This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Steamboat Bill Petersen a river man and historian
Diane Langton profiles Charles L. Petersen known as Steamboat Bill for 38 years with the Diamond Jo Line in Dubuque and his son William who chronicled steamboating on the Upper Mississippi. Petersen earned a PhD in 1930, helped found the Centennial Building in Iowa City, and wrote extensively on Mississippi River history.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Charles L. Petersen
Dubuque
William
Mississippi
Federal Barge Line
University of Dubuque
University of Iowa
Louis Pelzer
Pelzer
Petersen
Upper
Bill
Benjamin Schambaugh
Iowa
Maid of Iowa
Skunk
Augusta
Samuel Clemens
Mark Twain
Twain
St. Louis
Lake Itasca
Minn
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
Upper Mississippi
State Historical Society of
the Palimpsest
Society
Richard Pike Bissell
Virginia
Galena
Ohio
Ohio River
Mississippi Valley
Missouri
Iowa City
The
Historical Society
William J
Bill” Petersen
Gazette J
Oearea