So, you’re looking for something big that goes back to the earliest days of Disneyland? Well then... you need look no further than the Frontierland Landing. For here is where you’ll find the stern wheel steamboat, the Mark Twain.

As a guest favorite since that first voyage away from there on July 17th, it is a classic representation of American transportation history. At one time, steam powered boats of this type traveled the real rivers of America carrying passengers and cargo of all kinds from cities and towns of all sizes. And one cousin of a sort, the Delta Queen, still does the same job today.

The high point of the steamboat era was the years before the War Between The States. That and the expansion of railroads across the country changed how people and freight traveled from point to point.

And it was Samuel Clemens, under the pen name of Mark Twain, who may have captured the emotional heart of those times with his 1883 book, Life on the Mississippi.  His colorful descriptions of his own time as a river pilot helped to create nostalgia for those simpler times when life along the river on a steamboat was an adventure each and every trip. Misfortune was the lot of many a boat with accidents of all kinds claiming many lives. Clemens himself lost his brother Henry to one such incident as the steamboat he was working aboard, the Pennsylvania (a boat that Sam Clemens had done a time as a cub pilot aboard), suffered a boiler explosion (with the loss of 250 lives) on June 13, 1858, just below Memphis, Tennessee.

Disneyland’s boat shares more than just a few elements to the steamboats of those days. Most notable may be that it is indeed powered by steam. Those smokestacks and exhaust pipes are not just for show. The modern boiler creates steam that is used by the twin engines to turn the paddle wheel at the stern of the boat. Under the watchful eyes of one of the Disneyland steam engineers, the Mark Twain makes it’s journeys along the Rivers of America just as it did more than 53 years ago.

The boat has a wooden superstructure that sits atop it’s steel hull - again, much the same as other steamboats like the Delta Queen. That 105 foot hull was constructed by the Todd Shipyards in San pedro (the same folks who later constructed the hull for the Columbia and the Disneyland submarine fleet). The superstructure was constructed at Disney’s Burbank studio and joined with the hull in Anaheim. At that time, it was the first riverboat of it’s kind built in over fifty years.

Unlike her earlier cousin’s, the Mark Twain’s pilot is not called upon to know the changing moods of the river. The boat is guided along a rail on it’s journey, thanks to a floating series of wheels. Yet, the pilot still has to keep an eye out for river traffic, with canoes and rafts (and at one time keel boats) along with the sailing ship Columbia, all traveling the same waterway.

The maiden voyage of the Mark Twain actually predates Disneyland. It was during the celebration of Walt and Lillian Disney’s 30th wedding anniversary. Guests made their way from the nearby Golden Horseshoe Saloon for he first voyage. The story has been told that Admiral Joe Fowler found Lillian hard at work sweeping up the decks of the Mark Twain before that trip and lent a hand to make her shipshape.

More on those first days from the Wikipedia entry for the boat:

Disneyland's opening day brought further problems for the ‘’Mark Twain’’. Actress Irene Dunne, star of the movie Showboat, had trouble breaking a bottle of water (from many major American rivers) across the vessel's bow for its christening on Dateline Disneyland. During the riverboat's first official voyage, when the crowd moved to one side of the boat to view a passing scene of an Indian encampment or other sight, the boat would list from the side and water poured over the deck, as no one had determined the Mark Twain's maximum safe passenger capacity.

This oversight caused the Mark Twain to almost capsize on a voyage a few days later when ride operators continued to wave more than 500 guests on board until the deck neared the water line. As the ship traversed the sparsely vegetated river route, it came loose from its track and got stuck in the muddy banks. Immediately, the park established a maximum capacity of 300 passengers, which still remains in effect today.

The ticket stub of an early Disneyland voyage aboard the “steamer Mark Twain”.

And later, as one of the D ticket attractions.

Night-time trips aboard the Boat have always been a favorite of many guests, and even though the performances of Fantasmic may pre-empt that opportunity for much of the year, it is still a special treat. But I always enjoy a trip aboard no matter the time of day. Sometimes it’s just nice to sit and relax while the trip is made.

A retro black and white view from the Brownie Hawkeye on July 17, 2005.

And a color view enjoying the seats at the bow on the same afternoon with

Cory Mitchell, Leslie Smith and Jeff Lange in their 50th golden Mouse ears.

The Mark Twain steaming off on another voyage,

as seen from the balcony of the Disneyland Dream Suite.

So, as we approach the Frontierland Landing, here’s hoping that you’ve enjoyed today’s short look back to the steamer Mark Twain - a classic part of Disneyland!