Forming the most important river corridor in the trans-Mississippi West, the Missouri and its navigable tributaries were instrumental in opening the continent—but it took the steamboat to make that possible. The flat-bottomed vessel was the technological marvel of its day and provided access to the West before the railroads’ arrival, encouraging settlement and fueling economic growth for decades. The complete and colorful saga of steamboating on the Missouri River is recounted, from its 1819 inception to the removal of the last commercial steamer in 1935. William E. Lass has crafted an engagingly written account that provides a panorama of transportation into and through the West—a story of the fur trade, of Indian relations, and of Euro-American settlement and development. Navigating the Missouri tells of migration and commerce on the Santa Fe Trail, the Platte River Road, and routes to the Montana gold mines. It explores the economic and political milieu of steamboating while savoring the rich social history of life on the Missouri, including the boat captains, who were the heroes of the river. Here too are insights into the operation of the steamboats, and Lass explains how the steamboat companies evolved, exploiting new opportunities and adjusting to change. Because steamboating touched so many dimensions of western expansion, Navigating the Missouri is an essential resource—a cornerstone study that complements nearly every other history of the American West.

In this volume, William Lass tells the story of Minnesota, a state that evolved from many cultures, from its beginnings to the present. This history not only provides descriptions of the essential events of Minnesota's past but also offers an interpretation of major trends and characteristics of the state and its distinctiveness within the context of the nation's story.

In July 1882, the steamboat Red Cloud hit a snag near Fort Peck, Montana, and settled into the bed of the Missouri River with a full cargo. The flagship of I. G. Baker and Company, it had served as an agent of change in the West through which it traveled. The Red Cloud was a symbol - and a source - of the trading company's success. This stern-wheeled, wooden-hulled packet boat carried both cargo and passengers on a ""floating palace."" When it sank five years later, though, the transcontinental railroad was already displacing the steamboat as the preferred way to transport both people and cargo. The first book to view the development of the Canadian Rockies from a maritime perspective, ""The Life and Times of the Steamboat Red Cloud"" ties the Missouri River's commercial development with the opening of the Canadian West and with the formation of the Canadian North-West Mounted Police. Readers interested in western history, maritime history, and nautical archaeology will find this book an invaluable addition to their libraries.

A comprehensive history of a state thought by many to be the most livable.

Minnesota evolved from many cultures. By the time the territory was formed in 1849, the first European contacts were nearly two centuries old. When Minnesota was admitted to the union in 1858, only about one-fourth of its area was occupied by white settlers. In this volume, William Lass tells the story of Minnesota from its beginnings to the present with attention to people's adaptation to Minnesota's oftentimes harsh environment. He relates the persistence and change in the traditional frontier businesses in the twentieth century and describes recent developments in Minnesota society, including rapidly increasing metropolitanism, environmental concerns, and the resurgence of conservatism in politics. Minnesota's somewhat unique political history, which featured farm protest movements and the ultimate creation of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, is also discussed.

This history not only provides descriptions of the essential events of Minnesota's past, but also offers an interpretation of major trends and characteristics of the state and its distinctiveness within the context of the nation's story.