Painter, inventor and engineer, Robert Fulton was a man of many talents. He passionately believed that America's economic future rested on the transformation of its numerous waterways into navigable highways of commerce. He did not invent the steamboat - as early as 1787, American John Fitch had sailed a steamboat on the Delaware River. Fulton achieved his place in history by producing the first commercially successful steamboat. Fulton's success raised the curtain for the commercial development of America's waterways, particularly the Ohio and the Mississippi.
On the afternoon of Monday August 17, the vessel was moored on the East River off Greenwich Village. Aboard were Fulton, Livingston and numerous adventurous friends eager to make the historic voyage. The boat (called the Clermont by history although there is no evidence that Fulton used this name) was an odd looking craft 150 fifty feet long and 13 feet wide, drawing 2 feet of water. Amidships was her engine, a steam boiler that belched flame and smoke as it powered two paddle wheels placed on either side of the hull.
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