will be but an ordinary exercise of candour to state wherein I have
erred myself.--I purchased a skiff, too small and too weak for my
purpose, and I ought not to have undertaken the passage without taking
some person along with me, who would have been continually on the
outlook for stones or logs under water, and who occasionally would
have steered my bark. Being obliged to sit on a low seat with my back
forward, I was most unfavourably placed for observing obstacles in the
way, and, on approaching rapids, I was usually in the very draught of
them, before I could discern the proper channel.
The weather has of late been cold during the night, and the season is
so far advanced that I cannot calculate on sleeping hereafter in an
open boat. To enable me to put my baggage ashore every night, I have
procured smaller boxes, to supersede the use of larger ones. Travellers
in this country ought not to adopt large boxes, which are the most
liable to injury, from the jolting of waggons, and are comparatively
unmanageable on every occasion. Eighty or a hundred pounds, are enough
for each parcel.
There is not the least appearance of a rise on the river. I have
exchanged my pine skiff for a larger and a stronger oak one, and have
determined on getting once more upon the water.
During my stay here, I have had the satisfaction of living with a
polite and respectable family, which has treated me with the utmost
civility; {76} their integrity is beyond suspicion.--If I had
entertained any doubt on that head, the very repacking of my baggage
would at once have removed it.--My inventory is complete, not a single
article is wanting.
FOOTNOTES:
[42] Had Flint read his _Navigator_ carefully, he would have found
specific warnings on the subject of defective boats; these were on
every occasion palmed off on the uninitiated by Pittsburg sharpers.--ED.
[43] For the early history of Beaver Creek, see Croghan’s _Journals_,
volume i of our series, note 93.--ED.
[44] It was Washington’s favorite plan to unite the waters of the
Potomac and Ohio, and in turn, those of the Ohio and Lake Erie, by
means of canals. The Beaver River was always one of the possible links
in this chain of inland communication between the Great Lakes and
tidewater. As Flint observes, the Erie Canal (completed in 1825) was
the most feasible, and eventually the only successful, undertaking to
join the sea and the lakes.--ED.
[45] The Allegheny route was the common one for New England emigrants
who had journeyed through New York on the old Genesee Road; it
became of more importance after the Erie Canal was in operation. See
Buttrick’s _Voyages_, volume viii of our series.--ED.
[46] For a brief biography of General Lacock, see Cuming’s _Tour_,
volume iv of our series, note 57.--ED.
[47] “Tales of My Landlord,” by Sir Walter Scott, include _The Black
Dwarf_, _Old Mortality_, _The Heart of Midlothian_, etc. The two former
were published in 1816 and the latter in 1818.--ED.
LETTER VII[48]
Descend the Ohio from Beaver--Georgetown--Steubenville--
Wellsburgh--Warren--Wheeling--Marietta--Muskingum
river--Guyandat river--Letarts rapids--Kanhaway river--Point
Pleasant--Galliopolis--Big Sandy river--Portsmouth--Occurrences and
Remarks interspersed.
_Portsmouth, Ohio, 18th Nov. 1818._
On the 29th of October I again got afloat.--The weather clear and fine,
but the current of the river in most parts so slow that the eye could
scarcely discover its motion.--Passed the mouth of Big Beaver Creek,
29¹⁄₄ miles from Pittsburg.
Stopped for the night at a tavern 42¹⁄₂ miles from Pittsburg.
Opposite, on the Virginia shore of the river, stands Georgetown, a neat
village, with a public ferry.--On little Beaver Creek are several grist
and saw mills, a paper-mill, and several other machines. In the mouth
of a creek, I observed that the surface of the water was tinged with
the oil of naphtha.
A young gentleman, from Virginia, had stopped in the tavern sick; the
hostess and neighbours {77} were very attentive to the unfortunate
stranger.
_October 30._ At the distance of half a mile below Little Beaver Creek,
the meridional line crosses the river, which separates Pennsylvania
from Virginia on the south side of the river, and from the State of
Ohio on the north side.
Big Yellow Creek falls into the Ohio on the north side. A few miles
up this creek there is a settlement of Scotch Highlanders. The soil
occupied by them is said to be thin and poor.
After pulling all day against contrary winds, which, in some straight
parts of the river, raised waves that beat upon my boat with
considerable force, I lodged at the Black Horse Tavern, on the Virginia
side of the river, 63 miles from Pittsburg. The landlord told me that
his charges were, in some measure, regulated by the appearance of his
guests.--Where a family seem to be poor and clever, he does not charge
any thing for their sleeping on the floor. (By clever, he meant honest,
or of a good disposition.)
The hills that bound the narrow valley of the river are of sandstone
and clay schist, with a bed of coal four or five feet thick. People
acquainted with the country, say that the hills by the river, and
by the creeks, are of a poorer soil than those inland, which are
less steep. The process of inundation is probably the cause of the
difference.
There is a wider interval between the river hills here than in the
neighbourhood of Pittsburg, and the bottoms are of course wider; the
greater part of them being on the north side of the river. On the south
side negroes are numerous.
On the forenoon of the 31st a heavy rain fell, accompanied with loud
peals of thunder.--Reverberation {78} amongst the rocky hills and woods
greatly augmented the sound.
The margin of the river is lined with masses of sandstone of enormous
size. Others lie in the middle, with their rounded and scratched tops
exposed above water. All these must have been detached from the river
hills.
Arrived at Steubenville, on the right bank of the Ohio. This town
stands on a second or higher bottom, exempt from the inundations so
unpleasant on the first or lower plains. There are several hundred
acres of this dry ground adjacent to the town, the largest tract of the
kind that I have seen between the river and the hills.
This place is named Steubenville, from Baron Steuben, in consideration
of his philanthropic services rendered to America, during the
revolutionary war. It contains upwards of 2000 people; and it is
regularly laid out, and the houses built of brick, wood, and a few
are of stone, all covered with shingles. A newspaper is printed in
the town; it contains also a woollen manufactory, a paper-mill, a
grist-mill, and a small cotton-mill. These machines are wrought by
steam. There are also two earthenware manufactories, and a brewery in
the town, four preachers, six lawyers, five surgeons, twenty-seven
shops, sixteen taverns, two banks, and a considerable number of
artisans, necessary to the existence and increase of the place.
The aspect of the river hills, by Steubenville, convey the idea that
they are better land, and not so apt to be washed down by rains, as
those in the neighbourhood of Pittsburg.--I have had no opportunity of
inquiring into the cause.
If I am not mistaken, Steubenville contains a greater proportion of
orderly and religious people, {79} than some other American towns which
I have seen. I entertain a very favourable opinion of several citizens,
to whom I was introduced.
_November 3._ After having left the town, and proceeded about a mile
down the river, Mr. Hamilton the tavern-keeper, with whom I had lodged,
came along the bank, on horseback, calling after me. I landed, and he
delivered to me an article, that I had neglected to pack up.
Passed a young man in a small skiff; he had not ballast enough for
keeping head against the wind, which twirled his vessel round, and
occasionally drifted him up the stream. He put ashore, as did also a
family boat, that could not get onward.
The wind having increased, I found it expedient to land at Wellsburgh,
and wait till the gale abated. The waves were too large for such a
small bark, and, in making the crossings necessary to keep in the
proper channel, I was in danger of exposing the broadside too much to
the weather.
Wellsburgh, (formerly Charlestown,) stands on the Virginia side of the
river. It is a small town; I observed in it a court-house, a jail, a
large store-house, and several taverns. The margin of the river is so
shallow, that I could not push my skiff within twelve feet of the dry
ground. There is no wharf or artificial landing place here, or at any
of the towns that I have seen by the river. The floods sweep off almost
every thing that is erected within the banks; even the roads that are
scooped out of the beach are at times destroyed. Taverns (out of town)
have only a rude footpath cut in the bank, and many of them have not a
trace formed by the hands of man.
_Afternoon._ The wind calmed, and I proceeded downward. I came up with
two young men in a {80} small skiff; one of them put off his coat to
row, and the other paddled with an oar. Their intention was evidently
to keep before me, but they were soon disappointed. When one small
boat comes up with another, a sort of race is almost invariably the
consequence. I have already acted a part in several of them, and have
uniformly got foremost. On one occasion I was opposed by three men
in a smaller skiff than my own. I impute my success to the superior
construction of my vessel, and to the extraordinary breadth of my
oars. It has occurred to me, that the oars in general use are much too
narrow, and that by adopting broader ones, we would avail ourselves
more of the _vis inertiæ_ of the water, that of course is the sole
cause of locomotion in a vessel propelled by rowing.
On a dry bar, or island of gravel, I observed that none of the weeds
were close by the present margin of the water, and that they were all
on ground at least two feet higher than that line, an evident proof
that the surface of the water must have been about two feet higher
during the summer months. At that time it must have been a much easier
task to descend the river.
I landed in the evening at Warren,[49] a small town on the north bank.
At this place there was a pedlar’s boat, a small ark, which is removed
from one town to another. Internally it is a shop, with counter,
balances, &c. around the sides are shelves, with goods, in the usual
form.
_4th._ Last night the tavern had been in an uproar with a large party
of gamblers.--Their room had no door, and that in which I slept had
none, so that I heard much swearing and loud vociferation. About four
o’clock one of the gentlemen retired from play, and laid himself down
beside me. {81} A short time afterwards another entered the room, when
the bar-keeper advised him to become a third of our party; this he
declined. The bar-keeper next advised that he should take a part of the
clothes from our bed, and an adjoining one, and with them make a bed
for himself on the floor.--This he also declined; probably judging that
the attempt would be opposed.
This morning a contrary wind blew hard. Immediately below the town
there is a rapid current, not much ruffled by the breeze, but a long
stretch of deeper water beyond it is rolling with waves.[50] Where the
waves and the stream meet, white breakers are formed. Wishing to avoid
these as much as possible, I took a young man of the neighbourhood with
me, and availed myself of his local knowledge.
Wheeling is a considerable town on the left bank of the river,
ninety-six miles from Pittsburg. It is expected that the new road from
Baltimore to this place will be completed in the course of a year.[51]
This being a national highway, on which no tolls are to be levied,
and the shortest connection between a sea-port and the Ohio, a great
increase of trade is consequently anticipated.[52] Hereafter, Baltimore
will be the most proper landing place for Europeans who would settle
in western America. At present the carriage of goods from Baltimore to
Wheeling is cheaper than from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. From this it
is evident, that the new route is already the shortest and the cheapest.
About four and a half miles below Wheeling, I was surprised at hearing
the river making a great noise, the Pittsburg navigator not giving
any notice of a rapid, and as a thick fog prevented me from seeing
the cause, I went on shore to reconnoitre. Before reaching the place
from whence {82} the noise proceeded, a boy informed me that a great
fresh (flood) in M’Mahon’s Creek, happened last summer, at a time
when the Ohio was low, and that it had carried earth and trees from
the bottom land, together with a house and a family, into the river.
The devastation produced by this torrent is truly astonishing. It has
cut a great chasm through the bottom land, which is about twenty-five
feet high, and scooped it out many feet lower than the surface of the
Ohio. A large bar, that in some measure dams the river, has large trees
intermixed with it; their roots and branches standing above the water.
This is the obstacle and cause that occasion the noisy ripple.
The last tavern that we passed here, had no sign-board. In consequence
of which I supposed it to be a private house, and, after sailing
several miles down the river, was obliged to put ashore, when nearly
dusk, at a farm-house about nine miles below Wheeling.
_November 5._ The family with whom I lodged last night, seem to be
industrious and well disposed. Two daughters were busily engaged in
tailor work for the males. This, they said, is a common practice in
the country. They also told me of a young lady of the neighbourhood,
who had just gone to the house of her bridegroom, to make his marriage
suit. As this occurrence was told with some degree of disapprobation,
it is not to be viewed as in unison with the manners of the people.
Twelve miles and a half below Wheeling, and a quarter of a mile from
the river, on the left-hand side, there is a remarkable mound of
earth, called the Big Grave. This hill is about sixty-seven feet high,
a hundred and eighty feet broad at the base, and about twenty-two feet
broad at the top, which is a little hollow. Some have supposed that the
earth {83} has been brought from a distance; but, as something similar
to a ditch is to be seen on one side of it, and as the neighbouring
surface is uneven, there can be no strong reason to warrant the
conclusion. Several fallen trees on the sides, (for it is covered with
a strong growth of timber,) have exposed the component earth, which is
a fine vegetable soil. It is not known that the present Indian people
perform such works, nor is it believed that their traditions inculcate
veneration towards these monuments; hence their origin is perfectly
obscure.
On the right-hand side of the river, and about four miles below Grave
Creek, a bed of coal is wrought. It lies in a horizontal position, and
under high-water mark. Boats take in lading close by the mouth of the
mine.
Lodged at a tavern thirty-four miles from Wheeling, after rowing
against head-winds, which rendered the work somewhat fatiguing. In the
evening a number of young men came in from a husking of Indian corn in
the neighbourhood; they commenced drinking and swearing, all bawling
out and talking at once. Such noisy gabbling I never before heard.
_November 6._ To-day I got into a long stretch of the river, where
it is straight for seventeen miles. This part is called the Long
Reach.[53] The wind blew upward, and opposed a rolling surface to my
progress. The labour was hard, but the headway very small; family boats
have been obliged to land. I saw some young men in a canoe who had
just killed a deer in the act of crossing the river.
Lodged at a tavern about half way down the long Reach. Two old women,
(sisters,) were there, one was in quest of her husband, and the other
of her daughter. The uncle is forty-five years of age, and the niece
sixteen. Affinity and disparity of {84} age united, have not been
sufficient to prevent the elopement.
From Wheeling to near this place, coal, limestone, and sandstone are
abundant.
In my passage, I have seen twenty-five islands. Some of them are of
considerable size; the second below Pittsburg is six miles long.
Islands being covered with timber, varying in size from the shortest
willows by the water’s edge, to tall trees in the centre, have a
beautiful appearance when viewed from the river either above or below
them. I have descended twenty-two ripples. In a few of these, the
stranger is apt to feel a considerable anxiety from being swept hastily
along amongst logs, with their tops above water, and over stones and
logs sunk beneath its surface.
_November 7._ The inconvenience and expense that attend putting my
baggage ashore every night, and on board every morning, are great.
Tavern-keepers’ servants are usually of their own families. Freemen
in early life, they, in many cases, disregard the parental command,
however reasonable. If I mistake not, the assistance which I paid
dearly for, was sometimes procured by my own address rather than a
sense of duty on their part. Although I am now a good waterman, and
outsail every vessel I see, I resolved to adopt a more convenient,
though less expeditious way of travelling.
I applied to the master of a large keel boat, on its way for
Portsmouth, at the mouth of great Sciota river, to be taken on board.
He refused to take me as a passenger, but was willing to accept of me
on condition that I would row in the place of a man who was about to
leave him. I agreed to work; for in my skiff I wrought very hard. I
changed my place, but did not improve my condition.
{85} Keel boats are large shallow vessels, varying from thirty to
seventy tons burden. They are built on a keel with ribs, and covered
with plank, as ships are. They are very flat below, and draw only
about two feet of water. The gunwales are about a foot above water.
Something like a large box is raised over the boat, which serves for a
cover, leaving a narrow footpath on the outside all around. Four or six
men row near the prow, and a steersman behind plies a long oar, which
serves for a rudder.
_November 8. (Sunday.)_ The provisions of this and another boat in
company were nearly exhausted, and a supply was expected at Marietta.
Sailing appeared to be a work of necessity; but, independent of the
exigency, the boats would probably have moved on. Sailing on the
Sabbath is as common here as at sea. A boatman commenced a song, and
was interrupted by a Scots rustic. The American alleged that he was
in a “land of liberty” and that no one had a right to interfere. The
other affirmed that it was against law, and threatened to prevent the
violation in the most summary way. The boatman, perceiving that he was
to be assailed by a stronger man than himself, gave up the contest.
Every one present seemed well pleased with this termination of the
affair.
_November 9._ Marietta is beautifully situated on a fine green bottom,
immediately above the mouth of the Great Muskingum river. There
are many good brick and frame houses in the town; a church, and an
academy, which are both called fine buildings. The ferry-boat that
crosses the Muskingum is attached by wheels to a strong rope stretched
across the river, to which the boat is moored obliquely, so that it is
forced across by the {86} action of the stream. Marietta is subject to
inundations. I observed high water mark on the plaster of a room in the
tavern, about four and a half feet above the floor.
The first settlement formed by the United States in the territory
north-west of the Ohio, was effected by General Putnam, and forty-six
other persons, on the 7th of April, 1788, on the ground where Marietta
now stands.
_10._ This day we met a family boat sailing up the river. We convinced
them of their mistake, which happened in the following way. The people
went under the roof to avoid a shower, and during their stay, the
vessel turned round. They came out, and rowed till they had retrograded
about two miles.
Our way of passing the night was simple. We put ashore, and tied the
boat to a log or stake; took in firewood, which was plentiful all along
the banks; made a fire for cooking, in a large box filled with earth,
placed on the roof, and slept under the cover in our clothes, wrapped
in a blanket. In the morning we lost no time in dressing, having only
to loosen our cable, and get under weigh. In times of high water,
sailing by night is considered safe and agreeable, very little rowing
being necessary.
On the 11th we went down Letart’s rapids, a very violent run.[54] The
boat rushed through with great velocity. There is a floating grist and
saw mill here, which I visited. The whole is buoyant on a large flat
shallow vessel, moored in the current. The effective head of water is
about twenty inches high. The water-wheel is twelve feet in diameter,
and eighteen feet broad. The millstone is about thirty-eight inches in
diameter, and {87} makes a hundred and twenty revolutions in the minute.
We came up with a family boat, the people in which had killed a deer.
These animals often cross the river of their own accord; and frequently
to elude the pursuit of dogs.
The days are warm, reminding me of the month of August in Scotland; the
mornings and evenings are cool.
The ranges of hills that bound the view on both sides of the river
are composed of horizontal strata of the coal field formation; a bed
of this mineral lies at the height of fifty or sixty feet above the
level of the water. A large mass of sandstone is above the coal. This
may be observed for many miles along the banks. The ragged, and dented
edges of the strata, have led some to suppose that the river never
acted on them; but the very contrary must have been the case; for had
the cliffs now to be seen been exposed to the weather ever since the
commencement of the present order, their asperities, and sharp edges
had been rounded off, and smoothed, as in the case of rocks on hill
tops. The true explanation seems to be, that the river has undermined
the rocks, brought them down, and ground them to sand, by its powerful
attrition. The undermining process has no doubt been facilitated by
the softer subjacent strata, as clay-schist, and coal. The powerful
operation of the grinding process is strongly attested by the grooved
surfaces, and the figure of the large blocks in the bed of the stream.
These are uniformly rounded away on the end that lies farthest up the
river; whereas, the end facing down the river is comparatively flat,
and usually bounded by sharp edges.
{88} _November 13._ Passed the mouth of Kanhaway river. Here stands
a small town called Point Pleasant. The name is appropriate, and
descriptive of the site.
From the springs of Kanhaway river, a great supply of salt is procured
for the western country.
We landed at Galliopolis in Ohio State. The town stands on a high
bank above the reach of the river. The name was given by a colony of
a hundred French families, which settled here twenty-five years ago.
They purchased from a Company, whose original charter stipulated, that
the tract should be inhabited by a certain number of settlers, within
a specified period of time. The condition was not fulfilled; the land
reverted to the government, and the colony was dispossessed of its new
establishment.
_14._ The wind was violent, obliging us to remain on shore for three
hours. We moved again, and stopped after dark, about a mile above the
mouth of Big Guyandat river, where some ripples commence.
_15._ (_Sunday._) A strong contrary wind blew. No boat could move
downward. But we saw several keel boats carrying sail, that enabled
them to stem the ripples without manual labour. It is the wind, and not
the day, that is reverenced here.
On the morning of the 16th, we moved downward. We saw a man fire a shot
at a flock of wild turkeys. These fowl were so far from being coy, that
they flew only a little way, and alighted again, on the trees.
Passed Big Sandy river, which comes in on the left hand side, and forms
part of the boundary line between Virginia and Kentucky. In the evening
we stopped below Fergusson’s Bar, having sailed {89} thirty-one miles
in the course of the day,--a great space, considering the lowness of
the water.
On the 17th, we arrived at Portsmouth, a well built town. It has a
county court house, a newspaper office, a woollen manufactory, a
number of stores, (shops,) and several good taverns. Having resolved
on travelling a little way inland from the river, I immediately put
my baggage on board a boat for Limestone, in Kentucky, addressed to
a commission merchant there. Limestone is fifty-one miles from this
place, and four hundred and forty-one miles from Pittsburg, by the
river.