The History of Steamboats The History of Steamboats Before steam engine trains, there was the steamboat John Fitch - Sketch of Steamboat, ca. 1787. By Mary Bellis Updated June 27, 2016. In 1769, Scotsman James Watt patented an improved version of the steam engine that helped usher in the industrial revolution as other inventors would eventually use technology to propel boats. The era of the steamboat began when inventor John Fitch made the first successful trial of a forty-five-foot steamboat on the Delaware River on August 22, 1787. Fitch later built a larger vessel that carried passengers and freight between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey. He was then granted is first United States patent for a steamboat on August 26, 1791 after a contentious battle with inventor James Rumsey over claims to the same invention. Both men had similar designs. Between 1785 and 1796, John Fitch constructed four different steamboats that successfully plied rivers and lakes to demonstrate the feasibility of using steam for water locomotion.

His models utilized various combinations of propulsive force, including ranked paddles (patterned after Indian war canoes), paddle wheels and screw propellers. continue reading below our video Profile of Robert Fulton But while his boats were mechanically successful, Fitch failed to pay sufficient attention to construction and operating costs and was unable to justify the economic benefits of steam navigation. That honor would go to American inventor Robert Fulton, who had successfully built and operated a submarine in France in 1801, before turning his talents to the steamboat. His achievements in making steamboats a commercial success was why he’s known as the "father of steam navigation." On August 7, 1807, Robert Fulton's Clermont went from New York City to Albany making history with a 150-mile trip taking 32 hours at an average speed of about 5 miles-per-hour. Four years later, Robert Fulton and his partner Robert Livingston designed the "New Orleans" and put it into service as a passenger and freight boat along the lower Mississippi River. And by 1814, Robert Fulton together with Robert Livingston’s brother Edward, were offering regular steamboat and freight service between New Orleans, Louisiana and Natchez, Mississippi.

Their boats traveled at the rates of eight miles per hour downstream and three miles per hour upstream. In 1816, inventor Henry Miller Shreve launched his steamboat “Washington,” which completed the voyage from New Orleans to Louisville, Kentucky in twenty-five days. Vessel design continued to improve and by 1853, the trip to Louisville took only four and one-half days. Between 1814 and 1834, New Orleans steamboat arrivals increased from 20 to 1200 a year. The boats transported cargoes of cotton, sugar, and passengers. Throughout the eastern part of the U.S., steamboats contributed greatly to the economy as a means of transporting agricultural and industrial supplies. Steam propulsion and railroads developed separately, but it was not until railroads adopted the technology of steam that they began to flourish. By the 1870s, railroads had begun to supplant steamboats as the major transporter of both goods and passengers. A short biography of the "father of steam navigation" Robert Fulton Inventor Robert Fulton was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on November 14, 1765.

While his early education was limited, he displayed considerable artistic talent and inventiveness. At the age of 17, he moved to Philadelphia, where he established himself as a painter. Advised to go abroad because of ill health, he moved to London in 1786. Eventually his lifelong interest in scientific and engineering developments, especially in the application of steam engines, supplanted his interest in art. During this time, Fulton secured English patents for machines with a wide variety of functions. He was also interested in canal systems. In 1797, European conflicts led Fulton to begin work on weapons against piracy, including submarines, mines, and torpedoes. He later moved to France, where he worked on canal systems. In 1800, he built a successful "diving boat," which he named the Nautilus. Neither the French nor the English were sufficiently interested to induce Fulton to continue his submarine design. His interest in building a steamboat continued, however. In 1802, Robert Fulton contracted with Robert Livingston to construct a steamboat for use on the Hudson River. Over the next four years, he built prototypes in Europe. He returned to New York in 1806.

On August 17, 1807, the Clermont, Robert Fulton's first American steamboat, left New York for Albany, and served as the inauguration of the first commercial steamboat service in the world. Robert Fulton died on February 24, 1815 and was buried in Old Trinity Churchyard, New York City. Fulton, Robert (1765 - 1815) - Credo Reference Topic Page: Fulton, Robert (1765 - 1815) Definition: Fulton, Robert from Philip's Encyclopedia US inventor and engineer. Designing torpedoes and other naval weapons, his main interest was in navigation and, as early as 1796, he was urging the USA to build canals. In 1807, he pioneered the use of steamboats for carrying passengers and freight, when his craft, Clermont, travelled between New York City and Albany. Summary Article: Fulton, Robert from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide Image from: Robert Fulton, developed the paddle-wheel... in The Crystal Reference Encyclopedia US engineer and inventor who designed the first successful steamships.

He produced a submarine, the Nautilus, for Napoleon's government in France in 1801, and experimented with steam navigation on the River Seine, then returned to the USA. There he built the first steam vessel of note, known as the Clermont, which appeared on the River Hudson in 1807, sailing between New York and Albany. He also designed and oversaw the building of the first steam warship, the USS Fulton (38 tonnes), in 1815. Fulton was born in Pennsylvania and became a portrait painter in Philadelphia. He went to England in 1787 to study art but was so taken with the Industrial Revolution that from 1793 he devoted himself to engineering. He designed and patented a device for hauling canal boats over difficult country, and machines for sawing marble and twisting hemp (for rope), and he built a mechanical dredger for canal construction. In 1796, Fulton went to France, where he experimented with fitting the British-built steam engine to his own design of riverboat, a side-wheeler. His steamships were based on prototypes by the US inventors James Rumsey and John Fitch.

The Clermont (originally registered as the North River Steam Boat) had paddle wheels and a 18-kW/24-hp engine and travelled at an average speed of 8 kph/5 mph. After this success, a large boatworks was built in New Jersey, and steamboats came into use along the Atlantic Coast and later in the West. © RM, 2016. All rights reserved. Robert Fulton Search Robert Fulton American engineer and inventor Robert Fulton designed the first commercially successful steamboat in America in 1807, becoming a major source of transportation on rivers and resulting in a significant reduction in inland shipping costs. Share ASME getmedia/8aae915b-db8e-4f30-90ad-b6e3eaa458fb/Robert_Fulton-Transportation-60th.jpg.aspx?width=60&height=60&ext=.jpg Overcoming several failures early in his career, American engineer and inventor Robert Fulton (1765 – 1815) is credited with developing the first successful commercial steamboat in the early 1800s.

Fulton was born near Lancaster, PA, on November 14, 1765. At an early age, he was known to enjoy building mechanical devices. Some legends say he built roman candles, rockets, and a hand-propelled paddle wheelboat. As a teenager, his interests turned to art and at the age of 18 he moved to Philadelphia, where he was able to support himself through sales of portraits and technical drawings. At the age of 21, Fulton traveled to London to study painting with family friend Benjamin West , who was one of the leading American painters living in England. Fulton met with limited success as a painter and the public's response to his work was disappointing. During this period, England was in the midst of its industrial revolution and Fulton was impressed with the many engineering feats that were being accomplished, particularly in the areas of canals, mines, bridges, roads and factories. Still living in England, he focused his creativity on current engineering challenges and became involved in a project to design a canal system to replace the conventional locks that were in use at the time. He was granted an English patent in 1794 for his first invention ― a double inclined plane system for hauling canal boats over difficult terrain.

He later developed plans for cast iron aqueducts and invented a mechanical dredge to speed the construction of canals. His work with inland waterways culminated in a publication in 1796, entitled Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation. Robert Fulton's Nautilus In 1797, he traveled to Paris to continue his research on canal construction, but soon became intrigued with the idea of building "plunging boat," a precursor to the modern submarine. Fulton sought funding for the project from the French government, which was at war with England, proposing to build a submarine-like ship that could be used to place powder mines on the bottom of British warships, somewhat like a torpedo. The French agreed, and Fulton launched the first submarine, the Nautilus , at Rouen, France. Although the ship performed well during testing, it wasn't fast enough to engage the nimble sloops of the British navy and the program was scrapped. He later tested several military inventions for the British government but met with limited success as well. Seemingly undaunted by these failures, Fulton refocused his engineering creativity on the use of steam power.

While in Paris, Fulton met Robert Livingston, the American foreign minister to France who also owned a twenty-year monopoly on steam navigation in New York state. After listening to Fulton's ideas for a steam powered ship, Livingston agreed to a business partnership in 1802 that would provide Fulton with the resources necessary to build his ship. One year later, they launched a modest steam-powered boat on the Seine river that was based on the design of fellow American John Fitch, who seven years earlier had demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River at Philadelphia, but was unable to make it a commercial success. While Fulton's steamship on the Seine River traveled at only 3 mph, he proved the technology could work with some modifications. In 1803, Fulton returned to New York to refine his steamship designs which were based on the paddle wheel for propulsion. After overcoming British export laws, he acquired a steam engine from an English company owned by James Watt , who received a patent for a powerful steam engine the same year Fulton was born.

After four years of development, in 1807, Fulton launched the Clermont , a steam-powered vessel that made the 150-mile journey up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany in 32 hours at a speed of 5 miles per hour, reducing the usual sailing time by 64 hours. It became the first commercially successful steamship. In the following years, Fulton launched 13 more steamships, including the Demologus , the first steam powered war ship. Fulton died of pneumonia in New York City at the age of 49. As a result of his inventions, steamships became a major source of transportation on rivers and resulted in a significant reduction in inland shipping costs. Tom Ricci is the owner of Ricci Communications. As a result of his inventions, steamships became a major source of transportation on rivers and resulted in a significant reduction in inland shipping costs.

Clermont Robert Fulton Fulton's Experiments with Steam Fulton's experiments began while he was in Paris, and may have been stimulated by his acquaintance with Chancellor Livingston, who held the monopoly, offered by the legislature of the State of New York, for the navigation of the Hudson River, to be accorded to the beneficiary when he should make a successful voyage by steam. Livingston was now ambassador of the United States to the Court of France, and had become interested in the young artist-engineer, meeting him, presumably, at the house of his friend Barlow. It was determined to try the experiment at once, and on the Seine. The giving of monopolies was, in those days, before the introduction of the modern systems of patent law, a very common method of securing to inventors their full reward.

John Fitch had been given a monopoly of this kind by the United States government for a period of fourteen years from March 19, 1787; which monopoly was later (1798) repealed by Congress; this repeal being, in turn, denied by the courts, March 13, 1798, and subsequently continued to June 1, 1819, meantime being transferred to Nicholas J. Roosevelt. The State Act in favour of Livingston was passed to take effect April 5, 1803, and was repealed as unconstitutional, and conflicting with the jurisdiction of the United States, June 17, 1817. The whole system went out of use at the latter date, as it was found to be dangerous and troublesome, and on the whole far inferior to that admirable patent-system which succeeded it, and which has done so much to promote the marvellous prosperity of the country since the first quarter of the nineteenth centuty. Fulton went to Plombieres in the spring of 1802, and there made his drawings and completed his plans for the construction of his first steamboat.

Many attempts had been made, and many inventors were at work contemporaneously with him. Every modern device, - the jet-system, the "chaplet" of buckets on an endless chain or rope, the paddle-wheel, and even the screw-propeller - had been already proposed, and all were familiar to the well-read man of science of the day. Indeed, as Mr. Benjamin H. Latrobe, a distinguished engineer of the time, wrote in a paper presented May 20, 1803, to the Philadelphia Society, "A sort of mania began to prevail" for propelling boats by means of steam-engines. Fulton was one of those taking this mania most seriously. He made a number of models which worked successfully, and justified the proprietors of the new arrangement in building on a larger scale. A model of the proposed steamboat was made during the year 1802, and was presented to the committee of the French legislature with the note of which a copy is given below. Paris, 4 Pluviose, Year 11 (1803).

Robert Fulton to Citizens Molar, Bandell, and Montgolfier, Friends of the art, - I send you here with drawings sketched from a machine that I have constructed, and with which I purpose soon to make experiments in causing boats to move on rivers by the aid of fire-pumps (pompes-a-feu). My first aim, in occupying myself with this idea, was to put it in practice on the long rivers of America, where there are no tow-paths, and where these would scarcely be practicable, and where, consequently, the expenses of navigation by steam would be placed in comparison with that of manual labour, and not with that of horse-power, as in France. In these drawings you will find nothing new, since they are only [those of] water-wheels, a method which has been often tried, and always abandoned because it was believed that a purchase could not be thereby obtained in the water. But after the experiments that I have made, I am convinced that the fault has not been in the wheel, but in ignorance of proportions, velocities, powers, and probably mechanical combinations. . . . Citizens, when my experiments are ready, I shall have the pleasure of inviting you to witness.

them; and if they succeed, I reserve to myself the privilege of either making a present of my labours to the Republic, or deriving therefrom the advantages which the law authorizes. At present, I place these notes in your hands, so that if a like project should reach you before my experiments are finished, it may not have preference over my own. Respectfully, ROBERT FULTON. Fulton seems to have been considered, even at this early day, an authority on the subject of steam navigation. Admiral Preble, in his History of Steam Navigation, (p.35) quotes the following letter to a friend, written after his work on his own scheme for that season was over: - Paris, the 20th Sept., 1802 To Mr. Fulner Skipwith. Sir, The expense of a patent in France is 300 livres for 1,500 ditto for fifteen years.

There can be no difficulty in obtaining a patent for the mode of propelling a boat which you have shown me; but if the author of the model wishes to be assured of the merits of his invention before he goes to the expense of a patent, I advise him to make the model of a boat in which he can place a clock-spring, which will give about eight revolutions. He can then combine the movements so as to try oars, paddles, and the leaves which he proposes. If he finds that the leaves drive the boat a greater distance in the same time than either oars or paddles, they consequently are a better application of power. About eight years ago, the Earl of Stanhope tried an experiment on similar leaves, wheels, oars, and paddles, and flyers similar to those of a smoke-jack, and found oars to be the best. The velocity with which a boat moves is in proportion as the sum of the surfaces of the oars, paddles, leaves, or other machine is to the bow of the boat presented to the water, and in proportion to the power with which such machinery is put in motion.

Hence, if the use of the surfaces of the oars is equal to the sum of the surfaces of the leaves, and they pass through similar curves in the same time, the effect must be the same. But oars have their advantage; they return through air to make a second stroke, and hence create very little resistance; whereas the leaves return through water, and add considerably to the resistance, which resistance is increased as the velocity of the boat is augmented. No kind of machinery can create power. All that can be done is to apply the manual or other power to the best advantage. If the author of the model is fond of mechanics, he will be much amused, and not lose his time, by trying the experiments in the manner I propose; and this perhaps is the most prudent measure, before a patent is taken. I am, sir, with much respect, Yours, Robert Fulton. The introduction of steam-navigation became a success; but that success came so slowly as to permit all nations to avail themselves of it, and none sooner or more completely than the two most active in the production of this revolution - Great Britain and the United States.

The British navy became a steam-navy, and the other nations of the world followed her lead; so that the strife of the century, at sea, has been a struggle between, and for, steam-fleets. In this direction, the introduction of steam has resulted in the increased expenditure of money on fleets in such enormous amounts as to tax the people to the very limit of their endurance; while the relative order in naval power of the greater nations has been comparatively little altered. With the encouragement of Chancellor Livingston, who urged upon Fulton the importance of the introduction of steam-navigation into their native country, the latter continued his experimental work. Their boat was finished and set afloat on the Seine in 1803, in the early spring. Its proportions had been determined by careful computation from the results of no less careful experiment on the resistance of fluids and the power required for propelling vessels; and its speed was, therefore, more nearly in accord with the expectations and promises of the inventor than was the usual experience in those days. Guided by these experiments and calculations, therefore, Fulton directed the construction of his vessel. The hull was sixty-six feet long, of eight feet beam, and of light draught.

But unfortunately the hull was too weak for its machinery, and it broke in two and sank to the bottom of the Seine. Fulton at once set about repairing damages. He was compelled to direct the rebuilding of the hull, but the machinery was but slightly injured. In June, 1803, the reconstruction was complete, and the vessel was set afloat in July. August 9, 1803, this boat was cast loose in presence of an immense concourse of spectators, induding a committee of the National Academy, consisting of Bougainville, Bossuet, Carnot, and Perier. The boat moved but slowly, making only between three and four miles an hour against the current, the speed through the water being about 4.5 miles; but this was, all things considered, a great success.

Livingston wrote home, describing the trial and its results, and procured the passage of an Act by the legislature of the State of New York, exiending, nominally to Fulton, a monopoly granted the former in 1798 for the term of twenty years from April 5, 1803, - the date of the new law, - and extending the time allowed for proving the practicability of driving a boat four miles an hour by steam to- two years from the same date. A later act further extended the time to April, 1807. In May, 1804, Fulton went to England, giving up all hope of success in France with either his steamboats or his torpedoes, and the chapter of his work in Europe practically ends here. He had already written to Boulton & Watt, ordering an engine to be built from plans which he furnished them; but he had not informed them of the purpose to which it was to be applied. This engine 1 was to have a steam-cylinder two feet in diameter and of four feet stroke. Its form and proportions were substantially those of the boat-engine of 1803.

While Fulton was still abroad, John Fitch and Oliver Evans were pursuing a similar course of experiment, as were his contemporaries on the other side the Atlantic, and with more success. Fitch had made a number of fairly successful ventures, and had shown beyond question that the project of applying steam to ship-propulsion was a promising one; and he had only failed through lack of financial backing, and inability to appreciate the amount of power that must be employed to give his boats any considerable speed. Evans had made his "Oruktor Amphibolis," - a flat-bottomed vessel which he built at his works in Philadelphia, and impelled by its own engines, on wheels, to the bank of the Schuylkill, and then afloat, down the stream to its berth, by paddle-wheels driven by the same engines. Other inventors were working on both sides the ocean with apparently good reason to hope for success, and the times evidently were ripe for the man who should best combine all the requirements in a single experiment. The man to do this was Fulton.

Immediately on his arrival, in the winter of 1806-7, Fulton started on his boat, selecting Charles Brown as the builder, a well-known ship-builder of that time, and the builder of many of Fulton's later steam-vessels. The hull of this steamer, which was the first to establish a regular route and regular transportation of passengers and merchandise in America, - Fulton's first boat in his native country, - was 133 feet long, 18 feet beam, and 7 feet depth of hold. The engine was of 24 inches diameter of cylinder, 4 feet stroke of piston; and its boiler was 20 feet long, 7 feet high, and 8 feet wide. The tonnage was computed at 160. After its first season, its operation having satisfied all concerned of the promise of the venture, its hull was lengthened to 140 feet, and widened to 16.5 feet, thus being completely rebuilt; while its engines were altered in a number of details, Fulton furnishing the drawings for the alterations.

Two more boats, the "Raritan" and the "Car of Neptune" were added to form the fleet of 1807, and steam-navigation was at last fairly begun in America, some years in advance of its establishment in Europe. The Legislature were so much impressed with this result that they promptly extended the monopoly previously given Fulton and Livingston, adding five years for every boat to be built and set in operation, up to a maximum not to exceed a total of thirty years. The Clermont The "Clermont," as Fulton called this first boat, was begun in the winter of 1806-7, and launched in the spring; the machinery was at once put on board, and in August, 1807, the craft was ready for the trial-trip. The boat was promptly started on her proposed trip to Albany and made the run with perfect success. Fulton's own account is as follows: - TO THE EDITOR OF THE "AMERICAN CITIZEN." SIR, - I arrived this afternoon at four o'clock, in the steamboat from Albany.

As the success of my experiment gives me great hopes that such boats may be rendered of great importance to my country, to prevent erroneous opinions and give some satisfaction to my friends of useful improvements you will have the goodness to publish the following statement of facts: - I left New York on Monday at one o'clock, and arrived at Clermont, the seat of Chancellor Livingston, at one o'clock on Tuesday time, twenty-four hours; distance, one hundred and ten miles. On Wednesday I departed from the Chancellor's at nine in the morning, and arrived at Albany at five in the afternoon: distance, forty miles; time, eight hours. The sum is one hundred and fifty miles in thirty-two hours, - equal to near five miles an hour. On Thursday, at nine o'clock in the morning, I left Albany, and arrived at the Chancellor's at six in the evening. I started from thence at seven, and arrived at New York at four in the afternoon: time, thirty hours; space run through, one hundred and fifty miles, equal to five miles an hour. Throughout my whole way, both going and returning, the wind was ahead. No advantage could be derived from my sails. The whole has therefore been performed by the power of the steam-engine.

I am, Sir your obedient servant, ROBERT FULTON. Fulton gives the following account of the same voyage in a letter to his friend, Mr. Barlow : "My steamboat voyage to Albany and back has turned out rather more favourably than I had calculated. The distance from New York to Albany is one hundred and fifty miles. I ran it up in thirty-two hours, and down in thirty. I had a light breeze against me the whole way, both going and coming, and the voyage has been performed wholly by the power of the steam-engine. I overtook many sloops and schooners beating to windward, and parted with them as if they had been at anchor. "The power of propelling boats by steam is now fully proved. The morning I left New York, there were not perhaps thirty persons in the city who believed that the boat would ever move one mile an hour, or be of the least utility; and while we were putting off from the wharf; which was crowded with spectators, I heard a number of sarcastic remarks. This is the way in which ignorant men compliment what they call philosophers and projectors.

"Having employed much time, money, and zeal in accomplishing this work, it gives me, as it will you, great pleasure to see it answer my expectations. It will give a cheap and quick conveyance to the merchandise on the Mississippi, Missouri, and other great rivers, which are now laying open their treasures to the enterprise of our countrymen; and, although the prospect of personal emolument has been some inducement to me, yet I feel infinitely more pleasure in reflecting on the immense advantage my country will derive from the invention," etc. Professor Renwick, describing the "Clermont" of 1807 as she appeared on her first trip, says: "She was very unlike any of her successors, and very dissimilar from the shape in which she appeared a few months afterward. With a model resembling a Long Island skiff, she was decked for a short distance at stem and stern. The engine was open to view, and from the engine aft a house like that of a canalboat was raised to cover the hoiler and the apartment for the officers. There were no wheel-guards. The rudder was of the shape used in sailing-vessels, and moved by a tiller.

The boiler was of the form then used in Watt's engines, and was set in masonry. The condenser was of the size used habitually in land engines, and stood, as was the practice in them, in a large cold-water cistern. The weight of the masonry and the great capacity of the cold-water cistern diminished very materially the buoyancy of the vessel. The rudder had so little power that she could hardly be managed. The skippers of the river craft, who at once saw that their business was doomed, took advantage of the unwieldiness of the vessel to run foul of her as soon as they thought they had the law on their side. Thus, in several instances, the steamer reached one or the other termini of the route with but a single wheel." The "American Citizen" of August 17, 1807, says: - "Mr. Fulton's ingenious steamboat, invented with a view to the navigation of the Mississippi, from New Orleans upward, sails today from the North River, near State's Prison, to Albany. The velocity of the steamboat is calculated at four miles an hour.

It is said it will make a progress of two against the current of the Mississippi, and if so it will certainly be a very valuable acquisition to the commerce of Western States." What would this sanguine editor have thought, had he been assured that the "Clermont " was the pioneer of a fleet that should include steamships of ten thousand tons, or even as the "Great Eastern," of thirty thousand tons displacement; ships that should make a speed of twenty miles an hour at sea; small torpedo boats carrying out the idea of Fulton, and pursuing their enemy with their destructive little weapons at speeds approaching thirty miles an hour; and river boats passing over the very route chosen for Fulton's first trial-trip at the speed of twenty-seven miles an hour, and at their "slow speeds," running from New York to Albany in ten hours or less? What would he have thought, had he dreamed of steaming from New York to Newport, to Fall River, or to Providence in ten to twelve hours? Of going from St. Louis to New Orleans in four days? Of crossing the Atlantic in six?

The engine of the "Clermont" was similar to that of Fulton's French boat, and of rather peculiar construction, the piston, E, being coupled to the crank-shaft, 0, by a bell-crank, I H P, and a connecting-rod, P Q, the paddle-wheel shaft, M N; being separate from the crank-shaft, and connected with the latter by gearing, O O. The paddle-wheels had buckets four feet long, with a dip of two feet. The voyage of the "Clermont" to Albany was attended by some ludicrous incidents. Mr. Colden says that she was described "as a monster, moving on the waters, defying wind and tide, and breathing flames and smoke." This boat used dry pine wood for fuel, and the flames rose to a considerable distance above the smoke-pipe; and mingled smoke and sparks rose high in the air. "This uncommon light first attracted the attention of the crews of other vessels.

Notwithstanding the wind and tide were averse to its approach, they saw with astonishment that it was rapidly coming toward them; and when it came so near that the noise of the machinery and paddles was heard, the crews (if what was said in the newspapers of the time be true) in some instances shrank beneath their decks from the terrific sight, and left their vessels to go on shore; while others prostrated themselves, and besought Providence to protect them from the approach of the horrible monster which was marching on the tides, and lighting its path by the fires which it vomited." Fulton used several of the now familiar features of the American river boat, and subsequently introduced others. The success of the "Clermont" on the trial-trip was such that Fulton soon after advertised the vessel as a regular passenger boat between New York and Albany. "The traveller of to-day, as he goes on board the great steamboats 'St. John' or 'Drew,' can scarcely imagine the difference between such floating palaces and the wee-bit punts on which our fathers were wafted sixty years ago.

We may, however, get some idea of the sort of thing then in use by a perusal of the steamboat announcements of that time two of which are as follows : - "'September 2, 1807. "'The North River Steamboat will leave Pauler's Hook Ferry [now Jersey City] on Friday, the 4th of September, at 9 in the morning, and arrive at Albany on Saturday, at 9 in the afternoon. Provisions, good berths, and accommodations are provided. " 'The charge to each passenger is as follows: To: The Baldwin Project: Great Inventors and Their Inventions by Frank P. Bachman ROBERT FULTON AND THE INVENTION OF THE STEAMBOAT [25] ON August 17, 1807, a curious crowd of people in New York gathered at a boat landing. Tied to the dock was a strange-looking craft. A smokestack rose above the deck. From the sides of the boat, there stood out queer shaped paddle wheels. Of a sudden, the clouds of smoke from the smokestack grew larger, the paddle wheels turned, and the boat, to the astonishment of all, moved.

It was "Fulton's Folly," the Clermont, on her first trip to Albany. THE FIRST BOATS The first boat used by man was probably the trunk of a fallen tree, moved about by means of a broken branch or pole. Then some savage saw that a better boat could be made by tying a number of logs together to make a raft. But rafts are hard to move, so the heart of a log was hollowed out by means of a stone ax or fire, to make a still better boat, or strips of birch bark were skillfully fastened together to form a graceful canoe. Boats were constructed also of rough-hewn boards. With such primitive craft, voyages of hundreds of miles were made up and down great rivers like the Mississippi, or along the shores of inland seas like the Great Lakes. The Phœnicians were the first great sailors. Their [26] boats, called galleys, were sometimes two to three hundred feet long. These were of two kinds, merchantmen and war vessels. The merchantmen were propelled partly by sails and partly by oars, but on the war vessels, when in battle, oars only were used.

On a single boat there were often several hundred oarsmen or galley slaves. These galley slaves were as a rule prisoners of war. They were chained to the oar benches, and to force them to row, they were often beaten within an inch of their lives. In enormous sail-and-oar vessels the Phœnicians crossed the Mediterranean in every direction, pushed out into the Atlantic Ocean, and went as far north as England. A MEDIEVAL GALLEY. The chief improvement in boat making, from the time of the Phœnicians until the first trip of the Clermont, was to do away with oars and to use sails only. It was not until about fifty years before the time of Columbus that oars were generally discarded and large [27] boats were propelled entirely by sails. Sailboats were, to be sure, a great improvement over oar boats. Yet at best they were slow and unreliable, held back alike by calm and storm. The Pilgrims were ten weeks in crossing the Atlantic, and the regular trip, in the time of Washington, required six weeks. COLUMBUS'S SANTA MARIA. Boats were thus from the very earliest times important in trade and travel.

For this reason it is not surprising that Watt's engine was scarcely perfected, before men tried to make it propel a boat. THE FIRST STEAMBOATS The first American to attempt the propelling of a boat by steam was William Henry, a gunsmith of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1760, Mr. Henry was in England on business. He took great interest in the talk going on then about the use of steam to drive machinery, propel boats, and the like. On his return to America, he built an engine fashioned after one of Newcomen's engines, and so placed it in a boat that it worked a number of paddles. The boat did not go well, and a little later was accidentally sunk. Though unsuccessful, Henry never lost his interest in steamboats. The first American to propel a boat by steam successfully was John Fitch. Fitch was a frequent visitor at the home of Henry, and probably got the idea of building a steamboat from him. However that may be, Fitch [28] built a better boat than Henry, and he is regarded by some people as the real inventor of the steamboat. TRIAL TRIP OF FITCH'S STEAMBOAT.

Fitch built his first boat in 1787. The engine was made in America, but was copied from that of Watt. Along each side of the boat stood two sets of three paddles. To move the boat, these were given a motion like the stroke in paddling a canoe. Six paddles entered the water, while six came out. Fitch had great difficulty in obtaining the money to build the boat, and even after it was built the boiler had to be made larger. Finally, after much delay [29] and anxiety, all was ready for a public trial. This took place at Philadelphia. Men like Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin came to see the new wonder. It was marvelous to see a boat propelled by steam, but the speed was only three or four miles an hour, so there was no great enthusiasm over the steam oar boat. The next year, Fitch built a second boat, with the paddles placed at the stern. But the boat could not be made to go faster than a man could walk, and it was no more of a success than the first.

Fitch succeeded, however, in 1790, in making a boat sixty feet long and eight feet wide with paddles at the stern, which had a speed of seven miles an hour. After a trial at Philadelphia, it made regular trips, during the rest of the summer, between Philadelphia and Trenton running between two and three thousand miles with no serious accident. But it cost more to run the boat than the fares amounted to, and the venture failed. Fitch found his way to New York, and might have been seen there in 1796, working on a screw steamboat. He had long since spent all his own money. Nobody would help him, and therefore the screw steamboat had to be given up. Completely discouraged, Fitch retired to a farm in Kentucky. He believed in the steamboat until the last, and was confident that the day would come when steamboats would be running on all our large rivers and across the ocean.

"The day will come," said he, "when some more powerful man will get fame and riches from my invention; but now no one will believe that poor John Fitch can do anything worthy of attention." Driving along the shore of the Delaware one day, John [30] Stevens of New Jersey saw Fitch's little steamboat puffing slowly along between Philadelphia and Trenton. He followed it to the next landing and examined it with care. He had long been interested in steamboats and now decided to build one. He set to work with great energy, and by his enthusiasm he induced Robert R. Livingston of New York to share in the enterprise. After almost ten years of planning and experimenting, these men thought they were on the point of success. The boat of which they expected so much was launched in 1798. But alas! it could run only three miles an hour in still water, and was soon given up as a failure. Stevens, undaunted, continued his experiments year after year. Model after model was made. Some of these boats had paddle wheels extending from the sides; some were propelled by a single revolving screw at the stern, and others had two screws. Stevens experimented also with different kinds of boilers.

So successful was he that he came very near winning the prize that was afterwards awarded to Robert Fulton. The very next month after Fulton's first boat made its trial trip, Stevens launched the Phoenix, which was quite as good a boat as the Clermont. His screw propeller, as well as his boilers, afterwards came to be used extensively on ocean steamships. Thus, after Fulton, Stevens did more than any other man to make the steamboat a practical success. Inventors in England were likewise busy. The most successful of these was William Symington. The money to build the trial boat was supplied by Lord Dundas, who hoped that steam might take the place of horses in towing canal barges. The Charlotte Dundas, Symington's [31] boat, was ready for trial in 1802. She was a stern-wheeler, that is, she was propelled by a paddle wheel at the stern. An engine built by Boulton and Watt supplied the power. The new boat took two barges of seventy tons burden each, and in the face of a strong wind towed them down the canal twenty miles in six hours. Lord Dundas was delighted. He wanted this way of towing adopted.

The other owners of the canal were not convinced, however, that there would be much saved by the change, and besides, they feared that the new boat would damage the banks of the canal. Lord Dundas finally succeeded in interesting the Duke of Bridgewater, who gave Symington an order for eight boats like the Charlotte Dundas. Had these been built, Symington would to-day probably be known as the inventor of the steamboat. Unfortunately the Duke died about this time, and the boats were never built. The Charlotte Dundas was anchored in a side creek to rot, and Symington gave up the project in despair. Though men had been working and experimenting for many years, a practical steamboat, that is, one which could be used at a good profit to its owners, was yet to be built. There was great need of such a steamboat, and Watt's engine was strong enough to propel it. But no one seemed able to build a boat of the right shape, to make the right kind of a propeller, or to harness Watt's engine to it in the right way. So many attempts had been made, and there had been so many failures, that most men came to believe it was impossible to make a successful steamboat.

The man who first succeeded in accomplishing the "impossible" was Robert Fulton. FULTON'S EARLY LIFE [32] Robert Fulton was born at Little Britain, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1765. His father, though not successful in money matters, was highly respected; he was a leader in the Presbyterian Church, and held a number of minor public offices of honor. His mother was an excellent woman who had more education than most women of the time, for she taught Robert reading, writing, and ciphering, until he was eight years of age. ROBERT FULTON. Robert was then sent to school, where he acquired a good elementary education. He was not a superior scholar. Books interested him much less than painting or the shop of the gunsmith. Nobody knows who taught him to paint, unless it was Major Andr�, who was later hanged as a spy. Major Andr� lived for some months at Lancaster and gave painting lessons there. It is possible that Robert was one of his pupils. At all events, the boy learned, when quite young, to draw and to paint.

He had some talent, and perhaps was inspired to become an artist by the example of Benjamin West, one of America's greatest painters. Mr. West when a boy was often in Lancaster, and he painted a portrait of Robert's father and mother. Mr. Henry, of whom mention has [33] already been made, had a number of Mr. West's pictures, and Robert used to go to his home to look at them. It may be true, also, that Mr. Henry talked to Robert, when on these visits, about his steamboat, and how fine it would be to invent one, and that these talks did much to lead him to give up art and become an engineer and inventor. Besides being fond of drawing and painting, Robert was fond of tools. Not far from his home, there were shops where muskets were made for the soldiers of the Revolutionary War. Robert was a frequent visitor there, and he spent much time in making drawings of guns and tinkering with broken muskets. His turn for making things showed itself early. One day, Robert was very late at school. "Robert, why are you so late?" asked the teacher. "I was making a pencil out of a piece of lead," he replied.

FULTON AND THE LEAD PENCIL. [34] The teacher looked at the pencil and found it a good one. Before many days, all the children had lead pencils. At the age of seventeen, Fulton left Lancaster and went to Philadelphia. He gave his attention principally to painting portraits and miniatures, but he turned his hand to anything that came along. He drew plans for machinery and for carriages, and even houses. In this way he not only made his own living, but by the time he was twenty-one he had saved four hundred dollars. While living in Philadelphia, Fulton became acquainted with Benjamin Franklin. Knowing that Fulton would never succeed as an artist unless he prepared himself better, Franklin advised him to go to London and study. Fulton decided to do this; but just then his father died, leaving his mother without a home. He therefore took a part of the four hundred dollars which he had planned to spend on his art education, and bought his mother a farm, where she lived in contentment and plenty for many years. STUDYING ART IN LONDON With a letter from Franklin to Benjamin West, Fulton set out for London, where he landed early in 1787.

He had about two hundred dollars in his pocket, not a large sum with which to get an education; but lack of money has never been a bar to young men of character and energy. Benjamin West received the young man with kindness, and in addition to giving him instruction, helped him in other ways. The story of Fulton's life at that time is told in a letter to his mother. "I had an art to learn by which I was to [35] earn my bread, but little to support me while I was doing it. Many, many a silent, solitary hour have I spent in most anxious study, pondering how to make funds to support me until the fruits of my labor should be sufficient. . . . Thus I went on for nearly four years—happily beloved by all who knew me, or I had long before now been crushed by poverty's cold wind and freezing rain. When last summer I was invited by Lord Courtney down to his country seat to paint a picture of him, . . . His Lordship was so much pleased that he introduced me to all his friends. And it is but just now that I am beginning to get a little money and pay some debts which I was obliged to contract.

So I hope in about six months to be clear with the world, or in other words out of debt, and then start fair to make all I can." ENGINEER AND INVENTOR After four years of study, Fulton felt that he was ready to take up his life work. Among the friends to whom Lord Courtney introduced him was the Duke of Bridgewater, who became one of Fulton's good friends. Whether it was the talks about steamboats and about canals with the Duke of Bridgewater; or whether Fulton was carried away by what was then being written in England and America in regard to boats and waterways; or whether it was his talent for mechanics and invention grown strong, we do not know,—but Fulton suddenly gave up the idea of being an artist and decided to become an engineer. Whether Fulton would have become a great artist or not, no one can tell. He surely had artistic ability. He [36] had been taught by the best teachers of England, and had gained some recognition and honor as an artist. At all events, if the world lost a great artist, it gained a great inventor. Nor was his training as an artist entirely lost when he turned engineer.

He was able to make his ideas clear by means of drawings, and was also able to draw his own plans and designs. Immediately after making his decision, Fulton went to Birmingham, where he lived for two years. There he studied the great canals which were being built. He became acquainted with Watt and his engines, and saw the best mechanics in Europe at work. His active mind soon began to turn out invention after invention. He invented a double inclined plane for raising and lowering canal boats from one level to the other, a machine for spinning hemp, and one for twisting hemp rope. A project to which he gave a great deal of time was his submarine or plunging boat. Fulton was able to go down into the water in this diving boat twenty feet or more, and move about. In this way he could get near a vessel without being seen, and then by means of a cigar-shaped torpedo which he invented could blow it up. In an experiment at Brest, in 1805, he succeeded in doing this. Fulton thought his diving boat and torpedoes would make war vessels useless, and would do away with war on the seas.

He tried in turn to get the French and English governments to adopt this invention; he also offered it to the United States. Nothing, however, came of his efforts. Submarine and torpedo boats have since come into general use, but they have not put an end to naval war, as Fulton hoped they would. EXPERIMENTING WITH STEAMBOATS We do not know when Fulton first began to think of making a steamboat. But we have his own words for saying that in 1802 he began "experiments with a view to discover the principles on which boats or vessels should be propelled through the water by the power of steam engines." Fulton did not undertake to make a successful steamboat without knowing of the failures of Fitch, Stevens, Symington, and others; and without understanding that after so many failures, men who still thought a practical steamboat could be built were looked upon as madmen. Yet it has ever been so. The men who win fame and fortune do what other people say cannot be done. Fulton learned all he could from the mistakes and failures of others. To make sure that he was right before he went ahead, he did what was still more important, he made experiment after experiment.

He built a model boat, four feet long and twelve inches wide, provided with two strong clock springs for power. Experiments were made with propellers which opened and shut like a duck's foot, with side paddle wheels, stern paddle wheels, side oars, screws, and paddles fastened to an endless chain passing over two wheels. Fulton was convinced that side paddle wheels were the best. He learned also that the propelling surface of the different paddles combined should be twice the exposed surface of the bow. In addition, he worked out a table to show the power that was needed to move boats of different sizes at different speeds. With this information, Fulton was ready [38] to experiment on a larger scale, and he began to dream of boats that should make the trip between New York and Albany in twelve hours. Robert R. Livingston was at this time United States minister to France. Fulton, then living in France, succeeded in getting him to advance the money to make the larger experiment, and the two formed an agreement that if the experiment proved successful, they would construct and run steamboats between New York and Albany.

To protect themselves in their invention, Livingston secured from the State of New York, in the name of himself and Fulton, the exclusive right for twenty years to navigate steamboats on all waters of the state. No one thought, even in 1803, that there was any danger that such an invention would be a success. Fulton at length set to work on a boat seventy feet long, eight feet wide, and with three feet draft. The paddle wheels were twelve feet in diameter, and the engine was about eight horse power. When the boat was nearly ready for the trial trip, a violent storm arose one night, and so beat the boat about that it broke in two and sank to the bottom of the Seine. Fulton was awakened from an anxious sleep by the shouts of his servant, who exclaimed, "Oh sir! the boat has broken to pieces and has gone to the bottom." Fulton hurried to the river, to find that this was all too true. He labored for twenty-four hours without stopping, to raise the boat. The machinery was little harmed, but the hull was such a wreck that it had to be entirely rebuilt.

This occupied several months, and the boat was not again ready for trial until August, 1803. FULTON SHOWING HIS BOAT TO LIVINGSTON, IN PARIS. [40] The trial trip was thus described in one of the French newspapers: "At six o'clock in the evening, aided by only three persons, he (Fulton) put his boat in motion . . . and for an hour and a half he produced the curious spectacle of a boat moved by wheels, . . . these wheels being provided with paddles or flat plates, and moved by a fire engine. In following it along the wharf, the speed against the current of the Seine was about that of a rapid walker, that is about four miles an hour. . . . It was maneuvered with ease, turning to the right and left, came to anchor and started again." Not only was the new boat declared a success by the French newspapers, but the success was such as to lead Livingston and Fulton to begin the building of a boat for actual service on the Hudson.

BUILDING THE CLERMONT A twenty-four horse power engine was ordered, in August, 1803, from Boulton and Watt, to be shipped to New York. Boulton and Watt at first refused the order, because the British government would not let them ship the engine. The government probably feared that the engine was to be used in a torpedo boat by the French. After much delay, permission was secured, and the order was accepted. Fulton, who was then in England, went to Birmingham to see that the engine was built just as he wanted it; for he was right in feeling that the success of his boat depended upon how the engine worked. Fulton arrived at New York in December, 1806. He at once hired a famous shipbuilder, whose yards were on the East River, to build the hull of the boat. The boat was to be one hundred [41] and fifty feet long, thirteen feet wide, and was to draw two feet of water.

When it became known that the new boat was to be a steamboat, idle crowds used to collect around, and in derision they called it "Fulton's Folly." Nor did these crowds take kindly to the idea of a steamboat; they even went so far as to try to destroy it. Neither did the owners of the sailboats on the East River like the idea, so when they were passing by in their sloops they would bump into the Clermont. To protect the boat, it became necessary for Fulton to hire men to watch her both by day and by night. No one had any faith in the success of the venture. When, in 1806, Livingston and Fulton offered to take Stevens into partnership with them, he refused, and said, "Mr. Fulton's plan can never succeed." At another time, when it became necessary to raise a thousand dollars to complete the Clermont, Fulton went to some of his friends for aid. Most of them told him they were too wise to sink good money in such a wild scheme. After much difficulty, however, Fulton succeeded in obtaining the needed money, but only by promising his friends to keep their names secret. They feared that they would be ridiculed for their folly.

The Clermont, when completed, was a queer-looking craft. There was a mast at each end, but these carried very small sails. A little to the front of the center stood the smokestack and the working beam and piston. Projecting from the center over each side was a great uncovered paddle wheel. "She looked," said one observer, "like a backwoods sawmill mounted on a scow and set on fire." FIRST TRIP OF THE CLERMONT. [43] FIRST TRIP OF THE CLERMONT The Clermont was ready for her first trip up the Hudson, August 17, 1807. Here is Fulton's own story of the trip: "The moment arrived at which the word was to be given for the boat to move. My friends were in groups on the deck. There was anxiety mixed with fear among them. They were silent, sad, and weary. I read in their looks nothing but disaster, and almost repented of my efforts. The signal was given, and the boat moved on a short distance and then stopped. . . . To the silence of the preceding moment, now succeeded murmurs of discontent and agitation, and whispers, and shrugs.

I could hear distinctly repeated, 'I told you it was so; it is a foolish scheme; I wish we were well out of it.' " "I elevated myself on a platform; I stated I knew not what the matter was, but if they would be quiet and give me half an hour, I would either go on or abandon the voyage for that time. . . . I went below and found. . . . the cause. . . . In a short time it was fixed. The boat was again put in motion. She continued to move on. All were still incredulous. None seemed willing to trust the evidence of their own senses. We left the fair city of New York; we passed through the romantic and ever varying scenery of the Highlands; we descried the clustering houses of Albany; we reached its shores,—and then, even then, when all seemed achieved, I was the victim of disappointment. . . . "It was then doubted if it could be done again, or if done, it was doubted if it could be made of any great value." [44] In another letter Fulton wrote: "My steamboat voyage to Albany and back has turned out rather more favorably than I had calculated.

The distance from New York to Albany is one hundred and fifty miles. I ran it up in thirty-two hours and down in thirty. I had a light breeze against me the whole way, both going and coming, and the voyage has been performed wholly by the power of the steam engine. I overtook many sloops and schooners beating to the windward, and parted with them as if they had been at anchor. "The power of propelling boats by steam is now fully proved. The morning I left New York there were not perhaps thirty people in the city, who believed that the boat would ever move one mile an hour, or be of the least utility, and while we were putting off from the wharf, I heard a number of sarcastic remarks. . . . "Having employed much time, money, and zeal in accomplishing this work, it gives me, as it will you, great pleasure to see it fully answers my expectations. It will give a cheap and quick conveyance to the merchandise on the Mississippi, Missouri, and other great rivers, which are now laying open their treasures to our countrymen; and although the prospect of personal gain has been some inducement to me, yet I feel . . .

more pleasure in reflecting on the immense advantage that my country will derive from the invention." WATCHING THE CLERMONT STEAM UP THE HUDSON RIVER. The passage of the Clermont caused great excitement among the people along the way. Here is a description written by one who stood on the bank and saw the boat go by: "It was in the early autumn of the year 1807, that a [46] knot of villagers was gathered on a high bluff just opposite Poughkeepsie, on the west bank of the Hudson, attracted by the appearance of a strange, dark-looking craft which was slowly making its way up the river. Some imagined it to be a sea monster, whilst others did not hesitate to express their belief that it was a sign of the approaching judgment. . . . The dense clouds of smoke, as they rose, wave upon wave, added still more to the wonderment of the rustics. "On her return trip, the curiosity she excited was scarcely less intense,—the whole country talked of nothing but the sea monster, belching forth fire and smoke.

The fishermen became terrified and rowed homeward, and they saw nothing but destruction devastating their fishing grounds; whilst the wreaths of black vapor and rushing noise of the paddle wheels, foaming with the stirred-up waters, produced great excitement amongst the boatmen." On her return from Albany, the Clermont was put in dock. The paddle wheels were covered, decks were made over the boilers, the rudder was repaired, and three cabins of twelve berths each were fitted up to accommodate forty to fifty passengers. Thus equipped, the Clermont started in September, 1807, to make regular trips between Albany and New York, and continued to do so until the Hudson froze over late in November. As a passenger packet, she was a success from the first. To be sure, people were in great fear that the boiler would burst, or that the boat would catch on fire.

There was also a vague feeling that something terrible must surely happen to the "monster which defied storm and tide and belched forth fire and smoke." [47] The fare was just the same as that on the sailboats, three dollars, but it took sailboats, on the average, forty-eight hours to make the trip, and the average time of the Clermont was only thirty-six hours. It was not long before she was crowded. STEAMBOATS ON RIVER AND OCEAN Most great inventions are a long time in coming, but when once their utility is demonstrated they are quickly adopted. This was true of the steamboat. During the winter of 1807 the Clermont was made better and larger, and renamed the North River. So great was the demand, that within the next eight years Fulton constructed, or there were built according to his plans, no less than ten other boats for service on the Hudson River, Long Island Sound, and the Potomac. Fulton also designed and built great steam ferryboats to cross the East River and the Hudson River.

Steven's Phoenix began in 1807 to make regular trips on the Delaware, and by 1810 steamboats could be seen trailing long lines of smoke up and down the Mississippi and the Ohio. They were also introduced into England and Russia, and even into far-away India. AN OLD FERRYBOAT TICKET. Fulton's belief in the commercial usefulness of steamboats was so great that he not only expected them to be placed on all the rivers of the civilized world, but he hoped to see them on the great oceans also. [48] The first steam vessel to cross the Atlantic Ocean was the Savannah, in 1819. Fulton did not live to witness this great event, for he died in 1815. To a great idea,—steam navigation,—he had given freely of his time, his talents, and his money. Others like Fitch helped him to [49] succeed. Others like Stevens improved on his invention. Together they gave to the world one of its chief means of travel, transportation, and communication. Yet to Robert Fulton belongs the honor of being the first inventor to make a genuinely successful steamboat. FULTON'S ESTIMATE FOR A STEAM FERRYBOAT.

Question: Which US inventor designed the Clermont, one of the earliest steamships?
Answer: ROBERT FULTON