Entertainment Aboard Steamboats

All along the Mississippi and its tributaries, showboats brought amusement and culture to the frontier. On the frontier most of the wealth was situated around the river, and the residents were eager and willing to pay for the entertainment on traveling showboats. These boats often featured attractions such as theater productions, vaudeville acts, music, and dancing. The large auditoriums on showboats had luxurious features such as orchestra pits, balconies, and mirrored dressing rooms. These bastions of revelry often referred to as ‘floating palaces,’ were adorned with ornate decorative woodwork, vivid paint colors, and bright oil-burning lights.^[1]

New Sensation was one such boat bringing entertainment to Arkansas from about 1870 to 1890. In an interview conducted as part of the Works Progress Administration, Clarendon resident Tom D. Williams described New Sensation’s annual arrival as a greatly anticipated local event. Mr. Williams stated that the steamboat’s calliope music could be heard from afar and that the shoreline would be packed with local residents by the time the boat arrived.^[2] New Sensation was one of several showboats owned by traveling performer Augustus Byron Dolen ”French,” who formerly toured his productions by wagon.^[3] 

Williams described not only the excitement about the arriving showboat, but the possibility for danger. One night while attending a show aboard New Sensation with his parents, a thunderstorm rolled in. The gusty winds caused the boat to become unruly, and the captain was forced to take the boat into the middle of river to prevent it crashing into the shore. Despite some initial panic, the storm passed and the boat steadied, the revelers were able to enjoy themselves once again.^[4]

In some cases steamers, a type of steamboat typically used to transport goods and passengers, became showboats in their second life. Launched in 1901 the Sprague was the largest steam towboat in the world. The Sprague started its life towing large shipments of coal, bauxite, and crude oil. Its life as a towboat was followed by one in rescue work during the 1927 flood in Greenville, Mississippi, and another moving supplies on the Mississippi River during World War II. Ultimately as the Sprague was headed down the Mississippi River to be scrapped when the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, stepped in and purchased the steamer for one dollar.^[5]

During the Sprague’s time in Vicksburg it became home to the annual performances of the Vicksburg Little Theatre and the Vicksburg Yacht Club. Hollywood came calling on the Sprague in 1950 when the steamer was chosen for the Metro Goldwyn Mayer production of Showboat. At the time the Sprague was no longer operational and had to be towed in order to move about the river for filming. The production company also used smoke to give the illusion of steam operation and torches to represent turn of the century lighting methods.^[6] In 1974 a fire damaged the Sprague beyond repair, but pieces of the ship can still be seen in Vicksburg’s Catfish Row Park.^[7]

Although showboats may seem a thing of the past, entertainment steamboats are still popular today. Companies such as The American Queen Steamboat Company offer multi-day tours on the Mississippi river and its tributaries. These tours often include fine dining, luxury suites, historical lectures, and an opportunity to explore various ports of call.^[8] Steamboats continue to provide a means of travel, entertainment, and cultural dispersion on the great rivers of America.