Her gross tonnage was 338 tons. Her length was 135 feet. The width over the guardrails was 32 feet. The width of the beam was 8 feet and 6 inches.
 

She was the first steamer on Lake Erie. She was built in 1818 at Black Rock, near Buffalo and served on the upper lakes. She was owned by the Lake Erie Steamboat Company, and ran from Buffalo to Detroit, making stops at Cleveland and Erie. She was wrecked near Point Algino, about 12 miles from Buffalo, on November 1, 1821. 
 

The WALK-IN-THE-WATER was the first steamboat on Lake Erie. She was built as a passenger and freight carrier in 1918, near Buffalo, New York. She was for service on the upper lakes. She was owned by the Lake Erie Steamboat Company. She ran from Buffalo to Detroit, making stops at Cleveland and Erie.
 

The steamer was a cross between a steamer and a sailing craft. She carried two high masts and was fitted with a square-rigged foresail. Her new-fangled smoke stack stood between the masts amidship. Two large paddle boxes, which housed her paddle wheels, were placed exactly amidship and protruded clumsily from her deck. She was about one hundred fifty feet in overall length, with a thirty-foot beam, and had an eight-foot depth. Her gross tonnage was three hundred thirty-eight tons. Her bow was as high as her stern, which was similar to the sailing ships of that time. She proudly displayed on her bow a carved figurehead of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.
 

Her passenger quarters were all below deck. The women's cabins were partitioned in the forward part of the boat. The men's quarters followed. Next was the small dining room, and last the tiny smoking room, which was connected to the baggage room.
 

Since the steam whistle had not yet been invented, the WALK-IN-THE-WATER proudly displayed a small cannon mounted on her forward deck. This was used to signal the ships intentions. It was always fired just before she docked to inform the people of the port of her arrival. A farewell shot was customarily fired upon her departure.
 

The name WALK-IN-THE-WATER was given to her by the Indians. She was launched in May and started on her voyage on August 23, 1818. The power to get her up the fast current of the Niagara River was almost impossible. There was 20 pair of oxen used to help her travel from Buffalo to Lake Erie. She carried twenty‑nine passengers. The fare was $8.00 to Erie, $15.00 to Cleveland, and $24.00 to Detroit. After making her stops, the WALK-IN-THE-WATER arrived at Detroit on the morning on August 26, 1818. She was the first steamboat to sail on Lake Erie, Huron, and Michigan. She was the third steamboat on the Great Lakes.
 

She continued to run between Buffalo and Detroit for the rest of the year and throughout 1819. In June of 1820, she made a trip from Detroit through Lake Huron to Mackinac Island. She landed with some passengers and a detachment of U.S. soldiers. In August of 1820, she again went to Mackinac and from there proceeded to Green Bay on Lake Michigan. It was the first pleasure cruise in history by a steamboat.
 

Busy throughout the season of 1821, the WALK-IN-THE-WATER left Buffalo for Cleveland in the afternoon of October 31, 1821, with some passengers and freight. That evening a typical gale blew up. The WALK-IN-THE-WATER began to leak. She turned back for Buffalo, unable to make much headway against the storm. One of the anchor ropes broke and the WALK-IN-THE-WATER began to drag on the anchor. She grounded on the beach south of the Buffalo harbor entrance. All of the people were safely shown to shore. Later, when the weather had subsided, it was possible to salvage her furniture, equipment and machinery.

Her engine was put into the SUPERIOR in 1822. The SUPERIOR replaced the WALK-IN-THE-WATER.

Excerpts from an article by Captain Hamilton. Courtesy of Rutherford B. Hayes Memorial Library.