'The Levee at St. Louis', 1874. Paddle steamers on the Mississippi at St Louis, Missouri, USA. 'St. Louis is destined for a great future. The magnificent bridge just completed, one of the largest and handsomest in the world, over which all the trains from the East directly enter the city, will have a great effect upon its fortunes. One distinguishing feature of the city is the number of huge steamboats that line its levee; but this feature is scarcely so notable now as it was a generation ago, before railroads had competed with steamboats for freight and passenger traffic. The steamers of the largest class descend the river to New Orleans...'. From "Picturesque America; or, The Land We Live In, A Delineation by Pen and Pencil of the Mountains, Rivers, Lakes...with Illustrations on Steel and Wood by Eminent American Artists" Vol. II, edited by William Cullen Bryant. [D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1874]