Oral history interview with Eric Dykman

Author / Creator

Dykeman, Eric

Available as

Physical

Summary

Eric Dykman grew up in Tomah, Wisconsin. This interview focuses on his experiences on river boats in the La Crosse area. While studying marketing at UW-La Crosse, he found a summer job as a deckhan...

Eric Dykman grew up in Tomah, Wisconsin. This interview focuses on his experiences on river boats in the La Crosse area. While studying marketing at UW-La Crosse, he found a summer job as a deckhand on the Julia Belle Swain. Four years later, he earned his pilot's license and in 2004 took over as captain. That year, he piloted the stern paddle wheeler on the Grand Excursion from the Quad Cities to the Twin Cities. In 2008, Dykman left to join Jack Libbey, a long-time riverboat pilot and one of the last to earn the same first-class license that Twain held, who was leading backwater eco-tours out of Lansing, Iowa. Dykman became a partner in the business, which operates eight boats, and added tours from La Crosse's Riverside Park. The interviewers are Chuck Lee, executive director, UW-La Crosse Oral History Program, and Rachel van Alstine, an undergraduate student. This interview is one of a series conducted on the environmental history of the Mississippi River since the construction of the locks and dams.

Show More