Steamboat Schedules through Harrisonburg, 1858

The Independent - 3/17/1858

The above Steamboat Cards were published in Harrisonburg's newspaper, The Independent, on March 17, 1858.

Steamboats listed and their captains:

The R. W. McRae - Len Moore, Captain
The Paul Jones - John Glenn, Captain
The Silver Moon - J. W. Moore, Captain
The Messenger - G. H. Kirk, Captain

All captains except John Glenn are listed on the historical marker, Ouachita River Steamboat Era, 1819-1927 which is located on the Ouachita River at Columbia in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana.

Columbia, Caldwell Parish, Louisiana

In 1820-1821, the first steamboat to come from the Ouachita River into Bayou Louis and up to the head of Lake Louis at Sicily Island was The Independence.

The next steamboat to travel this route was The Leopard in 1822-1823.  The following is a description of The Leopard by Dr. A. R. Kilpatrick in DeBow's Review, Vol. 12, 1852:

"This boat was rather an ungainly piece of work, with a wooden main-shaft.  She ran as far as Camden, and made about two trips of a season, and seldom made the distance from New Orleans up to Harrisonburg in less than twelve days.  Some of the old folks say, on her upward trips, they could get out and walk along the bank of the Mississippi River and keep far ahead of her.  Sometimes they would get off and dance all night at a French ball on the coast, and mount horses the next morning and soon overtake her."

Transportation, Early to mid-1800s