Yellowstone (steamboat)
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Yellowstone |
| Owner | American Fur Company (1831) and Thomas Toby & Brother of New Orleans (1835) |
| Operator | Benjamin Young, Anson G. Bennett, Joseph La Barge, Thomas Wigg Grayson, John E. Ross, and James V. West |
| Route | Missouri River, Mississippi River, Brazos River, and the Gulf of Mexico |
| Ordered | November 24, 1830 |
| Builder | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Maiden voyage | April 20, 1831 |
| Fate | unknown, possibly sank in Buffalo Bayou |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Side-wheeler, packet boat |
| Displacement | 144 tons |
| Length | 120 ft (37 m) or 130 ft (40 m) |
| Beam | 20 ft (6.1 m) or 19 ft (5.8 m) |
| Depth | 6 ft (1.8 m) or 5.5 ft (1.7 m) |
| Decks | Three: Hold, Main Deck and Boiler Deck. |
| Installed power | 1 boiler, as built; refitted with two boilers in 1835. |
| Propulsion | Two 18 ft (5.5 m) paddlewheels |
| Capacity | 75 tons, 72 passengers, and 22 crew. |
| Crew | 22 |
| Notes | First 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). |
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. 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.