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!
Phenomenal Development of Steamboat Traffic on the Big Muddy
This feature on river commerce tracks the Missouri steamboat boom from 1864 to 1869. It highlights the rise of the Upper Missouri trade driven by Montana gold discovery, with Fort Benton as a hub and profits, crews, and freighting carried by multi-boat fleets along the river. It profiles Captain Baker and Senator Power, the Benton Block P line, and the birth of Power’s commerce network.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Big Muddy
F. C. Power
Missouri
Montana Territory
Alder Gulches
St. Louis
Fort Benton
Missouri River
Yellowstone
Amazon
Sioux City
St. John
Tacony
W. J. Lewis
Peter Balen
Joseph
Octavia
Thomas C. Power
Power
General Sully
North Dakota
Bully
Montana
Terry
Omaha
Butte
T. C. Power
John H. Charles
Iowa
Isaac P. Baker
Bismarck
N. Dek
Warner and Beers History of
Old Fort Benton Levee
Yellowstone River
Yellowastene
Northern Pacific
Yelowstone
Benton
Bentem Line
Shermanm
Sovernment
E. B. Kirk
Crier
Bouche
Crave
Fort Peck
Mer