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Letterhead and illustrated envelope of the steamer Delta Queen. (accession number 73-0031), ca. 1971

 Item — Box: 3, Folder: 4

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The Steamboats and River History Collection is an artificial, or subject-based, collection comprising a variety of documents that have been placed in this collection over the years due to their common subject matter. The bulk of the collection relates to river travel and commerce primarily in the vicinity of St. Louis and on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The collection includes more than 60 receipts and bills of lading, mostly dated pre-1900, for merchandise shipped on the rivers; letters, reminiscences, and journals, many of which contain accounts of nineteenth-century steamboat travel; brochures, booklets and other printed advertising material for tourist excursion boats, including the popular twentieth-century St. Louis steamboats Admiral, President, and Delta Queen; several twentieth-century newspaper clippings reflecting on the steamboat era in the West; menus; tickets; and licenses for steamboat officers. Of particular note is a letter and petition of Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton to the governor of Upper Louisiana, dated 1810, requesting a monopoly to operate steamboats on the Upper Mississippi River.

Dates

  • ca. 1971

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Extent

From the Collection: 2.2 Cubic Feet ( (3 boxes; 3 volumes; 4 oversize folders))

Language of Materials

English