Made possible by the Rivers Institute and the History Department of Hanover College.

Winter 1811-1812

The steamboat New Orleans' 1811-1812 trip down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Pittsburgh to New Orleans marked a turning point in the Transportation Revolution. After the New Orleans showed that it could be done, steamboats proliferated on the Ohio and the Mississippi and their tributaries. Steamboat traffic helped create a national economy, opening markets for farm goods and drawing people and commerce to cities along the rivers. The items below were published in the winter of 1811-1812, and they provide context for understanding the Roosevelts' "steamboat adventure." (Note that newspaper editors often reprinted stories that appeared earlier elsewhere.)

After waiting in Louisville through November for the Ohio River to rise enough to allow the New Orleans through the Falls of the Ohio, the Roosevelts began this period ready to attempt the rapids. The Falls of the Ohio were normally the most dangerous point on the Ohio-Mississippi route, and people again urged Lydia to stay safely ashore, but she refused to leave the ship. Once they made it through, they expected a relatively easy journey thereafter.

About a week later, however, they felt the first shock of a major earthquake. They were then roughly 200 miles away from the epicenter, in present-day New Madrid, Missouri. Shocks continued for the rest of the winter, with four of them at magnitude 7 or more. Damage from the earthquake was so severe that it changed the shape of the Mississippi River, which meant the New Orleans had to make her way through many miles of uncharted waters.

Tensions between settlers and Native Americans continued to be high, and the Roosevelts were particularly nervous when Chickasaw living north of what is now Memphis, Tenn., threatened the New Orleans.

They arrived in Natchez on December 30. Staying there a few days before beginning the last leg of their journey, the Roosevelts and the crew finally arrived at New Orleans on Jan. 10, 1812. Later that month, the New Orleans began her profitable career providing transportation between New Orleans and Natchez.

Dec. 6, 1811, Pittsburgh Gazette - humorous story about "an honest Hibernian" in a London crowd gathered to view the comet
Dec. 10, 1811, (in Two Lectures) - Harvard professor John Farrar describes the comet's path from September to December
Dec. 18, 1811, Liberty Hall - early reports of the Dec. 16 earthquake (from Cincinnati)
Dec. 20, 1811, Pittsburgh Gazette - report of the Dec. 16 earthquake (from Pittsburgh)
Dec. 20, 1811, Pittsburgh Gazette - Gov. William Henry Harrison is optimistic about the consequences of the Battle of Tippecanoe for white settlers
Dec. 25, 1811, Liberty Hall - reports of eight shocks felt in Cincinnati from Dec. 16 to Dec. 17
Dec. 27, 1811, Pittsburgh Gazette - report of the Dec. 16 earthquake (from Lexington, Kentucky) -- apparently Nature can "no longer tolerate the moral turpitude of man"
Dec. 27, 1811, Pittsburgh Gazette - Indian Agents report that the Cherokee, Chocktaw, and Creeks "remain quiet and friendly" after the Battle of Tippecanoe
Dec. 28, 1811, Western Spy - evidence that "a great portion of the continent" felt the earthquake
Dec. 28, 1811, Western Spy - the Indian Agent in Fort Wayne reports that chiefs he met with were friendly, and describes Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa
Jan. 1, 1812, Liberty Hall - another shock felt in Cincinnati on Dec. 31
Jan. 1, 1812, Liberty Hall - earthquake reports from the what is now the Midwest

Jan. 4, 1812, Western Spy - more shocks felt in Cincinnati
Jan. 4, 1812, Western Spy - earthquake reports from the Atlantic states
Jan. 8, 1812, Liberty Hall - earthquake reports from Washington D.C. and the East
Jan. 11, 1812, Western Sun - reports of the earthquake: east as far as Pittsburgh, south as far as Nashville
Jan. 11, 1812, Western Spy - shocks continue to be felt in Cincinnati
Jan. 15, 1812, Liberty Hall - earthquake report from Chickasaw Bluffs (now Memphis, Tenn.)
Jan. 18, 1812, Western Spy - detailed report of the earthquake and the river, from Chickasaw Bluffs
Jan. 25, 1812, Western Spy - "whimsical account" of the comet
Jan. 25, 1812, Western Spy - shocks felt in Cincinnati continue, with the Jan. 16 shock causing more damage
Jan. 29, 1812, Liberty Hall - the Jan. 23 shock, as felt in Cincinnati, was "equally severe with" the first (Dec. 16) shock
Jan. 29, 1812, Liberty Hall - review of "remarkable events" in world history relevant to the comet and earthquake
Jan. 29, 1812, Liberty Hall - Robert Livingson and Robert Fulton (through Nicholas Roosevelt) offer shares in a new steamboat company
Jan. 31, 1812, Pittsburgh Gazette - a Pittsburgh songwriter offers for sale "a new song" about the Battle of Tippecanoe
Jan. 31, 1812, Pittsburgh Gazette - detailed "letter from a gentleman" who experienced the Dec. 16 earthquake from the river, as the Roosevelts did
Feb. 1, 1812, Western Spy - eyewitness to the earthquake: "at New Madrid the shocks have been uncommonly violent"
Feb. 1, 1812, Western Spy - more "comparatively light" shocks felt in Cincinnati, and "it now appears the earthquake has been felt along the Atlantic coast as far as N. Jersey"
Feb. 5, 1812, Liberty Hall - another mild shock felt in Cincinnati on Feb. 4
Feb. 7, 1812, Pittsburgh Gazette - earthquake reports from Alabama
Feb. 8, 1812, Western Spy - report of daily shocks felt in Cincinnati since the first ("of considerable violence") on Feb. 4
Feb. 8, 1812, Western Spy - the New Orleans arrives in Natchez on Dec. 30
Feb. 8, 1812, Western Spy - the editor responds to charges from the Liberty Hall that the Western Spy has exaggerated earthquake reports
Feb. 12, 1812, Centinel - report of "uncommonly violent" shocks in New Madrid
Feb. 12, 1812, Centinel - report from Chillicothe, Ohio, of Jan. 23 shock "as extensively felt as those on the 16th and 17th of December" and a "slight trembling" on Jan. 27
Feb. 12, 1812, Liberty Hall - the editor responds to criticism from the Western Spy over reporting on the earthquake
Feb. 12, 1812, Liberty Hall - the New Orleans arrives in Natchez on Dec. 30, bringing news of the earthquake damage farther north
Feb. 12, 1812, Liberty Hall - report of shocks felt at Fort Stoddert (in what is now southern Alabama)
Feb. 12, 1812, Liberty Hall - detailed report of shocks felt in Cincinnati from Feb. 4 to Feb. 11
Feb. 14, 1812, Pittsburgh Gazette - report on the goods passing over the Falls of the Ohio in October and November, 1811
Feb. 14, 1812, Pittsburgh Gazette - James Fletcher reports on the Dec. 16 earthquake at Little Prairie (in present-day Missouri); they "supposed the whole country sinking!"
Feb. 14, 1812, Pittsburgh Gazette - the New Orleans arrives in New Orleans on Jan. 10
Feb. 15, 1812, Western Spy - detailed report from New Madrid of reactions to the earthquake (Dec. 16 through Dec. 28)
Feb. 19, 1812, Liberty Hall - reports of mild shocks felt in Cincinnati from Feb. 13 to Feb. 17
Feb. 19, 1812, Connecticut Current - William L. Pierce reports on the effects of the Dec. 16 earthquake on various places the Roosevelts passed
Feb. 22, 1812, Western Spy - reports of "slights shocks" and shocks of "considerable severity in past week; Robert Morrison reports on earthquake in Kaskaskia (in present-day Illinois)
Feb. 22, 1812, Western Spy - reports of shocks from the earthquake from Dec. 16 to Feb. 7, as felt in Fort Wayne and Fort Dearborn (now Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois)
Feb. 22, 1812, Western Spy - observations about earthquakes, copied from the writings of "Dr. Wittich"
Feb. 26, 1812, Liberty Hall - reports of mild shocks felt in Cincinnati from Feb. 20 to Feb. 22
Feb. 26, 1812, Liberty Hall - report of the Dec. 16 earthquake as felt in St. Louis

1871, First Steamboat Voyage - Lydia Roosevelt's brother describes a threatened Chickasaw attack and a fire on board the New Orleans

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Winter 1811-1812

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