NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/873551
housands of spectators cheered as Paul Boyton waded ashore from the Missouri River at Omaha in October 1881. The champion swimmer and larger- than-life adventurer started his marathon swim down the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers at Glendive, Montana, on Sept. 17, dragging with him Baby Mine, a tiny craft loaded with supplies. James Creelman, a correspondent for the New York Herald, accompanied Boyton in another boat as the pair made their way from Glendive to their destination city of St. Louis. The Irish-born Boyton, 32, was a veteran of astonishing feats of long-distance swimming. He had served in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War, Benito Juarez's navy in Mexico, and in the French navy during the Franco-Prussian War. It was while he was captain of the Atlantic City Lifesaving Service when he began to experiment with new lifesaving equipment, particularly a rubber survival suit with inflatable air pouches invented by C. S. Merriman of Iowa. Boyton promoted the lifesaving suit around the world, performing challenging feats of swimming while wearing it. He swam the English Channel in 1875 and swam many of the major rivers of Europe and America. In the United States, the Yellowstone-Missouri River swim was his longest. Boyton's arrival was a major event in each of the river towns he visited. Clad in his famous waterproof suit, he was "The Hero of 'Twenty Thousand Miles Over the Sea'" in the words of the Omaha Bee. The Bee said on Oct. 31: "For weeks past the wires have heralded his gradual approach as it was made by buffeting the waves of the muddy Missouri and encountering such dangers by flood and field as few men would care to experience. [The Missouri River had flooded spectacularly in April 1881.] Private telegrams and letters from the noted navigator announced the time of his arrival in this city, which was repeated to the thousands of renders through The Bee, and yesterday the only topic discussed in the streets was the probability of his reaching here on time." A Bee reporter chartered a small boat and rowed upriver to meet and interview the famous swimmer and then accompanied him as he waded ashore at Omaha, describing his reception by "at least ten thousand people. The lines of freight cars on the tracks are covered with a mass of spectators, and others step out from the doors; fences and poles are utilized, and every rock is a pedestal for some sightseer anxious to get a good look at the swimmer." The flamboyant Boyton didn't disappoint the crowd. "On A Brief History Paul Boyton in his rubber suit from The Jewelled Tomb and Other Stories (1899). By the Nebraska State Historical Society T Floating to Omaha: Paul Boyton's Record Swim Paul Boyton in his rubber suit from The Jewelled Tomb and Other Stories 12 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2017