Page 44 - 2015_Cabin Days curriculum booklet

TRANSPORTATION & THE ST. JOSEPH RIVER

The St. Joseph River served as a travel route for centuries. Before
cars, trains, and airplanes were invented, moving goods from one place
to another was a slow ..and tedious process. One way in which goods
were moved was by water. Native Americans used the rivers and were
the first to use the portage between the St. Joseph and Kankakee Rivers.

What was a portage? A portage was a place where the Native
Americans, explorers, and traders passed over land, carrying their canoes
and goods, on their way from one waterway to the next. Have you heard
of Portage Township in St. Joseph County? This township was named
for the famous St. Joseph-Kankakee Portage. This portage was special
f or two reasons. One is that it went through present-day South Bend.
The other is that, unlike other portages, the St. Joseph-Kankakee Portage
was passable all seasons of the year. Travelers could move from Lake
Michigan to the Mississippi River using this dry portage. The French
explorer, Robert La Salle crossed the portage in December 1679.

With the growth of towns in the 1830's, a more effective way to
move goods w as needed. In 1831 Peter Johnson, a South Bend
carpenter, built the first keelboat in the St. Joseph River Valley. He
named it the Fairplay. The next year, he launched the Antelope, the first
large-capacity keelboat. Running a keelboat was dif ficult and exhausting.
Only the strongest men could work the poles. Kee/boats were soon
replaced by steamboats (Knoblock 187-193).

The Newbur y, the first steamboat on the St. Joseph River in 1832
ran from Lake Michigan to Berrien SprinJS, Michigan. The first to make
an appearance in South Bend was the M atilda Barney in the summer of
1833. When her whistle first sounded, everyone gathered on the shore
with excitement to see the majestic sight. Originally designed for
transporti ng freight, steamboats also became popular for carrying
passengers. The May Graham was the last of these river boats to operate
between St. Joseph and Berrien Springs, Michigan. The St. Joseph River,
once the main route of transportation, was replaced by the railroad in the
mid- 1800s (Knoblock 193-197).