HANNIBAL, MO – From his wheelhouse 25 feet above the water, Capt. Steve Terry has watched the muddy Mississippi River roll beneath the flat bottom of his riverboat Mark Twain for nearly 50 years.
He’s watched it through floods and droughts. Seen how trade deals alter the flow of barges downstream, and how international conflicts alter fertilizer shipments coming back up, including during the war with Iran. Been there as communities have tried to tame the mighty waters with levees and embankments, and battled 100-pound invasive fish. Watched the ebb and flow of tourists, including those who come to pay homage to Samuel Clemens, the writer better known as Mark Twain.
Terry still loves every second of the days he spends on the river aboard his 350-passenger boat, which resembles one of the steam-powered paddle wheelers Clemens once piloted along the river…