Early Great Lakes Steamboats
The First Propellers 1841-1845

by H.A Musham

Adapted from The American Neptune, 1957

In 1957, H. A. Musham was a naval architect living in Chicago. He was writing a maritime history of the Great Lakes and this article was a result of some of his research over a good many years.

THE year 1840 marked the opening of a new era in steam navigation. The decade that followed was a period of experiments, trials, and errors, and especially so on the lakes. While the steamboats there had reached a relatively high level of efficiency consistent with the shipbuilding materials and propelling machinery then available, there was much room for improvement in them. They were all built of wood, and, with the exception of a few stern-wheelers used in rivers and canals, were all side-wheelers. Both high- and low-pressure engines of various types were used, the walking-beam type predominating. The boilers were generally of the fire-tube type with large flues running from end to end. These varied in size and number, some boats having as many as seven. Steam pressure seldom exceeded fifteen pounds per square inch. The engines made up to twenty-five revolutions per minute. Some boats had two engines, each turning a wheel independently of the other. Wood was the only fuel burned. While coal had been brought to the lakes, it was too high in price and not widely enough distributed as yet to make its use practicable. The speed attained seldom exceeded the limit for economical operation.[fn-01] This for the largest boats was from ten to twelve miles an hour.

The steamboats, especially those with decks built out on guards running from stem to stern and enclosing the side wheels, were well adapted to carrying passengers. But they were not so well suited for freight. The cubic capacity of the molded form [fn-02] was reduced from fifteen to twenty per cent by the frames, planking, ceiling, posts, knees, and keelsons of the hull structure. Add to this the over-large space taken up by the engines, boilers, and woodbins amidships — the most capacious part of the hull — and the space occupied by the passenger accommodations below the main deck, that left for freight was but a small part of the form. Again the excessive weight of the wooden hulls and of the large, slow-moving engines reduced the carrying capacity by weight materially.

The engines were practically all single-crank affairs with no means provided to balance their turning. On the upstroke, the piston speed slacked somewhat, on the down it accelerated, and the boat moved forward in surges. Side wheels attain their highest efficiency when the floats are immersed to an optimum depth. The desideratum of the ship and engine builders was to place the wheels vertically so that immersion was attained when the boat was at the load draft and at such point along the side, that they did not turn in the hollow of the bow waves set up by the boat at full speed. When the boat was in light condition, the immersion of the floats was less than desired and a decrease in speed resulted. When it was over the load draft, the wheels churned the water around and another loss in speed was the result. In heavy weather, rolling caused unequal immersion from side to side and the boat yawed and wobbled along on its course. Then when going into a head sea, the immersion again varied as the waves raced along the sides. This accentuated the surging of the boat. Rolling, pitching, and the surging of the engine produced a most uncomfortable motion in the boat to the discomfort of the crew and passengers. Added to these disadvantages was the vulnerability of the side wheel when applied to the warships of the day. With a large part of their machinery above the water line and the wheels exposed to direct gunfire, they were likely to be quickly put out of action no matter what position they could take when engaging the enemy.

There was but one answer to these problems and that was propulsion by submerged wheels, smaller engines for the same power, placed lower down in the hulls, and iron hulls. The idea of propulsion by submerged wheels was not new. Two ways of using them had been set forth by inventors and engineers, by the screw propeller and the horizontal paddle wheel. The screw propeller is an ancient device, but its first practical application for moving vessels was not made until 1836, when a small craft, Archimedes, built and fitted with a screw propeller devised by Francis P. Smith, ran successfully in England on the Paddington Canal and in September of the following year made a trip at sea from Ramsgate to Dover, and then steamed to London.

The horizontal submerged paddle wheel was developed by Lieutenant William W. Hunter, United States Navy. [fn-03] It was the usual vertical paddle wheel though much smaller, laid down on its side and mounted in a drum on a vertical shaft within the hull and below the load water line, the center being so placed that the outer rings and radial arms carrying the floats extended outboard through an aperture in the side a distance equal to their width. Each wheel was to be turned by a horizontal engine with a crank fitted to the upper end of the vertical shaft extending through the top of the drum. A boat was to have two wheels, one to each side. The hull was to be sponsoned out above the load water line to protect them from damage when docking or when coming alongside other ships.

Hunter succeeded in interesting Secretary of the Navy A. P. Upshur in his device. With the Secretary's cooperation he built a small craft and fitted it with his wheels at Norfolk in the spring of 1841, and named her Germ. She was 52 feet long, 11 feet wide and drew 2 feet of water. The paddles of the wheels had an area of 1 square foot and the engine, a power of 6 horses. On her trial trip on the canal near Norfolk she made 8 to 9 miles an hour. [fn-04]

Hunter demonstrated Germ at Washington and other coast ports where her performances elicited much approval. He then took her up the Hudson to Albany and through the Erie Canal to Buffalo. There he put her through her paces on Lake Erie. The topographical engineers of the army, on duty there, took quite an interest in her. Later in the summer he took her back to salt water and down to Baltimore, after having successfully demonstrated the suitability of his device for service on sea, river, canal and lake. Germ was the first steamboat to pass from salt water to Lake Erie via the Erie Canal and return.

At this time there was no direct trade between lakes Erie and Ontario by steamers because they were side-wheelers, all too long or if short enough, then still too wide to pass the locks of the Welland Canal. There was direct steam connection between Montreal and Kingston via the Rideau Canal by small craft with stern wheels or side wheels mounted in recesses in the hull about amidship. But these boats were not suitable for service on Lake Ontario. There was therefore a need on these waters for a steamboat that could pass through these canals and safely navigate the lakes. If such a steamboat could be devised then the much desired direct trade, that between the lower St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario and between that lake and Lake Erie and the upper lakes, would become a reality. Hunter had demonstrated with his Germ, that such a steamboat was a possibility.

The traffic between lakes Ontario and Erie and the upper lakes was handled by schooners and sloops of the largest size that could fit the locks of the Welland Canal. Accordingly these craft were less than 110 feet long overall, less than 22 feet wide and drew less than 8 feet of water. But sailing craft were not entirely satisfactory for the lakes, because of the calms that frequently prevailed and the violent storms that occasionally occurred during the open season. Then they were practically helpless in the ice of the spring and late fall. The lay of the lakes further had a marked effect on their use in interlake traffic. Fair winds on lakes Ontario and Erie could be head winds on Huron and Michigan and so on. Consequently the time of passage from lakes Ontario and Erie to Chicago was often a very uncertain matter. With luck it could be made in a week or two, otherwise it could take four and more. The solution to this problem was the submerged wheel, either Hunter's or the screw propeller. But Hunter was more interested in applying his device to ships of war rather than to those of commerce.

In December 1840, Captain Van Cleve was in New York City. While there he was called upon by Josiah I. Marshall, formerly of the firm of Bronson, Marshall & Company, of Oswego. Marshall informed him that their friend Sanderson of Brockville, Canada West, who operated boats on the Rideau Canal, had requested him to examine Ericsson's propeller [fn-05] and give him his opinion as to its application to propelling boats on the canal. Marshall said that as he had no practical experience in steam machinery, he wished him to go with him to the engine works of Messrs. Hogg and Delamater and examine the propeller hung there upon a shaft for the inspection of all parties interested and give him his opinion on it, which he would transmit to Sanderson.[fn-06]

Van Cleve examined the propeller with great care and told Marshall that his opinion was that it would produce a revolution in the propelling of vessels and that it would bring about a complete change in the steam marine of the lakes. Marshall then introduced Van Cleve to Captain John Ericsson, the patentee who had rooms at the Astor House. After a conversation of about two hours, respecting the commerce of the lakes, Ericsson got up from his chair, walked two or three times across the room and made him the following proposition: ‘Captain Van Cleve, if you will put a vessel in operation with my propeller on the Lakes within one year, I will assign to you one-half interest in my patent for all the North American Lakes.' Van Cleve accepted this proposition and the papers were drawn accordingly. He left for Oswego where he exhibited the model and the plans that he took with him. After a short time and after he had partially completed an arrangement to install a propeller in a vessel already built, he made an agreement with Sylvester Doolittle, merchant and shipwright who had a shipyard there, to build a new vessel, he taking a quarter interest, Doolittle a quarter, Bronson and Crocker, merchants and forwarders of Oswego a quarter, and Captain Rufus Hawkins a quarter. [fn-07] Bronson and Crocker operated a line of canalboats on the Oswego and Erie canals. ‘The new ship, if successful, would extend this service to the upper lakes, by-passing Buffalo through the Welland Canal. A through service between New York and Chicago with transshipment at Oswego would then be a possibility. Doolittle, who recognized the value of the propeller to the upper lakes trade, went to New York and arranged with Ericsson that he and his associates should be permitted to use his device without payment of royalty, on five vessels, the construction of which was to be promptly proceeded with. [fn-08] This was the beginning of the New York, Oswego and Chicago Line.

On 17 March 1841, the Oswego County Whig carried a notice to owners of vessels on the North American Lakes, that Van Cleve [fn-09] ‘had the agency, being a joint proprietor in the right on the above waters of Ericsson's propellers, [fn-10] a recent invention by which vessels can be propelled in the absence of favorable winds, at the rate of seven miles an hour, at a trifling expense — thus enabling vessels to make about double the trips made with canvas only. The weight of the machinery necessary for a vessel of one hundred and fifty tons, including water in boiler, is five and a half tons. In point of speed, certainty and economy, this improvement cannot but be received most favorably by all interested, and is confidently recommended to their consideration.' For further particulars they were to apply to him.

The keel of the new boat was laid early in April in the Doolittle yard at the foot of West Cayuga Street. Van Cleve contracted with the firm of Dennis, Wood and Russell of Auburn, New York, for the engines and propellers which they built at the State Prison, the plans being furnished by Ericsson. Their cost was estimated at $2,000. [fn-11]

Oswego was a city of 2,700 people at the time and its business and professional men were fully aware of the benefits that would come to it with reliable direct steamboat connections with Lake Erie and the upper lakes. The new steamer was an experiment. Their faith in her ultimate success was strengthened by the reports made in the local papers on the successful trial and voyage of Clarion. [fn-12] The Oswego papers followed the construction of the new type of steamboat closely and pointed out that the new steamer and others to follow in her wake would put Oswego in a position to compete successfully with Buffalo for the western trade. Stated the Oswego Palladium of 24 March 1841: ‘there is no place in the Union which will derive such immediate and extensive advantages from the invention of Mr. Ericsson as Oswego. It is affirmed by one of our first forwarding merchants, that with the aid of this propeller, goods from New York by the Oswego route can be delivered at Cleveland, Ohio, at less cost than the actual charges which must be advanced upon freight in this transportation from New York to Buffalo. In the cheapness of transportation for the Western trade, the Oswego or Ontario route has always had a very oreat advantage over the inland or Buffalo route. A very clear admission was made of this by the general combination of forwarders last year in stating the charges by the Oswego route to be four dollars per ton less than by the inland route. The latter route however, has always had a great advantage over the Oswego in speed, and certainty in reference to time. ‘The freight vessels from Oswego bound to the Upper lakes were all schooners. From Buffalo, a large proportion were steamers. The prevalent winds upon the lakes are Westerly. Perhaps in the season of navigation they are from that quarter more than two-thirds of the time. While therefore the descending passage from the Upper lakes to Oswego was usually as quick as was desirable, the ascending was often tedious and dilatory. ‘This was a serious objection to Western merchants desirous of receiving their goods at early dates. They were desirous of dispatch and certainty and to obtain them submitted to heavy charges beyond those demanded on the Oswego route. But with the Ericsson propeller applied to our lake vessels, the Welland Canal becomes navigable for steam vessels and freights from New York by the Oswego route can be delivered at Cleveland as soon or sooner than they can be delivered at Buffalo. This, while the Oswego route will continue to enjoy all the advantage of its superior cheapness, it will equal the inland route and surpass it in speed.' Buffalo did not look upon these pretensions with equanimity. The press there took up the issue and in a short time the editors of the papers in both cities were slam-banging one another with vitriolic editorials rich in sarcasm. The Buffalo Journal labeled the new steamer another Oswego Humbug. The Oswego Palladium answered this slander on 21 April 1841 by confidently predicting that this valuable improvement in steam power would transfer the forwarding business from Buffalo to Oswego and freely predicted the speedy ruin of that city. The new steamer was launched in the summer. Her owners with an eye to the western trade, named her Vandalia, after the former capital of Illinois.

Vandalia was completed in November. She was a twin screw vessel 91 feet long, 20.17 feet wide and had a depth of hold of 8.25 feet. She measured 138 19/95 tons and had the full form of the Welland Canal schooner. The engine and boiler were placed as far aft as they could go. The engine was of the high-pressure vertical type with two cylinders, each 14 inches in diameter, with a 28-inch stroke. The cylinders rested ona base plate placed on a timber bed on top of the main keelson. The piston rods worked out of the cylinder heads on crossheads that moved in fore-and-aft guides and carried crossarms extending athwartships on each side to pins to which the upper ends of the connecting rods were attached. It was placed on the center line of the hull with the cylinders in a fore-and-aft position. Each crossarm carried two connecting rods, one on each end. Those of the after cylinder turned cranks on the propeller shafts, one on each shaft, while those of the forward cylinder turned gear wheels one on each shaft, an idler gear running between them to prevent undue strains on the cross-heads and to steady the whole engine. The cranks and the connecting rod pin on the gear wheels were set at right angles to each other. The engine in general resembled that of John Stevens' Juliana. It occupied a space about six feet square and worked up to about 40 turns a minute developing about 50 horsepower. Very little information is available on the boiler other than that it burned about ten cords of wood for a day's operation. It was placed abaft the engine almost in the stern overhang. The propellers were about 6.33 feet in diameter and were mounted on long wrought-iron shafts that protruded from the hull, on each side of and forward of the rudder. The outer hoop of the original Ericsson wheel was left off and the inner hoop carried six paddles. [fn 13]

She was sloop rigged and carried an extra large mainsail and two jibs. On the main deck abaft the mast was the main cabin about 50 feet long, fitted with accommodations for about 50 passengers. Aft of it was a small cabin over the engine room for the officers. A small, short smoke pipe protruded from it. ‘The steering wheel was out on deck a few feet forward of the taffrail. Doolittle had done well by her. She was a staunchly built and sturdy craft. Van Cleve sold his interest to him during her construction. She was completed in November, and was the first steamer on the lakes of the New York, Oswego and Chicago Line. Towards the end of the month, the customhouse official at Oswego issued her a temporary permit and she left on her first trip — a sales demonstration trip — carrying 130 tons of merchandise for Niagara, Hamilton, and Toronto, with Captain Hawkins as master and a Mr. Taylor as engineer. Van Cleve and Doolittle were also on board.

While on this trip she put in at Port Dalhousie and proceeded up the Welland Canal to St. Catherines where she was received with enthusiasm. A public dinner was given to Van Cleve and his associates. The St. Catherines' Journal reported that: [fn 14] ‘she steers as helmsmen term delightfully — the movement of the screws assisting rather than retarding the operation of the rudder. This point was satisfactorily ascertained, in the circuitous route of the canal, from Port Dalhousie to St. Catherines where we had a full opportunity of testing the merits of this ingenious and novel invention. She glided along without any perceptible motion of the water [fn 15] so that not the least injury to the banks of the canal need be apprehended from the swell of the water which arises from the paddles of an ordinary steamer. After passing one of the smallest locks [fn 16] on the canal at this place at ease, and staying an hour or two for the inspection of the inhabitants generally, she returned to Port Dalhousie on her route to Oswego.' She arrived at Oswego on 26 November.

On this trip the Oswego Palladium of 1 December reported: ‘that it is with very high gratification we state, that her performance full equals the expectations of her owners, and the experiment has proved altogether successful... . As we have had some of our worst November weather since the steamer left the port, her owners have been able, on this first experiment, both to test the capacity of the engine, and her qualities as a sea boat. From information obtained from them, and her master, Capt. Rufus Hawkins, there is no doubt she is a capital craft for all weather... . It appears that she can make from six to seven miles an hour in ordinary weather without canvas. She had made nearly five miles per hour against the wind and sea: and on her return, ran the 150 miles between Niagara and Oswego in 18 1/2 hours, having a light fair wind and using canvas in the first 30 miles, and making the rest of the course without canvas and the wind ahead. This is rather more than eight miles an hour, and as she improved after firing up, it may be safely inferred that she has not yet done all that she is capable of doing. In point of safety she seems to be all that human beings permit. The Captain considers her the safest vessel he has sailed in, and that the great danger of our lake navigation—a lee shoreis effectually provided against... . The successful result of this experiment, we consider the most important event in relation to the interests of this port and the trade of Lake Ontario, which has occurred since the opening of the Welland Canal. The great desideratum of a steam communication with the Upper lakes is now assured... . Our citizens have waited the result of this experiment of Messrs. Bronson & Crocker, etc., with no little solicitude, for they almost felt themselves partners in the enterprize. The enterprize is as honorable as the result is gratifying, and we sincerely hope the “Vandalia” may contribute as largely to forward the interests of her owners, as she is expected to advance the interests of the port to which she belongs. We are firmly persuaded that this enterprize marks an epoch in the progress of the Western trade.'

Again on 8 December, the same paper reported: ‘this splendid craft, since our last, has made two trips to Kingston. She performs to admiration. Ericsson's propellers will work wonders for Oswego. ‘hey will add at least fifty percent to the value of property here. We understand there is to be a weekly line of these steamers next season between Oswego and Chicago. Five vessels will make a line. Those who first engage in this enterprize will no doubt make their fortunes.' After these two trips Vandalia was laid up for the winter.

Vandalia was enrolled at the customhouse in Oswego 14 April 1842, and left on the same day for Chicago. Captain Hawkins in command with freight and over thirty passengers. The fare to Chicago was from $3.00 to $4.00 less than from Buffalo to the same place. She put in at Buffalo where she was examined by all classes with much interest. She proceeded on her way reaching Cleveland on the morning of the twenty-third, where Captain Hawkins reported that her performance was very satisfactory. She remained there for a few hours and left for Detroit, arriving the next day. Now came the real test, the 660-mile run to Chicago up lakes Huron and Michigan. She reached Chicago on 1 May, where she was welcomed. The Daily Chicago Democrat for 3 May, carried the story: 'THE STEAMER VANDALIA — this little steamer has excited considerable attention in our port, being the first one of the kind which has made its appearance here. She has Ericsson's Propellers instead of the ordinary paddle wheel, and travels at the average rate of seven miles an hour. In smooth water, it is said, she could attain a speed of ten miles per hour, but the friction would be injurious to the machinery. She is rigged like a sloop, and at a distance would readily be taken for one. The boat is moved by what is termed the screw paddle wheel, it being something between the buckets of the old paddle wheel and the ordinary auger, so that the propellers may be said in some measure to bore their way through the water... . The Vandalia is from Oswego, on Lake Ontario, at which place, we understand, three more boats of the same kind are being constructed, the whole to run as a regular line between that port and this.'

Taking on cargo and passengers she returned to Oswego, the round trip requiring about a month. The first trip to Chicago was a complete demonstration of the practicability of the screw propeller for both canal and open-water navigation. So impressed with her were Messrs. Hollister, merchants and shippers of Buffalo, that Robert Hollister of that firm arranged with Van Cleve for the use of the Ericsson wheel on two new vessels which they were to build, though at a reduced price. [fn 17]

It is apparent from Van Cleve's notice in the Oswego County Whig that he considered Vandalia as a sailing vessel with auxiliary steam power, but with her sloop rig with its large clumsy mainsail, she can be described more correctly as a steamboat with auxiliary sails. Though she could have been ten feet longer and still fit the locks of the Welland Canal, she was a complete exemplification of that basic principle of water transportation — the vessel should fit the route on which she operates. With her general arrangement, her engines of light weight, powered to drive her at an economical speed, and their location as far aft as it could be placed in the rim of the hull and the long open hold for freight extending almost the full length, she marked the opening of an era in shipping. She was the prototype, the pioneer of the modern bulk carrier not only on the Great Lakes, but on the seven seas as well. Five men cooperated in the production of this remarkable vessel: Van Cleve, steamboat captain and operator; Doolittle, shipbuilder, merchant, and promoter of vision; Bronson and Crocker, shippers and vessel operators, and Ericsson, engineer. It was altogether a rare and fortunate combination of talent, but of these men, Van Cleve and Doolittle deserve the most credit.

The second screw-propelled steamer on the lakes was Chicago, 150 tons, also built by Doolittle. She was similar to Vandalia and had the same power plant. She went into service in the upper lakes trade as part of the Bronson and Crocker fleet on 1 June 1842. On her the Oswego Palladium for that date commented: 'This beautiful and staunch vessel which has just been completed at the shipyard of S. Doolittle and propelled by the Ericsson improvement, leaves this port for Chicago. — She was built with particular reference to this route — has handsome and convenient accommodations for sixty cabin passengers, and is of sufficient capacity for 150 tons freight. She is to be commanded by our fellow citizen William S. Malcolm, whose nautical skill, experience and gentlemanly deportment eminently qualify him for that post.' It continued: 'We learn that the enterprising proprietors Messrs. Bronson and Crocker of Oswego, intend to dispatch a steam vessel of the above class for Chicago, on the 1st, 10th and 20th of each month, touching at the intermediate ports on Lake Erie, Huron and Michigan, thus affording unusual facilities for the conveyance and transportation of passengers and freight. It seems to us that travellers, particularly families, moving with goods, will find this line of boats adapted to their wants. T'he price by this line is much less than by any other steam conveyance, which is a consideration in these times.' [fn 18]

Samson, twin screw of 250 tons, the first of the two propellers ordered by Hollister Brothers, was built at Perrysburg, Ohio, in 1842, by William S. Hubbell at a cost of $15,000. She was similar in general to Vandalia, but about twice as large in tonnage and was intended for the upper lakes trade. The engines were of the high-pressure type, and similar to those of Vandalia. The cylinders were 14 inches in diameter and had a stroke of 28 inches. She had but one boiler. The propellers of the Ericsson type were 6 feet 4 inches in diameter. She went into service before the close of the season and made one of her round trips between Buffalo and Chicago in fifteen days, or at an average rate including stops of 5.3 miles per hour. A. H. Brown was the first engineer. [fn 19]

Oswego, 150 tons, the third of the Oswego fleet of propellers was a duplicate of Chicago, and was built by Sylvester Doolittle in 1842-1843. She went into service on the Chicago run in the spring of 1843. On her the Erie Observer in June, reported: ‘A boat bearing the name Oswego and propelled by the Ericsson plan touched here on Wednesday last. She left Oswego a few days before, came through the Welland Canal, and is bound for Chicago. In appearance the Oswego partakes equally of the qualities of the schooner, canal boat and steamer. She was very heavily loaded with freights and had nearly 300 passengers. Owing to the small amount of the fuel required to supply the engine, and the cheapness of the machinery, passengers are carried at prices far below those charged on the side-wheel type of steamboats. The steerage price from Oswego to Chicago, a distance of 1300 miles [fn 20] is only six-dollars. We understand that there are several large boats building on this plan, and we have no doubt that the enterprise will be successful.' [fn 21]

Oswego returned to Oswego from Chicago on 12 July, with 900 barrels of pork consigned to Messrs. Bronson and Crocker. This vessel, the Oswego Palladium for the same day reported: ‘performed the trip from this port to Chicago and back discharging and receiving freight at nearly all ports on Lake Michigan and at Cleveland and Detroit, in 23 1/2 days, being the shortest passage ever made. The distance traversed during this time by the Oswego was about 3,000 miles—equal to a voyage across the Atlantic.'

Hercules, 275, tons, the second Hollister propeller, was built at Buffalo in 1842-1843, by Banta & Bidwell and cost $15,000. Like Samson, her general arrangements were similar to those of Vandalia. She was built in the strongest manner and was 137 feet long, 25 feet wide and had a depth of hold of 8 feet. The engines were duplicates of those of Samson and were also built at the Auburn prison. With boilers wet and auxiliaries they weighed 15 tons. The two wheels were of the Ericsson type of the same size as those of Vandalia, and were fitted with eight paddles on the outer hoop. The paddles were of boiler iron 3 inch thick, 18 inches broad by 30 inches long. Almost the entire hull was available for space for freight. The passenger accommodations were an improvement over those of Vandalia. There were fourteen staterooms in the main cabins, each six feet square, and additional space for the erection of 46 berths. She was fitted out in a superb manner, and was put into service in the freight and passenger trade of the upper lakes.[fn 22]

Chicago, the western terminus of the Oswego line, was no less interested in propellers than Oswego. The Chicago Press of 3 February 1843 noted that: ‘Mr. James Averill from Maine has opened a shipyard in this city on the north side of the river near the North Pier. [fn 23] He is an experienced shipbuilder, and we trust his location will prove advantageous both to himself and this community. He is now building for Messrs. Bristol and Porter, and we believe Mr. C. Walker, a vessel to be moved by Errickson's propeller. She is to be 112 feet keel, 25 feet beam and 9 1/2 in depth. She will be 250 tons burthen, and efforts will be made to complete her by June next. These steamers bid fair to supersede nearly all others on the Northern waters. The tonnage will be the same as that of those now being built on the Lower lakes. It seems that red oak of an excellent quality and well calculated for shipbuilding is obtained on the North Branch within ten miles of this city. It is quite equal to the white oak of Maine. In this respect, Mr. Averill has been agreeably disappointed.' On 21 April, the Express reported that the building of the Ericsson propeller was progressing tolerably fast. She was named Independence and launched in July, probably on the Fourth. She was schooner rigged with two masts and was fitted with twin screws each driven by a rotary engine. Her tonnage turned out to be 262 instead of 250 as intended, 12 tons to the good. Reliance was placed mainly on the sails, her speed as a steamer in calm weather being about four miles an hour. She was sent into service late in the season and was successful as a sailing vessel. She was one of the first steam barges, if not the first on the lakes. [fn 24]

The first Canadian-built propeller was London, 150 tons, launched at Cobourg on 14 April, for Mr. Baker of that place and intended for carrying freight from there to Montreal. She had an engine of 25 horsepower and in general was similar to Chicago and Oswego. [fn 25] Adventurer, 158 tons, was the second and like London was built for service between Lake Ontario and Montreal and other St. Lawrence ports. She was owned by the Toronto and St. Lawrence Steam Navigation Company. Early in October the papers reported her as the ‘first steam vessel from Toronto to Quebec. The difficulties of the navigation of the St. Lawrence have been overcome. The steam propeller Adventurer, built expressly for the navigation of Long Sault Rapids, as well as the equally dangerous Rapids of Lachine, arrived in Quebec in three days with 700 barrels of flour on board and several passengers. This is the first steamer that has arrived at Quebec from Toronto, a distance of 500 miles, thereby opening to vessels of her class a navigation from the sea to Chicago, Lake Michigan, a distance of about 2,000 miles.' Adventurer was to leave on her return trip the day following her arrival at Quebec. [fn 26]

Porter was the largest propeller that came out this year and was the first to have but a single screw. Originally she had been General Porter built in 1833 at Buffalo and purchased by the Canadian authorities, who turned her into the gunboat Toronto during the Patriot War. She was sold to Captain Gager early in the fall of 1843. The Buffalo Commercial Advertiser reported that: ‘this pioneer of the lakes which was recently repurchased from the Canadians has been expeditiously metamorphised into a fine propeller at a cost of $3,000.00 and is now ready for service. On overhauling her, it has been found that her hull was in excellent preservation, and having been strengthened by the British for belligerent service, she will prove one of the staunchest vessels in commission, — Capt. Gager has obtained one of Ericsson's improved propellers, and by the aid of an experienced engineer, and a swarm of ship builders under Grisham, has converted this strong looking craft into one of the best vessels afloat. She is 400 tons burthen, and if there is wheat enough to be found in Wisconsin to load her, she will return with enough to dispell a famine. Of course her facilities for accommodating passengers will be in proportion to her capacity for freighting.' [fn 27] On this, her first trip, she was damaged during a gale on Lake Erie but not seriously.

Other propellers that came out in 1843 were Racine, New York and Emigrant. The first two were built by Doolittle at Oswego for Oswego. These were the last of five contracted for with Ericsson. Both were of 150 tons and similar to Oswego. Emigrant, 275, tons, was the first propeller built at Cleveland and cost her owner, Sheldon Pease, $15,900.

The first merchant propellers were sturdy ships and well fitted to stand the hazards of lake navigation. They were well handled as a rule and had but few accidents in the first years, but because of the low power of their engines they were not always under good control. In September 1842, Chicago collided with Commerce, both sustaining injury. In October 1843, Independence and Bunker Hill collided on Lake Michigan, south of Milwaukee. Both were damaged. The same month Porter was damaged in a gale on Lake Erie, while on her first trip. The following month Chicago ran on a reef near Mackinaw and sustained injury. None of these accidents were serious enough to retire any of them from service.

While they were steamers, they were really nothing but an adaptation of the schooner, steam being auxiliary to their sail power. Their engines were of very low power for the craft they were driving. They could keep them moving in calms and fair weather but could not force them ahead in the face of strong winds. At best they were slow in any kind of weather, five miles an hour being nearer to their actual speed than the seven and a half and higher reported. Notwithstanding this drawback they were successful and made money for their owners because of their low costs of construction, maintenance, and operation. A most important item in their operation was the low fuel bill, this per boat being about one eighth of that of much larger side-wheelers of the same freight capacity. Accordingly their passenger fares and freight rates could be lower. While not elaborately fitted for passengers, they did not lack for them. Now steamboats in the public mind were craft that were moved by large thrashing side or stern wheels which could be seen and heard. But here were boats that moved with very little of this noisy disturbance of the water, and instead were quietly propelled by a mysterious device, [fn 28] referred to as a propeller which could not be seen. Moreover they were distinctive in appearance. Consequently they were known as propellers from the very first though they were steamboats just as were the side- and stern-wheelers. Nevertheless, to the public, side-wheelers were steamboats and those moved by propellers, were propellers. The distinction persisted down to the turn of the century.

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