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Lydia Roosevelt’s husband wants to take a steamboat all the way from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Although pregnant, Lydia is determined to go also.
Lydia Roosevelt's husband Nicholas had at least one excellent reason for his obsession for building steam engines. It was simply that 90 percent of river traffic on the Mississippi River between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and New Orleans, Louisiana was made downriver by keelboat. This was a voyage that took, on the average, four to six weeks. It was the return trip that made trade a grueling and unsatisfactory business. Working against a treacherous and often deceiving current, the return trip took a minimum of four weeks of extreme labor. Deadly, Dangerous, and PregnantLydia Roosevelt's husband was determined to change all of that by taking a steamboat all the way from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. It was a dangerous, and possibly deadly, undertaking. And Lydia was not going to let her husband have all the fun, even if she was pregnant with their first child. Before the Roosevelts could make such a steamboat adventure an exploratory voyage by water would have to be made to determine if such a trip by means of steam was even remotely possible. Lydia Designs a Barge for BirthThe adventure began with the building and furnishing of a barge. Lydia, using the skills she had learned from her architect father, set about designing the interior of their craft. Her plans included a bedroom, designed for comfort. Perhaps she was looking ahead with an open mind to the fact that her first child very well might be born aboard their barge. Her boat design also provided for a dining room, pantry, and a room in front for their crew that included a fireplace for cooking. As to the crew that would occupy this room, there was a pilot, three hands and a male cook, as well as a maid for Lydia. Looking toward all hands enjoying balmy evenings on the Mississippi River, a flat area was provided, sporting seats and an awning. A Pregnant Adventure BeginsAnd so their flatboat adventure began. When they reached Louisville, Kentucky they took some time off the river for three weeks. Lydia, in the early stages of her pregnancy, had begun to show. New Era in River Transportation: Changes on the Mississippi, continues with Disaster in Natchez: Indians and Illness on an Idyllic Voyage . Previous: Lydia Latrobe Roosevelt: In Love With a Much Older Man .
The copyright of the article New Era in River Transportation in American History is owned by Mary Trotter Kion. Permission to republish New Era in River Transportation in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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