"Cincinnati, Ohio: the Packet Phil Sheridan at the Foot of Mt. Adams in 1866"

"Cincinnati, Ohio: the Packet Phil Sheridan at the Foot of Mt. Adams in 1866"
by Michael Boss
Gouache on Rag Board
18" X 28"
From the Collection of Midwest CPA, Cincinnati, Ohio

Beauty to riverboat afficionados can be, at best, truly subjective! In my artistic view, the Phil Sheridan was one of the nicest looking boats to ply the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Built in Cincinnati in 1865-1866, Phil Sheridan ran the Wheeling, West Virginia-Cincinnati, Ohio trade with Captain Charles Muhleman at the helm..

Because of Phil Sheridan's qualities, Captain P.S. Davidson offered Muhleman a price to purchase the boat. In March of 1866 a deal was struck. The Phil Sheridan was on its last trip to Wheeling and nearing Dover Creek, Kentucky, when a storm blew the stacks off the boat. Repaired soon after, Phil Sheridan was delivered to the Davidson Line and steamed to a new home on the upper Mississippi. Phil Sheridan was a "stepper" and lasted until 1876 being dismantled in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

The painting displays the boat in front of the Italianate Little Miami Railroad Depot, with the Water Works to the right and the Immaculata Church on the top of Mt.Adams.