APPENDIX B.

As early as 1754, Franklin, in his famous Albany Plan of Union for the colonies, had a device for establishing new states in the West, upon lands purchased from the Indians. In 1773, he displayed interest in the Walpole plan for another colony,—variously called Pittsylvania, Vandalia, and New Barataria—with its proposed capital at the mouth of the Great Kanawha. There were, too, several other Western colonial schemes,—among them the Henderson colony of Transylvania, between the Cumberland and the Tennessee, the seat of which was Boonesborough. Readers of Roosevelt well know its brief but brilliant career, intimately connected with the development of Tennessee and Kentucky. But the most of these hopeful enterprises came to grief with the political secession of the colonies; and when the coast States ceded their Western land-claims to the new general government, and the Ordinance of 1787 provided for the organization of the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, there was no room for further enterprises of this character.A

The story of the Ohio is the story of the West. With the close of the Revolution, came a rush of travel down the great river. It was more or less checked by border warfare, which lasted until 1794; but in that year, Anthony Wayne, at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, broke the backbone of savagery east of the Mississippi; the Tecumseh uprising (1812-13) came too late seriously to affect the dwellers on the Ohio.

There were two great over-mountain highways thither, one of them being Braddock's Road, with Redstone (now Brownsville, Pa.) and Pittsburg as its termini; the other was Boone's old trail, or Cumberland Gap. With the latter, this sketch has naught to do.

By the close of the Revolution, Pittsburg—in Gist's day, but a squalid Indian village, and a fording-place—was still only "a distant out-post, merely a foothold in the Far West." By 1785, there were a thousand people there, chiefly engaged in the fur-trade and in forwarding emigrants and goods to the rapidly-growing settlements on the middle and lower reaches of the river. The population had doubled by 1803. By 1812 there was to be seen here just the sort of bustling, viciousfrontier town, with battlement-fronts and ragged streets, which Buffalo and then Detroit became in after years. Cincinnati and Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City, had still later, each in turn, their share of this experience; and, not many years ago, Bismarck, Omaha, and Leadville. From Philadelphia and Baltimore and Richmond, there were running to Pittsburg or Redstone regular lines of stages for the better class of passengers; freight wagons laden with immense bales of goods were to be seen in great caravans, which frequently were "stalled" in the mud of the mountain roads; emigrants from all parts of the Eastern States, and many countries of Europe, often toiled painfully on foot over these execrable highways, with their bundles on their backs, or following scrawny cattle harnessed to makeshift vehicles; and now and then came a well-to-do equestrian with his pack-horses,—generally an Englishman,—who was out to see the country, and upon his return to write a book about it.

At Pittsburg, and points on the Alleghany, Youghiogheny, and Monongahela, were boat-building yards which turned out to order a curious medley of craft—arks, flat- and keel-boats,barges, pirogues, and schooners of every design conceivable to fertile brain. Upon these, travelers took passage for the then Far West, down the swift-rolling Ohio. There have descended to us a swarm of published journals by English and Americans alike, giving pictures, more or less graphic, of the men and manners of the frontier; none is without interest, even if in its pages the priggish author but unconsciously shows himself, and fails to hold the mirror up to the rest of nature. With the introduction of steamboats,—the first was in 1811, but they were slow to gain headway against popular prejudice,—the old river life, with its picturesque but rowdy boatmen, its unwieldy flats and keels and arks, began to pass away, and water traffic to approach the prosaic stage; the crossing of the mountains by the railway did away with the boisterous freighters, the stages, and the coaching-taverns; and when, at last, the river became paralleled by the iron way, the glory of the steamboat epoch itself faded, riverside towns adjusted themselves to the new highways of commerce, new centers arose, and "side-tracked" ports fell into decay.

Footnote A:(return)See Turner's "Western State-Making in the Revolutionary Era," inAmer. Hist. Rev., Vol. I.; also, Alden's "New Governments West of the Alleghanies,"Bull. Univ. Wis., Hist. Series, Vol. II.

See Turner's "Western State-Making in the Revolutionary Era," inAmer. Hist. Rev., Vol. I.; also, Alden's "New Governments West of the Alleghanies,"Bull. Univ. Wis., Hist. Series, Vol. II.

Gist, Christopher.Gist's Journals; with historical, geographical, and ethnological notes, and biographies of his contemporaries, by William M. Darlington. Pittsburg, 1893.

Gist's trip down the valley, from October, 1750, to May, 1751, was on horseback, as far as the site of Frankfort, Ky. On his second trip into Kentucky, from November, 1751, to March 11, 1752, he touched the river at few points.

Gordon, Harry.Extracts from the Journal of Captain Harry Gordon, chief engineer in the Western department in North America, who was sent from Fort Pitt, on the River Ohio, down the said river, etc., to Illinois, in 1766.

Published in Pownall's "Topographical Description of North America," Appendix, p. 2.

Washington, George.Journal of a tour to the Ohio River. [Writings, ed. by Ford, vol. II. New York, 1889.]

The trip lasted from October 5 to December 1, 1770. Theparty went in boats from Fort Pitt, as far down as the mouth of the Great Kanawha. This journal is the best on the subject, written in the eighteenth century.

Pownall, T.A topographical description of such parts of North America as are contained in the [annexed] map of the Middle British Colonies, etc. London, 1776.

Contains "Extracts from Capt. Harry Gordon's Journal," "Extracts from Mr. Lewis Evans' Journal" of 1743, and "Christopher Gist's Journal" of 1750-51.

Hutchins, Thomas.Topographical description of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina, comprehending the Rivers Ohio, Kenhawa, Sioto, Cherokee, Wabash, Illinois, Mississippi, etc. London, 1778.

St. John, M.Lettres d'un cultivateur Americain. Paris, 1787, 3 vols.

Vol. 3 contains an account of the author's boat trip down the river, in 1784.

De Vigni, Antoine F. S.Relation of his voyage down the Ohio River from Pittsburg to the Falls, in 1788.

Graphic and animated account by a French physician who came out with the Scioto Company's immigrants to Gallipolis. Given in "Proc. Amer. Antiq. Soc.", Vol. XI., pp. 369-380.

May, John.Journal and letters [to the Ohio country, 1788-89], Cincinnati, 1873.

One of the best, for economic views. May was a Boston merchant.

Forman, Samuel S.Narrative of a journey down the Ohio and Mississippi in 1789-90. With a memoir and illustrative notes, by Lyman C. Draper. Cincinnati, 1888.

A lively and appreciative account. Touches social life at the garrisons,en route.

Ellicott, Andrew.Journal of the late commissioner on behalf of the United States during part of the year 1796, the years 1797, 1798, 1799, and part of the year 1800: for determining the boundary between the United States and Spain. Philadelphia, 1803.

His trip down the river was in 1796.

Baily, Francis.Journal of a tour in unsettled parts of North America, in 1796 and 1797. London, 1856.

The author's river voyage was in 1796.

Harris, Thaddeus Mason.Journal of a tour into the territory northwest of the Alleghany Mountains; made in the spring of the year 1803. Boston, 1805.

A valuable work. The author traveled on a flatboat.

Michaux, F. A.Travels to the west of the Alleghany Mountains. London (2nd ed.), 1805.

Excellent, for economic conditions. The expedition was made in 1802.

Ashe, Thomas.Travels in America, performed in 1806. London, 1808.

Among the best of the early journals, although abounding in exaggerations.

Cuming, F.Sketches of a tour to the Western country, etc., commenced in 1807 and concluded in 1809. Pittsburg, 1810.

Bradbury, John.Travels [1809-11] in the interior of America. Liverpool, 1817.

Melish, John.Travels in the United States of America [1811]. Philadelphia, 1812, 2 vols.

Vol. 2 contains the journal of the author's voyage down the river, in a skiff. The account of means of early navigation is graphic.

Flint, Timothy.Recollections of the last ten years. Boston, 1826.

There is no better account of boats, and river life generally, in 1814-15, the time of Flint's voyage.

Fearon, Henry Bradshaw.Sketches of America [1817]. London, 1819.

Palmer, John.Journal of travels in the United States of North America [1817]. London, 1818.

Evans, Estwick.A pedestrian tour [1818] of four thousand miles through the Western states and territories. Concord, N. H., 1819.

Birkbeck, Morris.Notes on a journey inAmerica, from the coast of Virginia to the Territory of Illinois. London, 1818.

The author traveled, in 1817, by light wagon from Richmond to Pittsburg; and from Pittsburg to Cincinnati by horseback. This book, interesting for economic conditions, together with the author's "Letters from Illinois," did much to inspire emigration to Illinois from England. His English colony, at English Prairie, Ill., was much visited by travelers of the period.

Faux, W.Journal of a tour to the United States [in 1819].

Excellent pictures of American life and agricultural methods, by an English gentleman farmer. Attacks Birkbeck's roseate views.

Ogden, George W.Letters from the West, comprising a tour through the Western country [1821], and a residence of two summers in the States of Ohio and Kentucky. New Bedford, Mass., 1823.

Welby, Adlard.A visit to North America and the English settlements in Illinois. London, 1821.

The author went by horseback, occasionally touching the river towns.

Beltrami, J. C.Pilgrimage in Europe and America. London, 1828, 2 vols.

In Vol. II the author describes a steamboat journey in 1823, from Pittsburg to the mouth.

Hall, James.Letters from the West. London, 1828.

Valuable for scenery, manners, and customs, and anecdotes of early Western settlement.

Anonymous.The Americans as they are; described by a tour through the valley of the Mississippi. London, 1828.

Trollope, Mrs.[Frances M.]. Domestic manners of the Americans. London and New York, 1832.

A lively caricature, the precursor of Dickens' "American Notes." Mrs. Trollope's voyages on the Ohio were in 1828 and 1830.

Vigne, Godfrey T.Six months in America. London, 1832, 2 vols.

Hamilton, T.Men and manners in America. Philadelphia, 1833.

Includes a steamboat journey from Pittsburg to New Orleans.

Alexander, Capt. J. E.Transatlantic sketches. London, 1833, 2 vols.

Vol. II. has an account of a trip up the river.

Stuart, James.Three years in North America. New York, 1833, 2 vols.

Vol. II. includes a voyage up the Ohio. The author takes issue, throughout, with Mrs. Trollope.

Brackenridge, H. M.Recollections of personsand places in the West. Philadelphia, 1834.

Describes river trips, during the first decade of the century.

Tudor, Henry.Narrative of a tour [1831-32] in North America. London, 1834, 2 vols.

The Ohio trip is in Vol. II.

Arfwedson, C. D.The United States and Canada, in 1832, 1833, and 1834. London, 1834, 2 vols.

In Vol. II is a report of a steamboat trip up the river.

Latrobe, Charles Joseph.The rambler in North America. New York, 1835, 2 vols.

Vol. II has an account of a descending steamboat voyage.

Anonymous.A winter in the West. By a New Yorker. New York (2nd ed.), 1835, 2 vols.

In Vol. I. is an entertaining account of a stage-coach ride in 1833, from Pittsburg to Cleveland, touching all settlements on the Upper Ohio down to Beaver River.

Nichols, Thomas L.Forty years of American life. London, 1864, 2 vols.

In Vol. I. the author tells of a steamboat tour from Pittsburg to New Orleans, in 1840.

Dickens, Charles.American notes. New York, 1842.

Dickens, in 1841, traveled in steamboats from Pittsburg to St. Louis. His dyspeptic comments on life and manners in the United States, at the time grated harshly on the ears of our people; but afterward, they grew strong and wise enough to smile at them. The book is to-day, like Mrs. Trollope's, entertaining reading for an American.

Rubio(pseud.). Rambles in the United States and Canada, in 1845. London, 1846.

A typical English growler, who thinks America "the most disagreeable of all disagreeable countries;" nevertheless, he says of the Ohio, "a finer thousand miles of river scenery could hardly be found in the wide world."

Mackay, Alex.The Western world; or, travels in the United States in 1846-47. London, 1849.

Good for its character sketches, glimpses of slavery, and report of economic conditions.

Robertson, James.A few months in America [winter of 1853-54]. London, n. d.

Chiefly statistical.

Murray, Charles Augustus.Travels in North America. London, 1854, 2 vols.

Vol. I has the Ohio-river trip. The author is an appreciative Englishman, and tells his story well.

Murray, Henry A.Lands of the slave and the free. London, 1855, 2 vols.

In Vol. I is an account of an Ohio-river voyage.

Ferguson, William.America by river and rail [in 1855]. London, 1856.

Lloyd, James T.Steamboat directory, and disasters on the Western waters. Cincinnati, 1856.

Valuable for stories and records of the early days of river transportation.

Anonymous.A short American tramp in the fall of 1864. By the editor of "Life in Normandy." Edinburgh, 1865.

An English geologist's journal. Distorted and overdrawn, on the travel side. He took steamer from St. Louis to Cincinnati.

Bishop, Nathaniel H.Four months in a sneak-box. Boston, 1879.

The author, in the winter of 1875-76, voyaged in an open boat from Pittsburg to New Orleans, and along the Gulf coast to Florida.

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