Steamboats on the Mississippi
...iers died. These tragedies were part of the price for progress. In 1811 the first steamboat showed up on the Mississippi River . The captain of the boat was Nicholas J. Roosevelt. Nicholas Roosevelt was the great-granduncle of Theodore Roosevelt. Nicholas Roosevelt and his wife Lynda drove the first flat bottom steamboat to travel the Mississippi. Everyone said it could not be done because of the strong currents and shallow rocks in the river. Also the Mississippi River got very shallow in some parts depending on the height of the tide. People said only a very experienced captain could make it through the dangerous conditions, but they said it would still be impossible. Nicholas and Lynda did not listen. They still went on with the dangerous adventure up the Mississippi. Whenever there was bad rapids and the river got too shallow, they had to stop and anchor the steamboat. They waited until the Mississippi River got calm or the time came back in to continue their adventure. In some cases, they avoided hitting rocks that would have sank the boat by a few inches. During the journey Lynda had a baby girl. The journey started in Pittsburgh and ended in New Orleans on January 10, 1812. The expedition took three and one half months. The took the trip on a steamboat called New Orleans. After two and one half years of service, the New Orleans hit a snag and sank to the bottom of the Mississippi River. Before there were steamboats, there were keelboats. They were 60-70 feet long and 15-18 feet wide. Usually four to five men had poles and pushed the keelboat with them. If the water was to deep the they would put up the sails. When the current was slight , the keels men got out the oars and rowed. Keelboats were mainly shipped pork, flour, hemp, tobacco, rope whiskey and rum. The keelboat men were tough and rough and liked to fight and drink. Mike Fink was said to be one of the toughest keelboat men around. It was said that he could out fight, out drink, out shoot, and out work any man on the Mississippi River. The keelboat men were said to be half-horse half-alligator. The Mississippi River is 3,986 miles long. It averages about one half of a mile to a mile in width and from 50-100 feet deep. Mississippi means great river. The French gave it that name. The Mississippi River is always changing just depending on how much rain there has been in the last few months. Islands and sandbars can form in all different places along the river. Many farmers along the Mississippi River have lost all their crops because of high tide during big floods on the upper part of the river. J. M. White was the fastest steamboat of its time. It was built in 1844 and designed by William King. It ran from New Orleans to St. Louis in three days, twenty- three hours, and nine minutes. That record was not beaten until 1870 by the steamboat Robert E. Lee. The biggest steamboat was the Eclipse, which was 365 feet long and forty-one feet tall. There were 121 crew members and 180 passengers, which did not include deck passengers. In steamboating, it was very important to have a fast steamboat. There were many races between steamboats. Careful records were kept of the time between important cities...