In 1807 at the age of 13, Brenton Dixon lived in Albany, New York, and expected to become a blacksmith’s apprentice. Then one day he and his friends saw something strange out on the Hudson River, approaching from downstream. Many were sure that it was a fire-breathing monster and the sight created havoc on shore and on the water. It was Robert Fulton’s pioneering steamboat the Clermont, making its maiden voyage from New York City to Albany.