Mississippi steamboatIn 1811, the New Orleans, the first steamboat to sail down the Mississippi, arrived in New Orleans, La. It had left Pittsburgh, Pa., on 20 Oct 1811. The 138-ftshiphad a 30-ft beam and was propelled by a stern-wheel, assisted at times by sails. It was a joint venture with Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston, and cost about $40,000, including the engines. Owner Nicholas J. Roosevelt and his wife were the only passengers with a crew of sailors, domestics and a dog. Travelling at about 10 mph, it reached Louisville, Ky. after four days. It could not cross the shallow Ohio River Falls there, so it spent 3 weeks making several trips between Louisville and upriver to Cincinnati until Nov, when with deeper water, it was just able to cross the rapids. In mid Dec, it saw effects of the distant New Madrid earthquake.«[An account by J.H.B Latrobe (1871) gives a departure date of Sep 1811. This and other inaccuracies were specified in Charles W. Dahlinger, 'Nicholas Roosevelt's 1811 Steamboat New Orleans, Pittsburgh Legal Journal (21 Oct 1911), Vol. 59, No. 42, 570-591. Other accounts also differ.] |
