Today, the Michigan State Quarter Coin remembers when the first steamboat left Buffalo (Black Rock) destined for Detroit on August 23, 1818.
From The Great Lakes, Or Inland Seas of America, published in 1863:
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The First Steamboat on Lake Erie.
The Detroit Tribune furnishes some interesting extracts on this subject, taken from the files of the Detroit Gazette, of 1818.
We select the following description of the reception of this monster of the great deep by the “Wolverines” of that day.
“August, 26, 1818: Yesterday, between the hours of 10 and 11 A. M., the elegant steamboat Walk-in-the-Water, Capt. J. Fish, arrived.
“As she passed the public wharf, and that owned by Mr. J. S. Roby, she was cheered by hundreds of the inhabitants, who had collected to witness this (in these waters) truly novel and grand spectacle. She came to at Wing’s wharf.
“She left Buffalo at half-past 1 o’clock on the 23d, and arrived off Dunkirk at 35 minutes past 6 on the same day. On the next morning she arrived at Erie, Capt. Fish having reduced her steam during the night, in order not to pass that place, where she took in a supply of wood.
“At half-past 7 P. M. she left Erie, and came to at Cleveland at 11 o’clock.
“On Friday, at 20 minutes past 6 o’clock, P. M., sailed and arrived off Sandusky Bay at 1 o’clock on Wednesday [GACS: Saturday?]; lay at anchor during the night, and then proceeded to Venice to wood; left Venice at 3 P. M., and arrived at the mouth of the Detroit River, where she anchored during the night.
“The whole time employed in sailing, in this first voyage from Buffalo to this, being about 44 hours and 10 minutes; the wind ahead during nearly the whole passage.
“Not the slightest accident happened during the voyage, and all our machinery worked admirably.
“Nothing could exceed the surprise of the sons of the forest on seeing the Walk in-the-Water moving majestically and rapidly against a strong current, without the assistance of sails or oars.
“They lined the banks near Malden, and expressed their astonishment by repeated shouts of ‘Tai-yoh-nichee.’
“A report had been circulated among them, that a ‘big canoe’ would soon come from the noisy waters, which, by order of the great father of the Cho-mo-ko-mons, would be drawn through the lakes and rivers by sturgeon!
“Of the truth of the report they are now perfectly satisfied.
“The cabins of this boat are fitted up in a neat, convenient, and elegant style; and the manner in which she is found, does honor to the proprietors and to her commander.
“A passage between this place and Buffalo is now not merely tolerable, but truly pleasant.
“Today she will make a trip to Lake St. Clair, with a large party of ladies and gentlemen.
“She will leave for Buffalo tomorrow, and may be expected to visit us again next week.”
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In The Historical Geography of Detroit, published in 1918, Almon Ernest Parkins included a technical description of the steamboat Walk-in-the-Water:
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The steamboat era on Lake Erie began with the Walk-in-the-Water, built at Black Rock near Buffalo in 1818.
The Walk-in-the-Water was 135 feet long, 32 foot beam, 8.5 feet draught, and had a low pressure square engine.
The engine was transported from New York to Albany in a sloop, thence overland in wagons to Buffalo.
On the trip from Buffalo to Detroit the Walk-in-the-Water burned on the average 30 to 40 cords of wood.
The fare from Buffalo was $6 to Erie, thirteen to Cleveland, fifteen to Sandusky, and $18 to Detroit.
Flint describes this first steamer as follows: “A fine vessel of 330 tons with two masts and rigged for taking advantage of the wind in the manner of the ocean crafts. The interior of this vessel is elegant and the entertainment is luxurious.”
The average speed of the Walk-in-the-Water was eight miles per hour, and it took from thirty-six to forty-nine hours to reach Detroit from Black Rock; frequently the time was two to three days.
There was no harbor at Buffalo at the time, so Black Rock was used as the eastern terminus.
The power of the engines was so low that no headway could be made against the strong current of the Niagara River.
The passage to Lake Erie from Black Rock was accomplished by what was familiarly called the “horned breeze,” — several yoke of oxen.
The cabins were on the upper deck. There were six berths on each side of cabins, with a walk of eight or ten feet between berths.
Compared with the luxurious steamers of today the Walk-in-the-Water was small indeed, but at that time it was heralded as the greatest advance of the age.
Small as it was, the travelers of that time saw in it a great advance over the small slow-going, unreliable, uncomfortable schooners.
The movement of the Walk-in-the-Water was scheduled and announced in the newspapers of the day much as are the ocean liners of our time.
The first trip to Mackinac in 1819 was advertised in the New York papers.
Said the New York Mercantile Advertiser, “The swift steamer Walk-in-the-Water is intended to make a voyage early in the summer from Buffalo on Lake Erie to Michillimackinac on Lake Huron.
“The trip has so near a resemblance to the famous legendary expedition in the Heroic Ages of Greece that expectation is quite alive on the subject.
“Many of our most distinguished citizens are said to have already engaged their passage for this splendid adventure.”
The round trip from Buffalo to Mackinac took on the average twelve days.
The Walk-in-the-Water was used mostly for carrying emigrants and their effects, and provisions and Indian goods, to the West and bringing in return furs and peltries.
Detroit for most of the trips was the western terminus.
An occasional trip was made to Mackinac.
There was so little traffic at that early period that a dividend was paid the owners only after three years.
After three years of service the Walk- in-the-Water was wrecked during a storm on Lake Erie.
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The Michigan State Quarter Coin shows with an image of the steamboat Walk-in-the-Water near Detroit, circa 1820.
