ABSTRACT
Among the flat-boatmen there were none that gained the notoriety of Mike Fink. His name is remembered along the whole of the Ohio as a man who excelled his fellows in every thing, particularly in his rifle-shot, which was acknowledged to be unsurpassed. Mike, with many generous qualities, was always a reckless dare-devil; but, at this time, advancing in years and decayed in influence, above all become a victim of whisky, he was morose and desperate in the extreme. The rifles were all loaded, to be prepared for the worst, and the loss of Mike Fink lamented, as a prospect of a fight presented itself, where he could use his terrible rifle. “The Last of the Boatmen”, as his sketch is entitled, is unexceptionable in style, and, we believe, in fact, with one exception, and that is, the statement as to the manner and place of Fink’s death.
