Date of Award
9-10-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
History, MA
First Advisor
Gary Edwards
Committee Members
Edward Salo; Joseph Key
Call Number
LD 251 .A566t 2017 A35
Abstract
For farmers along the Arkansas River from 1800-1860, river commerce was an extension of Manifest Destiny. Tying into the larger commerce of the Mississippi was a goal that governed Arkansas planter perceptions of U.S. river improvement programs. Programs like Henry Miller Shreve’s snag boats sought to improve the navigability and safety of the western rivers. The result of this desire to construct a salubrious frontier would be the staunch support for U.S. snag boats and federal improvement during the onset of their usage on the Arkansas River, and an equally strong rebuttal when their ineffectual capabilities eventually became clear. The response to unsatisfactory development exemplifies the agriculturally focused mindset of the young state and the populaces’ desire to implement control over the land that had developed in other parts of the U.S. The newspapers and correspondence of the 1800s provide insight into the perception of snag boats and how frontier and agricultural expectations influenced Arkansas’ antebellum years. Criticisms of snag boats fell into technological, methodological, and political categories which personified the attitudes of this critical relationship.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Adkisson, Michael Colton, "Snags, Sawyers, and Shifting Opinion: The Usage and Response to Snag Boats and Improvement on the Arkansas River from 1800-1860" (2017). Student Theses and Dissertations. 580.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/580
