Name/Title
Western Engineer Steamboat Illustration by Cornelius M. Imsert, 1948Entry/Object ID
P2018.2.148Description
Western Engineer Steamboat Illustration by Cornelius M. Imsert, 1948. b/w. Drawing of the boat "Western Engineer" on the back of a fire breathing dragon by Cornelius M. Ismert, 1948. (The original ship had a dragon figurehead). There are cannon on the deck and American flag and another flag with clasped hands and crossed swords. The significance of the drawing is not available.
from wikipedia:
Steamboat Western Engineer
The Yellowstone expedition was an expedition to the American frontier in 1819 and 1820 authorized by United States Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, with the goal of establishing a military fort or outpost at the mouth of the Yellowstone River in present-day North Dakota. Sometimes called the Atkinson–Long Expedition after its two principal leaders, Colonel Henry Atkinson and Major Stephen Harriman Long, it led to the creation of Fort Atkinson in present-day Nebraska, the first United States Army post established west of the Missouri River
Major Long immediately planned the construction of an experimental steamboat to transport the task force of scientists as far as possible on the venture. Named the Western Engineer, it was uniquely designed to navigate the expected narrow, shallow, snag-littered channels of the Missouri River and its tributaries, with a particularly strong engine for increased power against swift currents. Another novel feature was a paddlewheel built into the stern to reduce the danger of damage from snags.[8] The vessel was launched in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the winter of 1818–19, and was probably the first stern-wheel paddle steamer ever built.[9]
The boat had a 75-by-13-foot (22.9 by 4.0 m) hull with the weight of the machinery carefully distributed to permit increased maneuverability in shallow channels. To protect the vessel from Indian attack, Long installed a bulletproof pilothouse, mounted a cannon on the bow, placed howitzers along the side, and armed the crew with rifles and sabres. Nicknamed "Long's Dragon" because it was decorated as a serpent in order to deter and frighten any hostile frontier natives, it was anything but a typical steamboat of its day. Its hull drew only 19 inches (48 cm) of water compared to the 5 or 6 feet (1.5 or 1.8 m) of most steamboats of the era. Its basic design (shallow draft, rear paddlewheel, narrow beam, amidships engine) later became the prototype for western river steam vessels.[8]
A description in the Missouri Gazette of May 26, 1819 stated that "The Western Engineer is well armed and carries an elegant flag representing a white man and an Indian shaking hands, the calumet of peace and the sword. The boat is 75 feet long, 13 feet beam and draws 19 inches of water. The steam passes off through the mouth of a larger figure-head (a serpent)...".[9] This was the first steamboat to travel up the Missouri River into the Louisiana Purchase territory all the way to Nebraska.
This steamboat would have passed though St. Joseph.Collection
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Cornelius M. Ismert