The Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen (S&D) was established in 1939 to perpetuate the memory of Pioneer Rivermen and for the preservation of river history.

Join the former and active riverboat captains, crew and their families, historians, artists, model builders and those with an interest in the history of the people and boats of the Mississippi River system in sustaining a uniquely American tradition. Membership is not restricted to descendants of river pioneers.

This website describes a few of the preservation and restoration activities of the society which your dues will help support. Full membership entitles the holder to:

The first accomplishment of the S&D was the establishment of a river museum for the  preservation and the exhibition of artifacts, photographs, models, and books. The River Museum opened in 1941 within the Campus Martius Museum at Marietta, Ohio which is a part of the Ohio Historical Society.

In 1972 the Ohio Historical Society constructed a new Ohio River Museum complex consisting of  three inter-connecting buildings on the banks of the Muskingum River at Marietta. New exhibits, original paintings steam calliope and whistles, and space for outdoors exhibits and artifacts now enhance the Sons & Daughters collection.

W.P.Snyder JR.

In 1955 one of the last surviving steam towboats, W.P.Snyder Jr., was added to the Ohio River Museum collection. This gift from the Crucible Steel Company of America to the Ohio Historical Society with the help of the Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen is moored on the Muskingum River adjacent to the museum.

In 1976, the joint efforts of the Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen, the Ohio Historical Society an the Huntington District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, relocated the pilothouse to the Ohio River Museum. Monies from S&D's J. Mack Gamble Fund supported its restoration in 1977.