The Mighty Mississippi River has been an important part of the German immigration to East Perry County from the very beginning.  Throughout the years, it has been a major form of transportation for these surrounding communities.  Commerce still takes place on the river and there are people from this area who still consider it a place for their employment.

One such person is Dale “The Preacher” Roth.  His entire professional career has been spent on the Mississippi River, where he now is the captain of the Michael Luhr.

Dale is often gone for weeks at a time pushing products up and down the river.

Dale’s wife, Lindy, runs the Old Bank Coffee Shop in Altenburg, and she tells me that Dale has carried the nickname “The Preacher” since his teenage years when he was a member of the youth group at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg.

With his many years of experience on the river, Dale is an expert on its course, but he still needs to consult his maps and keep them up-to-date.  Here is his map of the portion of the river near Wittenberg with his own handwritten notes on it.

Here are some of Dale’s credentials.

I hope someday to sit down with Dale and have him regale me with many of his stories from his time on the river.  In my opinion, he ought to sit down someday and write a book.

Hannibal lays claim to a famous author who wrote about the river.  The Lutherans of East Perry County proudly proclaim that we have our own Preacher on the River.