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However, the Natchez was holding to its regular schedule, which meant that it had to dock at points along the route to drop off passengers and cargo, though these were done in record times. On the other hand, the Robert E. Lee’s passengers were all headed to Cairo, Illinois, a point south of St. Louis, near the end of the race, so there would be no stops for the Lee during most of the race!

As the Robert E. Lee approached Vicksburg, the powerful Natchez was in second place and closing the gap! At this point, Captain Cannon of the Lee executed an unusual maneuver. Sitting in the middle of the river was the steamship Frank Pargaud. The Lee pulled up alongside the Pargaud and the two steamboats lashed off to each other. The Pargaud steamed northward alongside the Lee in order to prevent Lee from losing time. In a matter of minutes, the crews loaded more fuel onto the Lee! The Pargaud unleashed from the Lee and steamed out of the line of traffic as the Natchez, with boilers screaming, bore past leaving other boats to rock in its turbulent wake!

According to the New York Times, at 4:30 PM on July 2, 1870, the Robert E. Lee passed the docks at Helena, Arkansas. At approximately 5:25 PM, the Natchez passed. The older Lee had a 55-minute lead over the newer, more powerful Natchez!

By the time the race reached Memphis, Tennessee, the Lee was almost an hour ahead of the Natchez! It seemed that the entire population of Memphis was awake for the race. Fires were spotted all along the shoreline and on the countryside. Cheers were heard by the crew as the Lee churned by.

At Cairo, Illinois, the Lee was well in the lead when it docked. It appeared the race was a certain victory for the Lee, so much so that Captain Cannon gave each of his departing passengers and his crew, whiskey. But, shortly after leaving Cairo, the Lee, with an estimated 1 hour and fifteen minutes lead over the Natchez, ran aground on a sandbar! The time lost freeing the Lee allowed the Natchez to gain tremendously on her. As the crew freed the Lee from the sandbar, the shrill whistle of the Natchez could be heard from downstream! Following the sandbar incident, it was anybody’s race as the two boats steamed along in full view of each other!

Sometime after midnight, fog began to settle in. Captain Leathers considered the safety of his passengers and freight and tied up along the bank to wait until sunup. Captain Leathers assumed Captain Cannon would do the same. However, Captain Cannon had no passengers left on his boat, no cargo, only crew! His crew was as determined as he was to win this race. With crewmen using fathom lines to test the water depths, the Lee continued a slow voyage in the pre-dawn darkness for about an hour, then the fog lifted. Before them lay the calm, wide-open Mississippi River. Captain Cannon ordered full steam. The crew of the Lee would not see the Natchez again until after the race!

In St. Louis, the banks of the Mississippi were crowded with spectators hoping to see who the victor was going to be, when at approximately 10 a.m. on July 4, 1870, a steamboat appeared blowing white clouds into the air and the cheer went up, "It's the Robert E. Lee!" It had made the trip in 3 days and eighteen hours. The crew was welcomed to Saint Louis by ringing church bells, cannon shots, locomotive whistles and thousands of cheers! Upon docking, the steamboat was rushed by so many admirers that for a few moments it appeared that the boat may be sunk by the weight of the fans!

Six hours and thirty-six minutes later, Captain Leathers, his crew and the Natchez arrived in Saint Louis to a very similar reception. Captains Cannon and Leathers were guests of honor at a huge celebration held in St. Louis.

In the US, most bets for the Lee paid off. However, in London and Paris, they weren’t!
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