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From: William Lafferty
Location: here
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Remote Name: 204.210.244.45
Date: 03.29.06
Time: 04:08:23 PM
Oh, oh. Up until 1839, 95 steamboats had been enrolled on the American lakes; another 150 were enrolled 1840-1850. Excluding the St. Lawrence, in 1868 (the only year I can find figures for) a total of 143 Canadian steamboats ran the lakes. Even if we use Canada's obviously inflated 1868 figure, and make the wildly invalid assumption that all these steam vessels built before 1850 were still in existence, that gives an overall figure of 388 steamboats on the lakes in 1850. However, on the so-called "Western Rivers" of the United States, by 1835 there were already 684 steamboats operating among the Cincinnati, Louisville, and Pittsburgh Districts. And this doesn't take into account the lower Mississippi or the Missouri. So, I would have to say there were very many fewer steamboats on the lakes than on the rivers, 1840-1850. Steamboats suited river commerce of the time, while sail remained important on the lakes for another third of a century.