Danville [Steamboat]

The Danville was a small steamboat that opened the Petit Jean River for riverine commerce in 1872 and played a small role in the Brooks-Baxter War in 1874.

A Captain Howell “purchased a small steamer called Danville with a view of navigating the Petit Jean,” succeeding in that effort in January 1872 when it ascended the river to Danville (Yell County). On a second trip in February, the seventy-foot vessel gathered a cargo of cotton aboard an eighty-foot barge bound for Little Rock (Pulaski County), leading a local booster to predict that as many as 2,000 bales of cotton could be shipped from Danville annually, writing “if the capitalists at Little Rock would take hold of this matter, they could open up a trade that would be of more benefit to their city than any other trade it has in western Arkansas.”

The Arkansas Gazette hailed the Danville’s achievement, writing that “the enterprise of Captain Howell in making two trips up the [Petit Jean] river…has settled the question of the navigability of the stream affirmatively.” Little Rock’s city council voted in April 1872 to allow the Danville free use of the city’s wharf for its Petit Jean River forays, though the Gazette reported four months later that “the boat has since gone into general river traffic, and the resolution giving her free wharfage was rescinded.”

In October 1872, the Danville, now under a Captain McDougall, was undergoing an overhaul in Little Rock, with the Gazette noting that “she is to be run between here and Dardanelle until the Petit Jean rises enough for her to go into that trade. With some good barges, she ought not only to prove a great accommodation to planters along the river, but make money for her owners as well.”

The Danville suffered a small fire that broke out near its boiler in November 1873, which was “extinguished by the very active exertions of all hands. Damage very slight.”

During the Brooks-Baxter War in 1874, the forces of Joseph Brooks chartered the Danville to bring a load of “needle guns” originating in Fayetteville (Washington County). Captain James Welch of Elisha Baxter’s forces, retreating along the bank of the Arkansas River after Brooks’s men attacked the steamboat Hallie in a fight at the mouth of Palarm Creek, reported that he and his men lay in wait to ambush the Danville but eventually had to fall back toward Little Rock when the steamer did not appear.

The Danville delivered its cargo of rifles and other supplies for Brooks supporters at what is now the Old State House on May 10, leading Hercules King Cannon White to send Baxter troops to Argenta—now North Little Rock (Pulaski County)—to try to hinder the operation, leading to a sharp skirmish that left one man dead and six wounded. Both the Danville and the Robert Semple were reported as delivering troops to Little Rock later that month.

After the Brooks-Baxter affair ended, the Danville returned to the river trade, with the Iron Mountain Railroad hiring it to tow barges of stone in October. The U.S. District Court ordered the vessel sold to Sidney M. Austin for $330 in January 1875, and the Hallie Rifles militia unit chartered it “for an excursion and target practice” two months later. The Danville was sold on February 12, 1876, to H. M. Gilcrease of St. Louis to be sent to Rapid City, Illinois, “to enter the coal trade.”

For additional information:
“At the Rock.” Arkansas Gazette, October 15, 1874, p. 4.

“Capital City Brevities.” Arkansas Gazette, January 28, 1875, p. 4.

“The Common Council.” Arkansas Gazette, April 27, 1872, p. 4.

“The Danville.” Arkansas Gazette, October 29, 1872, p. 4.

“The Hallie Rifles.” Arkansas Gazette, March 18, 1875, p. 4.

Harrell, John M. The Brooks and Baxter War: A History of the Reconstruction Period in Arkansas. St. Louis, MO: Slawson Printing, 1893. Online at https://archive.org/details/brooksbaxterwarh00harr/page/n3/mode/2up (accessed November 8, 2024).

“Local Jottings.” Arkansas Gazette, November 19, 1873, p. 4.

“Municipal Matters.” Arkansas Gazette, August 3, 1872, p. 4.

“The Palarm Fight.” Southern Standard, May 16, 1874, p. 3.

“The Petit Jean.” Arkansas Gazette, February 6, 1872, p. 4.

“River Improvements.” Arkansas Gazette, March 7, 1872, p. 4.

“River News.” Arkansas Gazette, June 6, 1872, p. 4.

“River News.” Arkansas Gazette, May 22, 1874, p. 4.

“River News.” Daily Memphis [Tennessee] Avalanche, February 13, 1876, p. 4.

“Yell County.” Arkansas Gazette, February 20, 1872, p. 2.

Mark K. Christ
Little Rock, Arkansas