After a week of traveling down a river made strange by the New Madrid Earthquakes, the Roosevelts arrived at the most dangerous section.  North of what is now Memphis, Tennessee,  the shocks released so many fallen trees from the river bottom that "nothing but the greatest exertions of the boatmen could save them from destruction" there.  The Devil's Race Ground was even more dangerous than before, and they had "barely time to breathe and refresh" before the Devil's Elbow, "by far the worst of all," where only "with great difficulty" could they keep the steamboat intact.

(The New Orleans' location on this day is extrapolated based on her average speed between recorded locations.)