The steamboat Lady Gay was built in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1865 for the Atlantic & Mississippi Steamship Company; she was 286.4 feet long, 43.2 feet wide, and weighed 1,406 tons. She was the second largest in terms of tonnage on the Mississippi River system.

Steamboats such as the Lady Gay were used to transport Union troops and supplies on the Mississippi River during the Civil War. The ship is mentioned in official records as carrying a dispatch for the U.S. Navy in May 1865.

There were various stories about who “Lady Gay” actually was; one version stated she was a Kentuckian, the wife of a U. S. Army lieutenant. A portrait of the lady was painted on the wheelhouses.

Carte-de-Visite by Banks Gallery, Helena, Ark.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31980