Flatboats of the Ohio River Valley (1941)

Synopsis

Made in 1941, FLATBOATMEN OF THE FRONTIER is an exceptional Encylopedia Brittanica film that shows how flatboats were built and used, and presents a phase of pioneer agricultural economy in the early nineteenth century. Portrays Ohio Valley farmers as they fell trees, prepare the lumber, and build a flatboat to carry their produce down the river to market. A flatboat is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it is large, sturdy tub with a hull that displaces water and so floats in the water. This differentiates the flatboat from the raft, which floats on the water. A flatboat is almost always a one-way vessel, and is usually dismantled for lumber when it reaches its downstream destination. The flatboat trade first began in 1781, with Pennsylvania farmer Jacob Yoder building the first flatboat at Old Redstone Fort on the Mononganhela River. Yoder shipped flour down the Mississippi River to the port of New Orleans. Other flatboats would follow this model, using the current of the river to propel them to New Orleans where their final product could be shipped overseas. The flatboat trade before the War of 1812 was less organized and less professional than during later times. Flatboats were generally built and piloted by the farmers whose crops they carried. They were limited to 20 feet (or approximately 6 meters) in width in order to successfully navigate the…

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Details

Running time

10 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage