Hi Bruce and Tony,
I'm back! Thanks, Bruce, for providing that excellent information in my absence! (I'm not really an expert on steamboats--just a student!, but thanks for the recognition.)
Since I'm predominantly "Missouri River" oriented in my steamboat research, I have little information to add to your response to Tony, except that prior to the war the SAM YOUNG operated primarily on the upper Mississippi River, and according to Wm. J. Petersen in his book STEAMBOATING ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI (State Historical Society of Iowa, 1968), was being used in 1857 as an excursion boat in the area of St. Paul.
If I find any war history on this boat or others that might have used the Lake Providence route, I will post it.
Best regards,
Maggie