Colonel Plug (1700s? – 1820?), also known as Colonel Fluger and "The Last of the Boat-Wreckers", who existed sometime between the 1790s and 1820, was the

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

ary

river pirate A river pirate is a pirate who operates along a river. The term has been used to describe many different kinds of pirate groups who carry out riverine attacks in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and South America. They are usually prosecuted ...

who ran a criminal gang on the Ohio River in a

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the la ...

swamp near the mouth of the Cache River. The outlaw camp of Colonel Plug was supposedly below the river pirate hideout of Cave-In-Rock and the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

post at

Fort Massac Fort Massac (or Fort Massiac) was a French colonial and early National-era fort on the Ohio River in Massac County, Illinois, United States. Its site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. History The Spanish explorer ...

, which monitored and policed frontier river traffic just above the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river ( main stem); ...

of the

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

and

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

Cache River swamp and Ohio River juncture

French-Canadien

voyageurs The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ...

gave the Cache River its name, which meant "secret or hidden place". The first European settlers came into this swampy river countryU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 13, 2011 in 1803. The waterlogged river soil was too wet for farming, and the cypress swamps were populated with

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "lit ...

es and

venomous snakes Venomous snakes are species of the suborder Serpentes that are capable of producing venom, which they use for killing prey, for defense, and to assist with digestion of their prey. The venom is typically delivered by injection using hollow or g ...

. Many of the settlers along the Cache became sick and died of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

. Because the Cache River was such an undesirable and nearly uninhabitable place, the poor living conditions in the region were ideal for concealing the illicit activities of river piracy.

Colonel Plug tactics

Colonel Plug's usual tactics were to sneak aboard or have one of his river pirates, secretly, go into the

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

of a boat, dig out the

caulking Caulk or, less frequently, caulking is a material used to seal joints or seams against leakage in various structures and piping. The oldest form of caulk consisted of fibrous materials driven into the wedge-shaped seams between boards on ...

between the boat bottom planks, causing the boat to sink and be easily attacked. The other method for disabling a boat was to

drill A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a bit, either a drill or driver chuck. Hand-operated types are dramatically decreasing in popularity and cordless battery-powered ones proliferating due to ...

holes in the bottom planks, with an auger. Traditional caulking was made from combining the fibers of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor p ...

and

oakum Oakum is a preparation of tarred fibre used to seal gaps. Its main traditional applications were in shipbuilding, for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships; in plumbing, for s ...

, a type of hemp rope fiber soaked in

pine tar Pine tar is a form of wood tar produced by the high temperature carbonization of pine wood in anoxic conditions (dry distillation or destructive distillation). The wood is rapidly decomposed by applying heat and pressure in a closed container; ...

. The sticky caulk mixture would be driven into a wedge-shaped seam between the wooden boat

planks, with a caulking mallet and a broad

chisel A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge (such that wood chisels have lent part of their name to a particular grind) of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal by hand, s ...

-like tool called a caulking iron to create a watertight seal. The salvaged boat and cargo would later, be sold, down the Mississippi River, in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

drowned Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer as ...

, being unable to escape from being trapped inside the bottom of a rapidly sinking boat.

Physical appearance

According to Cincinnati newspaperman Timothy Flint in 1830, Colonel Plug was described as:

"But being a youth of broad red cheeks, muscle and impudence, and withal, abundantly stored with small talk, from eighteen to twenty-one he was a decided favorite with the fair, and had had various love affairs, being reputed remarkably slippery in regard to the grace of perseverance. At twenty four he had mounted
epaulette Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''shoulder scales ...
s, was a militia colonel, had a portentous red nose, and was in bad odour with all honest people."

Colonel Plug wife and river pirate gang

Colonel Plug had a wife, known as "Pluggy", a very large, copper complected,

mustache A moustache (; en-US, mustache, ) is a strip of facial hair grown above the upper lip. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history. Etymology The word "moustache" is French, and is derived from the Italian ''mustaccio'' ...

quadroon In the colonial societies of the Americas and Australia, a quadroon or quarteron was a person with one quarter African/Aboriginal and three quarters European ancestry. Similar classifications were octoroon for one-eighth black (Latin root ''o ...

woman of three mixed races. He had a partner and second in command, of the river pirate gang, named " Nine-Eyes", who may have been an

escaped slave In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe people who fled slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Such people are also called free ...

, manumitted former slave, or free-born negro.

Historical research and folklore

Tales of Colonel Plug may have been based on the real life, Cave-In-Rock river pirate,

Samuel Mason Samuel Ross Mason, also spelled Meason (November 8, 1739 – 1803), was a Virginia militia captain, on the American western frontier, during the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he became the leader of the Mason Gang, a criminal gang o ...

or by his alias, "Bully Wilson". Little is known about Colonel Plug, if he was actually a real person or a just a fictional river pirate character, except, from the folklorish descriptions provided by Timothy Flint in his 1830 newspaper article "Col. Plug, the last of the Boat-wreckers," from the

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sport ...

, ''The Western Monthly Review'' and another article "The Boat-Wreckers—Or Banditti of the West," in the

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located i ...

newspaper, ''Daily Advertiser'', January 29, 1830, very little historical evidence exists about Colonel Plug to prove he actually lived. Colonel Plug claimed to have been a Yankee native from

Rockingham County, New Hampshire Rockingham County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the population was 314,176, making it New Hampshire's second-most populous county. The county seat is Brentwood. Rockingham County is part of the Boston-Ca ...

and a former

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

in the

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non- professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

. Colonel Fluger may have been of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

ancestry, as Fluger is a German surname. No historical evidence exists to justify this military claim, as no Fluger, Flueger, or Pflueger surnames, as many spelling variations exist, can be found in the

U.S.

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

records or the Rockingham County military muster rolls.

Decline of river piracy

After the arrival of the first steamboat, ''

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

New Madrid earthquake New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, river piracy began to decline because these new boats were faster and harder to ambush and would not have had to stop as often for fueling, rest, supplies, or shelter from a storm. Also, keelboat crews came to eventually travel together in naval flotillas, with large groups of guards to protect their cargo from any criminal elements they found on the rivers.

In popular culture

Actor

Walter Catlett Walter Leland Catlett (February 4, 1889 – November 14, 1960) was an American actor and comedian. He made a career of playing excitable, meddlesome, temperamental, and officious blowhards. Career Catlett was born on February 4, 1889, in S ...

portrayed the historical river pirate and criminal gang leader, Colonel Plug inaccurately as a comical mischief maker, not as ruthless outlaw in the

Walt Disney's Disneyland The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The p ...

's, live-action miniseries, in season 2, episode 13, ''

Davy Crockett and the River Pirates ''Davy Crockett and the River Pirates'' is a 1956 American Western film produced by Walt Disney Productions. A prequel to '' Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier'', the feature film is an edited and recut compilation of the last two episode ...

'', which aired December 14, 1955.

Brewing industry

In 2013, the

microbrewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

Listermann Brewing Company of Cincinnati, Ohio has produced Colonel Plug (

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

Style Common Ale), a

sour mash Sour mash (or sourmash) is a process used in the distilling industry that uses material from an older batch of mash to start the fermentation of a new batch, analogous to the making of sourdough bread with a starter. The term can also be use ...

ale Ale is a type of beer brewed using a warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to bal ...

aged in oak barrels.

References

* Asbury, Herbert. ''The French Quarter: The Informal of the New Orleans Underworld''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1936. *Smith, Carter F.
Gangs and the Military: Gangsters, Bikers, and Terrorists with Military Training
'. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. *Wagner, Mark J. ''The Wreck of the '"America" in Southern Illinois: A Flatboat on the Ohio River''. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2015. *Wagner, Mark and Mary McCorvie. "Going to See the Varmint: Piracy in Myth and Reality on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, 1785–1830," ''X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy''. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2006. *Flint, Timothy. "Col. Plug, the last of the Boat-wreckers," ''The Western Monthly Review''. Cincinnati, OH, 1830. *"The Boat-Wreckers—Or Banditti of the West," ''Daily Advertiser''. Rochester, NY, Jan. 29, 1830.

External links

"Colonel Plug And His Wooden Plugs", ''The Southeast Missourian'' NewspaperColonel Plug (Kentucky Style Common Ale) - Listermann Brewing Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plug, Colonel River and lake piracy American pirates 19th-century pirates Outlaws Outlaws of the American Old West American folklore Ohio River Rivers of Illinois Riverboats Water transportation in the United States People whose existence is disputed