Letter To The Editor: Remembering Lachlan Macleay

In reading the most recent Old Boat Column by Capt. David Smith about the mv. Lachlan Macleay, I was reminded of how Lachlan Macleay played a very vital role in pushing to get old Lock 19 replaced at Keokuk, Iowa. Old Lock 19, built in 1913, measuring only 358 x 110 and best known as the “Black Gates” of Keokuk, was a major bottleneck.

At the time of its construction, river commerce was still growing, and barge traffic was nowhere near what it would become by the 1950s, when barge traffic and the size of barges had greatly increased. With the 600-foot locks in place by 1939, Old Lock 19 could only take one long by 3 wide. To lock at the old 358-foot lock with a 15-barge tow was four hours. It wasn’t uncommon to spend your entire 6-hour watch making that lock.

This, of course, caused a lot of deterioration of the concrete skin on the lock walls, and it became increasingly clear that the lock had outlived its use and, further, was a threat of the lock walls giving out.

Lachlan Macleay saw what impact would be created if a major structural failure occurred.

I’ve included some photographs that my dad, Bob Miller, took of the Lachlan Macleay. One was taken while on the upper guidewall at the old 358-foot lock, looking southbound, while the second photo shows Capt. Francis J. “Pappy” Meyers, who was master of the Lachlan Macleay, talking to my dad at the new 1,200-foot Lock 19, completed in 1957. This photo was taken when the lock had just started operations.

I would love to see Capt. Smith do a feature about the boat parade at St. Louis to celebrate the opening of the Chain of Rocks Canal, completed in 1953 to bypass the old channel and Sawyer Bend. The Chain of Rocks Lock, the first 1,200-foot lock on the Upper Mississippi, has now been in operation for 72 years. How time flies.

—John R. Miller, Manchester, Iowa, Former deckhand and oiler aboard the Delta Queen

Featured image caption: The Lachlan McLeay taken from the upper guidewall at the old 358-foot lock, looking southbound. (Photo courtesy of John Miller)