Thus far between my late research partner and myself, we have documented over 1500 different boats that made at least one trip on the Missouri River, and I've found about 150 that were on the Osage River. My note books also contain limited information about the Kansas (Kaw) river, Gasconade river, Grand river (in Missouri), Platte River (in Missouri), and the Yellowstone. So far we have used over 200 different references (NOT counting individual issues of newspapers), and my personal library contains most of the books that have been written about steamboating on the Missouri. Some quite good, others have perpetuated mis-information! (My objective is to try to correct some of the errors that have been made over the past 150 years!) Many of the books that have been written on the subject have depended on people's memory, and are not necessarily accurate...everybody forgets exact dates, times, etc. That's why I'm trying to go back to primary source information in my research.
I have started compiling and transcribing articles from newspapers of the day. Information about some things that happened on Missouri's rivers during the CW has been hard to come by, as many newspapers were not being printed during the war (maybe because of martial law???) I know there are almost no St. Joseph papers available for the period from 1858 to the end of the war.
On that subject, does anyone have any knowledge about a steamboat that may have been burned on the Osage River at Osceola at the time of Lane's raid on the town??? (September, 1861) I've heard a "rumor" that it happened, but have been unable to document it as fact.
If anyone has information about incidents involving the boats during the civil war, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks,
Maggie