In July 1882, the steamboat Red Cloud hit a snag near Fort Peck, Montana, and settled into the bed of the Missouri River with a full cargo. The flagship of I. G. Baker and Company, it had served as an agent of change in the West through which it traveled. The Red Cloud was a symbol - and a source - of the trading company's success. This stern-wheeled, wooden-hulled packet boat carried both cargo and passengers on a ""floating palace."" When it sank five years later, though, the transcontinental railroad was already displacing the steamboat as the preferred way to transport both people and cargo. The first book to view the development of the Canadian Rockies from a maritime perspective, ""The Life and Times of the Steamboat Red Cloud"" ties the Missouri River's commercial development with the opening of the Canadian West and with the formation of the Canadian North-West Mounted Police. Readers interested in western history, maritime history, and nautical archaeology will find this book an invaluable addition to their libraries.