IV AMERICAN EXPLORERS SERIES =Early Steamboating on Missouri River= _VOL. I._ [Illustration: CAPTAIN JOSEPH LA BARGE.] HISTORY OF EARLY STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION ON THE MISSOURI RIVER LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF JOSEPH LA BARGE PIONEER NAVIGATOR AND INDIAN TRADER FOR FIFTY YEARS IDENTIFIED WITH THE COMMERCE OF THE MISSOURI VALLEY BY HIRAM MARTIN CHITTENDEN _Captain Corps of Engineers, U. S. A._ AUTHOR OF “AMERICAN FUR TRADE OF THE FAR WEST,” “HISTORY OF THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK,” ETC. _WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS_ IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I. NEW YORK FRANCIS P. HARPER 1903 COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY FRANCIS P. HARPER. =Edition Limited to 950 Copies.= TO THE MEMORY OF THE =Missouri River Pilot= CONTENTS. PAGE PREFACE, xi CHAPTER I. ANCESTRY OF CAPTAIN LA BARGE, 1 CHAPTER II. CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH, 13 CHAPTER III. ENTERS THE FUR TRADE, 22 CHAPTER IV. CHOLERA ON THE “YELLOWSTONE,” 32 CHAPTER V. FURTHER SERVICE AT CABANNÉ’S, 40 CHAPTER VI. LAST YEAR AT CABANNÉ’S, 49 CHAPTER VII. CAPTAIN LA BARGE IN “OPPOSITION,” 59 CHAPTER VIII. THE MISSOURI RIVER, 73 CHAPTER IX. KINDS OF BOATS USED ON THE MISSOURI, 90 CHAPTER X. STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION ON THE MISSOURI RIVER, 115 CHAPTER XI. THE STEAMBOAT IN THE FUR TRADE, 133 CHAPTER XII. VOYAGE OF 1843, 141 CHAPTER XIII. VOYAGE OF 1844, 154 CHAPTER XIV. CHANGED CONDITIONS, 167 CHAPTER XV. INCIDENTS ON THE RIVER (1845–50), 177 CHAPTER XVI. INCIDENTS ON THE RIVER (1851–53), 189 CHAPTER XVII. ICE BREAK-UP OF 1856, 200 CHAPTER XVIII. THE HEAD OF NAVIGATION REACHED, 216 CHAPTER XIX. FORT BENTON, 222 CHAPTER XX. ABRAHAM LINCOLN ON THE MISSOURI, 240 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. _VOL. I._ CAPTAIN JOSEPH LA BARGE, _Frontispiece_