S. L. Kotar, J. E. Gessler

The Steamboat Era

A History of Fulton's Folly on American Rivers, 1807-1860

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

The steamboat evokes images of leisurely travel, genteel gambling, and lively commerce, but behind the romanticized view is an engineering marvel that led the way for the steam locomotive. From the steamboat's development by Robert Fulton to the dawn of the Civil War, the new mode of transportation opened up America's frontiers and created new trade routes and economic centers. Firsthand accounts of steamboat accidents, races, business records and river improvements are collected here to reveal the culture and economy of the early to mid-1800s, as well as the daily routines of crew and passengers. A glossary of steamboat terms and a collection of contemporary accounts of accidents round out this history of the riverboat era.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: McFarland
• Seitenzahl: 308
• Erscheinungstermin: 26. Mai 2020
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 254mm x 178mm x 17mm
• Gewicht: 583g
• ISBN-13: 9781476683683
• ISBN-10: 1476683689
• Artikelnr.: 65457050

Autorenporträt

S.L. Kotar of St. Louis has been writing (together with J.E. Gessler) for more than four decades, beginning with scripts for television's Gunsmoke.

Inhaltsangabe

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments     
Preface     
1. The "Invention of the Devil"     
2. Keelboats and Barges: The "Arks" of the New World     
3. Onward to the "Father of Waters": The Fulton-Livingston Patent     
4. The Meschasipi-Or Is That the "Mississipi"?     
5. "St. Looy" and the Upper Mississippi     
6. A World Unto Their Own: The Mississippi and Ohio Rivers     
7. Navigating the Inland Western Waterways     
8. The Trades and the Trade-Offs     
9. Economic Conditions During the Steamboat Era     
10. Making Money on the Rivers     
11. Man Overboard! Steamboat Disasters on Western Waterways     
12. The Steamboat Race Is On!     
13. The Development of Steamboat Crews     
14. Deckhands: A Distinctive Class of Casual Workers     
15. Steamboat Gothic: The Florid and the Ornate     
16. "My satisfaction was complete": First-Class Passengers     
17. Steamboat Diversions     
18. "Just the bar' necessities, ma'am"     
19. The Nameless Masses: Deck Passengers     
20. An International Incident     
21. Potions, Purging and Practitioners     
22. (In)Famous Steamboat Cities     
23. The Roaring '50s: The Railroads Come Calling     
Appendix A: Glossary     
Appendix B: Original Accounts of Steamboat Disasters     
Chapter Notes     
Bibliography     
Index