Navigation was a terrifying challenge as the Roosevelts made their way down the Ohio River while shocks from the New Madrid earthquake continued.  The earthquake had changed the shape of the riverbed, and it put gigantic fallen trees in the steamboat's path. One eyewitness could hardly believe his eyes: legions of trees now seemed to be growing out of the water, and during the most powerful shocks, he saw trees "rise up eight or ten feet out of the water."