The first Western steamboat was built in 1811 in Pittsburgh, and 
thousands more were constructed in the years before the Civil 
War. These waterborne vehicles helped define the nineteenth-
century trans-Appalachian West. Decades of incremental changes 
created a distinctive watercraft, and the steamboat became 
perfectly suited to the conditions of the Western rivers, 
transforming the West from a wilderness into a place of economic 
significance.

    In The Western River Steamboat, nautical archaeologist Adam 
I. Kane traces the development of this once commonplace vessel. 
Kane describes the importance and impact of the steamboat in 
American history and complements his historical analysis with 
clear, concise technical explanations of the construction and 
evolution of Western river steamboats.

    Using photographs, drawings, and charts to help readers 
visualize the early steamboats and the study of their remains by 
archaeologists, Kane explains how the rivers dictated the design 
of the hull, why stern wheels replaced side wheels, how hogging 
chains kept hulls from buckling, and why safety valves were of 
little use when engineers regularly overloaded them.

    Anyone intrigued by the vessel that changed America's West, 
in addition to those studying historical or nautical archaeology,
maritime history, or cultural resource management, will find this
book of interest.

_________________________________________________________

ADAM I. KANE lives in Vergennes, Vermont, and works as a 
nautical archaeologist at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.
He holds a master's degree in anthropology from Texas A&M 
University and has done extensive fieldwork at archaeological 
sites throughout the United States.


Ed Rachal Foundation Nautical Archaeology Series, in Association 
with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology


What people are saying about this book

" . . . an invaluable contribution in this brief history of the western 
river steamboat. . . . recommended for researchers as well as 
students interested in the history of transportation of people and 
things."—Colonial Latin American Historical Review, Winter 2005
 
". . . Adam A. Kane is standing his watch in the wheelhouse of the 
history of western rivers, adding to our knowledge of steamboat 
structure and technology . . . All historians of American economics 
and technology and of the Ohio and Mississippi Valley frontiers and 
civilization should own a copy of this book."—The Journal of 
Southern History

"With a combination of thorough research and archaeological 
analysis Kane provides both archaeologists and historians with 
an amazing new research tool—a reference manual that no 
steamboat researcher will be able to do without."—Annalies 
Corbin, East Carolina University