Welcome! This site describes the historical background and fieldwork involving a steamboat wreck in the Rio Grande River at Brownsville, Texas. The identity of the boat is unknown, but there are two local traditions: that it is the wreck of Corvette, one of the first steamboats on the river, and which was brought to Texas in 1846 during the war with Mexico, or that it is the wreck of U.S.S. Rio Bravo, a Navy gunboat brought to the river in 1875 to help patrol the border. Both vessels were probably similar in general design and construction, so what little remains of the vessel may not resolve the question. This site provides an overview of the efforts being made to answer that question: Corvette or Rio Bravo?