San Antonio College Library

Definitive account covers every aspect of steamboat's development: its construction, equipment and operation; the organization and conduct of steamboat transportation as a business enterprise; the hazards and amenities of shipboard life; steamboat races on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers; collisions, explosions and fires; the rise of competition; the ultimate decline, and much more.

Traces the history of transportation on the Missouri River in the nineteenth century and its impact on the development of the West.

"The Canal Era was a major phase of America's nineteenth century transportation revolution. Canals lowered transportation costs, carried a vast grain trade from western farms to eastern ports, and delivered Pennsylvania coal to New Jersey and New York. They created new towns and cities and contributed to American economic growth"--Preface.