New Orleans

New Orleans was the first steamboat on the western waters of the United States. Owned by Robert Fulton and Robert R. Livingston, and built by Nicholas Roosevelt, its 1811–1812 voyage from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to New Orleans, Louisiana, on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers ushered in the era of commercial steamboat navigation on the western and mid-western continental rivers. Background New Orleans was part of a business venture among Robert Fulton (1765–1815), Robert R. Livingston (1746–1813), and Nicholas Roosevelt (1767–1854) to build and operate steamboats on America's western waters, including the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fulton had already successfully commercialized the use of the steamboat on the Hudson River above New York City with his North River Steamboat (often called Clermont) in 1807. In addition, Fulton became familiar with the Ohio River during a 1786 visit to Pittsburgh. Livingston was a wealthy New York politician and inventor who helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase while minister to France from 1800 to 1804. Fulton and Livingston became partners and consulted with Nicholas Roosevelt, an inventor and expert on steamboats. Livingston's side-wheel design ended up being crucial to the success of their joint venture. After Fulton and Livingston obtained U.S. industrial patents for their "steamboat" design, they hoped to increase their profits from the exclusive rights granted by the state governments of New York State and Louisiana to steam navigation on the Hudson and Mississippi Rivers. The two men realized the great potential for steamboat traffic on the western waters, and within twelve days of the completion of Clermont'''s first voyage, they began to plan for the introduction of a steamboat on the western rivers.