The River: Reader’s message leads to acquisition of treasured ‘too good to be true’ steamboat artwork

The riverboat captain is a storyteller. Captain Don Sanders shares the stories of his long association with the river — from discovery to a way of love and life. This a part of a long and continuing story.

By Capt. Don Sanders
Special to NKyTribune

Writing this weekly river column occasionally allows me a perk I wouldn’t have otherwise — now and then, readers approach me with an interesting connection with the river, steamboats, or a combination thereof. Such was the case recently, when an unexpected message appeared in my Facebook message box:

“Hello, Capt Don. My name is Ward Ryan, grandson of Julia Belle Swain, also known as Judy Shelton or Judy Westphal, but my grandmother. I rode the steamboat JULIA BELLE SWAIN in the race with the DELTA QUEEN ages ago… I have a painting of my grandmother’s I no longer wish to keep, and perhaps someone you know might like to buy it. Obviously, of the JULIA BELE SWAIN.”

I’ve heard such requests before, and wasn’t too excited until Ward sent a photo of his grandmother’s painting. BAM! Was this a painting, or was it just a print? The image looked too good to be true until Ward enclosed a picture of a notation handwritten on the back of the painting’s frame: “No.8 – oil. ‘The Julie Belle’ Do not give final varnish before Jan. 1973.’”

A tiny signature in the bottom right corner identified the artist and date as “Patricia Dale, 1971.”

The riverboat portrayed in Patricia Dale’s painting, the JULIA BELLE SWAIN (JBS), was the second steamboat by that name, honoring the same namesake, Ward Ryan’s grandmother.

The first JBS, a sidewheeler built in 1913 as the CHARLES E. CESSNA, operated in Florida before being acquired by the Swain family and moved to the Illinois River in 1916, and was renamed for Capt. Percy Swain’s baby daughter, Julia, which ran until 1931 when the boat burned on the Monongahela River. This JBS was the last steamboat the Swains owned, according to Captain Frederick Way’s Packet Directory 1848-1994.

The second JBS, the steamboat featured in the oil painting, was the creation of Captain Dennis Trone, marine architect and owner of the Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works of Dubuque, Iowa, formerly the Iowa Iron Works. There, the raftboat CLYDE, in 1870, and the steam towboat SPRAGUE, 1901, began life under the supervision of the celebrated steamship and steamboat contractor, W. P. Hopkins, formerly of the River Clyde in Scotland. Captain Trone’s “JULIE BELLE” was a 108-foot-long sternwheeler with steam engines from the ferry CITY OF BATON ROGUE, a centerwheeler I rode many times, the first time I ventured on the Lower Mississippi River as a deckhand aboard the Steamer AVALON in 1960.

According to Captain Way: “This delightful excursion boat, planned and built by Capt. Dennis Trone, in 1971, was christened by Julia Belle Swain Shelton, daughter of Capt. Percy Swain, and the namesake of the original boat of the same name.”

On Saturday, May 8, 1971, at 1 p.m., Julia Belle Swain Shelton christened the second boat named for her. Later that year, the DELTA QUEEN arrived in Peoria for a steamboat race pitted between the two, but difficulties aboard the new steamer prevented her from challenging the venerable QUEEN. Nevertheless, the DELTA QUEEN, filled with a sold-out booking of 400 excursionists, ran the race course to Peoria Lake and back to the landing where the JBS lay moored and sadly dejected. After the QUEEN discharged her guests, I asked Bluegrass musician John Hartford, then at the height of his fame following the release of his song, “Gentle on My Mind,” if he would like to meet Captain Trone. When we walked aboard the SWAIN, a crew member informed us that Captain Trone was napping after a long and frustrating day. However, she offered to wake him, so we followed her to where we found Cap’n Trone asleep on a stack of lifejackets piled upon the steel deck. Once awakened, I introduced the two, and steamboat history in the last quarter of the 20th Century began a new chapter.

A revived interest in Trone’s JBS came about this year after Captain Troy Manthe bought the aging steamboat and restored her to become a partner in his new riverboat operation on the Cumberland River, at Nashville, Tennessee, not far from John Hartford’s former home. The JULIA BELLE SWAIN will operate in Music City under her new name, the NASHVILLE. Still, Cap’n Troy’s efforts stirred new interest in the history and lore of the “delightful” steamboat with the musical name, Julia Belle.

Once I saw the JBS painting that Ward Ryan was seeking to find a new home for, I knew that I wanted it for my own “Great Big Collection of Steamboat Stuff,” as John Hartford so aptly named his private assemblage of steamboat goodies. Ward disclosed his intentions of moving from the high western desert region and was looking for someone to appreciate some of his grandmother’s steamboat paraphernalia. Fortunately, my name was familiar from this column.

Immediately, I committed myself to becoming the keeper of Mrs. Shelton’s treasured painting. As quickly as possible, I purchased a postal money order and, along with a complimentary copy of my book, THE RIVER, mailed them, and continued corresponding with Ward, a pretty interesting fellow.

As soon as Ward received my package, he began gathering materials to bundle the large, framed painting along with a few other extras he included in the 19-pound parcel. At a bicycle shop, he found a corrugated cardboard box large enough for his grandmother’s treasures. Soon, Ward had the shipment ready for the United States Postal Service. Postage alone was over a hundred bucks. I also received an email copy of the tracking number so I could follow the path of the JBS from the Nevada high plateau to its new digs on the Middle Ohio River at Aurora Bend.

The U.S. Post Office estimated the contents, mailed on Monday, August 11, would be on my porch by Friday, August 15. During that week, the JBS painting paddled across the country. By Friday, instead of landing at my door, the tracking number showed her in Atlanta, Georgia. Of course, I assumed the postal service had her bound on the next flight to Cincinnati. But on Monday the 18th, the JULIA BELLE turned around and arrived in Dallas, Texas. Ward and I kept track of the errant voyage of the steamboat painting. At least it was still moving and not lost in transit like the last oil painting I shipped by UPS. As a precaution, I stopped by the Aurora Post Office, where the clerk, Ms. Burgundy, ran a check on the traveling shipment. She also assured me it was still on the go and had not run aground somewhere along the way.

On Tuesday, August 19, the JBS shipment was “in transit to the next facility.” But where was that, Ward and I wondered? The next day, August 19, the 19-pound package arrived at the USPS Regional Facility in, of all places, Chicago. The next stop would be the defining moment in the journey of the errant shipment. New York? Miami? Copenhagen? But instead, the JBS steamed into Cincinnati on the 20th and, with a loud thud, landed on our front porch early on Thursday morning of August 21, 2025.

Despite the many miles the JULIE BELLE artwork traveled, and the number of times it surely had been handled, the magnificent painting arrived safely without any noticeable impairment. Both Ward and I expressed a sigh of relief that his grandmother’s precious painting endured ten days of hard traveling from the western high plateau to Atlanta, nearly on the east coast, then back west to Dallas; north to Chicago, and southeasterly to Cincinnati, then Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and finally to Aurora Bend.

Someone already asked if prints will become available of the JULIA BELLE SWAIN painting. It’s too early to make any decision about such a project. Meanwhile, my biggest concern will be finding that unique setting to hang Mrs. J.B. Shelton’s painting where my family and I can enjoy it, along with other artistry in the “great big collection of steamboat stuff.”

Captain Don Sanders is a river man. He has been a riverboat captain with the Delta Queen Steamboat Company and with Rising Star Casino. He learned to fly an airplane before he learned to drive a “machine” and became a captain in the USAF. He is an adventurer, a historian and a storyteller. Now, he is a columnist for the NKyTribune, sharing his stories of growing up in Covington and his stories of the river. Hang on for the ride — the river never looked so good.

Purchase Captain Don Sanders’ The River book

ORDER YOUR RIVER BOOK HERE

Capt. Don Sanders The River: River Rat to steamboatman, riding ‘magic river spell’ to 65-year adventure is now available for $29.95 plus handling and applicable taxes. This beautiful, hardback, published by the Northern Kentucky Tribune, is 264-pages of riveting storytelling, replete with hundreds of pictures from Capt. Don’s collection — and reflects his meticulous journaling, unmatched storytelling, and his appreciation for detail. This historically significant book is perfect for the collections of every devotee of the river.

You may purchase your book by mail from the Northern Kentucky Tribune — or you may find the book for sale at all Roebling Books locations and at the Behringer Crawford Museum and the St. Elizabeth Healthcare gift shops.

Click here to order your Captain Don Sanders’ ‘The River’ now.