Your Pa could not get a boat to land at Sibley because the Bushwhackers had been firing on them all along this part of the river (excerpt from letter to George A. Steele from his mother Emily H. Steele, July 24, 1863, Sibley, Missouri).
Steamboats and the Civil War
On the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers, steamboats quickly became important war time vessels. Although they were used for many different purposes, the Union and Confederacy both relied on steamboats to move troops, food, and medical supplies. Because of their important military functions, Confederate partisans along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers routinely engaged in hostile activities against steamboats hauling federal troops and supplies.
The Sam Gaty steamboat was named after Samuel Gaty (1811-1887), the first manufacturer of steamboat machinery west of the Mississippi. It was built in 1853 in St. Louis at a cost of $32,000. The Sam Gaty had a length of 215 feet and a width of 30 feet 6 inches. It saw considerable service during the Civil War on both the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. For example, the Kansas City Daily Journal of Commerce reported the Sam Gaty making several journeys between St. Louis and Kansas City in 1864.
The Sam Gaty Incident
In the early morning hours of Saturday, March 28, 1863, forty to sixty local Confederate partisans led by George Todd (1839-1864), one of William Quantrill’s lieutenants, ambushed the Sam Gaty below Sibley. The Town of Sibley forms an ideal location for such an ambush as the Missouri River runs very close to the bluff edge, and the high bluff forms a perfect angle to fire down on boats as they near the town. Accounts vary, but at least two federal soldiers and nine contrabands, or freed slaves, were murdered. In addition, passengers were robbed and government property destroyed. The Sam Gaty itself, however, was left intact.
This incident quickly became an item in both local and national newspapers, including the New York Times. The Times also reported on April 8, 1863, that a contingent of the Sixth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry killed 17 and hung two from “Hicks” band of Jackson County partisans in retaliation for the Sam Gaty hijacking.
The Fate of the Sam Gaty
Steamboats, for the most part, had a short life span. Accounts vary on the demise of the Sam Gaty. The War Department reported it lost in September 1863, at Island No. 92 on the Mississippi River when it struck a snag. The New York Times indicated that it was lost on July 1, 1868, when it burned on the Missouri River near Arrow Rock. There may have been two boats, which would account for this discrepancy, one named Sam Gaty and the other New Sam Gaty.