Navigating the Missouri : Arthur H. Clark : 9780870623554 : 0870623559 : 30 May 2008 : The complete history of steamboating on the Missouri River Forming the most important river corridor in the trans-Mississippi West, the Missouri and its navigable tributaries were instrumental in opening the continentbut it took the steamboat to make that possible. The flat-bottomed vessel was the technological marvel of its day and provided access to the West before the railroads' arrival, encouraging settlement and fueling economic growth for decades. The complete and colorful saga of steamboating on the Missouri River is recounted, from its 1819 inception to the removal of the last commercial steamer in 1935. William E. Lass has crafted an engagingly written account that provides a panorama of transportation into and through the Westa story of the fur trade, of Indian relations, and of Euro-American settlement and development. Navigating the Missouri tells of migration and commerce on the Santa