Environment: 1800-1850 River Navigation

In the early nineteenth century the Mississippi River was a dangerous place for boats.

Early nineteenth century travel on the Mississippi, Ohio and Illinois Rivers was fraught with danger. There were rapids, rocks, and snags throughout the rivers that could easily wreck a boat. Snags were the most significant threat to travel because they were often undetectable.

Nineteenth century drawings of "sawyers", snags revealed by low water, and "rafts" threatening an approaching steamboat.

River pilots described three kinds of snags. There were "rafts" or "wooden islands" composed of an accumulation of logs and tree debris that became grounded on a sandbar or other outcropping from the shore. "Planters" were whole trees that had fallen into the river and become embedded on the bottom, over time becoming reinforced by the build up of silt. Similar to planters were "sawyers", groups of trees embedded in the river bottom at a less than perpendicular angle and subject to the pressure of the current, appearing and disappearing at intervals mimicking the motion of a saw at a saw mill. Often groups of planters would have only a foot or two showing above the water. Contrary to their flimsy appearance, planters could quickly ground a boat and tear into its hull. Trees were constantly falling into the rivers as the banks eroded or during high water, making every river trip dangerous.

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