“On April 19 They Reached the Town of New Salem”

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Having loaded the vessel with pork in barrels, corn, and hogs, these sturdy boatmen swung out into the stream. On April 19 they reached the town of New Salem, a place destined to be an important spot in the career of Lincoln. There they met with their first serious delay. The boat stranded on Rutledge’s mill-dam and hung helplessly over it a day and a night. “We unloaded the boat,” narrated one of the crew to explain how they obtained relief from their embarrassing situation; “that is, we transferred the goods from our boat to a borrowed one. We then rolled the barrels forward; Lincoln bored a hole in the end [projecting] over the dam; the water which had leaked in ran out and we slid over.” Offut was profoundly impressed with this exhibition of Lincoln’s ingenuity. In his enthusiasm he declared to the crowd who covered the hill and who had been watching Lincoln’s operation that he would build a steamboat to plow up and down the Sangamon, and that Lincoln should be her Captain. She would have rollers for shoals and dams, runners for ice, and with Lincoln in charge, “By thunder, she’d have to go!”

 

By William H. Herndon,Jesse W. Weik  “Herndon’s Lincoln: A True Story of a Great Life” 

2 thoughts on ““On April 19 They Reached the Town of New Salem”

    Labour « Abraham Lincoln said:
    December 8, 2015 at 12:04

    […] On April 19 They Reached The Town Of New Salem […]

    Experiences « Abraham Lincoln said:
    May 4, 2018 at 14:20

    […] On April 19 They Reached The Town Of New Salem […]

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