Nature never intended the Brazos River for navigation, but before the coming of the railroads Brazos steamboats were a necessary, if always erratic, form of transport. And there were men to meet the challenge. One captain, heedless of shallows, shoals, snags, and falls, boasted that he could tap a keg and run a boat four miles on the suds. Based on rich archival sources, this authoritative and entertaining book tells of the men and boats that braved the river from the earliest days to the late 1890s. Steamboat captains and ...
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Nature never intended the Brazos River for navigation, but before the coming of the railroads Brazos steamboats were a necessary, if always erratic, form of transport. And there were men to meet the challenge. One captain, heedless of shallows, shoals, snags, and falls, boasted that he could tap a keg and run a boat four miles on the suds. Based on rich archival sources, this authoritative and entertaining book tells of the men and boats that braved the river from the earliest days to the late 1890s. Steamboat captains and plantation aristocrats, business tycoons and empire builders, mud clerks and river rats, all were obsessed with a single idea: to open the Brazos for steamboats from its headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico. The river was dredged and snags were removed, boats were designed with shallow draft, and boat owner, captain, and pilot (often one and the same) pitted their skills against the river. But the Brazos was recalcitrant. Seasonal rises silted in manmade channels and left behind new snags to catch the unwary. And as railroads inched their way across the state, the need for river transport dwindled. Railroad bridges across the Brazos finally created barriers that even a steamboat riding a "red rise" could not negotiate. By the turn of the century, the dauntless Brazos paddlewheelers were only a memory, but, even today, the dream dies hard along the river.
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Add this copy of Sandbars and Sternwheelers: Steam Navigation on the to cart. $15.89, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Movies rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1976 by Texas A & M Univ Pr.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Sandbars and Sternwheelers: Steam Navigation on the to cart. $17.43, very good condition, Sold by Book Alley rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Pasadena, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1976 by Texas A & M Univ Pr.
Add this copy of Sandbars and Sternwheelers: Steam Navigation on the to cart. $40.00, very good condition, Sold by Abstract Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Indianapolis, IN, UNITED STATES, published 1976 by Texas A&M Univvertsity Press.
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Near Fine in Near Fine jacket. Book (xix) 149 pages, list of Brazos River steamboat captains and their boats, a few b/w photos, bibliography, index; 8vo, olive cloth-backed boards. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
Add this copy of Sandbars and Sternwheelers: Steam Navigation on the to cart. $44.30, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Texas A&M University Press.
Add this copy of Sandbars and Sternwheelers: Steam Navigation on the to cart. $48.50, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1976 by Texas A & M Univ Pr.
Add this copy of Sandbars and Sternwheelers Steam Navigation on the to cart. $50.00, good condition, Sold by Becker's Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Houston, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1976 by Texas A & M U Press.
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Good in Very Good dust jacket. 0890960119. Originally priced at $10.00/light green HB with gold lettering on spine with illstrated jacket in mylar; 118 pages.
