The Commodore's Prayer

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. The best of the steamboat captains on the Upper Mississippi River became legends in their own lifetimes for their daring and their skill. Above them all stood William F. Davidson, the only captain to be accorded the honorary rank of Commodore by fellow rivermen. The Commodore was head of the Davidson Line, the largest and most successful line of packet boats on the river. Proud and headstrong, the Commodore made sure both his boats and his crews were shipshape. The Davidson Line ran on time and went where it said it would go.

Other Episodes

December 27, 2023

The Special Edition

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.

Listen · 3:00

December 26, 2023

Don Wooten

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.

Listen · 3:12

December 22, 2023

Quad City Symphony

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.

Listen · 3:16

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WVIK, Quad Cities NPR, provides news and classical music 24-hours-a-day to the Quad Cities and surrounding community in northwestern Illinois and eastern Iowa. WVIK is a public service of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Our signal is broadcast at 90.3 FM in the Quad Cities area, at 95.9 FM in Dubuque, Iowa (including a small part of southwestern Wisconsin), and around the globe at WVIK.org.

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