I have read with interest the stories of riverboat travel and would like to now add my story. My gr gr grandmother's brother moved his large family from Bedford County TN to MO. In April of 1855 one of his children wrote to his cousin, who had remained in Bedford County, and told him about the families trip. The letter states it was written from Stone County Missouri. According to this letter the family sailed from Nashville to Memphis and there was "ice in abundance" in the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers. The family stayed in Memphis one night and day then sailed the "wide Mississippi" to "Napolien which is at the mouth of the Arkansas River". (Napolien was later destroyed by the Mississippi River) From Napolien the family sailed up the Arkansas River to Pine Bluff where they were stopped by low water. From there they hired a team and wagon to take them to Little Rock where the father "bought wagons and teams and they traveled by land over the piney mountains to Benton County and stayed one week and then went to Polk County Missouri." The letter does not say how they got from Bedford County to Nashville. It simply says, "as you know we sailed from Nashville". I had thought the everyone went west by wagon train. What a surprise to learn some went by riverboat. Regards, Lila Coley coley@flash.net