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.
Steamboats of the Willamette River
Steam powered vessels did not operate on the Willamette River above Willamette Falls until 1851. Other than the small "Hoosier", a converted ship's long boat with a pile driver engine, the first boat on the Willamette above the falls was the "Canemah", built at the town of the same name and launched towards the end of September, 1851. Her owner was Absalom F. Hedges, the founder of Canemah. "Canemah" proved to be a profitable boat, she got the contract for carrying mail upriver, and earned 20 cents a bushel hauling grain downriver from Corvallis to Canemah. A boat of her size could load 1,000 to 1,500 bushels a trip. "Multnomah", prefabricated back east and shipped out to Oregon, was apparently assembled at Canemah and launched about the same time as the steamer "Canemah". She operated on the Willamette and also on the Yamhill River as far up as Dayton. "Multnomah"'s draft was too deep for the upper stretches of the Willamette (where the real money could be made hauling cargo) and so in May 1852, she was portaged over the falls to operate in the lower Willamette and Columbia rivers.