Have you ever heard of Philomène Ostiguy dit Domingue? Born in 1843, in Saint-Mathias, Québec, she was better known as “Captain Phil”—being the first American woman to be licensed as a pilot and master for steamboat navigation in 1877. Her first husband, Louis Daniels, operated the daily ferry The Water Lilly between Vergennes and Westport, NY, while she ran excursion trips on her steamboat The Victor on Lake Champlain, and Otter Creek. She even transported wealthy passengers from Vergennes to New York City for a night at the opera! After her husband’s death, she carried on with the family business, The Daniels Boat Line. She died in 1929.

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