Indian Removal Steamboats?

There is a steamboat named REVENUE listed in Way's Packet Directory. It was built in 1844 in Pittsburgh and ran tramp trades to the Arkansas River. Its engineer was credited with installing the first steam whistle heard along the Western Rivers on this boat, according to F. Way. Could this have been the boat? It was 145 tons, 143x22,4.9 and a sidewheeler.

Judy,

Thanks for the reply. I don't think that can be the same steamboat since the REVENUE I've come across was in operation during the mid 1830s in the Alabama area. I have come across the REVENUE you have mentioned, but I know it's not the same one.

What I do know about the Indian Removal steamboats is that they would have been side wheelers because keel boats were pulled behind them. The keel boats were used to transport animals and other larger items the Indians were taking with them to Indian Territory.

I am an artist trying to recreate the interior of a steamboat as the Indians were cramped inside. That's why I'm looking for some detailed plans or blueprints of any ships from that era.

I appreciate the help though!

Roy

Unfortunately, there are no known plans or construction drawings for boats of that era. They were all built "by eye and rule of thumb" by skilled craftsman. There is, to the best of my knowledge, only one existing, excavated wreck of this time- the HEROINE. Go to the INA/TAMU Red River project site for information. The online version of the Chronicals of Oklahoma has several articles on the Indian removals, including the names of a number of the boats used. Suprisingly, Henry Shreve's snagboat Archimedes was one of them. Dr. Kevin Crisman of Texas A&M has collected a number of prints and paintings of steamers of the era you are interested in and might be willing to correspond with you about where he obtained them.

Hank,

Appreciate the comments. I think the Crisman collection might be of help. I have virtually no knowledge of steamboats, so this forum has been of great help. I'm trying to reconstruct one of the travel routes through the state of Arkansas.

Roy

Roy,
I am doing research on the use of steamboats in Indian Removal and have learned that perhaps 35,000 Indians were removed on riverboats. I am not familiar with the Revenue to transport Creek Indians and would be interested in any reference to it. As far as the keelboats that were towed behind steamers, a few descriptions of them exist. I can direct you to them if you wish. The website of the American Native Press Archives has a significant amount of material on steamers and Indian Removal ( http://anpa.ualr.edu/) . By the way, I believe the deadliest steamboat accident prior to the Civil War involved Creek Indians being removed to Oklahoma. The Monmouth sank, and most sources reference 311 Indians deaths.

Robert Gudmestad

Robert,

The REVENUE is mentioned in the book INDIAN REMOVAL by Grant Foreman in the chapter detailing the Muscogee Creek Indians.

It is interesting that you mention the American Native Press Archives. I am currently a research fellow there working under Dr. Littlefield. The archives have been invaluable to my research. The only issue I am having difficulty in locating is imagery. I need to find some images of steamboats from that era. Any engravings, paintings, blueprints, etc. would be of great help.

Thanks for the reply,

Roy

Roy,
Thanks for the info -- I'll double check Foreman. I have photocopies of a few steamers from that era and I could make copies and send them on to you. The originals are in the Cincinnati Public Library. I'm not at my office during Christmas break but would be happy to send out material in early January.

Robert

Is there any record of steamboats carrying Cherokee Indians through St. Louis during their removal westward? There is a cemetery with 20 Cherokee graves at Linn Creek, Missouri. The date on the gravesite marker is 1838.

Linn Creek is quite a ways from the the Trail of Tears land route through Missouri. However, it is on the Osage River, which was navigable by steamboat or keelboat in the 1830s. To get there by boat, the Cherokees would have had to go through St. Louis, then up the Missouri to the mouth of the Osage, and then travel about 110 miles up the Osage.

I have spoken with members of the Trail of Tears Association, and none of them can explain how these Cherokee came to be buried there.

Roy,

The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County has a few images of steamers from the 1820s-30s. They are Tecumseh (1826), Moselle (1838),
Missouri (1828), Belle Creole (1825).

Robert Gudmestad

Michael,

At least 3,000 Cherokees were removed via steamer in 1838, but the records I have seen indicate they went through Little Rock. I don't know anything about the Indians to whom you refer. The government allowed some Cherokees arrange the details of their own removal, and so maybe members of this particular group chose a different route. The Trail of Tears is really the Trails of Tears.

Robert Gudmestad