Robert Fulton
(1765-1815)
c. 1800
Robert Fulton is known as the inventor of the steamboat. In reality, Fulton's invention was modeled after several other prototypes that paved the way for his success. He began his career as an artist, but eventually turned to mechanical engineering where his interests included canal dredging, bridge construction, rail transport and submarines.
In 1803 while in Paris, he built a prototype of a steamboat with the help of then American minister to France, Robert R. Livingston. In 1807, he brought this technology to the United States by launching the Clermont on the Hudson River in New York. In 1811, his design for the steamboat New Orleans was built by Nicholas I. Roosevelt who helped pilot the vessel from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. This event opened the River up to early steamboat traffic.