| Goin' West...by Way of the River Flatboats |
| Flatboat on the Missouri River by George Caleb Bingham, ca 1850 |
| Traders preparing the evening meal. |
| Gambling and drinking were steady fare on a flatboat voyage, making the craft among the worst insurance risks on the river; painting by George Caleb Bingham, ca 1850. |
| The crew of a small flatboat wait for a steamer to buy their load of firewood; painting by frontier artist, George Caleb Bingham, ca 1850. |
| Painting by George Caleb Bingham, ca 1850. Retrieving salvage from steamboats sunk by a snag was a lucrative part of the flatboat's role throughout the era of steam. |
| "Bound Down the River" by Currier and Ives, 1870. |