Steamboat
Similar boats were made in 1785 by John Fitch in Philadelphia and William Symington in Dumfries, Scotland. Fitch successfully trialled his boat in 1787, and in 1788, he began operating a regular commercial service along the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey, carrying as many as 30 passengers. This boat could typically make and travelled more than during its short length of service. The Fitch steamboat was not a commercial success, as this travel route was adequately covered by relatively good wagon roads. The following year, a second boat made excursions, and in 1790, a third boat ran a series of trials on the Delaware River before patent disputes dissuaded Fitch from continuing.
Carrie Ladd
"Carrie Ladd" was one of the first steamboats of the Columbia River type. Unlike most other early steamboats "Carrie Ladd" was built from scratch, rather from discarded hulls, works, or machinery of previous vessels. The vessel was not particularly large, but had powerful engines, and was probably the best of the steamboats built in Oregon in the 1850s. John T. Thomas built "Carrie Ladd" for Jacob Kamm, Capt. John C. Ainsworth and other co-owners. The vessel was named the Carrie Ladd in honor of the daughter of an early Portland banker who helped arrange the financing for the Oregon Steam Navigation Company which later held a monopoly on steam navigation on the Columbia River.