Fulton got his engine from the inventors, Watt and Boulton, in England--the only place where suitable engines could be found. The engine came in 1806. A boat called the _Clermont_ was built to carry it. She was one hundred thirty feet long and eighteen feet wide. She had a mast with a sail. At both ends she was decked over, and in the middle the engine was placed. Two large side-wheels dipped two feet into the water. [Illustration: SCENE ON A CANAL] =129. The "Clermont" Moves.= At one o'clock in the afternoon of August 7, 1807, a great crowd gathered to see the first voyage of the _Clermont_. Many people did not expect to see the vessel go. They believed Fulton and Livingston had spent their money for nothing. Fulton gave his signal from the deck of the _Clermont_. The people looked on in astonishment as the boat moved steadily up the pathway of the Hudson. [Sidenote: =A great victory for Fulton and Livingston=] The _Clermont_ kept on going till out of sight, and the crowds of wondering people went home hardly believing the evidence of their eyes. Up the river, against the current of the mighty Hudson, she made her way till Albany was reached. She had gone one hundred fifty miles in thirty-two hours, and won a great victory for Fulton and Livingston. [Sidenote: =Name of boat changed to "North River"=] When winter came the _Clermont_ was taken out of the water and rebuilt. They covered her from stem to stern with a deck. Under the deck they built two cabins, with a double row of berths. Everything was done to make her attractive in the eyes of the people. They changed her name to the _North River_. In the spring she made her trips regularly up and down the Hudson. [Illustration: THE "CLERMONT"] [Sidenote: =Steamboats appear on different rivers=] =130. Steamboats on All the Rivers.= In 1809 a steamboat was built on Lake Champlain, another on the Raritan, and a third on the Delaware. From this time forward, steamboats, carrying passengers and freight from place to place, began to appear on all the great rivers in the settled portions of the United States. [Sidenote: =People along the Ohio frightened=] In 1811 a steamboat was built on the Ohio River at Pittsburgh. It started on its trip down the beautiful Ohio. People gathered on the banks of the river to see it go by. The steamboat, at first, made a frightful noise. Hence when it came to places where news traveled slowly, the people were sometimes frightened, and the negroes, terror stricken, ran crying into the woods. [Illustration: WATCHING THE "CLERMONT" ON ITS FIRST VOYAGE UP THE HUDSON] [Sidenote: =A steamboat helped Jackson=] In 1814 a steamboat carried supplies to General Jackson at New Orleans, and helped him to win the great battle fought there.