New Orleans (steamboat) - Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage

After a successful trial trip around Pittsburgh on October 15, 1811, the New Orleans finally set sail for New Orleans on October 20, with Roosevelt as the captain and his pregnant wife and young daughter as passengers. The crew consisted of the engineer, Nicholas Baker; the pilot, Andrew Jack; six hands; two female servants for Mrs. Roosevelt; a waiter; a cook; and a Newfoundland dog named Tiger. The people of Pittsburgh turned out en masse to witness the departure of the steamboat. The first night Roosevelt and his wife were too excited to sleep and watched the shore, covered in almost unbroken forest, as it passed. The pilot was reassured about the chances of success by the boat's ease of steering and uniformly quick speed. The next morning, October 21, the New Orleans was cheered by the villagers of Beavertown, Pennsylvania. They had seen the boat approaching down a straight stretch of the river. During its first stop, at Wheeling, Roosevelt welcomed crowds aboard the ship, charging them a twenty-five-cent fee for the opportunity.

On October 27, when the boat passed Cincinnati, Ohio, the city's residents were disappointed it did not stop and thought they'd never see the New Orleans again. After midnight on October 28 the boat arrived in Louisville, with a “shrill blast” from the steam engine and sparks flying from its smokestack, reminiscent of the Great Comet of 1811 that arched in the sky at the same time. Here, local residents congratulated Roosevelt on his success, but told him they doubted they would ever see the boat again, because it would not be able to go upstream. To prove them wrong, and to recruit investors for Fulton’s steam company, Roosevelt invited prominent citizens to a gala dinner aboard the boat. Once everyone was aboard, and much to their surprise, the New Orleans headed upstream under its own power and completed a brief excursion before returning to Louisville. For the next month, Roosevelt waited for the waters of the Ohio River to rise enough for the New Orleans to safely pass (with a draft of less than six inches) over the treacherous Falls of the Ohio. Roosevelt spent the extra time in the area making a brief trip upstream to Cincinnati before returning to Louisville to cross the Falls. Roosevelt’s second child, a son named Henry Latrobe Roosevelt, was born aboard the steamboat, near Louisville. After stopping at Shippingport for supplies and loading coal near present-day Cannelton, Indiana, which Roosevelt had arranged on his earlier trip to have mined and piled at the riverbank, the New Orleans continued its voyage downriver.

Although the trip on the Ohio River had been largely peaceful and easygoing, the passage of the Mississippi River was to be fraught with danger and uncertainty. As the New Orleans passed the mouth of the Tennessee River, the crew saw Chickasaw warriors, but experienced no violence. While fighting continued north of the Ohio River through the War of 1812, the Chickasaws remained peaceful allies of the Americans and declined to join forces with Tecumseh. Later, a fire broke out aboard ship after wood was left too close to the stove during the night, but it was quickly extinguished. Then, in mid-December, the first in a series of earthquakes struck the area, but the river’s water cushioned the New Orleans, allowing it to continue, undamaged by the quakes. On December 15 the New Madrid earthquake, which centered near New Madrid, Missouri, became one of the strongest North American earthquakes ever recorded; seismologists estimate it was an 8 on the Richter scale. The earthquake affected the journey by altering Mississippi River landmarks such as river islands and river channels that confused the pilot's visual navigation. At some small river towns, villagers begged to be taken aboard to escape the earthquake's desolation, but the New Orleans lacked the provisions to feed the refugees and would have no more available until the boat reached Natchez, Mississippi, in late December 1811. At Natchez the crew met Zadoc Cramer, author of the Navigator river guide, who was eager for any new information about the geography of the river. Continuing on, the boat reached New Orleans on January 10, 1812. Following the trip, Roosevelt and his family returned to New York, where he took up other entrepreneurial ventures and discontinued his partnership with Fulton and Livingston. Soon, the New Orleans was making regular runs between New Orleans and Natchez.