet is underwritten by Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.

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Beginning 1995, historian and folklorist Dr. Roald Tweet spun his stories of the Mississippi Valley to a devoted audience on WVIK. Dr. Tweet published three books as well as numerous literary articles and recorded segments of "Rock Island Lines." His inspiration was that "kidney-shaped limestone island plunked down in the middle of the Mississippi River," a logical site for a storyteller like Dr. Tweet.