Mississippi Steamship Delphine

Description

In navigating upstream on the lower Mississippi, steamer craft customarily kept close to the banks in order to avoid the intense current. This subjected such vessels to the dangers of encountering driftwood along the banks. Bodmer related that often the paddlewheels were broken as a result of contact with snags and sunken logs. His watercolor sketch of the Mississippi steamer Delphine was made near Baton Rouge the latter part of January, 1833.