e waters, and the
business bade fair to be very profitable. The enterprise succeeded
better than had been expected, and the operations of the wrecking
company extended from Galena, Illinois, to the Balize, and into many of
the tributaries of the great river. The parties interested in the scheme
realized a handsome profit on their investments. Mr. Eads was the
practical man of the concern, and worked hard to establish it upon a
successful footing. In 1845 he sold out his interest in the company, and
established a glass manufactory in St. Louis. This was the first
enterprise of the kind ever attempted west of the Mississippi. Two years
later, in 1847, he organized a new company for the purpose of recovering
boats and cargoes lost in the Mississippi and its tributaries. This
company started with a capital of fifteen hundred dollars. It was slow
work at first, but a steady improvement was made every year, and in
1857, just ten years from the date of their organization, the property
of the firm was valued at more than half a million of dollars. During
the winter of 1856-'57, Mr. Eads laid before Congress a formal
proposition to remove the obstructions from the western rivers and keep
them open for a term of years, upon payment of a reasonable sum by the
General Government. Had this proposition been accepted, the benefits
thereby secured to all who were engaged in the navigation of those
rivers would have been very great. A bill was reported in Congress
authorizing the acceptance of Mr. Eads' offer, but was defeated through
the influence of the Senators from Mississippi (Jefferson Davis) and
Louisiana (J.P. Benjamin).

In 1857, Mr. Eads was compelled, on account of ill-health, to retire
from business. He had earned a handsome fortune by his industry and
enterprise, and could well afford to rest for a short time, preparatory,
as it afterward proved, to the most important part of his whole career.

When the secession troubles began to agitate the country, toward the
close of the year 1860, Mr. Eads cast the weight of his private and
public influence on the side of the Union. He felt that the war, if it
should come, would be a very serious affair for the West, as the
prosperity of that section depends largely upon the absolute freedom of
the navigation of the Mississippi. The Confederates well understood
this, and prepared from the first to close the great river until their
independence should be acknowledged by the General Gov