Gullywhumper - Ohio River keelboat featured on the Walt Disney frontier adventure episodes Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race (11/16/55) and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (12/14/55) on the ABC production of DISNEYLAND.

The Gullywhumper was owned by Captain Mike Fink (Jeff York), a burly, boisterous riverman from Pittsburgh. A self proclaimed "King of the River," he said of himself "I'm the ORE-Riginal ring-tail roarer from the Thunder and Lightning country. I can out run, out sing, out swim, out dance, out shout, out eat, out drink, out talk, out cuss, out fight anybody in the whole Mississippi and Ohio River put together."

Mike Fink first met Davy Crockett (Fess Parker) and Davy's friend George Russell (Buddy Ebsen) at the river town of Maysville, Kentucky in the year 1810.

Mike Fink boasted that he could beat Davy in a keelboat race to New Orleans. Adding that he would eat his hat (feather and all) if he lost. Of course, he did.

Davy's boat was the Bertha Mae from Marietta, owned by an elderly, bearded riverman called Captain Cobb (Clem Bevans).

TRIVIA NOTE: In December 1955, Disneyland in Anaheim, California installed the original keel boats used in the Davy Crockett adventures as a tourist attraction. Soon after, larger, sturdier keel boats replaced the originals to handle the heavy demand. On April 12, 1992 another keel boat attraction opened in Disneyland Paris.

External Links

• Davy Crokett and the River Pirates (IMDb)
• Mike Fink Keel Boats

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