The Roosevelts' steamboat adventure ended successfully when they steamed into New Orleans on the evening of January 10, 1812.  They checked their logs and calculated that it had taken them only 259 hours to steam from Pittsburgh  (not counting all their delays along the way).

The steamboat underwriters' dreams of profit were quickly realized: in the first year, the New Orleans made a $24,000 profit (a return of about 63% on their investment).  Unfortunately, steamboats' substantial profits came with substantial risk of accident.  The New Orleans sank less than three years after it began regular service, but we still remember her pioneering trip of 1811-1812, marking at turning point in the Transportation Revolution and in American history.