Mississippi Steamboatman: The Story of Henry Miller Shreve (Walker's American History Series for Young People) - Hardcover

McCall, Edith S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802765971 ISBN 13: 9780802765970

Publisher: Walker & Co, 1986

Synopsis

A biography of the riverboatman who, among other achievements, designed and built the first steamboat able to navigate the Mississippi River.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-8 Shreve and his river boats opened up the Ohio, Mississippi, Red and Missouri Rivers to passenger and freight traffic and contributed to the settlement of the American Midwest. There were legal as well as technological obstacles to trade on the inland rivers, as the Fulton-Livingston interest had a monopoly on all steamboat traffic in the state of Louisiana. Shreve and his capable lawyer were able at length to break the monopoly. In addition to the legal battles, there is plenty of action and adventure, including military campaigns (Shreve fought with Andrew Jackson for the defense of New Orleans during the War of 1812), boiler explosions and waterway hazards. McCall fictionalizes some conversations, but they are not obtrusive, and to some extent this fictionalizing leavens the paragraphs of narrative, although some youngsters will not accept this book as nonfiction. Shreve was an important figure in American history, commerce and navigation, yet there is almost no information available on him, and this interesting account, illustrated with contemporary prints and maps, fills a need. Phyllis Ingram, Fairfax County Public Library, Va.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Walker & Co
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0802765971
• ISBN 13: 9780802765970
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 115