Mail Delivery On Caddo Lake

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Unofficial creed of the U. S. Postal Service

Add to the conditions above: choppy waters, oil derricks, cantankerous motors, and duck hunters. From 1926 until at least 1940, mail service to Ferry Lake, Kool Point, and adjacent areas around Caddo Lake came, not from nearby Oil City, but out of Mooringsport by motor boat. This service also extended into Texas as well as to the south shore on the Louisiana side. Water-borne mail delivery was established 19-Jul-1926, the result of efforts by Thomas Early Willis (1880-1977), and United States Senator John Morris Sheppard (1875-1941) of Texas.  Mr. Willis was a businessman and president of the Shreveport chapter of the Izaak Walton League, a national organization that promotes conservation and outdoor recreation. Senator Sheppard is also notable for having authored 18th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, and known as the "Father of National Prohibition."

Shreveport Times 07-Oct-1926, Page 20

More details of the mail route.

Jefferson Jimplecute 1975, Page 9


Willis, Sheppard, and other prominent local men toured the mail route, as shown in this Aug-1927 photo.

Shreveport Times 07-Aug- 1927, Page B-12

According to Profile of Mooringsport, a town history prepared in conjunction with the U. S. Bicentennial, the first carrier was Dick Snelling, Sr. followed by Frank Galbraith, and finally Fritz Heinisch. 

Source: Profile of Mooringsport, Mooringsport Home Demonstration Club (edited and compiled by Anna Marie Schlums Moore), 1976 (reprinted 1988), Page 21

As noted previously, Tom Willis was responsible for getting the service started. Carriers contracted with the U. S. government. Snelling was a game warden, so he may have been pulling double duty - delivering mail while monitoring lake activities. At the time poaching, particularly netting of fish, was rampant on the lake. Research has not confirmed Snelling's tenure on the mail route.

While Frank Galbraith was the next carrier, notably left out of the Mooringsport history is that for several years, the route was actually handled by his ex-wife, Mona Galbraith (1904-1989), who took duties after the couple divorced..

Shreveport Times 07-Jan-1934, Page 11

The accompanying article, also interestingly picked up by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, identified her as "only woman mail carrier in the United States who covers her route entirely by water." She was described  as 28 years old (other records indicate she was closer to 30) at the time and living in Mooringsport with two children (Frank, Jr. and daughter Dixie). For four years she had taken the 40 mile trip around the lake - six days a week, missing only one day in December 1932 when the lake froze over. She described dodging oil derricks, stumps, and flying lead during duck season. She once lost her propeller, and the following day wore her swimsuit and dived in to recover it, as it was too valuable to abandon. Occasionally she would be assisted by oil workers, also plying the lake waters to platforms, when engine trouble occurred. Toward the end, she expressed concern about losing the carrier contract that was periodically placed for bid. 

Mona's fears were shortly thereafter realized as it was announced that Frederick Fritz Heinisch (1869-1953), Mooringsport resident and native of Baruth,  Germany, was awarded the route.

Monroe News-Star 26-Feb-1934, Page 6

Mona wasn't too disappointed though, as shortly afterward it was announced she would be marrying Col. Louis Duval, retired from the U.S. Army and a World War I veteran. They later moved to Longview, Texas.

Shreveport Times 02-Mar-1934, Page 1


Here Fritz is shown with his mail boat in 1936.

 

 Dallas Morning News 14-Jun-1936, Page 2-D


He was featured in an article in the Hammond (LA) newspaper in Mar-1938.

Hammond (LA) Progress 04-Mar-1938, Page 18 

In the Shreveport Times "Stroller" column (primarily for observing birthdays, anniversaries, and general local "chitchat") there ran a story about a man finding a dog stranded on boards far from the shore.

Shreveport Times 23-Apr-1939, Page 1

 A few days later this explanation appeared.

Shreveport Times 27-Apr-1939, Page 2


It's not clear when water-borne mail delivery ended. Fritz's occupation was identified as mail carrier per the 1940 U. S. Census, however by 1950 he was listed as "unable to work." He passed away in 1953.


In a 1976 Shreveport Times feature, Mona reminisced about her life on Caddo Lake and job as a mail courier 50 years earlier.

Shreveport Times 19-Dec-1976 Page 6-F

Should additional information become available, it will be added  to this document.