According to a local newspaper archive "She might not look it, but the two-deck paddle-wheeler now crumbling into the Sacramento River used to be a star. Fifty years ago, the vessel was riding high, spiriting Chinese rural laborers to freedom in "Blood Alley," a John Wayne movie filmed in the Delta. The boat later guided tourists down Gold Rush waterways as the "Spirit of Sacramento."
So we're talking about spirit today :)
ReplyDeleteVery nice picture and thank you for visiting my blog :)
Sadly it is going down without much of a fight. I would have liked to see her make the news one last time. Had some child unhooked her so the stream would have carried her down the river or somewhere that she could sink in dignity.
ReplyDeleteA powerful image.
This old man's post brought tears on this Veteran's Day but not because I am a Korean War era veteran.
The Squirrel's Nest
When I seen this photo on the portal it reminded me of a movie I had watched about going down the Mississippi river. Not the John Wayne one though. I can't think of the name of it.
ReplyDeleteThat is sad. Will they just leave it in the river? I guess it would cost a lot to take it out and fix it.
ReplyDeleteOh sigh... What a shame that this is being allowed to just go to ruin. -sigh-
ReplyDeleteMari-Nanci
I agree, it is a very sad waste of heritage. I remember being thrilled, seeing this magical paddle-wheeler operating on the river.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your site, Barbara et al. I grew up over in Napa County, and lived 12 years in Davis back in the 1960's and '70's. Spent one semester in late '70's driving daily to American River College (back then we could afford it!), and one of the things I remember is how LONG it took for an "internal combustion" event to die down in a huge pile of sawdust that was on the south side of the freeway next to the water. I also recall fondly the white-tailed (later renamed black-shouldered, I think) kites that nested in the Bypass; they were SO delicate and pretty as they flew, ground-hunting from up in the air. Probably caused a number of accidents as people like me rubbernecked!
Like Mo Kantabutra, I am now in Pocatello, Idaho, and have a Pbase website at http://www.pbase/moorruth and some at flickr.com/photos/moorruth