War Eagle Maritime Trails Marker
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War Eagle Maritime Trails Marker
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Details
Attraction
Location
Body of Water: Mississippi River
Trail Name: Inland Waterways
Year Built: 2009
Nearest Address: 410 East Veterans Memorial Drive
Nearest City: LaCrosse
County: LaCrosse
Zip Code: 54601
Latitude: N 43°49.09300'
Longitude: W -091°15.34200'
Attraction
Features
Open to public?: Yes
Mooring buoy?: No
Mooring buoy in place?: No
Snorkelable?: No
Dive guide?: No
Trails sign?: Yes
National Register?: No
Attraction
Description
Just up the Black River from this point lie the remains of the sidewheel riverboat War Eagle. Built in Fulton, Ohio, in 1854, she boasted 46 staterooms, fine velvet carpets, luxurious furniture, and onboard barbershops. During the Civil War, the War Eagle transported troops and supplies. Her only casualty was a stray bullet that pierced her smokestack in 1862. After the war, the War Eagle again carried passengers and freight between the bustling towns along the Mississippi River. Connections between steamships and trains made ports like La Crosse important transportation hubs for settlers moving to the western frontier. On the night of May 14, 1870, the War Eagle was docked at the Milwaukee Road Railroad Depot, just across the river from this spot. The ships carpenter was tightening the bands of a leaking barrel of kerosene. His lantern burst, the kerosene caught fire, and soon the ships deck was ablaze. The flames engulfed the dock, the depot, and several warehouses and grain elevators. A nearby barge was lost, and two steamers were damaged. Seven passengers, attempting to save their worldly belongings, perished in the fire or drowned. Many artifacts have been removed from the area of the wreck site, but the hull structure of the War Eagle remains among a tangle of wood, metal and bricks from the burned buildings. Visibility in the river is near zero.
 
Map
 
Nearby
Attractions (4)
La Crosse Area Heritage Center
Hixon House
Murphy Library
War Eagle Maritime Trails Marker
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