Would the Delta Queen stay on the Mississippi? A big question 50 years ago

In 1970, Congress was talking about ways to preserve the popular Delta Queen paddlewheeler, which made regular trips on the Upper Mississippi.  The boat was nearly 50 years old, and made mostly of wood, which violated a 1966 ‘safety at sea’ law requiring metal hulls on riverboats to prevent fires.  There was some resistance to making an exception for the Delta Queen, but that year, the boat was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.   

Passenger train service to La Crosse was in danger of being reduced by the Burlington Railroad.  The Interstate Commerce Commission held a hearing at the La Crosse Courthouse on plans to end two overnight train trips.  One train left La Crosse for Chicago just after 1 a.m.  The other endangered run left at 4:30 in the morning for Minneapolis.

A solar eclipse could be seen over North America on March 7th of 1970, a Saturday.  People in a few Southern and Atlantic Coast states witnessed a total eclipse.  In La Crosse, about 60 per cent of the sun was blocked out by the moon. On the day of the eclipse, a new TV station began broadcasting in La Crosse.  Channel 19, WXOW, became the city’s full-time ABC affiliate.  Saturday nights that March, Channel 19 had shows such as Lawrence Welk, and the Madison-based polka show “Dairyland Jubilee,” in 1970.