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136 THE MARINE REVIEW April, 1917 b 4 ® ee “Poutario\ « Ee. PP ROCESS ee and completed and ready for business. A photograph of almost any ship of today can be obtained. These condi- tions are in marked contrast with those existing in the early part of the last century. Photography was then un- known; illustrated publications were few; and the great lack of reliable pictures of early steamers is indicated by the impossibly crude drawings often reproduced with articles bearing on navigation a hundred years ago. My reading and investigation on the sub- ject lead me to believe that the only known, reliable, original pictures of FRONTENAC and Ownvrario are those of which I present careful reproductions with this article. These originals are the work of Capt. James Van Cleve, a man exceptionally well qualified, for he was a sailor, with the gift of picture making. He was clever with pencil and brushes and knew personally, not only ships of his day generally from all points of view, but the very ships of which he left pictures and water colors from his own sketches dated from 1826 on to the time of the use of the camera. A Sailor and an Artist He began a long career as a Great Lakes sailor in 1826 as a clerk on the pioneer steamer OnvraArio. His sketches of Ontario and FrRonTENAC were made that year. He became a_ well-known commander of both sail and steam vessels on the Lakes. In 1843, when he commanded Sr. Lawrence, a_ side- wheeler, plying between Lewiston and Ogdensburg. My father was his clerk: and my knowledge of him and_ his artistic proclivities dates back to ‘the late seventies, and my father’s receiv- Faithful Reproductions HE illustrations accompanying this article are the result of considera- ble patient historical research, and the author, Frank R. Rosseel, vouches for the accuracy of the reproductions. Sev- eral of the drawings are_ faithful “translations” by Mr. Rosseel of sketches made by Capt. James Van Cleve, a well- known commander of early steam and sail vessels on the Great Lakes. Capt. Van Cleve was an accurate draftsman, as well as something of an artist, and this forms the basis of Mr. Rosseel’s assertion that these illustrations include the only reliable, original pictures of Frontenac and Ontario. The illustra- tion at the top of this page shows On- tario the first American steamer on the Great Lakes, as she’ appeared on her maiden voyage in 1817. Opposite, on page 137, is a sketch of Frontenac, the