AS Ruthven Anchor - Palestine, TX - Anchors on Waymarking.com

"The craft had barely established herself on the Trinity when Texas seceded from the Union and the Ruthven’s owners leased her to the Texas Marine Department for use as a transport vessel. On the last day of 1861 she arrived at Galveston with a pair of artillery pieces, part of a shipment of fourteen for the defense of Galveston Island during the Civil War.

In 1862 the Ruthven was running between Galveston and Buffalo Bayou and during October of that year, she was inoperable and had to be towed up Buffalo Bayou to escape the Union attack on Galveston.

When the Civil War ended, the Ruthven went back to the Trinity River and, with the Texas cotton markets open again, she resumed hauling bales from East Texas to Galveston. But the Trinity was a fickle river. Some boats lingered too long upstream and found themselves trapped by low waters and were forced to wait until spring rains lifted the river.

During the 1866-87 cotton season, the Ruthven made successful runs from East Texas to Galveston, delivering more than 2,200 bales.

The Ruthven continued to serve customers on the Trinity through the l860s, but with growing competition from the railroads, the Ruthven was pulled from service. In the early 1870s George Anderson Wright of Palestine bought the old sidewheeler for $900, moved her to Parker’s Bluff, and began to dismantle parts of the vessel."

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