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, 291/4miles from Pittsburg.

Stopped for the night at a tavern 421/2miles 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 ballastenough 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 extraordinarybreadth 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 thevis inertiæof 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. Immediatelybelow 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 surprisedat 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 aremarkable 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 canoewho 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 wayfor 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 areboth 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 shallowvessel, 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 thecourse 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.

It gives me much pleasure to be relieved from the company of boatmen. I have seen nothing in human form so profligate as they are. Accomplished in depravity, their habits and education seem to comprehend every vice. They make few pretensions to moral character; and their swearing is excessive, and perfectly disgusting. Although earning good wages, they are in the most abject poverty; many of them being without any thing like clean or comfortable clothing. I have seen several whose trousers formed the whole of their wardrobe, and whose bodies were scorched to a brown colour by the rays of the sun. They are extremely addicted to drinking. Indeed I have frequently seen them borrowing of one another a few cents to quench their insatiable thirst, and in several instances refusing to repay them. The Scotsman recently alluded to missed a knife. On his accusing them of the theft, a degraded wretch offered to buy the fork.

My next letter will contain the particulars of a journey in the States of Ohio and Kentucky.

FOOTNOTES:[48]For notes on the following persons and places mentioned in this chapter, see Croghan’sJournals, volume i of our series: Yellow Creek, note 93; Kanawha River, note 101. A. Michaux’sTravels, volume iii of our series: Wheeling, note 15; Marietta, note 16. F. A. Michaux’sTravels, volume iii of our series: Pennsylvania-Virginia boundary line, note 31; Gallipolis, note 34. Harris’sJournal, volume iii of our series: Putnam, note 1. Cuming’sTour, volume iv of our series: Georgetown, note 59; Steubenville, note 67; Wellsburg, note 67; Grave Creek, note 78.—Ed.[49]As early as 1786 a few pioneers had established themselves at the mouth of Indian Short Creek; but in 1805 the town was surveyed, a public sale of lots held, and the name Warren given to it.—Ed.[50]It is interesting to note that, according to the Moravian missionary John Heckewelder, the Ohio River received its name from the white caps which often made canoe-travelling temporarily impossible. When it was covered with white caps the Indians would say “Kitschi ohio-peekhaune,” which means “verily this is a deep white river.” See “Names which the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians ... had given to Rivers, Streams, etc.,” in American Philosophical SocietyTransactions, new series, iv, pp. 369, 370. The commonly accepted derivation, that given by La Salle and the early French explorers, is that “Ohio” is an Iroquois word, meaning “beautiful river.”—Ed.[51]The Cumberland National Road was completed to the Ohio (Wheeling, West Virginia) in this year (1818).—Ed.[52]Being a national highway no tolls were originally levied on the Cumberland Road; this being, however, a most logical method of raising money for the necessary repairs, the road was ceded to the states through which it ran (1830-35), and the latter erected toll-gates and levied tolls.—Ed.[53]See list of Americanisms,post, pp. 289-290; also Croghan’sJournals, volume i of our series, note 96.—Ed.[54]Letart’s Rapids, at a bend in the Ohio about twenty-five miles above Gallipolis, are but a slight hindrance to navigation. See Thwaites,On the Storied Ohio, pp. 113-117, for a recent description.—Ed.

[48]For notes on the following persons and places mentioned in this chapter, see Croghan’sJournals, volume i of our series: Yellow Creek, note 93; Kanawha River, note 101. A. Michaux’sTravels, volume iii of our series: Wheeling, note 15; Marietta, note 16. F. A. Michaux’sTravels, volume iii of our series: Pennsylvania-Virginia boundary line, note 31; Gallipolis, note 34. Harris’sJournal, volume iii of our series: Putnam, note 1. Cuming’sTour, volume iv of our series: Georgetown, note 59; Steubenville, note 67; Wellsburg, note 67; Grave Creek, note 78.—Ed.

[49]As early as 1786 a few pioneers had established themselves at the mouth of Indian Short Creek; but in 1805 the town was surveyed, a public sale of lots held, and the name Warren given to it.—Ed.

[50]It is interesting to note that, according to the Moravian missionary John Heckewelder, the Ohio River received its name from the white caps which often made canoe-travelling temporarily impossible. When it was covered with white caps the Indians would say “Kitschi ohio-peekhaune,” which means “verily this is a deep white river.” See “Names which the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians ... had given to Rivers, Streams, etc.,” in American Philosophical SocietyTransactions, new series, iv, pp. 369, 370. The commonly accepted derivation, that given by La Salle and the early French explorers, is that “Ohio” is an Iroquois word, meaning “beautiful river.”—Ed.

[51]The Cumberland National Road was completed to the Ohio (Wheeling, West Virginia) in this year (1818).—Ed.

[52]Being a national highway no tolls were originally levied on the Cumberland Road; this being, however, a most logical method of raising money for the necessary repairs, the road was ceded to the states through which it ran (1830-35), and the latter erected toll-gates and levied tolls.—Ed.

[53]See list of Americanisms,post, pp. 289-290; also Croghan’sJournals, volume i of our series, note 96.—Ed.

[54]Letart’s Rapids, at a bend in the Ohio about twenty-five miles above Gallipolis, are but a slight hindrance to navigation. See Thwaites,On the Storied Ohio, pp. 113-117, for a recent description.—Ed.

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