Vol. 64, No. 1 Spring 2019


152 ascended as high as Prairie du Chien in 1700.


(Scanlon 1937, 16-17)


T e type of boat which was most successful was the barge. A barge, at the time, could be defi ned as a large rowing vessel used to transport eminent people. In the eighteenth century, that meant admirals, kings, queens and such. English Queen Anne had a barge in 1710 (Kriegstein 2007), the King of Sweden had one, originally built in 1747 (Hallang 1985), as did Napoleon Bonaparte. (McCaff ery 2005)


George Washington was transported across New York harbor for his fi rst inauguration as President in 1789 in “an elegant barge”. (Barry 2005)


2. “Brigantin donnant chasse a une Felouque et prest a la border”. Lithograph by Gilbert Randon from Henri Sbonski de Passebon, Plan de plusiers bâtimens de mer (Paris, 1690).


T ere do not appear to be any measured drawings of eighteenth-century Mississippi river barges. As a substitute, Figure 3 shows an early European barge (Queen Anne’s barge of 1710) as the most pertinent. Hopefully, Mississippi River barges of the same era were similar. Other barge drawings exist, but of diff erent periods and nationalities. (Chapman 1768, Hallang 1985, May 1974)


T ese sources present a common theme of barge characteristics. Most of the barge’s length was taken up by rowing space, followed by accommodation for passengers. Steering space was dead aſt . In plan view, the rowing space was almost rectangular. All rowers had the same geometry in their space, presumably a good ergonomic situation, and, thus, allowed creation of a powerful rowing engine. T rough the use of fl ared hull sections, the rowing space was married to a sharp, low resistance hull. T e result was a fast boat. Continuing the fast boat theme,


barges were lean. A length to beam ratio of about 6:1 was common. Also, the hull cross sections included considerable deadrise.


Barges steered with a rudder hung on the sternpost. T is may seem unremarkable, but many Mississippi River boats steered with a long sweep oar. T e oar served as an active rudder, necessary for boats that oſt en driſt ed with the current. Driſt ing meant no diff erential water velocity past a rudder and thus no steering.


During the eighteenth century and a little beyond, the Mississippi river barge evolved. T e history of boats in this era is fragmented. T e best a historian can do is analyze the few available facts and attempt to collect them into a coherent whole.


Barges arrived in New Orleans early. A 1721 census lists one barge maker among the 470 inhabitants. (de Villiers 1920) T e earliest image found so far of a Mississippi River barge, dated 1726, is shown


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