“Mississippi steamboating was born about 1812; at the end of thirty years, it had grown to mighty proportions; and in less than thirty more, it was dead! A strangely short life for so majestic a creature. Of course it is not absolutely dead; neither is a crippled octogenarian who could once jump twenty-two feet on level ground; but as contrasted with what it was in its prime vigor, Mississippi steamboating may be called dead.”—Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi, 1883 E-Postcard:   Detail of illustration from Innocents Abroad		Courtesy of The Mark Twain House, Hartford Courtesy of The Mark Twain House, Hartford