May 3, 2021 By Keith Norrington
The steamer Silver Moon was notably a unique vessel. The boat was designed and built specifically to fit into the short locks of the Louisville & Portland Canal.
Constructed in 1859 at Cincinnati, the wooden hull measured 184 feet in length by 39 feet in width, with a depth of 7.5 feet. Three boilers supplied steam to engines having 22-inch cylinders with an 8-foot stroke. The paddlewheels were 26 feet in diameter with bucket planks 11 feet in length.
The riverboat was owned by the Cincinnati & Memphis Packet Company, of which Capt. James Bugher was superintendent; his brother, Capt. John Bugher, was master of the Silver Moon. Another sibling, Capt. A.H. Bugher, was in command of the packet Glendale, owned by the same line.