Lot
643 
Champion, N.O. & St. Louis R.R. Line, illustrated steamboat oval handstamp on cover addressed to Capt. Wm. Moore of the steamer Hope in Vicksburg, Miss.; partial backflap with slight reduction at top, Very Fine, a choice example of this scarce handstamp, ex-Haas; with 2022 P.F. certificate.Milgram No. 194 Estimate $500 - 750.
Cairo at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers acted as a transfer point for mails going to destinations via Ohio River contract steamboats. From July 1858 to May 1861 the route was contracted by the trip at $200 per round trip. After the Civil War, the Atlantic & Mississippi Steam Packet Co. was contracted for a 3½ times a week service at $27,000 a year.
Realized: $500