Pioneer Papers - Comprising a Collection of the Recollections of Early Events of Bloomington, Iowa, Now Muscatine, and Its Surroundings, Being a Short History of the Business Men, the Schools, the Churches, and the Early Politics of th... #233501

The wholesale merchants of St. Louis or other places would lay in large stocks of goods tor this county, and knowing that they had to reach here during the high stage of the river, they would load them on b )ats and send them up the river, while freights were low, to the merchants to be sold on commission. Frequently the steamboat officers would take a lot of heavy articles, such as sugar and coffee, salt and molas ses, and bring them up and leave them for sale on commission. Advertisements of these goods would frequently read this was: Received by steamer Osprey on consignment, 50 barrels of salt, and must be sold at once. This salt could be purchased much cheaper than salt could be in the winter time when the farmers wanted it. The best merchants were selected for handling the salt, and G )rd4u got his share of that kind of business.