554. Part 2 of our
interview of Derby Gisclair about his newest book,
New Orleans Steamboat Stories – The Brief Lives of Mississippi Riverboats.
"Steamboats shaped America’s future, its economy, and its
culture while expanding trade and expanding the country’s
footprint into new territories. This economic expansion was not
limited to New Orleans, but also to Cincinnati, St. Louis,
Pittsburgh, Memphis, Louisville, Nashville, St. Paul, Kansas
City, and Chattanooga. A round trip voyage from Pittsburgh to
New Orleans that once took six months could now be accomplished
in forty-five days. At the same time steamboats made it possible
to circulate and disseminate the news and the mail, to spread
the various immigrant cultures, food, and music. New Orleans
Steamboat Stories contains stories of a handful of the different
steamboats and the people who lived and worked on the Western
rivers. They are brief in nature as the average life of a
steamboat was generally short. But their impact culturally and
commercially, esthetically and economically, made a lasting
impact on the development of America" (
Jefferson Parish).