About: Ontario (steamboat)
The Ontario was a steam driven sidewheeler steamboat, launched in 1817, and the first such craft to see active service on the Great Lakes, at Lake Ontario. Ontario departed Sackets Harbor, New York on its maiden voyage sometime in April 1817. Financed by the late Robert Fulton's estate, the Ontario was built with the hopes that it would fare well commercially, and prove efficient on the often windy and turbulent Great Lakes. Her time on the lake delivering people and goods proved a success, and helped to usher in a new era of maritime commerce.
