Ohio History Journal


OHIO

OHIO

Archaeological and Historical

QUARTERLY.

 

 

THE OHIO VALLEY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.

Fifth Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, Pa.,

October 30-November 1, 1911.

 

THE "NEW ORLEANS" CENTENNIAL.

 

Robert Fulton, who had profited by the experiments and ex-

periences of John Fitch and James Rumsey a score or more years

before, made a successful trial with the steamboat Clermont on

the Hudson River in 1807. The success of the Clermont on the

New York river inspired her owners, Fulton, Livingston, and

Roosevelt, with the belief that the western rivers, the Ohio and

Mississippi, would furnish another field for a similar profitable

venture. So they sent the junior partner of the firm, Nicholas

J. Roosevelt, to Pittsburgh to investigate the matter. He had

just been married and took his bride with him. The young

couple had a novel honeymoon, journeying on a house boat to

New Orleans. During this voyage Mr. Roosevelt made many

observations of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, their currents

and difficulties in the way of navigation. He found no encour-

agement from any person during his entire voyage. Everyone

predicted that while a steamboat might navigate the placid waters

of the Hudson and might perhaps go down the Ohio and Missis-

sippi Rivers at a great risk, yet she would never be able to run

back against their swift currents. However, so confident was he

of success that on his way to New Orleans he secured several

coal mines along the Ohio from which he expected to supply

the steamboat he intended to bring along later. Reaching New

Vol. XXII-1.          (1)