| Prelude | | [13] |
| Chapter I | Early Impressions | [15] |
| Chapter II | Indians, Dugouts, and Wolves | [20] |
| Chapter III | On the Levee at Prescott | [29] |
| Chapter IV | In the Engine-room | [38] |
| Chapter V | The Engineer | [46] |
| Chapter VI | The "Mud" ClerkâComparative Honors | [52] |
| Chapter VII | Wooding Up | [59] |
| Chapter VIII | The Mate | [64] |
| Chapter IX | The "Old Man" | [71] |
| Chapter X | The Pilots and Their Work | [78] |
| Chapter XI | Knowing the River | [92] |
| Chapter XII | The Art of Steering | [100] |
| Chapter XIII | An Initiation | [106] |
| Chapter XIV | Early Pilots | [111] |
| Chapter XV | Incidents of River Life | [117] |
| [10] Chapter XVI | Mississippi Menus | [126] |
| Chapter XVII | Bars and Barkeepers | [132] |
| Chapter XVIII | Gamblers and Gambling | [138] |
| Chapter XIX | Steamboat Racing | [143] |
| Chapter XX | Music and Art | [152] |
| Chapter XXI | Steamboat Bonanzas | [161] |
| Chapter XXII | Wild-cat Money and Town-sites | [174] |
| Chapter XXIII | A Pioneer Steamboatman | [184] |
| Chapter XXIV | A Versatile Commander; a Wreck | [190] |
| Chapter XXV | A Stray Nobleman | [196] |
| Chapter XXVI | In War Time | [206] |
| Chapter XXVII | At Fort Ridgeley | [212] |
| Chapter XXVIII | Improving the River | [221] |
| Chapter XXIX | Killing Steamboats | [229] |
| Chapter XXX | Living It Over Again | [240] |
| Appendix | | |
| A. | List of Steamboats on the Upper Mississippi
River, 1823-1863 | [257] |
| B. | Opening of Navigation at St. Paul, 1844-1862 | [295] |
| C. | Table of Distances from St. Louis | [296] |
| D. | Improvement of the Upper Mississippi, 1866-1876 | [299] |
| E. | Indian Nomenclature and Legends | [300] |
| Index | | [305] |