The Belle is fashioned after one of the giant steamships which plied the Colorado River in the late 19th. Century, bringing supplies upriver to the numerous mining camps and towns below the Grand Canyon, a distance of over 300 miles. There were few roads, and hostile Indians to contend with traveling by land from Yuma at the southern-most part of the river, which emptied into the Gulf of Mexico (technically, still does). My wife found this pic taken during it's construction, 1980s: Here it is today:
@Yvonne Smith 'Tis a shame the construction pic is not viewable, at least on my screen. It was when I posted. Can I do it over in some other way? Frank EDIT: Here is what I got when I clicked open on it's address: {"result":null,"error":{"code":"EC-4008","requestId":"d712fe00-dfde-11e8-c000-ab0a6ebc7655","resource":"/ws/v3/mailboxes/@.id==VjN-EiTJgSE2YZ5hvq_EopPMfohWBq5vGT8cDea2b-7RHf69dgs2xK1c870w7wrXSB4wbyO1z5iykZKfzGB38TMW-Q/messages/@.id==ALeSO4hC0vT4W90diAC_aIp7NAI/content/parts/@.id==2/thumbnail"}}
Steamboats of the 50 States Arizona Dixie Belle sternwheeler offers cruises on Lake Havasu (northwest Arizona), including the London Bridge. Official site to book tours: click here. Colorado King sternwheeler offers cruises on the Colorado River, out of Yuma. Desert Belle sternwheeler offers public cruises on Saguaro Lake (northeast of Phoenix, just north of Mesa and Apache Junction). See photos at this website - click here. Dolly Steamboat sternwheeler offers cruises on Canyon Lake (northeast of Phoenix, just outside of Apache Junction, a thirty-five mile drive from the Desert Belle - see two boats in one trip). See photos at this website - click here. Canyon King The Canyon King at Lake Powell has been retired and is now tied up at the dock and is a restaurant. It Is owned by Aramark Corp. which runs Wahweap Bay Marina for the State.