Ocklawaha River Steamboat

2 drawings of the Okahumkee, a small steamer with an enclosed paddlewheel - as you can see in one drawing - that was used to take passengers from Palatka, Florida to the beautiful Silver Springs, one of the world's most recognizable tourist destinations in the late 1800's.

The enclosed paddlewheel of these boats protected the boards of the wheel from damage on logs and floating debris while the boats traveled the twisting tight waterway of the Ocklawaha River.


Drawn with pencil on white paper, the images was made to look somewhat foggy as one may often encounter in the early mornings on the rivers of north/cental Florida.

Log Rafting on the Upper Mississippi

This is a sketch from a old photo (c. 1918) showing the rafter Ottumwa Belle pushing a 'raft' of logs down the Mississippi River, through a railroad swing bridge. Note the small guide boat at the front of the raft that helps around turns in the river.

This perspective is taken from a point near modern-day Hudson, Wisconsin, and looking east-southeast toward Eau Claire, Wisc., just over the horizon. Very difficult to draw in pen and ink to convey so many forms of texture and colors.

Thomas A. Edison

The Thomas A. Edison - named for the famous inventor. A small Florida steamer that had a propeller - a rarity in that day for this kind of boat.

The Osceola

This is the steamer Osceola, which plied the waters of the St. Johns River running passengers from Jacksonville, FL down to Palatka, and even on to Silver Springs. A very handsome ship, and ornate for the period.

Another unique thing about this boat was its size. Rather large compared to most of the steamers, and considering this had to navigate the narrow, twisting Oklawaha River to Silver River and to the Springs...

It accomplished this feat because it had a paddlewheel fully enclosed within the ship, thus making it able to avoid the logs and debris that would disable or slow a conventional style stern- or side-wheel paddleboat.

The Osceola served well into the late 1920's or early '30s and there are folks around today who can tell you how beautiful she was.

I was pleased to have won my first and only art award for this drawing of a well-known Florida steamboat, and I want to thank Mr. Ed Mueller for the opportunity to draw this fine vessel and to have it published in the books he writes.

Confederate gunboat Chattahoochee

This is the CSS Chattahoochee, probably the last gunboat - that had sails - built for the Confederacy. It had two of the most advanced Dalghren cannons in the world at the time, and would easily have out-armed anything but ironclads. It saw, like the famous iron-clad General Jackson (which I will post on later) virtually no action in the war due to the eminent fall of the Confederacy. Built at the Confederate shipyard at Columbus, Ga., these 2 ships were likely the most advanced warships in the world at their completion, and could have by themselves greatly changed the outcome of the war, but never made it out of the Appalachicola River into the Gulf of Mexico.

Another I drew from the cover of National Geographic. The original I gave to my best freind's wife who collects everything owl. :) One of the most difficult I ever had to draw to make the 'fuzzy' looking feathers of the chicks look different than the larger feathers of the mother. Black ink on white paper.

Union Gunboat USS Columbine

This steamboat - the USS Columbine, shown here as a union gunboat - has a unique place in history (certainly in Civil War history anyway) as it may be the only warship in ever captured by a cavalry troop.

As it neared its mooring in the St. Johns River around Mandarin, in south Jacksonville, Florida, a Confederate cavalry patrol - with a cannon - waited in hiding, unbeknownst to the ship. As it got close to land the cannon shot out and immediately disabled the walking beam of the ship, effectively shutting down any chance of escape.

The ship was close enough that a couple of officers were wounded before surrendering the ship as they knew they would be sunk otherwise. It was repaired and put into service by the Confederate's before being scuttled later in the war.

The location of the ship's remains had long been a mystery, until 2006, when they were discovered further south near Tocoi Point, at Palatka. Plans are underway to bring up the walking beam and sidewheels to display.

Another early work

I can't remember where I saw this picture of a tiger, but I think they are such beautiful cats, I had to sketch it. The black and white scan makes it look like a white tiger, but on the original I added some orange color from a pencil to make it look more realistic.

By the way, for all these images, click on them to open a larger view window.

Steamboat

Here is a picture of the Frederick Weyerhauser, a Mississippi River steamboat. Built for the timber/paper baron and at one time the most luxurious steamer of its day. This is one of my latest steamboat drawings, drawn in black ink.

Early artwork

Two versions - the original color version, and a black and white - of my drawing of an American Bald Eagle, which I saw as a cover picture on an old copy of National Geographic, and sat down and drew it in black ink. One of my favorites, as I love the magnificent bird and its symbolism as that of the United States of America.

TrailGator's Art

Welcome to my blog. I am posting here some of my steamboat drawings.

As this is my first attempt at doing this, the page will change a lot as I learn :) and so be patient with me.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. The ones here are scans of copies, so they are not the best quality. I will be scanning all the originals at a later date and will update the site with purchase information, history of all the vessels, and higher quality images.

thanks for looking,

Mike (TrailGator)