Made possible by the Rivers
Institute and the History
Department of Hanover College.
Made possible by the Rivers
Institute and the History
Department of Hanover College.
The New Orleans arrives in Louisville (Oct. 28, 1811),
painting by Gary R. Lucy.
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 Fall, 1811, and they provide context for
understanding the Roosevelts' "steamboat adventure." (Note that
newspaper editors often reprinted stories that appeared earlier
elsewhere.)
At the beginning of this period, Nicholas Roosevelt was supervising the completion of the New Orleans. After a successful test run, the New Orleans steamed out of Pittsburgh on Sunday, October 20. Although the Roosevelts' neighbors thought that Lydia should stay in Pittsburgh, rather than accompany her husband on what might be a dangerous journey, the Roosevelts insisted on making the trip as a team. With the Great Comet of 1811 in the sky above them, the Roosevelts, their toddler daughter, and the crew steamed into Louisville late on October 28. There, on October 30, Lydia gave birth to their son, Henry Latrobe Roosevelt. They stayed in Louisville through November, waiting for the river to rise enough to allow them through the Falls of the Ohio.
Meanwhile, long-tense relations between American settlers and Native Americans turned to open conflict in the Battle of Tippecanoe on November 7 (in what is now northwestern Indiana). Tensions throughout the area were such that many Native Americans along the Mississippi perceived the New Orleans' presence as a threat.
Sept.
1811 a Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, schoolteacher describes the comet
in his journal
Sept. 7, 1811, Western Spy - Indian Agent John Johnston
reports on meetings to Native American leaders to reassure American
settlers alarmed by Indian hostility
Sept.
18, 1811, Liberty Hall -
Gov. William Henry Harrison requests cavalry from Kentucky for his
"proposed expedition against the Indians"
Sept.
18, 1811, Liberty Hall -
argues it is the "duty and interest of the United States" to build a
canal around the Falls of the Ohio
Sept.
18, 1811, Two Lectures - Harvard professor John Farrar
observes the Great Comet
Sept. 20, 1811, Farmer's Repository - a New York
observer describes the Great Comet
Sept.
25, 1811, Liberty Hall -
Great Comet of 1811 visible in the north
Sept.
28, 1811, Western Spy - astronomical observations of the
comet
Oct.
1811 (in Two Lectures) - a scientific observer in Salem,
Mass., describes the comet
Oct.
12, 1811, Western Spy - more astronomical observations
of the comet
Oct.
18, 1811, Pittsburgh Gazette -
the New
Orleans makes a trial run and
"fully answers the most sanguine expectations"
Oct.
18, 1811, Weekly Raleigh Register - the "great Architect"
will not allow an orderly clockwork Creation to be destroyed by a comet
Oct.
19, 1811, Western Spy - background on comets, extracted
from an astronomy textbook
Oct.
19, 1811, Western Spy - "ludicrous effects" of a 1712
comet
Oct.
23, 1811, Liberty Hall -
"Mr. Roosevelt, it is stated, is building a Steam Boat, to run on the
Ohio and Mississippi"
Oct.
25, 1811, Pittsburgh Gazette - "The Steam Boat sailed from this place on
Sunday last."
Oct.
26, 1811, Western Spy -
a (belated) report on the steamboat Nicholas Roosevelt was building
Oct.
26, 1811, Western Spy -
optimism about the New Orleans
based on her Oct. 15 test voyage
Oct. 28, 1811 - The
New Orleans Steaming Upstream by Moonlight, 1811
(painting by Gary R. Lucy) captures the moment the steamboat arrived in
Louisville
Oct.
30, 1811, Liberty Hall -
shipping news, including the New Orleans' passing Cincinnati on Oct. 27
Nov.
2, 1811, Western Spy -
the New
Orleans passes Cincinnati on
Oct. 27
Nov.
2, 1811, Louisiana Gazette - reproduces August speeches
made by Miami leaders in response to rising tensions between white
settlers and Indians organized by Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa
Nov.
16, 1811, Western Spy -
a discussion of steamboats and a belated report of the New
Orleans' departure from Pittsburgh
Nov.
20, 1811, Western Spy -
James Stubbs describes various machines he has invented, including a
steam engine for boats
Nov.
21, 1811, Western Spy -
publishers "stop the presses" for this extra edition headlined "War!
War! War!" (on the Battle of Tippecanoe)
Nov.
21, 1811, Liberty Hall -
the New Orleans arrives in Louisville on Oct. 28
Nov.
23, 1811, Western Spy -
another report of the New Orleans'
arrival in Louisville, Oct. 28
Nov.
23, 1811, Louisiana Gazette - "Cosmopolites" dismisses
those who fear the comet will bring disaster -- "the great Architect"
would not destroy his creation
Nov.
30, 1811, Louisiana Gazette - the newspaper shares
travellers reports on the Battle of Tippecanoe and blames the British
for Indian aggression
1871,
First Steamboat Voyage - Lydia Roosevelt's brother describes the
New Orleans's construction
1871,
First Steamboat Voyage - Lydia Roosevelt's brother describes the
second day of the journey
1871,
First Steamboat Voyage - Lydia Roosevelt's brother describes the
Roosevelts' stay in Louisville, their son's birth, and the New
Orleans's passage over the Falls of the Ohio