Highlights Archives
Mississippi Steamboat Memories
Water has played an important part in Wisconsin's history for thousands of years. People have used waterways to travel, move goods and to keep connected with the rest of the world. The only state to sit between two Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, Wisconsin has thousands of miles of rivers and streams as well as thousands of inland lakes, but perhaps few waterways have been as important to the state's development, as well as its lore, as the Mississippi River. Relive 1860s Mississippi River life when historian Robert Taunt presents the 1860s steamboat memories of pilot George Byron Merrick on August 21, 2007, at 12:15 p.m. at the Wisconsin Historical Museum.
Coursing through the heart of the United States, the Mississippi, whose name means the "father of waters" in Algonquian, was first used by Native Americans. Mississippian people, who were centered near modern-day St. Louis in Cahokia, traveled up the river into Wisconsin and established outposts such as Aztalan, where they joined descendants of the local Effigy Mound Culture.
The first European to see the river inland was Hernando de Soto in 1541, followed in 1673 by Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet. Marquette and Joliet traveled thousands of miles through the upper Midwest, confirming that it was possible to travel easily from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico by water. Equipped with this information, French officials erected a 4,000-mile network of trading posts to systematically exploit the area's natural resources for the next century and a half.
The river system formed the pathway for European settlement. The advent of the steamboat in 1812 brought reliable transportation, and river traffic boomed. An Italian nobleman and soldier, Giacomo Beltrami took the first steamboat trip along the Wisconsin shore in 1823. Transporting produce and other products, especially lead, to ports was a primary concern for Wisconsin settlers, particularly because the river was not always kind to travelers. Navigating the reefs, bars, snags and sunken wrecks along the river required great skill, and steamboat pilots were renowned for their intimate knowledge of the river. George Byron Merrick was a steamboat pilot for nine years, and his recollections contain lively accounts of day-to-day operations as well as tales of gamblers, boat races and shipwrecks.
Although the Mississippi River has proved an important lifeline for the nation, it has also been the source of anguish and loss caused by devastating floods. Since the late 19th century and continuing to this day, the government has initiated various efforts to control the Mississippi River, such as this dam near Trempealeau. As the nation's longest river, the Mississippi continues to serve as a vital commercial and transportation link for the people and communities along its shores.
Read more stories about the Mississsippi River from our Wisconsin Local History and Biography Article database.
:: Posted August 15, 2007
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