1887 President Grover Cleveland trip

 

On September 30, 1887 President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland left Washington DC on a 5000 mile journey through the western and southern U.S.  They rode in a train provided by rail magnate George Pullman.  President Cleveland insisted on personally covering the cost of the train.  After numerous stops, the Presidential train arrived in St. Louis Missouri where the Presidential party stayed for four days.  During their stay, President and Mrs. Cleveland were given a ride on the steamer CITY OF BATON ROUGE which served as an excursion boat in the St. Louis area.   The above picture was taken from a postcard commerating the Presidential visit.   Since there is a very large crowd and what appears to be soldiers lining the ramp of the LEE LINE wharf boat the people walking down the ramp must be the Presidential party.  Notice the two people in the lower right corner of the picture holding what appear to be sabers.  Later in the trip, the President arrived in West Memphis on October 14, 1887 where the Presidential party was carried across the river on the steamer KATE ADAMS.  On board were 100 people including Democratic senators and the mayor as well as other notable citizens who greeted the President.  As they were ferried across the river on the KATE they were greeted by 60,000 people as the KATE traveled the 3 mile length of the Memphis water front.  The next day over 100,000 people cheered the President during a parade through downtown Memphis.   The link below details the Cleveland’s trip.   The original picture had several age related problems as well as a dog-eared corner which my friend and Photo-Shop expert Josh Gamble repaired.

http://www.whha.org/whha_publications/publications_documents/whitehousehistory_28-white.pdf

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