Lone Star

Le Claire, IA

The Lone Star was the last operating sternwheel towboat on the Mississippi. Her wooden hull was built in 1890, the today’s superstructure was added in 1922 in Rock Island, IL. She made a good job for the family run Builders Sand and Gravel Co. in the area of Davenport, Iowa. Until her retirement in 1967 the Lone Star still was coal-fired.

Today the boat is the main attraction at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Le Claire, Iowa – hauled ashore the Mississippi River. A few years ago the museum has built a hangar for die boat, so she’s now well protected from weather.

In earlier times, the Lone Star as still outdoors, like on the cover image and on the following pictures:

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