In 1705, the first cargo was floated down the river from the Indian country around the Wabash, now the States of Indiana and Ohio. This was a load of 15,000 bear and deer hides brought downstream and out through Bayou Manchac, just below Baton Rouge, and Amite River, then through Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain to Biloxi, with final destination in France. This route is not now open, Bayou Manchac having been closed with construction of the Mississippi River levee system.

Fort Rosalie, the first permanent white settlement on the Mississippi River and now called Natchez, was built by the French in 1716. Bienville founded New Orleans in 1718, and four years later this city was made the capital of the region known as Louisiana.

The rapid growth of New Orleans, in its early days and even now, was due principally to its position near the mouth of the river. Navigation grew and developed with the settlement of the lower Mississippi Valley.

The canoes of the Indians soon proved inadequate for the needs of the settlers. The flat-boats and rafts which succeeded them were one-way craft only. Loaded at an upstream point, they were floated downriver and their cargoes were unloaded, then they were dismantled and sold for lumber. Built for one trip only, they were cheap and often poorly constructed, but carried large quantities of merchandise at a time when transportation was vital to the growing valley.

The keelboat was the first queen of the river trade. A two-way traveler, it was long and narrow with graceful lines, built to survive many trips. A keelboat could carry as much as 80 tons of freight. Floated downriver, it was "Cordelled" up the stream. This called for a crew of tough and hardy men, for cordelling was a process by which a crew on the bank towed the keelboat along against the current.