COLORFUL STEAMBOAT CAPTAIN HONORED

Captain William H. "Buck" Leyhe, a colorful Mississippi River steamboat captain, and one-time resident of Cape Girardeau, was inducted into the Inland Waterways division of the National Maritime Hall of Fame recently.

The induction was celebrated May 16 at the American Merchant Marine Museum at Kings Point, N.Y.

Leyhe joins other notable inland waterways hall of fame steamboat captains such as: Henry Shreve, founder of Shreveport, La.; Thomas P. Weathers; Capt. Mary B. Greene, founder of Greene Line Steamers; and Capt. Nettie Johnson.

Leyhe was the master of three steamers that carried the name of Cape Girardeau, and other steamboats owned and operated by the Eagle Packet Co. of St. Louis. The Greene Line Company purchased the last Steamer Cape Girardeau and renamed her the Gordon C. Greene.

As the master of three Cape Girardeau's, Leyhe was a frequent visitor to Cape, and for a time, maintained a home here, in the 100 block of North Lorimier.

In his book, "The Child of an Eagle - Mississippi River Steamboating," Bob White of the history department at Southeast Missouri State University, writes, "The Captain's (Leyhe) link or bond with Cape Girardeau may have been strengthened by his marriage to a local girl, Mary Moore Filburn, on Oct. 21, 1896. Mary Leyhe owned considerable property in Cape, including a building at the corner of Water and Themis Streets. This building now houses the Port Cape Girardeau Restaurant."

White describes Leyhe as a very large, commanding person, "standing over six feet and weighing well over 200 pounds."

Leyhe was born in Alton, Ill., and was on the river from his boyhood days. He died in July 1956 at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, at the age of 83.

Captain Leyhe - often referred to as Captain Buck by his friends in Cape Girardeau - and his brother, Capt. Henry Leyhe, were the sons of the first Capt. William Leyhe, who came to America at the age of 6, from Darmstadt, Germany.

The elder Leyhe and an uncle, Henry Leyhe, established the Eagle Packet Co. in 1862. By the 1890s, Captain Buck Leyhe and his brother, Henry, had taken over the operation of the company, which operated a fleet of steamers including the Alton, Peoria, Spread Eagle, Grey Eagle, Bald Eagle, and the three Cape Girardeaus.

The company established a St. Louis-to-Commerce packet steamer run on the Mississippi River, with regular stops at Cape Girardeau. Shortly after the turn of the century, Leyhe was making twice-a-week trips to Cape Girardeau from St. Louis, bringing down all kinds of freight, including new cars. On the return trips, the Eagle Packet steamers, with Leyhe in command, left Cape with passengers, freight, and livestock and grain consigned to the St. Louis markets.

A July 1956 Southeast Missourian article concerning Leyhe's death described the steamer captain as "a colorful figure as he stood on the deck of his steamers, using a megaphone, in a deep voice directed roustabouts in the unloading of freight from the boats."

Leyhe was apparently very fond of Cape Girardeau, and his friends here. In a April 8, 1952 Missourian Letter to the Editor, Dr. Charles F. Bahn of Cape Girardeau recalled a meeting with the, by-now, aging steamboat captain while Bahn was serving his internship at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis.

In the letter, Bahn recalled talking with Leyhe, who was hospitalized at Barnes. "With eyes sparkling, yet a bit wistful, he told me of his many trips to Cape in the 33 years he made that run - the series of steamboats he owned and captained, the Gray Eagle, Bald Eagle, three Cape Girardeaus and his famous Golden Eagle. He said he often had seen three and four stern and side-wheelers tied up at Water Street wharf with cotton, dry goods and hardware, piled solid the length of the levee.

"With a pause, Captain Buck, still a man over six feet tall and 200 pounds, went on to mention his many good friends in Cape: the Bahns, Clyde Harris, Bartels Judens and many others. He admitted that he probably spent more time in Cape during those years than on the river."

Missourian files are filled with many accounts of Cape Girardeau residents who boarded one of the Steamer Cape Girardeaus, or other Eagle Packet steamers, for trips to St. Louis, or to attend the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.