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A flatboat (or broadboat) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with a hull.
A flatboat was almost always a one-way (downstream) vessel, and was usually dismantled for lumber when it reached its destination.
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 river, but could range from 20 to 100 feet (or approximately 6 to 30 meters) in length. Flatboats could be built by unskilled farmers with limited tools and training, which made them an ideal mode of transport for isolated farmers living in the Old Northwest and the Upland South. Farmers could make the journey down the river after the harvest. The boats themselves were usually salvaged for lumber at New Orleans, because they could not easily make the journey upriver. A boatman's return journey up the river was long and usually arduous. Passage on a (human-powered) keelboat was expensive and took weeks to make the journey up the Mississippi. Returning to the northern reaches on foot required about three months.
A flatboat itself was a serious investment for a Midwestern farmer. One generally cost about $75 to construct in 1800 (which was ), but could carry up to $3,000 worth of goods.Meyer, Balthasar Henry, et al. History of Transportation in the United States before 1860. Washington 1917, pp.110 These flatboats could typically be salvaged for around $16 in New Orleans, recouping some of the initial investment.Berry, "Western Prices Before 1861". London, 1943, pp.23-24 Flatboats carried a variety of goods to New Orleans, including agricultural products like corn, wheat, potatoes, flour, hay, tobacco, cotton, and whiskey. Livestock such as chickens, cows, and pigs also made their way down the Mississippi in flatboats. Indiana native May Espey Warren recalled that as a young girl she saw a flatboat loaded with thousands of chickens headed down the Mississippi. Other raw materials from the Old Northwest, like lumber and iron, were also sent down the Mississippi to be sold in New Orleans.
Many American cities along the river network of the Mississippi boomed due to the opportunities that the flatboat trade presented. New Orleans was the final destination for most flatboats headed down the Mississippi, and it was from there that most of the goods were shipped on the oceans. Cincinnati, another major American trading city, first built itself on the flatboat trade. Its large sawmills produced most of the heavy lumber sent downriver on flatboats, and it also became a large hub for the pork trade. Other cities, like Memphis, Tennessee and Brownsville, Pennsylvania became hubs for outfitting and supplying flatboat traders.
The flatboat trade also led to a series of cultural and regional exchanges between the North and the South. Many Northern flatboatmen had not seen the Deep South before, and rural farmers of the time generally did not travel. Flatboatmen brought tales of antebellum mansions lining the Mississippi and of the Cajun culture of lower Louisiana. They also brought back exotic foods such as bananas, and animals such as parrots. Abraham Lincoln served as a flatboatman twice, in 1828 and 1831. It was on these journeys that he first witnessed slavery, and in New Orleans he also saw a slave auction firsthand. Lincoln would later recall these journeys as essential in shaping his personal views on slavery and the slave trade.
Keelboats were similar to Riverboat, but like other barges were unpowered and were typically propelled and steered with Oar or Setting pole—usually the latter. Keelboats have been used for exploration, such as during the Lewis and Clark Expedition, but were primarily used to transport cargo or settlers in the early 19th century. The process of moving a keelboat upriver was extremely difficult, though current dependent.
Keelboats played a central role, from the 13th century until the second half of the 20th century, in the movement of coal from northeast England to market. The mined coal was transported to the river Tyne where it was shipped downstream on keelboats maned by keelmen and controlled by the Newcastle Hostmen.
Most of these keelboats were long and wide. They usually had a cabin in the middle or at the rear, but were sometimes constructed with an open deck.
Mike Fink is probably the most noted American keelboater in history.
Historical account of two keelboats published in the original Courier Journal of Lafayette, Indiana, in 1833:
The steamboat also changed the nature of flatboat crews, making them more professional and more skilled. Returning upriver on steamboats allowed flatboat crews to make multiple journeys per year, which meant that a crew could earn a living wage simply by flatboating. These crews were known as "agent boatmen," as opposed to the earlier "dealer boatmen" or "peddler boatmen" for whom flatboating was only a seasonal job. This change ended up benefiting the flatboat industry significantly, because it seriously reduced wreckage and loss of cargo. River improvements also helped, and experienced flatboat crews were able to reduce cargo losses from $1,362,500 in 1822 to $381,000 in 1832.
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