Steamboats: A Brief History and the 2018 Great Steamboat Race Like the chicken and the egg story, rivers came before trains, cars, trucks and airplanes. Prior to the use of steam as a power source, river travel was slow and dependent on the river current and people power. In the late 1700s, the invention of the steam‐powered boats revolutionized river travel. However, that technology was froth with dangers, one being explosions. Scotsman James Watt is credited with inventing an engine that ran by steam. That was in 1769. By 1787, an American named John Fitch built the first steamboat. The expense of building them had a negative effect to becoming a commercial success. In 1807, another American, Robert Fulton, built the first “successful” steamboat, the Clermont. With the assistance of Robert Livingston, the development of the Clermont and its travels between New York City and Albany turned out to be a profitable venture. The paddlewheel boats were the mainstay of steamboats during the 19th and 20th centuries. From hulls originally built with wood to steel, paddlewheels either on the side or stern became common on America’s rivers. Some of the boats became floating palaces. Some had calliopes that could be heard for miles, some became showboats that stopped along the riverway and entertained river towns. As mentioned previously, boiler explosions, but also Indian attacks, were the two biggest dangers while riding the waterways of America, especially in the Northwest. When it came to steamboat racing, one of the earliest, but also most famous, was between the Natchez and the Robert E. Lee in 1870. The two boats raced from New Orleans, Louisiana to St. Louis, Missouri. Lee won the race in three days, with the Natchez coming in 6 hours later. (Page 6, sam.usace.army.mil) The steamboat’s demise came as railroads began to grow in use. As early as 1830, there were only 23 miles of tracks, but by 1880 that number increased to 93,000 miles of tracks. Steamboats however are making their way back on American waterways as a touring adventure. The Mississippi, Ohio and Columbia Rivers have seen a surge of such use over the past decade. Old casino boats are being refurbished into comfortable and accommodating hotels on water, with off‐shore excursions included in the tour itinerary. Steamboat racing has been a tradition, called the Great Steamboat Race during Kentucky Derby Festival days. First held in 1963, the race took place between Belle of Louisville, built in 1914, which is now the oldest steam‐powered paddle boat in the United States, and the Delta Queen. In 2009, the Delta Queen was retired, and Belle of Cincinnati, a former sternwheeler from the Gateway Clipper Company of Pittsburgh, took over the competition. The Belle of Cincinnati is a diesel‐powered paddle wheeler. In 2012, the American Queen joined in the race. In 2018, its sister boat and newest of the fleet, the American Duchess, raced the Belles of Louisville and Cincinnati. The American Duchess, with its modern furnishings and power system, was a former casino vessel, the Isle of Capri. The Duchess has an electric hydraulically driven paddle wheel. It also has three bow thrusters and three Z‐drive stern propellers. Traveling north bound, the paddlewheel is used due to current, achieving 5‐6 knots per hour; southbound, the paddlewheels is not used, achieving up to 12 knots per hour. This makes this boat one that can turn easily and when all power is applied, hard to beat, up or down river. That was the case for the 2018 race in which the former‐all‐time winner of the Great Steamboat Race, the Belle of Louisville, came in third after the Belle of Cincinnati. The Belle of Louisville’s demise was that it had to back up to turn around and a brisk wind in the wrong direction made the turn laboriously slow, even though it was ahead during the first half of the 14‐mile race. [1 knot=1.150779 mph] This photo program shares some scenes during the Great Steamboat Race. (Note: photos taken of the race were from the American Duchess.)

THE RACE BEGINS – Louisville, KY at George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge to Six Mile Island and return—14 miles.

The American Duchess pulls away and wins! acuri.net John R. Vincenti Steamboats and the Great Steamboat Race Sources: http://www.sam.usace.army.mil/Portals/46/docs/recreation/OP‐ CO/montgomery/pdfs/10thand11th/ahistoryofsteamboats.pdf, https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2017/08/14/american‐duchess‐new‐mississippi‐riverboat‐christened‐ new‐orleans/567166001/, http://www.belleoflouisville.org/belle‐of‐louisville/, https://louisvillewaterfront.com/explore‐ the‐park/features/belle‐of‐louisville/, http://bbriverboats.com/our‐fleet/belle‐of‐cincinnati, http://bbriverboats.com/about‐us/our‐history, and http://www.wave3.com/story/37746503/kdf‐great‐steamboat‐ race‐adds‐boat‐changes‐rules. Painting: “Cincinnati 1947 – Delta Queen Steamer Arriving in the Moonlight” by Michael Blaser (Photo from Duchess)