"Many travellers and emigrants to this region, view the first samples of the mode of travelling in the western world, on the Allegany at Oleanne point, or the Monongahela at Brownsville. These are but the retail specimens. At Pittsburg, where these rivers unite, you have the thing in gross, and by wholesale. The first thing that strikes a stranger from the Atlantic, arrived at the boat-landing, is the singular, whimsical, and amusing spectacle, of the varieties of water-craft, of all shapes and structures. There is the stately barge, of the size of a large Atlantic schooner, with its raised and outlandish looking deck…. Next there is the keel-boat, of a long, slender, and elegant form, and generally carrying from fifteen to thirty tons…. Next in order are the Kentucky flats, or in the vernacular phrase, 'broad-horns,' a species of ark, very nearly resembling a New England pig-stye. They are fifteen feet wide, and from forty to one hundred feet in length, and carry from twenty to seventy tons. Some of them, that are called family-boats, and used by families in descending the river, are very large and roomy, and have comfortable and separate apartments, fitted up with chairs, beds, tables and stoves. It is no uncommon spectacle to see a large family, old and young, servants, cattle, hogs, horses, sheep, fowls, and animals of all kinds, bringing to recollection the cargo of the ancient ark, all embarked, and floating down on the same bottom. Then there are what the people call 'covered sleds,' or ferry-flats, and Allegany-skiffs, carrying from eight to twelve tons. In another place are pirogues of from two to four tons burthen, hollowed sometimes from one prodigious tree, or from the trunks of two trees united, and a plank rim fitted to the upper part. There are common skiffs, and other small craft, named, from the manner of making them, 'dug-outs,' and canoes hollowed from smaller trees…. You can scarcely imagine an abstract form in which a boat can be built, that in some part of the Ohio or Mississippi you will not see, actually in motion….

This variety of boats, so singular in form, and most of them apparently so frail, is destined in many instances to voyages of from twelve hundred to three thousand miles." Flint's Recollections of the last ten years, 1826.

"I reached Olean, on the source of the Alleghany River, early in 1818, while the snow was yet upon the ground, and had to wait several weeks for the opening of that stream. I was surprised to see the crowd of persons, from various quarters, who had pressed to this point, waiting for the opening of the navigation.

It was a period of general migration from the East to the West. Commerce had been checked for several years by the war with Great Britain. Agriculture had been hindered by the raising of armies, and a harassing warfare both on the sea-board and the frontiers; and manufactures had been stimulated to an unnatural growth, only to be crushed by the peace. Speculation had also been rife in some places, and hurried many gentlemen of property into ruin. Banks exploded, and paper money flooded the country.

The fiscal crisis was indeed very striking. The very elements seemed leagued against the interests of agriculture in the Atlantic States, where a series of early and late frosts, in 1816 and 1817, had created quite a panic, which helped to settle the West.

I mingled in this crowd, and, while listening to the anticipations indulged in, it seemed to me that the war had not, in reality, been fought for 'free trade and sailors' rights' where it commenced, but to gain a knowledge of the world beyond the Alleghanies.

Many came with their household stuff, which was to be embarked in arks and flat boats. The children of Israel could scarcely have presented a more motley array of men and women, with their 'kneading troughs' on their backs, and their 'little ones,' than were there assembled, on their way to the new land of promise.

To judge by the tone of general conversation, they meant, in their generation, to plough the Mississippi Valley from its head to its foot. There was not an idea short of it. What a world of golden dreams was there!

I took passage on the first ark that attempted the descent for the season. This ark was built of stout planks, with the lower seams caulked, forming a perfectly flat basis on the water. It was about thirty feet wide and sixty long, with gunwales of some eighteen inches. Upon this was raised a structure of posts and boards about eight feet high, divided into rooms for cooking and sleeping, leaving a few feet space in front and rear, to row and steer. The whole was covered by a flat roof, which formed a promenade, and near the front part of this deck were two long 'sweeps,' a species of gigantic oars, which were occasionally resorted to in order to keep the unwieldy vessel from running against islands or dangerous shores.

We went on swimmingly, passing through the Seneca reservation, where the picturesque costume of the Indians seen on shore served to give additional interest to scenes of the deepest and wildest character. Every night we tied our ark to a tree, and built a fire on shore. Sometimes we narrowly escaped going over falls, and once encountered a world of labor and trouble by getting into a wrong channel. I made myself as useful and agreeable as possible to all. I had learned to row a skiff with dexterity during my residence on Lake Dunmore, and turned this art to account by taking the ladies ashore, as we floated on with our ark, and picked up specimens while they culled shrubs and flowers. In this way, and by lending a ready hand at the 'sweeps' and at the oars whenever there was a pinch, I made myself agreeable. The worst thing we encountered was rain, against which our rude carpentry was but a poor defence. We landed at everything like a town, and bought milk, and eggs, and butter. Sometimes the Seneca Indians were passed, coming up stream in their immensely long pine canoes. There was perpetual novelty and freshness in this mode of wayfaring. The scenery was most enchanting. The river ran high, with a strong spring current, and the hills frequently rose in most picturesque cliffs.

1818. I do not recollect the time consumed in this descent. We had gone about three hundred miles, when we reached Pittsburgh. It was the 28th of March when we landed at this place, which I remember because it was my birthday. And I here bid adieu to the kind and excellent proprietor of the ark, L. Pettiborne, Esq., who refused to receive any compensation for my passage, saying, prettily, that he did not know how they could have got along without me.

I stopped at one of the best hotels, kept by a Mrs. McCullough, and, after visiting the manufactories and coal mines, hired a horse, and went up the Monongahela Valley, to explore its geology as high as Williamsport. The rich coal and iron beds of this part of the country interested me greatly; I was impressed with their extent, and value, and the importance which they must eventually give to Pittsburgh. After returning from this trip, I completed my visits to the various work-shops and foundries, and to the large glass-works of Bakewell and of O'Hara.

I was now at the head of the Ohio River, which is formed by the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela. My next step was to descend this stream; and, while in search of an ark on the borders of the Monongahela, I fell in with a Mr. Brigham, a worthy person from Massachusetts, who had sallied out with the same view. We took passage together on one of these floating houses, with the arrangements of which I had now become familiar. I was charmed with the Ohio; with its scenery, which was every moment shifting to the eye; and with the incidents of such a novel voyage." Schoolcraft's Thirty years with the Indian tribes.

"I have seen a pleasant anecdote of one of these (vessels, recorded in the Picture of Cincinnati, published at Cincinnati,) she had entered a port in the Mediterranean, and when the captain presented his papers, the examining officer read in his clearance, Pittsburg, state of Pennsylvania, 'Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,' said he, 'there is no such port; your papers must be forged; here is some deception or piracy; we shall detain your papers and ship till we see farther into this.' The American captain tried for some time, in vain, to convince him; till by the aid of the American consul and a map, he reluctantly admitted the possibility of there being such a place, from which a ship could be navigated, although two thousand miles from the ocean." Palmer's Journal of travels in the United States, 1818.

"A company, stiled the 'Ohio steam boat company,' has lately been formed, who intend building steam boats to run between this place and the Falls of Ohio. The dimensions of the boats will be 100 feet keel and 20 feet beam. They contemplate having two running this fall or winter, 1815-6….

This line of Steam Boats, though not attached to those belonging to the Mississippi Steam Boat Company, will form a chain of conveyance from New Orleans to this place, which must result very much to the advantage and prosperity of Pittsburgh and intermediate towns." Cramer's almanack, 1816.

"Steam-boat, ark, Kentucky, barge, and keel-boat building, is carried on to a considerable extent. Sea vessels have been built here, but the navigation is too far from the sea, and attended with too much hazard for it to answer. The following vessels, besides steam-boats, have been built at Pittsburg and on its rivers: ships, Pittsburg, Louisiana, General Butler, and Western Trader; brigs, Dean, Black Walnut, Monongahela Farmer, and Ann Jean; schooners, Amity, Alleghany, and Conquest, (navigator)." Palmer's Journal of travels in the United States and Canada, 1817.

"The steam-boat navigation, we are assured, is a losing concern. The newspapers have announced the hopes of our western citizens, and the editors now appear to be careful to conceal their disappointments. Two large vessels of this description are lying near the Point, which have not justified public expectations. Captain French, of Brownsville, (fifty miles by water up the Monongahela and thirty-five by land) has built two vessels of this kind, which it is said have succeeded best." Thomas's Travels through the western country in 1816.

"The best mode perhaps in descending the Ohio, in time of low water, is in keel boats…. Merchants are beginning to prefer this method for safety and expedition; and instead of purchasing boats and taking charge of them themselves, they get their goods freighted down from Pittsburgh in keel boats by the persons who make them, and who make it their business to be prepared, with good boats and experienced hands for such engagements." Cramer's Navigator, 1817.

"The manners of the boatmen are as strange as their language. Their peculiar way of life has given origin not only to an appropriate dialect, but to new modes of enjoyment, riot, and fighting. Almost every boat, while it lies in the harbour has one or more fiddles scraping continually aboard, to which you often see the boatmen dancing. There is no wonder that the way of life which the boatmen lead, in turn extremely indolent, and extremely laborious; for days together requiring little or no effort, and attended with no danger, and then on a sudden, laborious and hazardous, beyond Atlantic navigation; generally plentiful as it respects food, and always so as it regards whiskey, should always have seductions that prove irresistible to the young people that live near the banks of the river…. And yet with all these seductions for the eye and the imagination, no life is so slavish, none so precarious and dangerous. In no employment do the hands so wear out. After the lapse of so very short a period since these waters have been navigated in this way, at every bend, and every high point of the river, you are almost sure to see, as you stop for a moment, indications of the 'narrow house;' the rude monument, the coarse memorial, carved on an adjoining tree by a brother boatman, which marks that an exhausted boatman there yielded his breath, and was buried." Flint's Recollections of the last ten years, 1826.

"Three steamers were built at Pittsburgh in 1816, the 'Franklin,' one hundred and twenty-five tons, by Messrs. Shiras and Cromwell; the 'Oliver Evans,' seventy-five tons, by George Evans; and the 'Harriet,' forty tons, by a Mr. Armstrong of Williamsport, Pennsylvania…. Up to 1816 grave doubts existed as to the practicability of navigating the Ohio by steamboats. A gentleman who in that year, with others, long watched the futile efforts of a stern wheeler to ascend the Horsetail ripple, five miles below Pittsburgh, afterwards wrote that the unanimous conclusion of the company was that 'such a contrivance might do for the Mississippi … but that we of Ohio must wait for some more happy century of invention.'" Magazine of western history, 1885.

THE STEAMBOAT FRANKLIN

"The elegant steam-boat Franklin, was launched from the shipyard at the Point, in this city, on Wednesday last." Mercury, April 20, 1816.

"The Steam Boat Franklin, burden 140 tons, was launched from the Point Ship Yard, on Wednesday morning last. The Franklin is owned by a company of gentlemen in this city, and is intended as a regular trader between here and New Orleans. The engine for this boat is constructed on Bolton and Watt's plan, improved by Mr. Arthurs of this place." Gazette, April 20, 1816.

Maysville, Dec. 24, 1816.

"The undersigned passengers in the Steam Boat Franklin, from Pittsburgh, feel it a just tribute due to the proprietors and captain, to express publicly their approbation of the very handsome manner in which they have been entertained. Her accommodations, speed and safety, as well as the polite attention of Captain Cromwell, are such as will always insure a decided preference.

• Chas. Savage, Massachusetts.
• J. P. Cambridge, M.D., Philadelphia.
• Tho. Sloo, Cincinnati.
• John Trimble, Kentucky.
• Geo. P. Turrence, Cincinnati.
• Robert J. Baron, London.
• W. R. Ord, London.
• Louis Caenon, France.
• J. W. Simonton, Philadelphia.
• Daniel Lewis, New York.

The beautiful Steam Boat above named passed by this place on Tuesday last." Commonwealth, Jan. 6, 1817.

INTERESTING TO THE WESTERN PUBLIC

"On the 30th December, the steamboat Oliver Evans, departed from this city for New-Orleans, laden with about forty tons freight and forty passengers, and drew but thirty inches water, which is without doubt less than ever known…. Her length is one hundred and twenty feet and beam fourteen feet nine inches. She ascended the Allegheny when it was high and rapid, at the rate of five miles per hour, and passed over the ripple at Wainright's island, at such a rate as to cause people on the shore to walk, briskly, to keep pace with her, and there remains no doubt but that she is much the fastest vessel ever exhibited here." Mercury, Jan. 4, 1817.

THE STEAMBOAT HARRIET

"We had, on Tuesday last, the pleasure of a sail in the new steam boat Harriett of Pittsburgh, owned by Mr. Joshua Armitage. She is designed as a regular trader between this place and New-Orleans. She is supposed to carry forty to sixty tons. Her engine and machinery were built by Mr. J. Arthurs. They are simple in their construction, and proved very complete in their operation. She ascended the Allegheny, which was high and rapid, at about the rate of three miles an hour; and ascended the rapid ripple at Wainright's island, with perfect ease.—We feel happy in being able to announce this effort of individual enterprize. It is the harbinger of the general introduction of steam boat navigation on the western waters—and the day is not far distant when individuals as well as companies will embark in such useful improvements." Mercury, Dec. 14, 1816.

THE STEAMBOAT DISPATCH

Stubenville, May 31, 1816.

"The steam boat Dispatch, Capt. Bruce, arrived at this place on Tuesday evening last about 6 o'clock, from Cincinnati, and departed next morning for Pittsburgh.—This is the same boat that the Kentucky papers made so much noise about as having been stopped and ordered off from New-Orleans without a cargo, by the agents of Fulton and Livingston. The Dispatch is a remarkable sailor, having beat the Aetna seven days in the run from Natchez to the Falls. She made her passage in 24 days, while the Aetna was 31 days.—The Dispatch has 24 passengers on board from Cincinnati, and has been 10 days on her passage from Cincinnati to Stubenville. Capt. Bruce reports that in his passage from Natchez to the Falls he counted over 2000 boats floating down the river, and this in the day time only; others might have passed him in the night which he did not observe." Mercury, May 11, 1816.

THE STEAMBOAT VESUVIUS

"We are sorry to state that the beautiful Steam Boat Vesuvius, launched about two years ago at this place, has been burned to the water's edge, at New-Orleans. The Vesuvius was freighted with a valuable cargo of dry goods and other commodities. The fire broke out about 12 o'clock the night previous to her intended departure. As she lay in the middle of the stream, no assistance could be afforded her, and all the property on board fell a prey to the flames." Commonwealth, Aug. 6, 1816.

THE TRANS-ATLANTIC STEAMER

"We are on the eve of one of the greatest experiments, which has been undertaken during the present age. A Steam boat is about to brave the Atlantic, and cross from N.Y. to Russia. The consequences of this enterprize who will predict? It may open a new era in the art of navigation. It may dispense with the lagging and variable agency of winds and waves. It may bring the two worlds nearer together—it may shorten the passage from 25 to 15 days. A first experiment is everything, who does not wish it success?" Gazette, Aug. 23, 1816.

"We have heard it doubted (says the Virginia Patriot) whether the steam-boat soon to leave New York for Russia, will have sails; or those who go in it will venture to trust themselves to the efficacy of steam alone. If without sails (though Columbus deserves more credit,) those who first cross the Atlantic in a steam-boat will be entitled to a great portion of applause. In a few years we expect such trips will be common….

and bold will they be who first make a passage to Europe in a steam boat. Jason crept along by the shore: Not so these adventurers: they will have

No port to cheer them on the restless wave."

Gazette, Sept. 3, 1816.