Ontario

The Ontario was a steam driven sidewheeler steamboat, launched in 1817, and the first such craft to see active service on the Great Lakes, at Lake Ontario. Ontario departed Sackets Harbor, New York on its maiden voyage sometime in April 1817. Financed by the late Robert Fulton's estate, the Ontario was built with the hopes that it would fare well commercially, and prove efficient on the often windy and turbulent Great Lakes. Her time on the lake delivering people and goods proved a success, and helped to usher in a new era of maritime commerce. Description The Ontario was in length, had a beam of , an depth of hold with a capacity of 240 tons. The ship's chief carpenter was Ashel Roberts. The engine for Ontario was a low pressure 21 horsepower crosshead, built in New York City by the J. P. Allair Works. Her boilers were long and in diameter, with a steam cylinder of in diameter with a stroke. Her paddle wheels had a diameter of . Ontario was also outfitted with two masts and schooner style sails to assist the engine when the wind was effective enough. Construction Preliminary to the construction of the Ontario, articles of agreement were drawn up in 1815 for Harris Fulton and William Cutting of New York, the executors of the estates of the late Robert Fulton, Robert Livingston, and Charles Smyth, Thomas Duane and David Boyd, who were now the owners of the rights and privileges of steamboat navigation in New York State. The agreement gave Smyth and Joseph C. Yates the sole right for employment of steam navigation on Lake Ontario. The Ontario was built by Charles Smyth, David Boyd, John DeGraff, Eri Lusher, and Abraham Van Santvoord, who petitioned the New York State Legislature for the rights to incorporate and be the sole steamboat operators on Lake Ontario, which would give them a monopoly on steam navigation. The courts decided against their claims.