pt. 1. Vessels & navigation: Early steamboats ; Riverboat architecture ; Operations, large & small ; Propulsion, engines & wooding ; The restless river ; Winter perils ; Accursed bridges ; Piloting -- pt. 2. Crew & passengers: The boatmen ; The traveling public ; pt. 3. Fast & furious: Taking the horns ; The river claims its victims ; Tales of war -- Epilogue: One last trip