Freestone County, Texas
Reflections


Type of boats navigating Trinity River have varied
By Bill Young


This past weekend my wife Bobbie Jean and I had to go to Malakoff to see if we could find an old-
style dish pan for a project she is working on at Pioneer Village. I could not help but notice how low 
the water was in the Trinity River as we passed over the bridge spanning the stream. Since I was 
driving, I had to take a very quick glimpse of the channel. If any readers of this article happen to 
cross the Trinity at any location, take a very quick look at how low the water is currently. But make 
sure you only briefly take a look — I would not want to be the cause for someone driving off of the 
structure! 
 
If someone wanted to put a boat in the river, first of all it might prove extremely difficult to find a 
site suitable for launching any boat and secondly, the size of the boat would be a very important 
factor with the water down so low. A canoe or a small flat-bottom boat would probably be best at 
this time. I noticed snags protruding from the water in both directions at Trinidad but these would 
not present a problem for a very small vessel. 
 
The archeologists with Southern Methodist University compiled a list of 105 boats known to have 
ventured up and down the Trinity River. Some of these boats went upstream only as far as a few of 
the lower Trinity basin communities and landings. Others at certain times went as far north as Pine 
Bluff (Troy) in Freestone County or Magnolia in Anderson County. There are several documents 
stating river boat traffic farther upstream passing these two settlements was very limited due to the 
variable water table. In fact, it goes on to say in an average year, only three months early in the 
spring were navigable to the north. 
 
The list of 105 boats is not separated into the specific classification for each vessel. Some are noted 
as being steamers while others are mentioned as sloops or schooners or flatboats. Each listed boat 
however is not spelled out as to the type. I also am aware the list is incomplete since last week, I 
was reading the history of Telico and Trinity City, two towns in Ellis County, and there was an article 
about R.D. ApRice who was of Welch descent. When he first came up river, he settled at Magnolia 
near Palestine. In 1857, he built a steam-powered boat at Magnolia and touted it as being designed 
especially for the Trinity River. The boat known as the Welshman was slightly over 130 feet in 
length and 22 feet wide. Approximately 8 feet deep in the water made it one of the deeper riding 
boats on the Trinity. The Telico book went on to say when the Civil War started, commerce on the 
river ceased so Mr. ApRice parked his boat at the docks at Trinity City and moved to a farm 
northwest of Italy. He still was very active during the war making numerous trips to buy munitions 
and supplies for the men from Ellis County fighting for the Confederacy. Mr. ApRice also entered 
into a contract with the Ellis County commissioners to build the third courthouse for Ellis County. 
This contract spelled out that the limestone blocks would be quarried from an area in Ellis County. 
 
Sloops and schooners in those earlier times were powered only by sails. This greatly limited exactly 
how far upriver one of these boats was able to maneuver. In the archeological book entitled “A 
Reconnaissance Survey of the Trinity River Basin,” the archeologists stated a number of sloops and 
schooners were able to make the round trip almost continuously from Liberty to Galveston but very 
few ever ventured farther upstream. One sloop is mentioned as being all the way up river at Dallas, 
but it was towed by a paddle-wheeler similar to a barge being towed by a tugboat today. The 
steamers were of two varieties, stern paddle-wheelers and side-wheelers. Both were steam-
powered, fueled with fire wood and water. The report doesn’t say where the wood was acquired but 
there must have been many localities along the river willing to sell one or more cords of firewood to 
a boat. I feel sure the river itself furnished the water but the quality of water must have varied from 
fairly clean to full of silt and debris. From my own experience dealing with boilers heating water 
during the winter months, the quality of water is critical in determining how long a boiler will 
function without having to be cleaned and repaired. The archeological book does not say if there 
was ever an incident of a boiler bursting in one of the boats plying the Trinity but I feel sure it 
happened once or twice. 
 
Most of us have seen photographs or movies of the paddle-wheelers on the Mighty Mississippi River. 
These boats weighed in around 2,000 tons and were capable of carrying huge loads of cotton bales 
and goods back and forth on the river. The paddle-wheelers plying the Trinity River were much 
smaller ranging from as small as 60 tons to 500 tons. Several of the larger ones were multi-story 
with as many four decks. The upper decks were used to transport passengers while the lower and 
main deck carried goods. The boats going down river typically were transporting bales of cotton, 
cattle, sheep or hogs. I sincerely doubt a trip down to Galveston on a steamer loaded with pigs was 
considered an enchanted trip. Since the Trinity is lined on each side with a major forest, wind 
getting into the channel was of short supply and the aroma of pigs on a boat for several months had 
to be overwhelming. I would think at least part of the crew was busy during daylight hours trying to 
keep the main deck washed. 
 
The stern paddle-wheelers were better suited to navigate the Trinity than the side-wheelers simply 
because the stern-driven boats did not take up as much width of the stream as the side-wheelers. A 
second factor dealing with stern versus side is the presence of snags protruding just under the 
surface of the river. With a stern-wheeler, the entire boat passes over any snag before the 
propelling paddles which just about eliminates the chance of one of the paddles striking a snag 
while the side-wheeler was more open to destruction by a submerged snag. However, all boats were 
subjected to the chance of a hidden snag punching a devastating hole below the water line. 
 
Next week: Wrecks on the Trinity River