I think that much the most enjoyable of all races is a steamboat race; but,
next to that, I prefer the gay and joyous mule-rush. Two red--hot steamboats
raging along, neck-and-neck, straining every nerve--that is to say, every rivet
in the boilers--quaking and shaking and groaning from stem to stern, spouting
white steam from the pipes, pouring black smoke from the chimneys, raining down
sparks, parting the river into long breaks of hissing foam--this is sport that
makes a body's very liver curl with enjoyment. A horse-race is pretty tame and
colorless in comparison. Still, a horse-race might be well enough, in its way,
perhaps, if it were not for the tiresome false starts. But then, nobody is ever
killed. At least, nobody was ever killed when I was at a horse-race. They have
been crippled, it is true; but this is little to the purpose.
- Life on the Mississippi
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The time made by the Rob't E. Lee from New Orleans to St. Louis
in 1870, in her famous race with the Natchez, is the best on record . . .the
race created a national interest . . . The Lee left New Orleans, Thursday, June
30th, 1870, at 4:55 P.M.. . . and landed at St. Louis at 11.25 A.M., on July
4th, 1870 --6 hours and 36 minutes ahead of the Natchez. The Rob't E. Lee was
commanded by Captain John W. Cannon, and the Natchez was in charge of that veteran
Southern boatman, Captain Thomas P. Leathers.
- Life on the Mississippi
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