The first was the Mark Twain Riverboat, located at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, on which passengers embark on a scenic, 12-minute journey around the Rivers of America.

Instead, the pilot serves as lookout for other river traffic, such as Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes and the Rafts to Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, and communicates his observations with the boiler engineer.

[citation needed] The voyage on the Rivers of America around Tom Sawyer Island features pre-recorded navigational commands by Jim Etchison and Peter Renaday.

On other nights, Mark Twain will operate through the evening, using a rooftop spotlight to illuminate sights, with the final trip beginning approximately 30 minutes before park closing.

The decks were assembled at the Disney Studios at Burbank, while the 105-foot hull was constructed at Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, California (where portions of Columbia were built years later).

[2] Joe Fowler, Disneyland's construction supervisor and former navy admiral, insisted on creating a drydock for the ship along what became the Rivers of America.

Walt Disney, dismayed at how much land was taken up by the massive excavation, referred to the drydock first as "Joe's Ditch", and then later, "Fowler's Harbor", the name by which it goes by today.

Mark Twain had her maiden voyage on July 13, 1955, four days before the park opened, for a private party celebrating Walt and Lillian Disney's 30th wedding anniversary.

Actress Irene Dunne, star of the movie Show Boat, had trouble breaking a bottle of water (from many major American rivers) across the vessel's bow for her christening on Dateline Disney.

During its first few years of operation, passengers could buy a non-alcoholic mint julep aboard or listen to card and checker players re-enact dialogue of that era.

Occasionally the Disneyland band would play music on the lower deck bow to entertain both the passengers and the theme park visitors on the river banks.

On January 11, 2016, the Mark Twain Riverboat, along with the other attractions along the Rivers of America, were temporarily closed for the construction of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

[6] Richard F. Irvine came into service on May 20, 1973, but was renamed Liberty Belle in 1996 after everything except for the hull, boiler, and engines was stripped off, and an all-new superstructure was constructed from aluminum and vinyl.

[9][10] In August 2024, it was announced that the Magic Kingdom version of Rivers of America would be closed to make way for a Frontierland expansion, based on the Cars franchise.

The engine system was badly damaged and Molly Brown was out of operation for many months, while Mark Twain's ongoing refurbishment at the dry dock was finished.

In September 2005, Molly Brown was moved to the dry dock, and in March 2006, Mark Twain resumed operation from Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing.

Mark Twain riverboat burns biodiesel fuel in its boiler, heating water into steam, which is routed to two pistons that turn the paddlewheel.