175 YEARS OF STEAMBOATING OBSERVED

ST. LOUIS St. Louis' famous Arch is often viewed as a symbolic "Gateway to the West," representing the role of St. Louis in westward expansion.

However, another symbolic Arch could span the Mississippi River representing St. Louis as the Gateway to the North. For when the first steamboat arrived on her banks 175 years ago St. Louis became just that, a gateway to the north.

The advent of the steamboat transportation made St. Louis the primary inland shipping port in the United States. In 1817, the character and economy of St. Louis changed forever.

On July 25, 1817, an inconspicuous advertisement was placed in the Missouri Gazette. It read, "The Steam-Boat PIKE, will arrive in a day or two from Louisville." The mention was simple, however, the occasion of a steamboat arrival was unprecedented. For the first time St. Louis would see the riverboat novelty that had mastered the current of the Ohio River only a few years earlier.

The Pike was the sixth steamboat built in the U.S. She travelled the Ohio River for two years before ascending the Mississippi. The boat was an unimpressive ~vessel, looking more like a barge than a steamboat by today's standards.

Her cabin was on the lower deck and her paddles had no wheelhouses. The low-pressure engine used to propel the paddles had only one smokestack and in rapid current the crew resorted to poles and running boards for additional power, much like a keelboat. The Pike only ran in daylight to avoid snags and the trip from Louisville, Ky., to St. Louis lasted six weeks.

On July 27, 1817, the Zebulon M. Pike reached the foot of Market Street in St. Louis. A small gathering of citizens greeted her and the Missouri Gazette reported that among the assembled was a group of Indians who were so startled by the smoke and glare of the furnace that they fled to the high ground in the rear of the village.

The enterprising captain of the Pike, Jacob Read, seeing the amazement of the St. Louis villagers, charged $1 to curious citizens who wished to board the boat. It is quite possible that among the curious was Auguste Chouteau or Manuel Lisa, prominent St. Louis businessmen whose fur trade would benefit from the new steamboat. The~ 4,000 citizens of the village of St. Louis could hardly have imagined the significance of the occasion. In just a few years the frontier river town would become a bustling city of 67,000 people.

The reason for the phenomenal growth of St. Louis after the arrival of the steamboat lies in the geographic location of the city. The city was founded on the west bluffs of the Mississippi River south of the great confluence of the Illinois, Upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. This provided an advantage for early fur traders and other pioneers who could venture up any of the three rivers to trade with Indian tribes and then transport their wares easily down the Mississippi River.

With the arrival of the steamboat the location of St. Louis became even more significant. Steamboats quickly increased in size and speed after 1817. In 1819, the Maid of Orleans, steamed from Philadelphia to St. Louis (stopping in New Orleans). These larger boats could steam up the Mississippi to St. Louis but could not enter the narrower and more treacherous channels of the Missouri, Illinois and Upper Mississippi.

Smaller steamboats which could traverse the long and abundant Mississippi tributaries were inefficient for travelling the Lower Mississippi or Ohio. Consequently nearly all goods travelling the Mississippi passed through St. Louis.

St. Louis served as the hub of a system of waterways which included the Upper and Lower Mississippi, the Ohio, the Missouri and the Illinois. By 1853, an average of nine steamboats arrived each day and as many as 170 were counted at one time along the levee.

The Port of St. Louis quickly became the foremost inland trans-shipping port in the United States. The steamboats and the commerce brought by them enabled St. Louis to develop into the nation's fourth largest city in 1870 boasting the third largest industrial base.

In slightly more than 50 years, St. Louis went from a fledgling village of frontier traders to a booming American city following only New York, Brooklyn and Philadelphia in population.

The Zebulon M. Pike may have been only a curiosity to those who viewed her in 1817, but the 175th anniversary of her arrival symbolizes the role of the steamboat in St. Louis history. No other event changed St. Louis or the Mississippi River as significantly or as quickly.

The St. Louis Riverfront is still the site of steamboat landings and historical significance. Visit the riverfront in 1992 to celebrate 175 years of steamboating on the Mississippi and enjoy the history preserved in the Arch museum, the riverboats and Laclede's Landing.

Visitors to the St. Louis Riverfront should plan extra time when visiting the Arch to enjoy the other attractions in the area.

Gateway Riverboat Cruises offers scenic excursions on the Mississippi and the Lt. Robert E. Lee serves lunch and dinner in classic riverboat style. The McDonalds and Burger King riverboats are great for a unique bite to eat.

Laclede's Landing offers three dozen restaurants and shops amidst buildings built in the steamboat era. Call 1-800-247-9791 for more information about St. Louis and the historic Riverfront.