As early as 1805, two years before the trip of the Clermont,
Captain Keever built a ’steamboat’ on the Ohio, and sent her down
to New Orleans where her engine was to be installed
As early as 1805, two years before the trip of the Clermont,
Captain Keever built a ’steamboat’ on the Ohio, and sent her down
to New Orleans where her engine was to be installed. But it was
not until 1811 that the Orleans, the first steamboat to ply the
Western streams, was built at Pittsburgh, from which point she
sailed for New Orleans in October of that year. The Comet and
Vesuvius quickly followed, but all three entered the New
Orleans-Natchez trade on the lower river and were never seen
again at the headwaters. As yet the swift currents and flood
tides of the great river had not been mastered. It is true that
in 1815 the Enterprise had made two trips between New Orleans and
Louisville, but this was in time of high water, when counter
currents and backwaters had assisted her feeble engine. In 1816,
however, Henry Shreve conceived the idea of raising the engine
out of the hold and constructing an additional deck. The
Washington, the first doubledecker, was the result. The next year
this steamboat made the round trip from Louisville to New Orleans
and back in forty-one days. The doubters were now convinced.
