Early Boats

East Dubuque Local Area History Project

	by P.B. 5/1/00

	There have been many different types of boats on the Mississippi River. The oldest was the log or “dugout” canoe. The French called it a pirogue. It was made by the Indians and early travelers. To make it they would cut a tree in half, put hot coals on it, and then scoop out the charred wood and coals with a shell. One disadvantage was that it was very heavy. Another was that it was difficult to maneuver.

	Another kind of boat was the bull boat. A bull boat was made from buffalo hide with sticks for a frame which the Indians used to travel on the river.

	Next, there was the birch bark canoe which was up to forty or fifty feet long and six to eight feet wide. Something good about birch bark canoes was that they were easy to maneuver. The birch bark canoe could hold a family and many tons of household products. The birch bark canoe was made by building a frame, or jig, in the shape of a canoe by using wooden stakes driven into the ground to hold the shape. The wood was steamed so that it would be able to bend into the shape of a canoe. Then sheets of birch bark were sewn together with spruce roots, and pine pitch or gum was used to seal the seams. Birch bark canoes had one inconvenient feature, every night they had to be caulked with tallow.

	The next boat was the flat-bottomed skiff. On a journey, many of these might travel together. Another was the bateau, a bigger version of a skiff. These boats, when going downstream, were propelled by several pairs of long oars or sweeps. To go upstream, these boats would be pushed by poles.

	The flatboat was the most popular boat from the 1700’s. These boats could measure from twenty to sixty feet long and ten to twenty feet wide. This certain boat was propelled by two long sweeps sticking out on either side like horns called “broadhorns.” Flatboats only cost from a dollar to a dollar and a half per foot so they were heavily used. Flatboats had squared fronts and backs, and were much like a floating box, or a raft with walls and a roof. They looked like a mix between a log cabin, a fort, a barnyard, and a country grocery because large groups of people would travel together and bring many supplies. Their design made them practically bullet-proof so Indians had a hard time destroying them. Flatboats were used only for down river travel because it was too hard to pole them upstream. They provided living quarters at their destination, and then they would be taken apart and the lumber reused for houses.

	The keelboat was popular from the 1780’s to the 1840’s. These boats were forty to seventy-five feet in length and seven to nine feet wide. They could carry from twenty to forty tons of cargo. These boats had a sharp bow and stern. They were called keelboats because of the heavy four-inch square timber that extended from the bow to the stern along the bottom of the boat. The timber was there to absorb the shock of hitting a rock or a tree in the water.

	Moving upstream was had work. Keelboats sometimes had masts and sails to help them along the river, but these required a favorable wind. Other times, these boats were pushed by long poles. If the river was too high for poling, boatmen might cordel the boat up the river. A long rope would be tied to the mast, and men would walk along the shore pulling the boat. Warping was when the rope was wrapped around an upstream tree and the line was hauled in. Another method of moving upstream was bushwhacking. If the river was flooded, crewmen could pull the boat along by holding on to trees along the shore. Moving a boat upstream was hard work. A keel boatman could push two to three tons at a time up a river. Until the invention of the steamboat, keelboats were considered to be the fastest and best way to travel.

	Barge boats were thirty to seventy feet long and seven to twelve feet wide, and were similar to a ship’s longboat. They had a masts, sails, and a steering rudder, as well as oars. They were used mainly for going down river. These boats were also pushed upstream by poles.

	The next boat to be invented was the tow boat. Tow boats were invented to push barges or rafts of lumber instead of poles and people.

	Boats of all kinds were used in the past for many reasons. Without them it would have taken our country longer to develop. The 1812 invention of the steamboat made river travel easier, but flatboats and keelboats were still used where the river was too shallow for steamers. Boats got better and still are improving. Boating is something that will never go out of style.

	Bibliography Field trip to the Dubuque River Museum, 3/3/00. Peterson, William J. Steam Boating on the Upper Mississippi. New York: Dover Publications, 1968. Watson, Ken. Paddle Steamers: An Illustrated History of Steamboats on the Mississippi and its Tributaries. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1985. Photo Courtesy of Center for Dubuque History. Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa.