HISTORY CORNER

STEAMBOATING ON THE CANEY FORK

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

The Caney Fork is the largest of the tributaries of the Cumberland River, and one of the most beautiful rivers in the state.

It starts as a small stream north of Pleasant Hill in Cumberland County, continues generally south to Pilot Falls where it drops from the Cumberland Plateau into the "Gulf." The river then flows in a western direction through the "Gulf" before emerging from between high mountain walls at the lower end of Big Bottom, 26 miles upstream from Great Falls. From the falls, it continues through a gorge for about eight miles to below the old Franks Ferry, where the valley opens up and there are many fertile farms, to empty into the Cumberland River a mile upstream from Carthage.

The first steamboat of record to ply the shallow Caney Fork was the Harry Hill. The timber for the boat’s hull was hewed out by Sam Caplinger and William Christian at Caplinger’s Mill on South Fork near Carthage in 1832. The hull was floated to Nashville where machinery was installed. The boat then returned to Carthage that same year and made her historic trip up the Caney Fork. On a huge tide, she made it all the way to Sligo Landing in Dekalb County, 15 miles by land from Sparta. In time, the Harry Hill became a leading packet on the Cumberland.

On Dec. 17, 1846, a second boat, under Captain A. Davis made it all the way to Oakland also about 15 miles from Sparta.

From 1910 to 1915 there was a gradual reduction in commercial freight on the Upper Cumberland. By 1920, improved highways and trucks began to eat the very heart out of the packet business. Even the Burnside packets, operating in the most remote section of the river, felt the impact of motor vehicle competition. Between 1920 and 1930, very seldom did someone see a steamboat on the Cumberland above Nashville. A few small towboats engaged in handling crossties on the upper river. Some of them may have ventured up the lower section of the Caney Fork for that purpose.