page_title: Spread Eagle (steamboat)
section_title: Service
hierarchical_section_title: Spread Eagle (steamboat) / Service
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Missouri River drainage basin in the US and Canada. made using USGS and Natural Earth data. Replacement for File:Missouririvermap.jpg.
context_page_description: The Spread Eagle was a steam-driven sidewheel riverboat that transported passengers, goods and supplies to the forts and trading posts along the Missouri River between 1857–1864. It was constructed and launched at Brownsville, Pennsylvania. The vessel was a wooden hull packet, 210 feet long, with a beam of 36 feet, a draft of 6 feet, and was rated at 389 tons. It was powered by two steam engines with 3 boilers each, at 40 inches in diameter and 24 feet in length. The Spread Eagle was constructed by Captain Benjamin Johnson who sold the vessel to the American Fur Company upon her arrival at St. Louis. Commanded by captain Bailey, she was once engaged in a race along the Missouri from St. Louis to Fort Benton where she rammed her opponent.
context_section_description: Spread Eagle carried goods and plied trade from Saint Louis, Missouri to Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa. On June 6, 1862, it raced against Captain LaBarge's Emilie on the upper Missouri River from moorings near Fort Berthold in the Dakota Territory.
  In early 1859 the American Fur Company sent two vessels up the Missouri River, commanded by Joseph LaBarge and his brother, John, with its annual outfit of men and supplies. The Company employed its newly acquired riverboat, the Spread Eagle, and a chartered riverboat, called the Chippewa. The Chippewa was a much lighter vessel, and her owner, Captain Crabtree, was contracted to reach Fort Benton, or as far past this point as was possible. At Fort Union Crabtree defaulted in his contract and the Chippewa was sold to the Company for the sum about equal to its charter price. At this time, freight from the Spread Eagle was transferred to the Chippewa.
  The Spread Eagle was commanded by Captain LaBarge, while his brother, John, assumed command of the Chippewa.  On July 17, 1859, the Chippewa successfully made her way to within fifteen miles of Fort Benton, and unloaded her cargo at Brule bottom, where Fort McKenzie had once stood. This vessel managed to reach a point further from the sea by river navigation than any other boat had up to this time.
caption: Missouri River
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