FROHNA MAN ENJOYS LIFE ON THE RIVER

Although he now holds a pilot's license, Wilson must undergo an apprenticeship with his comapny in order to navigate the 35-foot-wide, 200-foot long barge through narrow locks like the one shown in this photo, taken from the wheelhouse of the Don File.

"I've never seen anything more beautiful than a sunrise of a sunset you see while out on the river," says Wilson.

In the opening chapter of his 1883 book "Life on the Mississippi," Missourian Mark Twain remembered his youth in Hannibal where all the boys harbored dreams of being a riverboat captain, plying the mighty river from the wheelhouse of a great, smoke-billowing steamboat.

Brian Wilson of Frohna also grew up around the Mississippi River, spending many days fishing its waters with his grandfather, and just as Twain got his chance to serve for a time as a pilot on the Mississippi, so too has Wilson.

Wilson recently obtained his riverboat pilot's license from the U.S. Coast Guard and has done so at the relatively youthful age of 23. He believes his stint as a riverboat captain will last quite a bit longer than Twain's short career on the river.

Only six years ago, Wilson was a recent high school graduate working at a factory job he didn't like.

"I graduated from high school and I tried the factory thing and all that and I just hated being cooped up," he explained.

Within a few months, the Frohna native got his first job on a river barge and knew then that he had found a career.

Wilson recalls the date he first came aboard a towboat -- Oct. 25, 1989. It was his first day as a deckhand on a B&H Towing Co. towboat on the Ohio River at Cairo, Ill. He was 18 years old and had learned of the job through a friend of his family.

Boarding the boat, he admits he wasn't sure what to think of working on the river but 38 days and a lot of tough work on the job confirmed that a job on the river suited him just fine.

Wilson continued to work for B&H Towing, staying on board the towboat for 30 day runs and then taking 15 days off. During those 15 days, Wilson continued to gain experience by taking "trips" with other barge companies. "Trips" are short runs barge workers take with other barge companies to earn extra money.

After three years, Wilson gained employment with West Kentucky Navigation, a towing company that primarily navigates the Ohio River.

With West Kentucky, Wilson now works as a mate, a barge foreman with four men who work under him. In addition to overseeing the work of those four deckhands, Wilson also is responsible for inspecting barges being hooked to the towboat to ensure that they are in good shape and for inspecting their papers, making certain that each barge has the proper bill of lading and certification for the cargo it contains.

Wilson has long hoped to own and operate his own barge, so in February, after 5 years as a mate and deckhand, he arranged to attend the River School, a pilot training center in Memphis, and to take the Coast Guard test to receive an Operator of Uninspected Vessel (OUTV) of the Western Rivers license.

"A lot of workers like to work the deck and others like to work as a mate," Wilson explained. "But a lot of guys are like me and get their eye on that wheelhouse and one day want to operate their own boat."

The Coast Guard test consists of four sections: general deck knowledge; general navigation; practical navigation, with questions about using beacons, lights and markers; and rules of the road, which tests a pilot's knowledge of the proper way to handle a barge during boat-to-boat meetings on the river.

After several weeks of study, Wilson took the test -- which included questions about boats from the steamboat days of Mark Twain -- and passed the exam, receiving his OUTV license.

The license is no ticket to ride for a pilot, said Wilson. Just as Mark Twain served as a cub pilot, Wilson is now going through his company's apprenticeship program.

"You can't just jump right up there," he said. "You have to work as an apprentice."

Wilson's apprenticeship means that for now, he'll serve as a steersman. In addition to his duties as a mate on each trip, Wilson will learn the nuances of piloting by steering the barge under the watchful eye of the captain. On Wilson's boat, the Don File, the captain is Jackson area resident Dennis Mize.

In addition to steering during lax hours in the workday, which runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wilson will also volunteer days of his off time to serve as a steersman. His only pay for this work will be the experience he's gaining on the road to becoming a full-fledged river captain.

"The apprenticeship lasts until [the company] feels I'm ready," explained Wilson. "It's really dependent on me and whether I have confidence in myself and my captain has confidence in me."

The apprentice pilot feels fortunate to have Jackson area resident Dennis Mize as his captain on each trip. Mize has been a captain for some time and is eager to offer Wilson tips as the need arises during the apprentice's time at the wheel.

During a recent trip, Wilson gained experience navigating the barge in icy conditions. As a deckhand, he had worked during icy weather but steering in such conditions was a new experience.

"I didn't have any experience in the ice but Dennis Mize and [another Western Kentucky pilot] Vernon Putnam did," Wilson explained. "It was definitely a learning experience."

For Wilson, work on the river has dispelled the notion that barge workers are a rough-and-tumble, hard-drinking crowd. Instead, he said, they are everyday people who work hard at a tough job.

"Usually, guys on the river have the reputation of always fighting and drinking but that's not true," he said. "They're just normal, everyday people. My captain Dennis (Mize) is a foster parent."

The Frohna man says he is proud to count himself among these everyday people. He hopes to one day be the operator of his own barge.

"I do enjoy it," he says, emphatically. "I've every seen anything more beautiful than a sunrise or sunset you see while out on the river."