The fur traders who ventured to the American west relied on unpowered keelboats to haul furs back to civilization, where they could be sold. The boats had to be physically hauled up the Missouri River, then loaded and sailed back downriver with the current. The arrival of a powered steamboat would dramatically open the upper Missouri to trade and travel.
The Missouri River presented unique challenges for steamboats. During times of low water, steamboat captains had to unload cargo and passengers, lightening their loads to coax their boats across the shallows, then reload once they reached deeper water. During flood season, the river refused to stay in its channel. It took an experienced pilot to keep the steamboat from sailing out onto the prairie.
Eastern businessmen saw money to be made on the Missouri River but it required a steamboat. The American Fur Company, owned by John Jacob Astor, contracted for a sidewheel steamboat to be built specifically for service on the Missouri. Built in Kentucky, the Yellowstone set off on her maiden Missouri River voyage. On the way upriver, she carried everything an explorer might need, from rifles and powder to warm blankets and iron cooking pots. On the return trip, she would be loaded with furs.
Money was made on both legs of the journey. At the upper end of the river, the goods carried on the boat were sold. On this date in 1831, the Yellowstone returned to St. Louis with a full cargo of furs and buffalo robes. With the success of that first voyage, the Yellowstone became a regular sight on the Missouri. The following year, she reached the mouth of the river for which she was named. It was said the Yellowstone made Astor the richest man in America.
But the Missouri was hard on steamboats. They collided with snags and ground over sandbars. The Yellowstone was sold in 1835 for service on the Brazos River, hauling cotton. She was last seen in Galveston Bay in 1837. Some say she sank, maybe in the Brazos. Others say she was sold, sent to the upper Mississippi, refitted, and renamed. Either way, she simply disappeared from history, leaving little behind. A bell on display at the Alamo is said to be from the Yellowstone.
Dakota Datebook by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- Historical Society of North Dakota. “Today in North Dakota History.” https://www.statehistoricalfoundation.org/todayinndhistory/?offset=200 Accessed 6/27/2025.
- American Heritage. “The Short, Dramatic Life of the Steamboat Yellowstone.” https://www.americanheritage.com/short-dramatic-life-steamboat-yellow-stone Accessed 6/27/2025.
