The First Boat built to tow Rafts 



There has been much discussion on this point also. 

 The "Union" and several other boats used in the early 

 days in towing rafts had been built for other purposes. 



The first boat built to tow rafts was the "LeClaire," 

 built by Jonathan Zebley at LeClaire, Iowa, for 

 Thomas Doughty in 1866. 



During the Civil War Mr. Doughty was a chief en- 

 gineer on several of the gunboats of the United States 

 navy that did excellent service on the lower Mississippi 

 and its tributaries. 



Chief Doughty had a good education, was a fine 

 mechanic and was progressive in his ideas. 



He saw the advantage of a stern-wheel for towing 

 and handling rafts; but he did not build her large 

 enough and while the pilot he took in as a partner had 

 been a successful floater, he did not quickly become 

 familiar with the use of the boat and the first trip was 

 so discouraging, that Mr. Doughty sold the "LeClaire" 

 to contractors who were working a large improvement 

 job on the Rock Island rapids. The "LeClaire" rend- 

 ered excellent service in this work for many years. 



The commissioner of navigation, Washington, D. C, 

 says, the records show that she was eighty feet four 

 inches long, fifteen feet wide and three and one-tenth 

 feet deep and measured twenty-five and sixty-nine one- 

 hundredth tons, and was first inspected June 16, 1866. 



She had one horizontal boiler eighteen feet long, 

 forty inches in diameter, with two fourteen-inch flues 



