Mississippi River System

Mississippi River System

  Quote:~ The Mississippi River and its basin has shaped the history of North America, influencing Indian life, exploration, military campaigns, pioneering and settlement, politics, folk and high culture, civil rights, and economic development. Home to diverse and distinctive species of flora and fauna, it was first civilized between 500 AD and 1500 AD by agrarian, … Read more

Ending of the Civil War Era

Ending-of-the-Civil-War-Era

Grant resolved to move his soldiers south of Vicksburg down the Louisiana side of the river, cross the Mississippi, and attack Vicksburg from the south. Although this meant the Union fleet would risk passing downstream beneath Vicksburg’s Mississippi River batteries to get in position south of the city to ferry the army across … Read more

Mark Twain Piloting

Mark Twain Piloting

Young Sam Clemens Quote: ~ When I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village on the west bank of the Mississippi River. That was, to be a steamboatman. We had transient ambitions of other sorts, but they were only transient. When a circus came … Read more

Flatboats

Steamboat-Flatboats

Broadhorn or Kentucky Boat on Ohio ~ circa 1788 In May, 1782, Pennsylvania farmer, Jacob Yoder, became the first person to successfully navigate a flatboat from Brownsville to New Orleans, delivering flour, and effectively demonstrating how the waterways could be used to reach distant markets and to settle the West. Flatboats or Flats were … Read more

Keelboats

Steamboat-Keelboats

Fur Traders’ Keelboat Keelboats were long, narrow craft, usually about seventy-feet in length, though the first keelboats used by explorers and fur traders were smaller. They had a keel providing stability, especially for upriver travel. Unlike flatboats, they were designed to return up the river. As many as twenty-five men would work … Read more

Introduction to Mark Twain

Introduction to Mark Twain

Samuel Clemens, born on November 30, 1835, the sixth child of John and Jane Clemens, in a cabin in the small settlement of Florida, Missouri.   The family moved to nearby Hannibal in 1839, where Sam spent his boyhood in the presence of the broad Mississippi, and the captivating steamboating times that would … Read more

Dos and Don’ts of Anchoring Boats

Dos and Don’ts of Anchoring Boats

Anchoring the boat is an essential thing that everyone with a boat should know. It is necessary to understand how to lower the anchor and how to regain it. An anchor holds your boat in place, giving you time for swimming, fishing, enjoying the view, or staying for extended periods at a … Read more

Tips for Boat Maintenance

Tips for Boat Maintenance

Like cars, boats also require regular maintenance to operate smoothly and safely. With the proper care and upkeeping, your vessel will last for a long time, and long enough to make countless memories. Basic boat maintenance isn’t just doing a visual inspection now and then. You must follow a routine maintenance schedule and maintain … Read more

Ensuring the Safety of Kids on a Boat

Ensuring the Safety of Kids on a Boat

Compared to doing recreational activities on dry land, boating with kids needs more detailed safety planning. Especially since, unlike on land, you’re afloat in the middle of the vast water, and help might not come as fast as you would want them to be. Going on a boat ride together with your kids and … Read more

Gift Ideas for Boaters

Gift Ideas for Boaters

Boaters, or people that take boating as a pastime, are arguably some of the most dedicated persons in their hobby. They would often go boating at least every day, and they would also keep their boat well maintained so that it would remain durable and beautiful. So, giving them a gift during … Read more