David Tipton News

Blackhawk Fleet, Inc. operates towboats and barges along the Mississippi River out of Davenport Iowa. The city, on the Mississippi River 300-miles up river from St. Louis, has long been a maritime center. When 84-year old Capt. David Tipton died at the wheel of his snag-pulling steamboat in 1904 he was buried here. To honor the Mark Twain contemporary, his crew hauled an anchor from the river to mark his grave site. His vessel, the Col. A. Mackenzie was renamed the David Tipton. Tipton's death was declared the end of an era, but it hardly marked the end of riverboat work around Davenport. Today,Blackhawk's eight boats and 35 barges have a variety of capabilities including crane, deck and sand barges.