Steamboats

Steamboats. . The steamboats that plied the waters of the Missouri were known as Mountain Boats for their ability to travel close to the headwaters of the Missouri at the Rocky Mountains. Missouri River steamboats were built different then their counterparts on the Mississippi River. To navigate the narrow, shallow channels of the Missouri, the boats were designed with stern wheels and used pine instead of oak on their decking and bulkheads to lighten the boats. Most boats drew about 20 inches of water when they were empty and up to 4 feet loaded., "Mark Twain" is what the leadsmen on a steamboat would yell out if the depth was 12 feet or two fathoms. If it was more or less deep, he might yell Quarter Less Twain, Half Twain, Mark Three, or other terms used to indicate the depth of the river., A "sawyer" is a term used to describe a tree or part of a tree that protrudes slightly above the water in a river. Sawyers are also called "snags". Colliding with a "sawyer" or "snag" sunk hundreds of steamboats on the Missouri, which was a difficult river to navigate. A river pilot once noted that, We used to separate the men from the boys at the mouth of the Missouri. The boys went up the Mississippi and the men up the Big Muddy., The majority of the traffic on steamboats in Dakota Territory was fur trading, military, and mining related. When the railroad arrived in the late 1870s, its ability to move goods cheaper and more reliably put an end to the steamboat era. Smaller steamboats were still used for short halls and ferrying short distances for many years., The steamer "The Scotty Phillip" , Steamboats docked at Fort Pierre , The steamer "The City of Fort Pierre" , Steamboat landing located on the Pierre side by current bridges.