Image Credits
The Heliopolis in action
Henry Shreve, the Superintendent of the Western Rivers in the
late 1820s, designed a steamboat to remove debris called
snags
from rivers. Snags made river navigation dangerous because they
could easily sink a boat. After a bad storm some rivers could
become impassable as snags blocked the way for boats. The United
States government wanted the western rivers to be useful in times
of war and businesses north and south wanted the rivers clear
so they could ship their goods across the country. Henry Shreve
designed his snag boat to clean up the river and it proved to
be a success. He named the first snag boat the Heliopolis. The
Heliopolis raised a one hundred and sixty foot tree in 1829, according
to Captain Richard Delafield of the Corps of Engineers. By 1830
Shreve's Snag Boats, or "Uncle Sam's Tooth Pullers"
as they were called, had improved navigation to the point that
only one flatboat was lost on a snag during that year. During
the 1830s Shreve set about cutting back trees on the banks of
the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to prevent the recurrence of snags.
Shreve's success helped ensure St. Louis' future as a commercial
port and a major steamboat center before the Civil War.