The Beginning Of The Boat

            The Arabia was an 1850’s steamboat that was made of wood.  It was made in Brownsville, Pennsylvania at the boatyard of John Snyder Pringle in 1853.  The boatyard was on the Monongahela River.  Brownsville was 1,200 miles from the Missouri river.  Where the Arabia sailed.  But was still a major producer of steamboats.  The Steamboat Arabia was constructed in four weeks.  It was a packet boat.  That means it carried passengers and cargo, although it carried mostly cargo.  The captain was Captain J. William Terrill and he owned five boats.  All five of his boats sank in less than five years. Also the clerk was Mr. Boyd.  In 1819 steamboats began transport things.  That was when steamboats first began to travel on the rivers.  Steamboats were a major source of transportation in the 1800’s.