Yellowstone (steamboat)

The steamer Yellow-Stone on the 19th April 1833 (circa 1832): aquatint by Karl Bodmer from the book Maximilian, Prince of Wied's Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834
History
NameYellowstone
OwnerAmerican Fur Company (1831) and Thomas Toby & Brother of New Orleans (1835)
OperatorBenjamin Young,[1] Anson G. Bennett, Joseph La Barge, Thomas Wigg Grayson,[2] John E. Ross,[3] and James V. West[4]
RouteMissouri River, Mississippi River, Brazos River, and the Gulf of Mexico
OrderedNovember 24, 1830
BuilderLouisville, Kentucky
Maiden voyageApril 16, 1831[5]
Fateunknown, possibly sank in Buffalo Bayou
General characteristics
Class and typeSide-wheeler, packet boat
Displacement144 tons
Length120 ft (37 m)[6][7] or 130 ft (40 m)
Beam20 ft (6.1 m)[8][9] or 19 ft (5.8 m)
Depth6 ft (1.8 m)[10][11] or 5.5 ft (1.7 m)
DecksThree: Hold, Main Deck and Boiler Deck.
Installed power1 boiler, as built; refitted with two boilers in 1835.
PropulsionTwo 18 ft (5.5 m) paddlewheels
Capacity75 tons,[12] 72 passengers, and 22 crew.[13]
Crew22[14]
NotesFirst steamboat to reach above Council Bluff, Iowa, on the Missouri River (1831); First steamboat to reach mouth of Yellowstone River (1832); Crossed Texan Army on Brazos River in Texas War for Independence (1836).
Model of Steamboat "Yellowstone", Museum of the Fur Trade, Nebraska, USA

The steamboat Yellowstone (sometimes Yellow Stone) was a side wheeler steamboat built in Louisville, Kentucky, for the American Fur Company for service on the Missouri River. By design, the Yellowstone was the first powered boat to reach above Council Bluffs, Iowa, on the Missouri River achieving, on her maiden voyage, Fort Tecumseh, South Dakota, on June 19, 1831.[15] The Yellowstone also played an important role in the Texas Revolution of 1836, crossing the Texas Army under Sam Houston over the swollen Brazos River ahead of Santa Anna's pursuing Mexican Army.

  1. ^ Jackson, Donald. Voyages of the Steamboat Yellow Stone. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1985, p. 4.
  2. ^ Puryear, Pamela Ashworth and Nath Winfield Jr., Sandbars and Sternwheelers, Steam Navigation on the Brazos; Texas A&M University Press, College Station, 1976. p. 46.
  3. ^ Jackson, Donald, Voyages of the Steamboat Yellow Stone, New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1985. p. 47.
  4. ^ Gray, William Fairfax. Diary of Col. Wm F. Gray, from Virginia to Texas, 1835. Dillaye &, 1909. p. 221.
  5. ^ Burkhalter, Lois Wood (March 26, 2014). "YELLOW STONE". Texas Handbook Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  6. ^ Jackson, Donald. Voyages of the Steamboat Yellow Stone. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1985. p. 1, 145, 160.
  7. ^ 122' length; 20.5' beam: Puryear, Pamela Ashworth and Nath Winfield Jr., Sandbars and Sternwheelers, Steam Navigation on the Brazos; Texas A&M University Press, College Station, 1976. p. 46.
  8. ^ Jackson, Donald. Voyages of the Steamboat Yellow Stone. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1985. p. 1, 160.
  9. ^ 122' length; 20.5' beam: Puryear, Pamela Ashworth and Nath Winfield Jr., Sandbars and Sternwheelers, Steam Navigation on the Brazos; Texas A&M University Press, College Station, 1976. p. 46.
  10. ^ Jackson, Donald. Voyages of the Steamboat Yellow Stone. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1985. p. 1, 145, 160.
  11. ^ Ramos, Mary G. "The 'Yellow Stone'". Texas Almanac. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  12. ^ Chittenden, H. M. History of Early Steamboat Navigation on the Missouri River. New York: Harper., 1903. p. 112n.
  13. ^ Jackson, Donald, Voyages of the Steamboat Yellow Stone, New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1985. p. 2.
  14. ^ Jackson, Donald, Voyages of the Steamboat Yellow Stone, New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1985. p. 2.
  15. ^ Schell, Herbert S. (2004). History of South Dakota. Fourth Edition, Revised. Pierre, SD: South Dakota State Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0971517134.