Upper Tennessee River
The Upper Tennessee River once presented
such hazards that many river navigators
considered Knoxville unreachable. However,
in answer to a challenge advertised by Knoxville
businessmen, a small side wheeler from Cincinnati
called the Atlas made its way up the entire
length of the Tennessee, even past Alabama's
treacherous Muscle Shoals, to arrive in Knoxville
on the evening of March 3, 1828. Captain S. D. Conner
accepted the prize of $640.00 Over the next few
years, several other riverboats followed in the
Atlas's wake.
The Reliance, the Guide,
the Harkaway, the Holston
and another Cincinnati built
steamer called the Knoxville
originally piloted by Knoxvillian
Marcus de Lafayette Bearden