The river system in the United States is unique of all the land masses on planet Earth, especially the Mississippi River basin. The Mississippi River basin overlays the industrial heartland of our country allowing efficient transportation of all manner of farm products, raw materials as well as finished goods of all sorts to be shipped from producers to consumers and reverse. The expansion of river traffic from the 1830’s onward allowed our nations rail system to develop quickly to the point that by the early 1890’s rail traffic began to surpass steam powered river traffic. In the early 1830’s Capt. Jim Lee build steamboats as well as bought boats to run on the Cumberland River. By the 1850’s he was running boats on the Mississippi. Around 1858 he moved to Memphis and built the foundation of the Lee Line.
