ABSTRACT
The coal and steel industries particularly have profited from cheap water transportation. Prior to and for several years after the Civil War, rivers were the main arteries of commerce in Missouri. Before 1820, the mackinaw, a flatboat 40 ft to 50 ft long designed for downstream traffic; the smaller bullboat, constructed from buffalo hides stretched over a pole frame; and the keelboat, the most efficient of non-steam-powered river craft, served Missouri's most basic transportation needs. When speed in transportation is not essential, commodities and products can be moved inexpensively by water. The need for more roads to open new areas was evident to most Missourians, especially short roads connecting the hinterland with the state's major waterways. When railroad construction began in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, South Carolina, and other eastern states, Missouri had its advocates for the new means of reaching inland communities.
