Bell from the Steamer RUFUS PUTNAM, on display at Ohio River Museum. (Photo by David B. Baker)

Rufus Putnam was the founder of Marietta – and the name of a steamboat. The RUFUS PUTNAM was a sidewheeler steamboat built about 1823 by Caleb Bastow. She was small by later standards, just 75 ft long by 18 ft wide.

Her Captain, John Green, decided to invite some friends to attempt a trip up the Muskingum River from Marietta to Zanesville. Why not? It would be fun and historic – but risky. The Muskingum River was not really navigable – no lock and dam system yet. Captain Green chose a time of high water to assure clearance through shallow areas. But the resulting swift current could easily overwhelm the boat. Boiler explosions were a threat on early steamboats. Finally, there were snags (trees and other debris in the water) which could puncture the hull.

No problem. Passengers seemed willing to overlook safety risks, including possible loss of life. Capt. Green’s announcement of the trip attracted a crowd of passengers “quite beyond her accommodations.” The RUFUS PUTNAM left Marietta at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, January 9, 1824. A frail General Rufus Putnam, the boat’s namesake, saw the boat off. It was a poignant scene; a few months later he died. The RUFUS PUTNAM took on a few more passengers at Waterford, then had to tie up for a while at Luke Chute due to the current. It was slow going. There were stops to get wood for fuel. Passengers huddled around a wood stove to ward off the biting cold.

Bell from the Steamer RUFUS PUTNAM, on display at Ohio River Museum

Thirty-six hours after departing Marietta, the boat reached Putnam, Ohio, then a settlement across the Muskingum River from Zanesville. It was 10 p.m. on a dark and rainy Saturday night. Party time. Captain Green and his cruisers created a flamboyant scene.

The boat was brightly lit with torches. Ladies on board paraded on the top deck in bright scotch plaid cloaks, the fashion of the day. A cannon on board fired. Residents feared that Indians were attacking.

The RUFUS PUTNAM remained in port through the weekend.

Crowds flocked to see her. She made two excursion trips downriver to Duncan Falls. Local residents entertained with “an oyster supper….the acme of hospitality as oysters were ‘hard to come by’ in inland Ohio at the time.”

On Tuesday at 11 a.m. the RUFUS PUTNAM entourage began the return trip to Marietta. They arrived just seven hours later, achieving an average speed of over 10 m.p.h. That was the fastest recorded time ever for that trip, due to the current and not having to transit the lock system built later. Excited passengers disembarked, eager to share their adventure with others.

As Rufus Putnam pioneered settlement in Ohio, so the steamboat RUFUS PUTNAM pioneered travel on the Muskingum River. In 1841 a lock and dam system was completed from Dresden to Marietta, one of the first such systems in the country. That opened the river to boat traffic, bringing economic growth to eastern Ohio. Over 200 steamboats, many built in Marietta, plied the Muskingum River until the early 20th century.