New Orleans

When the steamboat New Orleans made her way down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Pittsburgh to New Orleans in 1811-1812, it 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 New Orleans arrived in New Orleans on Jan. 10, 1812.  Later that month, the steamboat began her profitable career providing transportation between New Orleans and Natchez.

1805, Travels, by Michaux - describes shipping and economic ties between Pittsburgh and New Orleans
May 29, 1811, Western Spy - on March 3, the barge Cincinnati leaves New Orleans, becoming "first rigged vessel" to make the trip  from New Orleans to Cincinnati
July 3, 1811, Liberty Hall - report of the ship Three Sisters ("largest that ever descended the Ohio") arriving in New Orleans safely
Oct. 18, 1811, Pittsburgh Gazette - the New Orleans makes a trial run in Pittsburgh and is "intended as a regular packet between Natchez and New Orleans"
Oct. 26, 1811, Western Spy - a (belated) report on the steamboat Nicholas Roosevelt was building - anticipating that the Pittsburgh-New Orleans trip will take six weeks
Oct. 26, 1811, Western Spy - optimism about the New Orleans based on her Oct. 15 test voyage; "intended as a regular packet between natchez and New Orleans"
Jan. 15, 1812, Liberty Hall - letter from New Orleans written on Dec. 20 "is entirely silent as to the earthquake"
Jan. 18, 1812, Western Spy - writer from Tennessee believes that New Orleans was "destroyed" by the earthquake, but letters from New Orleans have no news of it
Jan. 18, 1812, Western Spy - the barge Cincinnati traveled from Cincinnati to New Orleans in 41 days (a record, given the conditions)
Jan. 31, 1812, Pittsburgh Gazette - an eyewitness to the Dec. 16 earthquake while on his way to New Orleans fears "hearing that the whole city of Orleans is entirely demolished"
Feb. 7, 1812, Pittsburgh Gazette - writer from New Orleans supposes that "our being on an island . . . prevented us from feeling part of the shock"
Feb. 8, 1812, Western Spy - the New Orleans arrives in Natchez on Dec. 30, "intended to be a regular packet" making the Natchez-New Orleans trip in 5-7 days
Feb. 12, 1812, Liberty Hall - writer from New Orleans supposes that "our being on an island . . . prevented us from feeling part of the shock"
Feb. 14, 1812, Pittsburgh Gazette - the New Orleans arrives in New Orleans in the evening of Jan. 10
Mar. 6, 1812, Pittsburgh Gazette - the New Orleans makes a trial run of the New Orleans-Natchez trip on Jan. 23
June 15, 1812, letter from Robert Fulton, reporting on expenses and income for the New Orleans-Natchez trip

More about the "Steamboat Adventure" of 1811-1812 --

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Steamboat Adventure homepage

Chronology

Spring 1811
Summer 1811
Fall 1811
Winter 1811-1812
Spring 1812

Locations

Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Louisville (Kentucky) and Madison (Indiana Territory)
New Madrid (now in Missouri)
Chickasaw Bluffs (now Memphis)
Natchez
New Orleans

Topics

Nicholas and Lydia Roosevelt
The Transportation Revolution
The Great Comet of 1811
The New Madrid Earthquakes
Indian Relations

Questions or comments -- historians@hanover.edu