Hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. I meant to publish this interesting tidbit last week, but computer troubles prevailed.
You may already know of the famed Mon River steamboat called the New Orleans, named for it's final destination. Built by Robert Fulton, L.R. Livingstone and Nicholas Roosevelt (ancestor to the Roosevelts of presidential fame), this mighty steamer made the very first trip from the Mon River in western Pennsylvania all the way to New Orleans at the Gulf of Mexico.
Some whereabouts in Ohio, while waiting for rains to bring up river levels, Nicholas decided to take a short trip back up the river just to prove it could be done. Upon his return, the waters were up but he was delayed further when his wife went into labor. They waited until the child was born, then finally went on their way.
The New Orleans was never meant to return to the Mon, but she did run a few supply runs on the Lower Mississippi before her retirement. She and her builders will be forever remembered as pioneers in the race to harness the mighty waters of our great nation.
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