Benjamin Brown and the Great Steamboat Race

In the summer of 1870, Thomas Leathers was captain of the Natchez. Captain Leathers believed it was the fastest steamboat on the Mississippi River. Captain Cannon of the Robert E. Lee offered to race the Natchez from New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis, Missouri. Twelve-year-old Benjamin Brown, a passenger on the Natchez, wants very much to win the race. But from the moment the Robert E. Lee leav...