Belle of Texas [Steamboat]

The Belle of Texas was a steamboat running between Little Rock (Pulaski County) and Memphis, Tennessee, when it was pressed into service to transport followers of Elisha Baxter to fight in the 1874 Battle of New Gascony during the Brooks-Baxter War.

The Belle of Texas was a sidewheel paddleboat built by James Rees and Sons in 1871 for service on the Trinity River in Texas, with the hull constructed in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, before being finished out at Pittsburgh. The steamer was 134 feet long and thirty-three feet wide with a five-foot draft.

The Memphis and Arkansas River Packet Company soon purchased the vessel to run between the Arkansas capital and Memphis, with stops at landings in between. Captain John Woodburn was in command when he learned on April 29, 1874, that the forces of Joseph Brooks, who claimed the governorship of Arkansas over Elisha Baxter following a hotly contested election, had robbed a store and smokehouse at Jones and Turner’s Landing on the Arkansas River “and had stated their determination to seize the Belle of Texas, press her into service and proceed to Little Rock, without landing at Pine Bluff.”

Woodburn, “not desiring to have his boat seized,” steamed to Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) on April 30, where Hercules King Cannon White promptly commandeered the vessel, loaded it with troops loyal to Baxter, and headed to New Gascony (Jefferson County), where a large group of Brooks supporters had gathered. King’s forces routed their foes in the largest fight that would take place during the Brooks-Baxter War. The Belle of Texas was then released and continued its trip to Memphis.

The steamboat continued its regular runs for several years until a group of investors bought it with plans to operate on the St. Johns River from Jacksonville, Florida. The Belle of Texas was steaming in the Gulf of Mexico at 8:10 p.m. on February 13, 1879, when it was hit by shifting winds. By 2:00 a.m. on February 14, its smokestacks had blown overboard and its steam line was broken, so the crew ran the steamer ashore eight miles south of Mosquito Inlet. The wrecked Belle of Texas was a total loss.

For additional information:
“Battle of New Gascony.” Arkansas Gazette, May 9, 1874, p. 2.

“Loss of the Steamer Belle Texas.” [Memphis] Public Ledger, February 24, 1879, p. 1.

“Wrecked.” New Orleans Times, February 24, 1879, p. 1.

Way, Frederick, Jr. Way’s Packet Directory. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 1983, p. 45.

Mark K. Christ
Central Arkansas Library System