16. Dickens continued on to Louisville and St. Louis
Dickens continued his journey to Louisville, where he stayed at the Galt House, which he praised highly before continuing on to St. Louis. On the river voyage, he encountered aboard the steamboat a Choctaw Indian, who astonished the Englishman by sending in his calling card before visiting. Dickens had the same vision of the American Indians as most of Europe at the time, and the appearance of a Chief of the Choctaw in gentlemen’s dress, with gentlemanly manners, was in stark contrast to that described by many of his fellow travelers.
In both Louisville and St. Louis Dickens found the climate wanting, and in the latter likely to be unhealthful, due to the humidity and the swampy nature of the terrain around it. Among the sights, he observed there were the improvements done to the river by the US Army Corps of Engineers, which had been accomplished about five years earlier. They had redirected the river channel, ensuring deep water at the St. Louis waterfront, under the direction of an engineer named Robert E. Lee.