Note 1125 — Chapter VIII

Dickinson, 230. From the first Roosevelt had been associated with Livingston in steamboat experiments. He had constructed the engine for the craft with which Livingston tried to fulfill the conditions of the first New York grant to him in 1798. Roosevelt was himself an inventor, and to him belongs the idea of the vertical wheel for propelling steamboats which Fulton afterward adopted with success. (See J. H. B. Latrobe, in Maryland Historical Society Fund-Publication, No. 5, 13-14.)

Roosevelt was also a manufacturer and made contracts with the Government for rolled and drawn copper to be used in war-vessels. The Government failed to carry out its agreement, and Roosevelt became badly embarrassed financially. In this situation he entered into an arrangement with Livingston and Fulton that if the report he was to make to them should be favorable, he was to have one third interest in the steamboat enterprise on the Western waters, while Livingston and Fulton were to supply the funds.

The story of his investigations and experiments on the Ohio and Mississippi glows with romance. Although forty-six years old, he had but recently married and took his bride with him on this memorable journey. At Pittsburgh he built a flatboat and on this the newly wedded couple floated to New Orleans; the trip, with the long and numerous stops to gather information concerning trade, transportation, the volume and velocity of various streams, requiring six months' time.

Before proceeding far Roosevelt became certain of success. Discovering coal on the banks of the Ohio, he bought mines, set men at work in them, and stored coal for the steamer he felt sure would be built. His expectation was justified and, returning to New York from New Orleans, he readily convinced Livingston and Fulton of the practicability of the enterprise and was authorized to go back to Pittsburgh to construct a steamboat, the design of which was made by Fulton. By the summer of 1811 the vessel was finished. It cost $38,000 and was named the New Orleans.

Late in September, 1811, the long voyage to New Orleans was begun, the only passengers being Roosevelt and his wife. A great crowd cheered them as the boat set out from Pittsburgh. At Cincinnati the whole population greeted the arrival of this extraordinary craft. Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt were given a dinner at Louisville, where, however, all declared that while the boat could go down the river, it never could ascend. Roosevelt invited the banqueters to dine with him on the New Orleans the next night and while toasts were being drunk and hilarity prevailed, the vessel was got under way and swiftly proceeded upstream, thus convincing the doubters of the power of the steamboat.

From Louisville onward the voyage was thrilling. The earthquake of 1811 came just after the New Orleans passed Louisville and this changed the river channels. At another time the boat took fire and was saved with difficulty. Along the shore the inhabitants were torn between terror of the earthquake and fright at this monster of the waters. The crew had to contend with snags, shoals, sandbars, and other obstructions. Finally Natchez was reached and here thousands of people gathered on the bluffs to witness this triumph of science.

At last the vessel arrived at New Orleans and the first steamboat voyage on the Ohio and Mississippi was an accomplished fact. The experiment, which began two years before with the flatboat voyage of a bride and groom, ended at the metropolis of the Southwest in the marriage of the steamboat captain to Mrs. Roosevelt's maid, with whom he had fallen in love during this thrilling and historic voyage. (See Latrobe, in Md. Hist. Soc. Fund-Pub. No. 6. A good summary of Latrobe's narrative is given in Preble: Chronological History of the Origin and Development of Steam Navigation, 77-81.)