onlinesteamboatmuseum

The Steamer W.W. Moonlight Excursions


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Moonlight broadside W.W. 5th June 1913
I restored this flyer a lot from a thin 5.60 x 9.85 inches paper it was printed on and replaced the poor quality photo that was printed on it originally with a better one from LaCrosse.

W.W. Sternwheel Excursion boat
Way's Packet Directory Number 5666

Built in 1882 at Dubuque, Iowa
Formerly CITY OF WINONA and renamed in 1905 after being rebuilt.
Named in honor of Captain Walter Wisherd.
The W.W. and the J.S. were popular excursion boats on the upper Mississippi River.
Captain Rounds bought the W.W. in 1917 to replace the GOLDEN GIRL.
She ran excursions and in the summer of 1918 was in Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1920 owner John Klein used her to tow barges loaded with pipe from the upper Ohio to the lower Mississippi.
In 1921 she was bought by Captain Gaches who used her to tow his showboat.

The show was boycotted at one point by people of of Crown Hill, West Virginia who assumed that the name of the boat, "W.W.," stood for Woodrow Wilson.

Captain Gaches replied that the initials stood for "Western Waters" and so the show went on.

Sank and lost during a windstorm at the head of Brush Creek Island on the Ohio River in the spring of 1922.


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W. W. (Excursion boat, 1905-1922)
Sternwheeler built as the City of Winona in 1882 at Dubuque, Iowa
Owned by Captain John Streckfus (1905); Captain Frank T. Rounds (1917); John F. Klein (1920) and Captain Ralph Emerson Gaches (1921)
Operated on the Mississippi; Ohio and Cumberland Rivers

From Fred Way's entry Number 5666:

Renamed the W.W. in 1905 in honor of Captain Walter Wisherd. The W.W. and the J.S. were popular excursion boats on the upper Mississippi River. Captain Rounds bought the W.W. in 1917 to replace the Golden Girl. She ran excursions and in the summer of 1918 was in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1920 owner John Klein used her to tow barges loaded with pipe from the upper Ohio to the lower Mississippi. In 1921 she was bought by Captain Gaches who used her to tow his showboat. The show was boycotted at one point by people of of Crown Hill, West Virginia who assumed that the name of the boat, "W.W.", stood for Woodrow Wilson. Captain Gaches replied that the initials stood for "Western Waters" and so the show went on. The W.W. was lost in a windstorm at the head of Brush Creek Island on the Ohio River in the spring of 1922.


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Excursion Steamer W.W. at Bellevue, Iowa

Attached taken of the W.W. with the Riverfront Park at Bellevue, Iowa
W. W. (Excursion boat, 1905-1922)
Sternwheeler built as the City of Winona in 1882 at Dubuque, Iowa
Owned by Captain John Streckfus (1905); Captain Frank T. Rounds (1917); John F. Klein (1920) and Captain Ralph Emerson Gaches (1921)
Operated on the Mississippi; Ohio and Cumberland Rivers


From Fred Way's entry Number 5666:

Renamed the W.W. in 1905 in honor of Captain Walter Wisherd. The W.W. and the J.S. were popular excursion boats on the upper Mississippi River. Captain Rounds bought the W.W. in 1917 to replace the Golden Girl. She ran excursions and in the summer of 1918 was in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1920 owner John Klein used her to tow barges loaded with pipe from the upper Ohio to the lower Mississippi. In 1921 she was bought by Captain Gaches who used her to tow his showboat. The show was boycotted at one point by people of of Crown Hill, West Virginia who assumed that the name of the boat, "W.W.", stood for Woodrow Wilson. Captain Gaches replied that the initials stood for "Western Waters" and so the show went on. The W.W. was lost in a windstorm at the head of Brush Creek Island on the Ohio River in the spring of 1922.





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All captions provided by Dave Thomson, Steamboats.com primary contributor and historian.

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