Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916

For nearly fifty years after the 1849 gold rush, paddle-wheel steamboats provided the cheapest and most efficient form of transportation in the West. During this time the Columbia, the Sacramento-San Joaquin and the Colorado rivers became the main thoroughfares for opening the interior to settlement and development. Within a few years of one another each of these rivers was supporting a thriving steamboat business. This book tells the story of steam navigation on the Colorado and its tributaries, reaching from the Gulf of California to the Green River in Wyoming, and from launching the first steamer on its waters in 1852 to the loss of the last in 1916. Includes many black and white vintage photos.