Abandoned steamboats and barges, tall redgum wharf, small towns that show evidence of once having been much larger, old station homesteads that face the Murray, all these are constant reminders to the river traveller of the days when hundreds of steamers raced along the Murray River, opening up large areas of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. For many settlers, they were the only source of supply and contact with the outside world. After Sturt first discovered and named the Murray River in 1830, it was over twenty years before the first two steamboats made their way upstream. In 1854 the `Mary Ann` skippered by William Randall, and the `Lady Augusta` under Captain Francis Cadell, ran an unexpected race up-river, each sure of being the first to open up the Murray for traffic. The `Lady Augusta` passed the `Mary Ann` arriving at the tiny settlement of Swan hill only hours before the `Mary Ann`. The few settlers along the way greeted both with much enthusiasm and hospitality
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