Mike Fink, called “king of the keelboaters,” was a river boatman and drunken bully who ran keelboats up and down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

Fink was likely born at the frontier post in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, around 1770, and grew up as a keelboatman on the flatboats of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Before taking his place on the rivers, he allegedly participated in the Indian Wars of the Ohio region and worked as a trapper. Once on the water, his reputation grew for practical jokes and a willingness to fight anyone who wasn’t amused. In those days, these hard-working men, strong enough to pole and pull their boats upriver, were seen as heroes. And Fink was no exception, especially given his superior physique. He stood over six feet tall, weighed nearly 200 pounds, and claimed he could “outrun, outshoot, throw down, drag out and lick any man in the country.” What is certain is that he was an excellent marksman.

In 1822, Fink joined William Ashley’s expedition up the Missouri River from St. Louis, Missouri; his shooting skills became deadly along the way. In his “not so” joking manner, one of Fink’s favorite games was shooting a mug of brew from the top of a fellow’s head. However, one night in 1823, when the Ashley group had stopped somewhere near the mouth of the Yellowstone River, his shooting skills failed him. Having had too much to drink, he missed and killed the guy wearing the mug on his head. In no time, the dead man’s friends retaliated by killing Fink.

For whatever reason, his legend was told for decades, along with those of Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill. The legend grew until some said he rode a moose like a horse, wrestled alligators, and drowned wolves with his bare hands. These tales were further exaggerated in the dime novels popular at the time, to the point that he became a folk hero. In actuality, however, Fink was a drunken bully who deserves his place on these Scoundrel pages.

 

© Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated October 2026.

Also See:

List of Old West Explorers, Trappers, Traders & Mountain Men

Outlaws & Scoundrels Photo Gallery

Scoundrels in American History

The Treachery of Mike Fink by Hiram Martin Chittenden

See Sources.