THE EARLY SAIL AND STEAM VESSELS.

It is a long cry from 1679, the year in which the first sailing ship, La Salle's Griffon, appeared upon the lakes until 1755, when we next have any authentic record of sailing vessels being afloat on Lake Ontario.
The treaty of peace with France was signed in the end of 1760, and for the next few years there were few if any vessels on the lakes, except the batteaux and canoes.

Nevertheless we find some progress was being made, as the following interesting passages from the Detroit Tribune will show:-- "In 1766 four vessels plied upon Lake Erie. These were the Gladwin, Lady Charlotte, Victory and Boston. The two latter laid up in the fall near Navy Island, above Niagara Falls, and one of these was burned accidentally November 30th of the same year. A vessel called the Brunswick, owned and commanded by Captain Alexander Grant, made her appearance on the lakes during the year 1767, and was lost some time during the season following. Captain Grant was the commodore of the lakes for two or three years. In 1769, Sterling and Porteous built a vessel at Detroit, called the Enterprise, Richard Cornwall, of New York, being the carpenter. The boatmen, who went from Schenectady with the rigging and stores for this vessel to Detroit, were to have each £20 and ten gallons of rum. They were seventy days on Lake Erie, and two of the number perished with hunger and their bodies were kept to decoy eagles and ravens. They returned to New York in February, 1760, by way of Pittsburg, then called Fort Pitt."
"In May, 1770, a vessel of seventy tons burthen was launched at Niagara, called the Charity. The same year the Duke of Gloucester, Secretary Townsend, Samuel Tutchet, Henry Baxter and four others formed a company for mining copper on Lake Superior. In December they built at Point aux Pines a barge, and laid the keel for a sloop of 40 tons burden. Of the success of this enterprise we are not informed. Subsequent to the above period very little was accomplished in the construe ion of craft for lake navigation, and the few that came into commission were used solely as traders, as were in fact all those previously named. A short time after, 1770, batteaux from Montreal and Quebec, employed by the Hudson's Bay Fur Company, made their annual tours westward, gathering large quantities of furs and returning homeward in the fall. It has been stated that the first vessel built on Lake Ontario was in 1749, but this, we have reason to believe, is not correct."

From this extract, therefore, it would appear that--even allowing it to be correct that a sailing ship was built on Lake Ontario in 1779 -- exactly seventy years had elapsed between the appearance of the first vessel, the Griffon and the one just referred to. The Declaration of Independence by the North American colonies was made on July 4,1776, and during the war which immediately followed thereupon the Home Government fitted up a shipyard at Carleton Island and there built several vessels which were afterwards used in conveying troops and stores along the lake to various ports between the dockyard and Niagara.

The lack of adequate roads in the Great Lakes region during the late 18th and early 19th centuries made virtually everyone dependent upon waterborne transportation. Immigrants, traders, tourists, missionaries, and military personnel depended on the the growing number of fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessels. Steam-powered sidewheelers appeared on the Great Lakes in 1816 and above Niagara in 1818. Initially the steamers lacked the reputation for safety and reliability that encouraged the bulk of the travelers - immigrants - to part with more of their savings in the hope of a faster voyage. Steamers began to gain ground on sailing craft in the 1830s, but it was not until the 1840s that the passenger trade carried by sailing "packets" was surpassed by steamers.

Settlers often arrived by way of the lakes. The majority were foreign immigrants who came to the lakes via Canada or the American East Coast. Both routes involved departure from Europe by ship. The Canadian route involved landing at Montreal or Quebec and traveling by canal, river, road, or later railroad to Lake Ontario. Passage on a vessel from Kingston then moved the travelers to the head of Lake Ontario, where they would portage around Niagara Falls or, after 1829, go through the Welland Canal and on to their destination. The American route meant landing at New York or another large northeast port before heading west via roads, inland waterways, or railroads. The immigrants would normally reach the lakes at Buffalo, Oswego, or Rochester and take passage on a vessel heading to the desired destination. This process on either route might require any number of changes of vessel.

Traveling by both sailing and steam vessel could be dangerous, no less so for the passengers than for the crew. There were a number of terrible accidents, some of which took the lives of entire families.

Most vessels did more than just carry passengers; they also served as supply ships for John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company and other trading firms, bringing supplies north and carrying fish, furs, beeswax, and other products of local communities back east. Some acted as traveling store ships, visiting and trading at remote locations where communication overland was difficult or unavailable. Eventually the trade increased as settlements were able to ship more products of agriculture and fisheries eastward.

PICTURES OF EARLY SAIL AND STEAMSHIPS IN PORT DALHOUSIE, ONTARIO HARBOUR

The First Steamboats on Lake Ontario and the Niagara River.

THE era of steamboating arrived with The CLERMONT built by Robert Fulton ,and furnished with English engines by Boulton & Watts, of Birmingham. She made her first trip on the Hudson from New York to Albany in August, 1807, and afterwards continued to run on the river.

In 1809 the ACCOMODATION, built by the Hon. John Molson at Montreal, and fitted with engines made in that city, was running successfully between Montreal and Quebec, being the first steamer on the St. Lawrence and in Canada.

The experience of both of these vessels had shown that the new system of propulsion of vessels by steam power was commercially profitable, and as it had been proved successful upon the river water, and was then applied to the open waters of the lakes.

In February, 1815, a British company was formed with shareholders in Kingston, Niagara, York, and Prescott, to build a steamboat to ply on Lake Ontario. A site suitable for its construction was selected on the beaches on Finkle's Point, at Ernestown, 18 miles up the lake from Kingston, on one of the reaches of the Bay of Quinte.

A contract was let to Henry Teabout and James Chapman, two young men who had been foremen under Henry Eckford, the master shipbuilder of New York, who during the War of 1812 had constructed the warships for the United States Government at its dockyard at Sackett's Harbor.

Construction commenced at Finkle's Point on October, 1815. The steamer was launched on 7th September, 1816, and named the FRONTENAC, after the County of Frontenac in which she had been built.

In the description of this launch of the Frontenac given in the September issue of the Kingston Gazette, the details of her size are stated. "Length, 170 feet; beam, 32 feet; two paddle wheels with circumference about 40 feet. Registered tonnage, 700 tons." Further statements made are, "Good judges have pronounced this to be the best piece of naval architecture of the kind yet produced in America." "The machinery for this valuable boat was imported from England and is said to be an excellent structure. It is expected that she will be finished and ready for use in a few weeks."

Having been launched with engines on board in early September the Frontenac then sailed down the lake from Ernestown to Kingston to lay up in the port.

A similar interest had arisen on the United States side. The first record of the steamboat on the American side is an agreement with the Fulton Estate, dated January 2, 1816, granting Charles Smyth and others exclusive rights to build vessels powered by steam on Lake Ontario.

By an assignment dated August 16th, 1816, became Smyth and other partners, commenced building a boat named ONTARIO at Sackett's Harbor the same summer.

The Ontario, commenced running in the spring of 1817. She was the first steamer in the United States built on the Western Lakes, and ran from Ogdensburg to Lewiston, making the trip in 10 days, charging $15 for cabin passage, and continued to run until the year 1831. Her engine was made by Mr. J.P. Altaire, of the city of New York. Gen. Jacob Brown, Com. M.T. Woolsey, Hooker & Crane, Charles Smyth, Eric Lusher, and Elisha Camp, were the proprietors of the Ontario. Her construction, as the first vessel propelled by steam built west of the Hudson, and the first sea vessel of the kind ever built in this country.

The ONTARIO. 1817.

No drawing of the Frontenac exists, but she was described as having guards only at the paddle wheels, the hull painted black, and as having three masts, but no yards. The Ontario had two masts.

In the spring of 1817 the first mention of the Frontenac is in Kingston of her having moved over on 23rd May to the Government dock at Point Frederick, "for putting in a suction pipe," the Kingston Gazette further describing that "she moved with majestic grandeur against a strong wind." On 30th May the Gazette reports her as "leaving this port for the purpose of taking in wood at the Bay Quinte. A fresh breeze was blowing into the harbor against which she proceeded swiftly and steadily to the admiration of a great number of spectators. We congratulate the managers and proprietors of this elegant boat, upon the prospect she affords of facilitating the navigation of Lake Ontario in furnishing an expeditious and certain mode of conveyance to its various ports. "

In the Kingston Gazette of June 7, 1817, entry is made, "The Frontenac left this port on Thursday, 5th, on her first trip for the head of the lake."

The opening route of the Frontenac, commanded by Capt. James McKenzie, a retired officer of the royal navy, was between Kingston and Queenston, calling at York and Niagara and other intermediate ports. The venture of a steamer plying on the open lakes, where the paddle wheels would be subjected to wave action, was a new one, so for the opening trips her captain announced, with the proverbial caution of a Scotchman, that the calls at the ports would be made"with as much punctuality as the nature of lake navigation will admit of." Later, the steamer, having proved her capacity by two round trips, the advertisements of June, 1817, state the timetable of the steamer as "leaving Kingston for York on the 1st, 11th, and 23rd days," and "York for Queenston on 3rd, 13th, and 25th days of each month, calling at all intermediate ports. "Passenger fares, Kingston to Ernestown, 5s; Prescott, £1.10.0 ; Newcastle, £1.15,0; York and Niagara, £2.0.0; Burlington, £3.15.0; York to Niagara,£1.0.0." Further excerpts are: "A book is kept for the entering of the names of the passengers and the berths which they choose, at which time the passage money must be paid." "Gentlemen's servants cannot eat or sleep in the cabin." "Deck passengers will pay fifteen shillings, and may either bring their own provisions or be furnished by the steward." "For each dog brought on board, five shillings." "All applications for passage to be made to Capt. McKenzie on board." After having run regularly each season on Lake Ontario and the Niagara River her career was closed in 1827 when, while on the Niagara River, she was set on fire, it was said, by incendiaries, for whose discovery her owners, the Messrs. Hamilton, offered a reward of £700, but without result. Being seriously damaged, she was shortly afterwards broken up.

Such were the careers of the first two steamers which sailed upon Lake Ontario and the Niagara River, and from the data it is apparent that the Frontenac on the British side was the first steamboat placed on Lake Ontario, and that the Ontario, on the United States side, had been the first to make a trip up lake, having priority in this over her rival by perhaps a week or two, but not preceding her in the entering into and performance of a regular service.

With them began the new method for travel, far exceeding in speed and facilities any previously existing, so that the stage lines and sailing vessels were quickly eliminated.

This practical monopoly the steamers enjoyed for a period of fifty years, when their Nemesis in turn arrived and the era of rail competition began.

The Sophia, of 75 tons, was built at Sackett's Harbor in 1818 to run between that place and Kingston. In the same year, the first steamer on Lake Erie -- the Walk-in-the-Water -- was built in 1823. The Martha Ogden was built at Sackett's Harbor under the direction and control of the late Albert Crane, Esq., of Oswego, which in connection with the Ontario, formed the line of American steamers for many years, down to 1830, to which time the lake steamers were considered an experiment. They had no regular day for leaving port, but made their trips conform to the appearance of the weather. The boat building at French Creek, for the Ontario Company, nearly ready to launch, will be much superior in dimensions and style of fitting up, to any boat on the lake.

This material is copyright The Estate of Ivan S. Brookes. The originals are deposited in the Special Collections of the Hamilton Public Library.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM THE WISCONSIN MARINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

STEAMBOATS COMMERCE BEGINS TO GROW.

The first steamboat on the upper Lakes was the 338-ton Walk in the Water. It was built at Black Rock (Tonawanda), New York, for the Lake Erie Steamboat Company. Its machinery, like that of the Ontario and Frontenac, was designed by Robert Fulton.

WALK IN THE WATER

Acceptance of steamboats was slow among Lakes vessel owners. Trade in the 1820s was not yet large enough to justify the large investment required to build steamers, so most vessel owners built and operated sailing craft. After completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, however, the commerce of the region grew. The burgeoning passenger traffic offered sufficient returns to justify the more costly steamboats. In the 13 years previous to the opening of the Canal, 25 steamboats had been constructed. In the four years after completion of the canal, 60 new steamboats were built, primarily at Lake Erie ports which connected directly with the Erie Canal.

By 1840, there were more than 100 steamers in service on the Lakes. Most were less than eight years old. About 40 of these craft operated as ferries or on short local routes out of the larger ports. The remainder, principally the larger boats, ran from Buffalo to upper Lakes ports or from Niagara and Toronto to lower Lakes or St. Lawrence River destinations. By the 1840s, the Erie Canal brought tens of thousands of settlers to Buffalo each year in search of passage to the West. Population in cities bordering the upper Lakes reportedly quadrupled in the eight years previous to 1840 as a result of that influx. The passenger and merchandise businesses were booming.

Steamboat technology developed quickly in the 1830s and 1840s. The steamers Illinois (1837) and Great Western (1838) were the largest and finest of their day. The 185-foot Great Western was the first steamer on the Lakes to be fitted with a spacious upper cabin.

With the advances in shipbuilding technology during the 1840s came dramatic changes to the steamboat fleet. The first 1,000-ton steamer in the nation, the 260-foot Empire, was built on the Lakes in 1844. The lavish vessel ushered in the era of "Palace Steamers," which was to last until 1855.

STEAMBOAT EMPIRE

The magnificent Palace Steamers of the later 1840s and early 1850s were the most beautifully-appointed craft ever built on the Lakes. In all, there were 25 of them. Most were between 1,000 and 1,600 tons. The City of Buffalo, built in 1857, was the last and largest of them. It measured 350 feet in length

The Panic of 1857 ruined the passenger business on the Lakes. The entire fleet of Palace Steamers was withdrawn from service. Few ever operated again. When the country recovered from the depression in 1861 and 1862, most of the ships were no longer worth repairing, and they were too expensive to compete with newer, more efficient craft. The passenger business revived after the Civil War, but it was never again able to sustain ships as luxurious as the Palace Steamers. The steamers built for the post-war passenger trade were more modest in size and furnishings.

In 1840 and 1841, several Lake Ontario vessel owners began to experiment with steamboat technology to enable them to compete more effectively with Buffalo and the Erie Canal for the trade of the West. They built the first "steam schooners," adopting the efficient new engines with screw propellers developed by Swedish inventor John Ericson.

In 1840 and 1841, several Lake Ontario vessel owners began to experiment with steamboat technology to enable them to compete more effectively with Buffalo and the Erie Canal for the trade of the West. They built the first "steam schooners," adopting the efficient new engines with screw propellers developed by Swedish inventor John Ericson.

Propellers were soon found to be economical ships. They were cheaper to build and operate than side-wheelers. Their machinery was simpler, cheaper, and more compact, so that it left more space for cargo. Screw steam engines burned about one-fourth the fuel of paddle-wheel steamers, and required only half the engine-room crews. All these factors enabled propellers to offer freight rates somewhere between those of sailing craft and side-wheelers. This meant that they could compete for much of the low-value cargoes that had previously been carried in schooners. Not long after their introduction, propellers were gathering contracts for larger and larger proportions of the flour, grain, and provisions shipped down the Lakes.

The 105-foot propeller Independence was brought to Lake Superior in 1845. It was the first steamer of any kind to sail that body of water. The Independence had been built two years earlier at Chicago, and like several other vessels, it was hauled around the falls at Sault Ste. Marie on rollers and launched into Lake Superior many years before the Sault Locks were built

The number of propellers on the Lakes grew rapidly and revolutionized the carrying trades. Several companies organized around 1850 to build fleets of screw steamers to carry freight in connection with the Erie Canal, or with the various railroads running to the seaboard from the eastern end of the Lakes. Between 1840 and 1849, 81 propellers were built at Great Lake shipyards. During the next ten years, 133 more were added and during the 1860s another 88 were built, not including screw tugs.

The first screw steamers resembled the side-wheelers of the 1840s, with passenger cabins above deck and cargo holds below. The propellers had their machinery mounted aft, in the stern, while the paddle-steamers carried their engines and boilers amidships, occupying most of the hold space. The propellers carried both passengers and freight. A few specialized ships, built without cabins, were called "package freighters." At first there were few package freighters. They became more common after 1870. Fifty package boats were built between 1870 and 1910. Another specialized type of screw steamer was the towboat or "tug." The first screw-powered ships in Europe and the United States were tugs. They were not adopted on the Great Lakes and tributary canals until 1850. Two screw tugs were built on the Lakes before 1850. More than 100 were built during the 1850s, and nearly 400 in the 1860s.

Screw steamers, including passenger propellers and package freighters, grew in size during the 19th century, along with deepening channels and improvements in shipbuilding technology. The average size of propellers grew from 141 feet (337 tons) in 1845, to 182 feet (641 tons) in 1862 and 220 feet (1,300 tons) in 1877.