There was a man in Grand Forks named Royal L. Boulter who was an innovator and an inventor. Back in 1896, R.L. “Roy” Boulter secured a patent from the U.S. Patent Office for what he called a “bicycle-boat.”
Roy Boulter, who lived from 1867 to 1947, had a brilliant yet simple idea. His bicycle-boat consisted of a bicycle frame, handlebars, and pedals mounted on two canoes, using small paddle wheels, miniature versions of a steamboat’s paddle wheels, to propel the contraption forward through the water.
The operator sat on a bicycle seat and pushed the pedals with their feet. A chain drive transferred the power to the paddle wheels.
Steering was simple: the rudder was connected directly to the bicycle-style handlebars.
Boulter provided stability by attaching the bicycle apparatus securely to the insides of the two canoes using strong wooden rods.
He claimed that one person, the rider, could “readily propel the machine, when loaded with four persons in the boats... at the rate of eight miles per hour in still water.” He said his invention could carry a larger load at a faster speed than a rowboat powered by oars. And it was “much safer than an ordinary boat,” because it was “much less liable to be overturned by the waves.”
He also said it was “comparatively cheap to make,” and had an “artistic appearance.” Boulter did admit the framework had to be made mostly of wood, to reduce the amount of "sinkable" material.
The idea of a bicycle-boat was popular in the mid-1890s, when bicycles were all the rage. Roy Boulter got his patent at the same time several other inventors were granted patents for similar designs using a rowboat, a single canoe, or a catamaran.
Nothing much came of Boulter’s invention at the time, but he did stir the waters locally with his ingenious contraption.
Roy Boulter was well known in Grand Forks as the Minnesota-born manager of the local Western Union telegraph office. He worked there for seven years, from 1892 to 1897. After that, he and his family moved west to Spokane, Washington, and later to California.
On this date in 1947, a newspaper reported that Royal Boulter had died in Planada, California, at the age of 80.
As for his bicycle-boat, it eventually evolved into what we now know as the two-person pedal boats seen at lakeside resorts across the country.
Dakota Datebook written by Steve Hoffbeck, retired MSUM History Professor
Sources:
- “Royal L. Boulter, 80, Dies After Illness,” Merced [California] Express, October 30, 1947, p. 2.
- “A Bicycle Boat: R.L. Boulter Secures a Patent on His Invention,” Grand Forks Herald, April 9, 1896, p 8.
- “Another Bike Boat,” Minneapolis Journals, April 11, 1896, p. 16.
- U.S. Patent Office, Specifications and Drawing of Patents Issued From The U.S. Patent Office For April, 1896 (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1896), p. 227-230.
- “Northwest Notes,” Minneapolis Sunday Times, December 12, 1897, p. 2; “City Briefs,” Grand Forks Herald, December 12, 1897, p. 5; George B. Winship, “San Diego Colony of G.F. People,” Grand Forks Herald, January 27, 1929, p. 10.
- “Goes Back To Steam,” Spokane [Washington] Chronicle, May 4, 1900, p. 6.
