Journey One
The Pre-Presidential Years

On the River is a small gallery where you learn about Lincoln earning his first dollar working as a ferryman on the Ohio River. Here also is a map that traces Lincoln's move to New Salem, Illinois, and his two flat boat trips down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. Those trips gave Lincoln his first full exposure to slavery.




In The Slave Auction, you confront the horrors of a family being torn apart by auctioneers. Did Lincoln encounter such a scene during his trip down the Mississippi River to New Orleans? Historians can't confirm it, but there is a strong possibility.