steamboats

Steamboats are watercraft propelled by steam engines, typically featuring paddle wheels or propellers.

They revolutionized river transportation in the 19th century, enabling travel and commerce upstream against currents for the first time.

Steamboats carried passengers and cargo along the Mississippi River.

The term evokes a particular era of American history, associated with Mark Twain and the antebellum South.

Though largely obsolete as working vessels, some steamboats still operate as tourist attractions.