The Tombigbee River Steamboats: Rollodores, Dead Heads and Side-Wheelers

The Tombigbee River flows through the history of Alabama and Mississippi, connecting the Black Prairie cotton belt of northeast Mississippi and west Alabama to Mobile and the Gulf of Mexico. In the early 1800s, it became the regional artery of commerce and trade, with steamboats carrying cotton to the port of Mobile and then returning upriver with farm supplies and consumer goods. Today, the "rollodores," who rolled cotton bales down slides to the decks of boats; the sunken logs, or "dead heads," that could sink a boat if struck; and the "side-wheeler" model steamboats have all but vanished. The Tombigbee River Steamboats brings this forgotten era back to life through accounts of the steamboats, their crews and their trials, such as the haunting story of the steamer Eliza Battle, which burned and sank on a freezing, flooded river.

Author: Rufus Ward
Publisher: History Press Library Editions
Published: 07/30/2010
Pages: 226
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.04lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.56d
ISBN13: 9781540217790
ISBN10: 1540217795
BISAC Categories:
- Transportation | Ships & Shipbuilding | History
- History | United States | State & Local | South (AL,AR,FL,GA,KY,LA,MS,

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