flatboats
Shallow cargo vessels
Flatboats are flat-bottomed boats used for transporting cargo on rivers and canals.
The design—a simple rectangular hull with no keel—made them ideal for shallow waters.
Historically important in American frontier commerce, flatboats carried goods down the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers: Abraham Lincoln famously worked a flatboat to New Orleans.
Most were built for one-way trips, then dismantled for lumber at their destination.
Flat-hulled river craft
- bargesFlat-hulled freight vessels
- raftsFlat buoyant watercraft
- puntsKicks away possession
- scowsFlat-hulled cargo boats
johnboats · dugouts · canoes · skiffs · pirogues · houseboats · ferries · towboats
Years 1801-1900
- antebellumBefore a war's start
- LincolnMidwestern state capital
- rivermenThose working waterways
- boatmenVessel operators on water
keelboatmen · flatboatmen · American expansion · river trade · Lewis and Clark · fur trade · Appalachian · colonial
Wood for construction
- planksFlat construction lumber pieces
- hullOuter covering or frame
- deckShip's flat surface
- oarsBladed poles for boats
poles · sweeps · rudder · gunwales · caulking · pitch · ribs · keel
First to explore territory
- settlersThose who establish homes
- westwardToward the sunset
- Ohio RiverMidwestern waterway to Mississippi
- MississippiSouthern state or major river
Cumberland · Tennessee River · wilderness · homesteaders · migration · exploration · trappers · traders
keelboats
Flat-hulled river craft
scows · johnboats · dugouts · canoes · skiffs · pirogues · houseboats · ferries · towboats · arks
nineteenth century
Years 1801-1900
- antebellumBefore a war's start
- LincolnMidwestern state capital
- rivermenThose working waterways
boatmen · keelboatmen · flatboatmen · American expansion · river trade · Lewis and Clark · fur trade · Appalachian · colonial · Cumberland Gap
timber
Wood for construction
oars · poles · sweeps · rudder · gunwales · caulking · pitch · ribs · keel · bow
pioneers
First to explore territory
- settlersThose who establish homes
- westwardToward the sunset
- Ohio RiverMidwestern waterway to Mississippi
Mississippi · Cumberland · Tennessee River · wilderness · homesteaders · migration · exploration · trappers · traders · families
cargo
Transported goods
livestock · tobacco · corn · whiskey · flour · pork · trade · merchants · markets · New Orleans
- Gulf SouthNew Orleans, Louisiana Purchase, LSU, Mardi Gras, jazz
- Ohio ValleyCincinnati, Louisville, Wheeling, Pittsburgh, Evansville
- watercraftsailboat, kayak, canoe, ships, ship
- waterwaysriver, rivers, canal, canals, stream
- Colonial LouisianaNew Orleans, Louisiana Purchase, French Quarter, colony, governors
- IndianaIndianapolis, Bloomington, Hoosiers, Fort Wayne, South Bend
flatboatskeelboats
Flat-hulled river craft
clipper ships · sailing ships · frigates · galleons · warships
flatboatssteamboats
Engine-powered water vessels
motorboats · steamships · keelboats · sailboats · speedboats