Captain
Isaiah Sellers
Captain Isaiah Sellers was a steamboat pilot who logged over one
million miles at the wheel during his illustrious thirty-five
year career. Sellers was said to remember every changing towhead,
channel and settlement. He introduced the tap of the bell as a
signal to heave the lead when taking a sounding. In 1857, while
piloting the Aleck Scott, he introduced the signal for
the passing whistle, which was made into law by Congress, and
with modifications, is still in use today. His record time of
3 days, 23 hours, 9 minutes on the J. M. White for the
New Orleans to St. Louis route in 1844 stood for 26 years until
broken by the Natchez in 1870.
Sellers was the first to use the sounding call "mark twain" as a pen name, and Samuel Clemens' first writing efforts about the river was a parody of Captain Sellers' "Mark Twain" column which appeared regularly in the New Orleans Picayune. Seller's tombstone in St. Louis is a life-size statue showing him at the pilot's wheel.
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