Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - Clarksburg WV
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US60 bridge over the Mississippi River, Fort Defiance Park, Cairo IL, May 4, 2009
Could we have an inexperienced pilot at work here?
This is the same lash of barges and tow boat I pictured on the Ohio River in yesterday's journal entry. It took nearly an hour for the pilot to maneuver the tow from where it was tied up on the Ohio a couple hundred feet upstream from where you see the tow boat in yesterday's picture to where you see the forward half of the lash in the Mississippi above. I think he missed his mark. The lash where you see it is too close to shore to go forward under the bridge and I can't imagine that with all the maneuvering it took to get it properly aligned with the bridge that he meant to put it there.
The two rivers join at roughly 90 degrees to each other here. Basically what the pilot did was, once he was clear of the mooring on the Ohio was to back downstream about two lash lengths, then with the aid of the Mississippi current and some engine work, turn the whole shebang counterclockwise about 90 degrees and head up the Mississippi - except that he didn't back up quite far enough before making the turn and ended up too close to shore to get under the bridge.
It must have been embarrassing having this old duffer taking pictures of the whole thing.
Night camp
Wal-Mart Supercenter in Clarksburg WV
Wal-Mart Supercenter Store #1544, 550 Emily Dr, Clarksburg, WV 26301 - (304) 622-1954
- Good level parking
- Verizon cell phone service- good signal
- Verizon EVDO Broadband service - none but 1x dialup speed is reasonable
- Locate this Walmart on my Night Camps map
- Find other Wal-Marts in the area
- Check the weather here
Heliograph route between Fort Cummings NM and Tubac, AZ
1886 heliograph transmissions between Tubac near Nogales Arizona/Mexico, and Fort Cummings New Mexico: Joe Marques (Flagstaff) was doing some research in old Flagstaff newspapers and found something that might interest. In the Arizona Weekly Champion, Saturday August 7, 1886, page 2 column 1, it says: "A message was recently sent by the government heliograph (signalling by sunlight flashes) from Fort Cummings, N.M. to Tubac, Ariz., a distance of 400 miles, and an answer received in four hours." What a great [research] find! This was during the Geronimo Campaign of 1886, and the heliograph system at that time did indeed extend between the two stations. From Tubac, the most westerly terminus, the intermediate stations were Baldy Peak or possibly Josephine Peak just a little south of Baldy), Fort Huachuca, Antelope Spring, Emma Monk, White's Ranch, Bowie Peak (or Helen's Dome), Steins Peak, and Camp Henely (east of Fort Cummings). This means the message would have been relayed seven times, one way. It most likely was a test message, and relatively short, but I would love to know what it and the reply really said. The 1886 "airline" distance between Tubac and Fort Cummings; and of course on to Fort Cummings. I calculate the one-way distance between the two extremes as being 241 miles, with round trip of course being 482 miles.