ISU alumnus follows Abraham Lincoln's trail down Mississippi River

Ron Drake, a 1961 Indiana State alumnus, is currently sailing down the Mississippi River replicating what Abraham Lincoln did 180 years ago.

Drake's journey started in Rockport, Ind., Sept. 9, and will end in New Orleans, La., on Oct. 5, which is the same path Lincoln took while transporting produce for a merchant in 1828.

Lincoln's experience with a slave auction he witnessed on the docks influenced his feelings about slavery, according to www.lincolnsjourney.org.

Drake's ancestors built their own flatboat and sailed from the Cincinnati, Ohio area to the Mississippi River in order to join other relatives, Drake said in a phone interview from the flatboat, Monday.

After four months of hard labor at his farm in Sullivan County, the boat was ready to sail, he said.

John Cooper of Gallatin, Tenn., and the local Cherokee Development Corporation helped Drake with the construction of the flatboat, he said.

In 2006, after the boat was finished, Drake sailed on the same journey that his ancestors had sailed when they traveled on the river.

The 25-ton flatboat made of poplar and oak timber has no curvature or hydrodynamic elements, Drake said.

The flatboat has a flat bottom designed to float with the current downstream and is casually mistaken for a raft, he said.

Though the project was expensive in both time and money, Drake said estimating the cost of this endeavor is impossible. Drake personally funded the project.

John Newton, the executive director of alumni affairs, said Drake is a phenomenal person who has recreated history. Newton went aboard the flatboat for a day in December 2006 and again Wednesday for a 10-mile ride to Kentucky.

Riding on the boat was quite an experience because of its relevance to the past, Newton said.

It took three to four weeks to prepare for this trip, Drake said. He planned each of the 23 stops in eight states, as well as the accessories needed, such as sleeping supplies, food and liquids.

Drake's Trip Start: Sept. 9 in Rockport, Ind. End: Oct. 5 in New Orleans.

( Natasha Wills is a junior communication major. She can be reached at sascamed@isugw.indstate.edu.)