Original oared boat redesigned to use center-mounted paddle wheel Frequent breakdowns and passenger fear led to financial loss and business shutdown Fitch, a pioneer, showed the way for others By 1850, steamboats common on rivers Here is the information about John Fitch, pioneer steamboat inventor. Prior to the steam engine, people relied on muscle power, animals, wind, and favorable currents to propel their canoes, boats, barges, and ships. In the developing United States, where roads into the interior were rare, steamboats were able to follow the natural highways of rivers. Two distinctive terms are used to identify steamdriven vessels. A steam ship is one that sails on open seas such as the Atlantic Ocean.
Steamboats sail on inland waters such as rivers and lakes.
The smaller vessel, the steamboat, was developed first. John Fitch was a New Englander who did not have much formal education, but he had a natural instinct for mechanics. He knew that steam had the power to move gears and wheels. After many trials and errors he produced such a boat. The result was a strange looking contraption.