André Michaux's Travels into Kentucky, 1793-96; François André Michaux's Travels West of Alleghany Mountains, 1802; Thaddeus Mason Harris's Journal of a Tour Northwest of Alleghany Mountains, 1803.

THE

JOURNAL OF A TOUR

INTO THE

Territory Northwest of the Alleghany
Mountains;

Made in the Spring of the Year 1803.

WITH

A GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF

THE

State of Ohio.

Illustrated with Original Maps and Views.

---

BY
THADDEUS MASON HARRIS, A. M.
Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

---

Boston:
PRINTED BY MANNING & LORING, NO. 2, CORNHILL.

---

1805.

BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the first day of February, in the twenty-ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America, Thaddeus Mason Harris, of the said District, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit:—​“The Journal of a Tour into the Territory Northwest of the Alleghany Mountains; made in the Spring of the year 1803. With a geographical and historical Account of the State of Ohio. By Thaddeus Mason Harris, A.M. Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.—​Illustrated with 1. An original Map of the Alleghany, Monongahela, and Yohiogany Rivers. 2. A Map of the State of Ohio, by the Hon. Rufus Putnam, Esq. Surveyor General of the United States, made from actual Surveys. 3. A Map of the Tract appropriated by Congress for Military Services; on which the Sections are laid down and marked by Numbers, &c. 4. A Ground Plat of the City Marietta. 5. A View of the Ancient Mounds and Fortifications on the Muskingum.”

In Conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, “An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned;” and also to an Act, entitled, “An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned; and extending the Benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, Engraving, and Etching, Historical and other Prints.”

N. GOODALE, Clerk of the District of Massachusetts.

A true Copy of Record. Attest:

N. Goodale, Clerk.

GENERAL IN THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE LATE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, AND SINCE SURVEYOR GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, &C. &C.[1]

Permit me, dear Sir, to inscribe to you the following pages, in grateful acknowledgment of the hospitality and kindness you showed me while at Marietta, and of the readiness with which you answered my inquiries respecting the State of Ohio.

I am sensible that the geographical sketches I have given of that Territory will appear very imperfect to you, who have so intimate an acquaintance with every part of it; but to others they may convey information more particular and correct than has been hitherto published.

As the founder and father of the State, you will feel interested in the details I have given; and, I hope, will not be wholly disappointed {iv} with my attempt to describe a part of our country so rapidly increasing in population and importance.

Relying on your candor, and encouraged by the very flattering manner in which you have seconded my proposals for this publication, I am led to flatter myself that, while you condescend to take the work under your patronage, you will consider it as the offering of one whose address on this occasion proceeds from the pure motive of veneration for a character so worthily distinguished, and from the honest ambition of being known as your friend.

THADDEUS MASON HARRIS

Having long laboured under wasting sickness, which obliged me for a time to relinquish the duties of my ministry; my mind, naturally feeble and timid, sunk under its depressions and yielded to despondency. To divert its attention, by directing its regards to objects remote from its corroding cares, and to benefit my bodily health by means of exercise and change of climate, my physicians urged my taking a journey.

A much esteemed neighbour, Mr. Seth Adams, was about making an excursion into the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, and proposed my accompanying him thither. My brother in law, Mr. John Dix, kindly offered to be my attendant, and assisted me in summoning resolution for the undertaking.

On the 29th of March, 1803, we set out on the tour. We took the post road from Boston, through New-York and Philadelphia, to Lancaster; and thence, through Carlisle and Shippensburgh, to Strasburgh at the foot of the {vi} Alleghany Mountains. Here commence the extracts from my journal.

For the gratification of my family and a few friends, I kept a record of the occurrences each day afforded, and some particulars of the several towns through which we passed. I was advised, on my return, to communicate the Geographical articles to the public; and I have consented, from a willingness to contribute my mite, however insignificant, to the common stock of the topographical knowledge of our country.

I am aware that many of the remarks and observations may appear desultory or trivial: but some indulgence is due to them from the circumstances under which they were made. They were first sketched down, as opportunity presented, in a pocket-book with a lead pencil; and at evening transcribed into my diary. They consist of such reflections as were made upon the places and the prospects immediately under my eye, and of such information as could be collected from intelligent individuals with whom I had the opportunity of conversing. The whole is the fruit of those moments of leisure, (rescued from a fatiguing journey) which the languor and pain of a miserable state of health would permit me to employ.

I hope the freedom with which I have expatiated on the description of forest and mountain {vii} scenery will not be unpleasing to those who have never had the privilege of beholding the grand and prominent features of nature, or of penetrating its sequestered glooms. For myself, I have always been an admirer of the sublime and beautiful in creation; and the immediate effect upon my feelings, produced by umbrageous forests, and by contemplating extended prospects from lofty mountains, was of so pleasurable and exalted a kind, that I wished to retain the impression to myself, and, as well as I could, communicate it to others, by a description taken on the spot.

“A state of convalescence (says a fine writer[2]) appears to me to be that of all others, which is most open to, and which indulges most in, the melancholy and awful impressions: and the transitions from the sublime to the pleasing, and from the sounds of discordance to those of melody, have their alternate and sympathetic effects, and have consequently their attractions. Every object delights the eye, and every murmur of the grove is in unison with the soul. The convalescent has his hopes, his wishes, and his fears; but the remembrance of sickness melts them down to resigned patience, and humble expectation.”

{viii} An apology is necessary for the delay of the publication. This has been partly occasioned by waiting for the return of the subscription papers, and partly by the length of time necessary to complete the engravings and the impression.

To the candor of the Public,
I submit my work;
to the
providence and favour of Almighty God,
I commend my beloved Family;
and to the hopes,
not of the present,
but
of the future life,
I resign myself.

Dorchester	}
Jan. 1805.

Having ridden this morning from Shippensburgh, a distance of eleven miles, we stopped at Strasburg to breakfast.[3]

As we approached the Alleghany Mountains, their form and magnificence became more and more distinct. We had, for several days past, seen their blue tops towering into the sky, alternately hidden and displayed by rolling and shifting clouds. Now, we ascertained that some of them were quite covered with trees; but that the rocky and bleak tops of others were naked, or scantily fringed with low savins.

These stupendous mountains seemed to stretch before us an impassable barrier; but, at times, we could see the narrow winding {12} road by which we were to ascend, though it apprized us of the fatigue and difficulty to be encountered in the undertaking. Our apprehensions, however, were somewhat abated by information that, the way, though more steep, was not so rough, nor much more difficult than the Connewago Hills we had already passed.

Strasburg is a pleasant post-town in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. It is situated at the foot of the Blue Mountain, the first of the great range of the Alleghanies. It contains about eighty houses, principally built of hewn logs, with the interstices between them filled with flat stones and mortar. They stand on a main street, which runs from north to south. On the easterly side of the street, a little back of the houses, is a fine spring of excellent water, issuing from several fountains, over which are small buildings erected for the purpose of preserving milk, butter, and provisions, during the heats of summer. So copious is the issue of water, that it soon forms a considerable and never failing brook, which, within the distance of half a mile, carries a mill. This stream is the westerly branch of Conedogwinnet Creek, which {13} falls into the Susquehannah opposite to Harrisburgh.

The inhabitants of this village are subject to severe rheumatic complaints, in consequence of the sudden changes of the weather in this vicinity to the mountain.

Near this place is shewn a large fissure in the side of the mountain, occasioned by the bursting of a water-spout. The excavation is deep. Trees, and even rocks, were dislodged in its course.

The first mountain, which is three miles over, was not so difficult to pass as we had apprehended. It is steep, but there are some convenient resting places; and the westerly side is rendered easy of descent by very judicious improvements in the condition and turnings of the road. The surface is very rocky; and the trees towards the top are small, and but thinly scattered. The stone which mostly prevails on its surface is granite, more or less perfect. At the foot is a beautiful and fertile valley, about half a mile wide, and fifteen miles long; irrigated by fine springs, whose streams uniting form the pretty brook that meanders through the fields and meadows of this enchanting place.

{14} We stopped here awhile, to let our horses rest, and to bask in the pleasant sunshine. Having been chilled with the air on the summit of the mountain, we were pleased with inhaling the warm breeze of the valley.

The contrast, between the verdant meads and fertile arable ground of this secluded spot, and the rugged mountains and frowning precipices by which it is environed, gives the prospect we have contemplated a mixture of romantic wildness and cultivated beauty which is really delightful.

Hence we crossed the second mountain, four miles over, and stopped to dine at Fannetsburg, a little village on a graceful eminence swelling from the bosom of the vale. The houses are all built of wood, mostly of hewn logs, except our Inn, which is a handsome edifice of lime-stone.

In the afternoon we crossed the third ridge, which is three miles and an half over; in some places steep and difficult of ascent; and, passing part of the valley below, reached a place called Burnt Cabins to lodge. The settlement in this place is named from the destruction of the first buildings erected here, at the time of the defeat of Col. {15} Washington, at the Little Meadows in 1753.[4]

The temporary buildings of the first settlers in the wilds are called Cabins. They are built with unhewn logs, the interstices between which are stopped with rails, calked with moss or straw, and daubed with mud. The roof is covered with a sort of thin staves split out of oak or ash, about four feet long and five inches wide, fastened on by heavy poles being laid upon them. “If the logs be hewed; if the interstices be stopped with stone, and neatly plastered; and the roof composed of shingles nicely laid on, it is called a log-house.” A log-house has glass windows and a chimney; a cabin has commonly no window at all, and only a hole at the top for the smoke to escape. After saw-mills are erected, and boards can be procured, the settlers provide themselves more decent houses, with neat floors and ceiling.

Friday, April 8

A ride of thirteen miles this morning brought us to the foot of another mountain, called Sideling Hills, eight miles over. This is not like the others, a distinct ridge, but a succession of ridges, with long {16} ascent and descent on the main sides, and intermediate risings and short vallies between.

It was a fine clear morning when we began to ascend. As we advanced, the prospect widened and became very interesting. The deep and gloomy valley below was a vast wilderness, skirted by mountains of every hue and form; some craggy and bare, and others wooded to the top: but even this extensive wild pleased me, and gave scope to boundless reflection.

Quitting the elevated region to which we had reached, we descended about half a mile, and then rose another and more lofty gradation. Hence the view was still more diversified and magnificent, crowded with mountains upon mountains in every direction; between and beyond which were seen the blue tops of others more distant, mellowed down to the softest shades, till all was lost in unison with the clouds.

As we descended, we beheld the mists rising from the deep vallies, and the clouds thickening around. It was cold and blustering, and we expected an immediate tempest and rain: but, as we mounted the third ridge, the clouds broke away over {17} our heads; and, as they dispersed, the sun would shine between and give a gliding radiance to the opening scene. We soon got beyond the clouded region, and saw the misty volumes floating down to the vallies and encircling the lower hills; so that, before we reached the summit, we had the pleasure of looking abroad in an unclouded sky.

The whole horizon was fringed with piles of distant mountains. The intermediate vallies were filled with clouds, or obscured with thick mists and shade: but the lofty summits, gilded with the blaze of day, lighted up under an azure heaven, gave a surprising grandeur and brilliancy to the whole scene.

The descent is in many places precipitous and rocky. At the bottom we crossed the Juniata in a ferry-boat. Climbing the steep banks of the river, our rout was along a range of hills exhibiting a succession of interesting landscape. In many parts we were immersed in woods; then again we came into open ground, and saw the winding {18} river just below us, and the sides and tops of the mountains soaring above. Sometimes we rode, for a considerable distance, on the banks of the river; then we quitted it to mount a hill, and here again,

Such transitions yield some of the sweetest recreations which the varied prospect of nature can afford.

An accident in breaking our carriage, delayed us so long, that it was evening before we arrived at our Inn. We rode thirty miles this day.

Saturday, April 9

While our carriage is repairing we rest at Capt. Graham’s, who resides in a delightful valley, belonging to Providence township, in Bristol County.[5] His neat and commodious dwelling is principally built with lime-stone, laid in mortar. The rooms and chambers are snug, and handsomely furnished; and the accommodations and entertainment he provides are the best to be met with between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

{19} A fine lawn spreads before the house, bordered on one part by a meandering brook, and on the other by the Juniata river, from the margin of which rise the steep sides of Mount Dallas. The trees of other times add hoary greatness to its brow, and the clouds which rest in misty shades upon its head give it a frowning and gloomy pre-eminence.

The Juniata rises from two principal springs on the Alleghany mountains; one of which is very near the top, and pours a copious stream. It receives, also, supplies from many small rills in its course, and working out a bed between the mountains, passes through a gap in the Blue ridge, and empties into the Susquehannah, fifteen miles above Harrisburg.

Back of us the woods with which one of the mountains was clothed was on fire. During the darkness of the night, the awfulness and sublimity of this spectacle were beyond description; terror mingled with it, for, as we were at no great distance, we feared that the shifting of the wind would drive the flames upon us.

{20} Monday, April 11

We resume our journey; cross the two branches of the Juniata, and arrive at Bedford, the chief town of Bedford County in Pennsylvania, to breakfast. It is regularly laid out, and there are several houses on the main street built with bricks; even the others, which are of hewn logs, have a distinguishing neatness in their appearance. The Court House, Market House, and Record Office, are brick; the Gaol is built of stone. The inhabitants are supplied with water brought in pipes to a large reservoir in the middle of the town. On the northerly skirt of the town flows Rayston creek, a considerable branch of the Juniata.

Bedford was made an incorporate town in 1795. The officers of police are two Burgesses, a Constable, a Town Clerk, and three Assistants. Their power is limited to preserve the peace and order of the place.

Upon quitting the plain, we left a fertile soil clothed with verdure, and a warm and pleasing climate; but, as we ascended the mountain, the soil appeared more barren, and the weather became colder. Yet here and there we met with a little verdant spot {21} around a spring, or at the bottom of a small indenture in the sides of the mountain. Climbing hence, the prospect widened. Deep vallies, embowered with woods, abrupt precipices, and cloud-capt hills, on all sides met the view.

In these mountainous scenes nature exhibits her boldest features. Every object is extended upon a vast scale; and the whole assemblage impresses the spectator with awe as well as admiration.

After many a wearisome ascent, we arrived at Seybour’s, on the top of the Alleghany; and, having ridden thirty-one miles, were sufficiently tired to accept even of the miserable accommodations this Inn afforded for the night.

Tuesday, April 12

On leaving our lodging on “the highest of hills,” we had to descend through six miles of rugged paths, over precipices, and among rocks, and then along a miry valley, with formidable ascents in view.

The Alleghany, which we had now crossed, is about fifteen miles over.

We descried at a distance the towering ridges of mountains, beyond many an intermediate height; some encircled with {22} wreaths of clouds, and others pointed with fire kindled by the hunters, or involved in curling volumes of smoke.

We were the principal part of the day passing the valley, and mounting Laurel Hill, which is about three miles in direct ascent, and lodged at Behmer’s near the top, after a journey of twenty-four miles.

As the woods were on fire all around us, and the smoke filled the air, we seemed to have ridden all day in a chimney, and to sleep all night in an oven.

Wednesday, April 13

This mountain has its name from the various species of Laurel with which it is clothed; (Rhododendron Maximum, Kalmia Latifolia, &c.) There were several varieties now in flower, which made a most elegant appearance.

Our road, which at best must be rugged and dreary, was now much obstructed by the trees which had fallen across it; and our journey rendered hazardous by those on each side which trembled to their fall. We remarked, with regret and indignation, the wanton destruction of these noble forests. For more than fifty miles, to the west and north, the mountains were burning. {23} This is done by the hunters, who set fire to the dry leaves and decayed fallen timber in the vallies, in order to thin the undergrowth, that they may traverse the woods with more ease in pursuit of game. But they defeat their own object; for the fires drive the moose, deer, and wild animals into the more northerly and westerly parts, and destroy the turkies, partridges, and quails, at this season on their nests, or just leading out their broods. An incalculable injury, too, is done to the woods, by preventing entirely the growth of the trees, many of which being on the acclivities and rocky sides of the mountains, leave only the most dreary and irrecoverable barrenness in their place.

We took breakfast at Jones’ mill, six miles from the top of Laurel Hill; dined at Mount Pleasant, eleven miles farther; and riding five miles in the afternoon, reached M’Kean’s to lodge.

We left Fort Ligonier, built by Gen. Forbes in 1758, to our right, and crossed the Chesnut Ridge, a very rough and rocky mountain, the last of the great range, on the Glade road. In dry seasons this is considered as much better than what is called {24} “Braddock’s road;” but, after heavy rains, it is almost impassable.

By the rout we took over the mountains the whole distance from Strasburg is one hundred and eighteen miles.

The road is very rugged and difficult over the mountains; and we were often led to comment upon the arduous enterprize of the unfortunate General Braddock, by whom it was cut. Obliged to make a pass for his army and waggons, “through unfrequented woods and dangerous defiles over mountains deemed impassable,”[6] the toil and fatigue of his pioneers and soldiers must have been indescribably great. But it was here that his precursor, the youthful Washington, gathered some of his earliest laurels.[7]

During the whole of this journey there are but a few scattered habitations, of a very ordinary appearance. The lands, except in the vallies, are of an indifferent quality, and offer but little encouragement to the cultivator.

The Alleghany mountains, which we had now passed, consist of several nearly parallel ridges, rising in remote parts of {25} New-York and New-Jersey, and running a southwesterly course till they are lost in the flat lands of West-Florida. They have not a continued top, but are rather a row or chain of distinct hills. There are frequent and large vallies disjoining the several eminences; some of them so deep as to admit a passage for the rivers which empty themselves into the Atlantic Ocean on the East, and into the Gulph of Mexico on the South. It is only in particular places that these ridges can be crossed. Generally the road leads through gaps, and winds around the sides of the mountains; and, even at these places, is steep and difficult.

The rocks and cliffs of the mountains are principally grit, or free-stone; but in several places, particularly towards the foot, the slate and lime-stone predominate. Through the Glades, the slaty schist and lime-stone is abundant. On Laurel Hill, and the mountains westward of that, the fossil coal (Lithanthrax) abounds, and lies so near the surface that it is discoverable in the gullies of the road, and among the roots of trees that have been overthrown by the wind.

{26} Thursday, April 14

Now that we have crossed all the mountains, the gradual and easy slope of the ground indicates to us that we are approaching those vast savannas through which flow “the Western waters.” The plain expands on all sides. The country assumes a different aspect; and even its decorations are changed. The woods are thick, lofty, and extremely beautiful, and prove a rich soil. A refreshing verdure clothes the open meadows. The banks of the brooks and river are enamelled with flowers of various forms and hues. The air, which before was cold and raw, is now mild and warm. Every breeze wafts a thousand perfumes, and swells with the gay warblings of feathered choristers.

The long and tedious journey we had passed, through lonesome woods and over rugged ways, contributed not a little, perhaps, {27} to enhance the agreeableness of the prospect now before us. Certainly there is something very animating to the feelings, when a traveller, after traversing a region without culture, emerges from the depths of solitude, and comes out upon an open, pleasant, and cultivated country. For myself I must observe, that the novelty and beauty of the romantic prospects, together with the genial influence of the vernal season, were peculiarly reviving to my bodily frame for a long time weakened by sickness, and exhilarating to my mind worn down by anxiety and care.

We were now upon the banks of the Yohiogany River, which we crossed at Budd’s ferry.[8]

The name of this river is spelt, by some writers Yohogany, and by others Yoxhiogeni; by General Braddock it was written Yaughyaughané;[9] but the common pronunciation is Yokagany, and the inhabitants in these parts call it “the Yok river.” It rises from springs in the Alleghany mountain, which soon unite their streams in the valley, or, as it is called, “the great meadows,” below. The point where the {28} north branch from the northward, the little crossing from the southeast, and the great south branch, form a junction, three miles above Laurel Hill, is called “the Turkey foot.”[10] With the accession of some smaller runs, it becomes a very considerable and beautiful river. Pursuing a northwesterly course, as it passes through a gap in Laurel Hill, it precipitates itself over a ledge of rocks which lie nearly at right angles to the course of the stream, and forms a noble cascade, called “the Ohiopyle Falls.” Dr. Rittenhouse, who has published a description of these falls, accompanied with an engraving, found the perpendicular height of the cataract to be “about twenty feet, and the breadth of the river two hundred and forty feet.[11] For a considerable distance below the falls, the river is very rapid, and boils and foams vehemently, occasioning a continual mist to arise from it. The river at this place runs to the southwest, but presently winds round to the northwest, and continuing this general course for thirty or forty miles, it loses its name by uniting with the Monongahela, which comes from the southward, and contains perhaps twice as much water.”

{29} The navigation of this river is obstructed by the falls and the rapids below for ten miles; but thence to the Monongahela, boats that draw but three feet of water may pass freely, except in dry seasons.

The land in the vicinity of the river is uneven; but in the vallies the soil is extremely rich. The whole region abounds with coal, which lies almost on the surface.

We garnished our bouquet to day with the beautiful white flowers of the Blood root, (Sanguinaria Canadensis) called by the Indians “Puccoon:” they somewhat resemble those of the Narcissus. This plant grows in mellow high land. The root yields a bright red tincture, with which the Indians used to paint themselves, and to colour some of their manufactures, particularly their cane baskets.—​The root possesses emetic qualities.—​Transplanted into our gardens, this would be admired as an ornamental flower, while the roots would furnish artists with a brilliant paint or dye, and perhaps be adopted into the Materia Medica as a valuable drug.

At Elizabethtown, about eighteen miles from Pittsburg, we crossed the Monongahela.[12] Having collected particular information {30} respecting this river and the Alleghany, and an account of the settlements upon their banks, I insert it in this place.[13]

The Monongahela takes its rise at the foot of Laurel Hill in Virginia, about Lat. 38° 30′ N. Thence meandering in a north by east direction it passes into Pennsylvania, and at last, uniting its waters with those of the Alleghany at Pittsburg, forms the noble Ohio.

The settlements on both sides of this river are fine and extensive, and the land is good and well cultivated. Numerous trading and family boats pass continually. In the spring and fall the river seems covered with them. The former, laden with flour, whiskey, peach-brandy, cider, bacon, iron, potters’ ware, cabinet work, &c. all the produce or manufacture of the country, are destined for Kentucky, and New Orleans, or the towns on the Spanish side of the Missisippi. The latter convey the families of emigrants, with their furniture, farming utensils, &c. to the new settlements they have in view. These boats are generally called “Arks;” and are said to have been invented by Mr. {31} Krudger, on the Juniata, about ten years ago. They are square, and flat-bottomed; about forty feet by fifteen, with sides six feet deep; covered with a roof of thin boards, and accommodated with a fire-place. They will hold from 200 to 500 barrels of flour. They require but four hands to navigate them; carry no sail, and are wafted down by the current.

The banks of the river opposite to Pittsburg, and on each side for some distance, or rather the high hills whose feet it laves, appear to be one entire body of coal. This is of great advantage to that flourishing town; for it supplies all their fires, and enables them to reserve their timber and wood for ship building and the use of mechanicks.

Morgantown, which is one hundred and seven miles from Pittsburg, may be considered as the head of navigation on the Monongahela.[14]

This is a flourishing town, pleasantly situated on the east side of the river. It contains about sixty dwelling-houses, a Court-house, and stone Gaol. It is the shire town for the counties of Harrison, {32} Monongalia, Ohio, and Randolph, in Virginia.

Eight miles below this town the Cheat River enters; three or four miles within the Pennsylvania line. “It is 200 yards wide at its mouth, and 100 yards at the Dunkard’s settlement fifty miles higher; and is navigable for boats except in dry seasons. There is a portage of thirty-seven miles from this river to the Potomac at the mouth of Savage river.”[15] [16]

Two miles lower down it receives the waters of Dunkard’s Creek on the west side; and ten miles lower George’s Creek joins it on the east. Just below the mouth of this creek is situated New Geneva, a thriving post-town, a place of much business, and rendered famous by the glass-works in its vicinity, which not only supply the neighbourhood with window-glass, bottles, &c. but send large quantities down the river. There is also a papermill, and a manufactory for muskets, in the place. Arks, and other boats are built here.[17]

A little below, and on the other side of the river, lies Greensburgh, so called in honor of the late General Greene. It is a neat little village.[18]

{33} Within the distance of twenty-three miles from this enter Big Whitely Creek, Little Whitely, Brown’s run, Middle run, Cat’s run, Muddy Creek, and Ten mile run. Near the latter is Fredericktown, a pretty village on the west side of the river.

Seven miles lower down, immediately above the mouth of Dunlap’s Creek, on the east side, is Bridgeport, a small thriving town, connected with Brownsville by a neat bridge 260 feet long.

Brownsville, formerly called “Redstone old fort,” is a post-town, belonging to Fayette County in Pennsylvania. Though extremely pleasant, and commanding a most extensive and interesting prospect of the river, the creeks, and the fine country around, it seems rather disadvantageously situated on account of the steep declivity of the hill on which it is principally built. It contains about one hundred and fifty houses, and five hundred inhabitants. There is a Roman Catholic church here, and four Friends’ meeting-houses in the vicinity.

An extensive paper-mill on Redstone Creek, a rope-walk, a brewery, several valuable manufactories, and within a few miles of the town twenty-four saw, grist, oil, and {34} fulling mills, render this a place of much business. The trade and emigration down the river employ boat-builders very profitably. About one hundred boats of twenty tons each are said to be built here annually.

On the south side of Redstone Creek formerly stood Byrd’s Fort.[19]

About nineteen miles below is Williamsport, a growing settlement, on the direct road from Philadelphia to Wheeling.

Twelve miles lower is Elizabethtown, on the southeast side of the river, containing about sixty houses. At this place much business is done in boat and ship building. The “Monongahela Farmer,” and other vessels of considerable burden, were built here, and, laden with the produce of the adjacent country, were sent to the West-India islands.[20]

Eight miles farther is McKeesport, situated just below the junction of the Yohiogany with the Monongahela. Many boats are built here for transportation and the use of those who emigrate to the western country. The place is growing in business, and most probably will rise into considerable importance.

{35} Having received the Yohiogany, and waters from several creeks, the river winds its course, with replenished stream, till it unites with the Alleghany below Pittsburg, where it is about four hundred yards wide.

Braddock’s Field is at the head of Turtle Creek, seven miles from Pittsburg. Here that brave, but unfortunate General engaged a party of Indians, was repulsed, himself mortally wounded, and his army put to flight, July 9, 1755.[21]

The Alleghany River, by the Delaware Indians called “Alligewisipo,”[22] rises on the western side of the mountain from which it derives its name. Its head is near Sinemahoning Creek, a boatable stream that falls into the Susquehannah; to which there is a portage of twenty-two miles. Another branch tends towards Le Boeuf, whence is a portage of only fifteen miles to Presq’ Isle, one of the finest harbours on Lake Erie. This distance is a continued chesnut-bottom swamp, except about one mile from Le Boeuf, and two miles from Presq’ Isle; and the road between these two places, some years ago, for nine miles, was made by a kind of causeway of logs.[23] There has been {36} lately an Act of the Assembly of Pennsylvania for forming a turnpike over it.

Presq’ Isle, which owed its name to the form of a large point of land jutting into the Lake, and by its curvature making a very commodious harbour capable of admitting vessels drawing nine feet of water, is now called Erie; having been laid out a few years since by the Legislature of the State upon a large scale, and made the shire town of Erie county. Commanding an extensive trade through the Lakes, and then down the Alleghany, Ohio, and Missisippi, the situation of this place was considered as very important, and great encouragement was given to settlers. But a prevailing fever for some time retarded the settlement. It is said, however, that this obstacle is now nearly, if not entirely removed; and that the place rapidly increases in population and importance.

A post-office is established here, which receives the mail from Philadelphia once every second week.

Le Boeuf, now called Waterford, is a growing settlement at the head of the north branch of French Creek. A post-office is, also, kept here.

{37} The old French fort Le Boeuf, was about two miles east from Small Lake. This was formerly one of the western posts, but is now evacuated.[24]

Forty-eight miles lower down on French Creek is Meadville, a thriving post-town, and the seat of justice for the counties of Warren and Crawford, to the latter of which it belongs. It contains about one hundred houses, and several stores; and is a place of considerable business.[25]

Immediately below the mouth of French Creek, at the place where it unites with the northeasterly branch of the Alleghany river, is Franklin, a post-town, containing about fifty houses, and several stores. It is the shire town for Venango county. The river is here two hundred yards wide.

Near this was the antient post Venango, and on the scite of this town was erected Fort Franklin in the year 1787, to defend the frontiers of Pennsylvania from the depredations of the neighbouring Indians.

About one hundred miles lower down, as the river runs, or one hundred and ninety-eight from Erie, is Freeport, on the mouth of Buffalo Creek, and opposite {38} to Kiskimenetas, a considerable branch of the Alleghany river. The head waters of this branch are Little Conemaugh and Stone Creek, which rise from the foot of the Alleghany mountain, and pass in a N.N.W. direction through gaps in the Laurel Hill and Chesnut Ridge. After their junction the principal stream is called Conemaugh River. But, having received Black Lick from the N. E. and, seventeen miles from its mouth, Loyalhannon Creek from the S.S.E. it is called the Kiskimenetas River. It is navigable for batteaux forty or fifty miles, and good portages are found between it and the Juniata and Potomac rivers. A batteau is a flat-bottomed boat, widest in the middle, and tapering to a point at each end, of about 1500 weight burden; and is managed by two men with paddles and setting-poles.

At the mouth of Sandy Creek, a vessel of 160 tons burden was lately launched, took in her cargo, and sailed for the West-Indies.

The principal creeks and tributary streams with which the Alleghany river is replenished, are delineated on the Map, I believe with a good degree of accuracy; but a particular account of each it was not in {39} my power to obtain. The junction of this river with the Monongahela at Pittsburg has been already mentioned.

The Alleghany is remarkable for the clearness of its waters and the rapidity of its current; and the freshets in it are greater and more sudden than those of its connubial stream.[26] It seldom happens that it does not mark its course across the mouth of the Monongahela, with whose turbid and sluggish waters it forms a very observable contrast. It is curious, also, in the time of the spring floods to see the Alleghany full of ice, and the Monongahela entirely free. These floods are occasioned by the dissolution of the immense bodies of ice and snow accumulated during winter in those northern regions through which the river passes, and by the heavy falls of rain at the setting in and breaking up of winter.

Friday, April 15

We this morning arrived at Pittsburg, a post-town in Pennsylvania, and the capital {40} of Alleghany County. It is built at the point of land formed by the junction of the two rivers; and is in N. Lat. 40° 26′ 15″, and Longitude (in time) 5 hours, 19 minutes, and 53 seconds W. of Greenwich.

Immediately on the point was erected the old French garrison Du Quesne, built by M. de la Jonquier at the command of the Marquis du Quesne, Governor of Canada, in 1754.[27] General Forbes, who took it Nov. 25, 1758, built a new fort, which he called “Fort Pitt,” in honor of the Earl of Chatham; adjacent to the former, but higher up the Monongahela. It was formerly a place of some consequence in the annals of frontier settlements; but fell into decay upon its being given up by its founders. Being included in one of the manors of the Penn family, it was sold by the proprietaries, and is now laid out in house-lots as a part of the town of Pittsburg, which was built in the year 1765.

The local situation of this place is so commanding that it has been emphatically called “the key to the Western Territory;” and it has rapidly increased in population, business, and prosperity within a few years past. It contains upwards of four hundred {41} houses, several of them large and handsomely built of brick; forty-nine are occupied as stores and shops. There are three congregations; an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, and a Seceder. The number of inhabitants is about two thousand.

There are two printing-offices, each of which issue a weekly news-paper; and many mechanics, who carry on most of the manufactures that are to be met with in any other part of the United States. Two glass-houses have been lately erected, and are wrought to great advantage.[28] They make window-glass, bottles, &c. This is an establishment of the first importance to this part of the country; for the transportation of these brittle articles from Philadelphia over the mountains has been attended with much hazard, as well as expense. Articles of cabinet work are, also, made at Pittsburg of their native woods, which supply many of the settlements on both sides of the Ohio and Missisippi. The furniture made of the black walnut, wild cherry, and yellow birch, is very strong and handsome, and admits of a beautiful polish. The tinplate manufactory, that for cutting nails, and the smiths’ shops for making axes and {42} farming utensils, find a ready and extensive market for all their articles.

Dry goods in general are sold nearly as cheap as at Baltimore; other goods, are, on account of the carriage, which is four dollars fifty cents from Baltimore and five dollars pr. 100 lbs. from Philadelphia, proportionably higher. The merchants here, as well as those of the western country, receive their goods from Philadelphia and Baltimore; but a small part of the trade being given to New-York and Alexandria. The terms of credit are generally from nine to twelve months. The produce which they receive of the farmers is sent to New Orleans; the proceeds of which are remitted to the Atlantic States, to meet their payments.

Most of the articles of merchandize brought in waggons over the mountains in the summer season, and destined for the trade down the river, are stored at this place, to be ready for embarkation. With these a great many trading boats are laden, which float down the river, stopping at the towns on its banks to vend the articles. In a country, so remote from commerce, and of so great extent, where each one resides {43} on his own farm, and has neither opportunity nor convenience for visiting a market, these trading boats contribute very much to the accommodation of life, by bringing to every man’s house those little necessaries which it would be very troublesome to go a great distance to procure.

At and near this place, ship-building is an object of great attention. Several vessels are now on the stocks; and three have been launched this spring, from 160 to 275 tons burden.

The principal navigation of the Ohio river is during the floods of the spring and autumn. The spring season commences at the breaking up of the ice in the Alleghany, which generally happens about the middle of February, and continues for eight or ten weeks. The fall season is occasioned by the autumnal rains in October, and lasts till about the beginning of December, when the ice begins to form. But the times of high-water can scarcely be called periodical; for they vary considerably as the season is dry or rainy, and with the later setting in or breaking up of winter. Sometimes, also, the falling of heavy showers on the mountains, during the summer, will so {44} swell the sources of the Monongahela as to supply a temporary sufficiency of water for the purpose of navigation.

In the time of the freshets the Ohio rises from fifteen to thirty feet, and sometimes even higher; overflowing its banks to a very considerable distance. The rise is generally sudden, often ten feet in twenty-four hours. The increase is not regular. At times the water will fall four or five feet, and then rise again. The flood maintains its greatest height about a week or ten days, and then gradually subsides, till the river is reduced to its usual depth. By spreading over the flat lands a rich coating of leaves, decayed vegetables, and loam, washed down by the rain from the sides of the hills, these inundations greatly promote the fertility of the soil.

Fort Fayette, built a few years since, is within the limits of the town of Pittsburg. It is erected on the banks of the Alleghany. At present a garrison is kept there, which, for the most part, is made head-quarters of the United States army.[29]

The high ground back of the fort, called “Grant’s hill,” commands a most extensive prospect, taking in a view of the two rivers {45} for several miles above and below their junction.[30]

The inhabitants use the water of the river here and down the Ohio for drink and cookery, even in preference to the spring water from the hills; for as yet they have not practised the digging of wells. At first we were surprised at this preference; but they assured us that the river water was more wholesome and generally much more palatable. We were soon convinced that this must be the case: for, though the river water receives a great deal of decayed wood, leaves, &c. from the creeks and runs that empty into it, they are soon deposited on the shallows, and the deeper places are very clear and fine. Even the turbid water of the margin of the stream becomes pellucid by standing in an open vessel over night, depositing its feculencies at the bottom. But the spring water, issuing through fissures in the hills, which are only masses of coal, is so impregnated with bituminous and sulphureous particles as to be frequently nauseous to the taste and prejudicial to the health.

We observed several people near Pittsburg affected with a tumour on the throat {46} like a wen. Inquiring into the cause of it, we were informed that they imputed it to some effect of the climate under the brows of the high mountains where they reside, and added that even dogs and some other animals were subject to it. Indeed we saw a couple of goats who had this uncomfortable appendage to their necks.

The Seneca Indian Oil in so much repute here is Petroleum; a liquid bitumen, which oozes through fissures of the rocks and coal in the mountains, and is found floating on the surface of the waters of several springs in this part of the country, whence it is skimmed off, and kept for use. From a strong vapour which arises from it when first collected, it appears to combine with it sulphureous particles. It is very inflammable. In these parts it is used as a medicine; and, probably, in external applications with considerable success. For chilblains and rheumatism it is considered as an infallible specific. I suppose it to be the bitumen which Pliny describes under the name of Naptha, Lib. II. ch. 105.

{47} Tuesday, April 19

Crossed the ferry over the Monongahela, opposite the glass-houses, and pursued our journey.

The country is very mountainous and broken, and the road extremely rough and difficult. We were told that our’s was the first private carriage that had ever passed it, having been but lately opened, and used only by strong waggons and carts.

We dined at Cannonsburg, a post-town, pleasantly situated on rising ground near the north side of the west branch of Chartier’s Creek. It is 18 miles S. W. from Pittsburg, and 9 miles N. E. from Washington. It contains about 100 houses, and has two congregations, and meeting-houses; a Presbyterian and a Seceder. It has been settled but twelve years, and already puts on the appearance of a long cultivated region. There is an Academy here in a very flourishing state; and the last session of the Assembly a charter was granted for a College.[31]

At Washington, the chief town of a county of the same name in Pennsylvania, situated on another branch of Chartier’s Creek, we stopped to lodge.

{48} A Court-house and a large building for public offices, of brick; and a Gaol and an Academy, of stone, with a large number of handsomely built dwelling-houses, give this town a very respectable appearance. It seems to be a place of considerable business, and of thriving manufactories and trade.[32]

Wednesday, April 20

Passed through Alexandria, a small town in Washington County, Pennsylvania, on the Virginia line. It contains between fifty and sixty dwelling-houses, and has a large and decent house for public worship.[33] It is sixteen miles S. W. from Washington, and the same distance N. E. from Wheeling.

We dined at Shepherd’s Mills on Wheeling Creek, having winded along a most romantic valley between high mountains, and repeatedly crossed [seventeen times in about five miles] the beautiful stream running through it.[34]

The proprietor of these mills resides in one of the best built and handsomest stone houses we saw on this side of the mountains.[35]

Quitting this secluded vale, we passed over a high chain of mountains, whence we {49} overlooked the town of Wheeling, and enjoyed fine and extensive views of a hilly and well-wooded country, intersected by the river Ohio.—​We then descended into the town.

Wheeling is a post-town, in Ohio County, Virginia, healthily and pleasantly situated on the sloping sides of a hill gracefully rising from the banks of the Ohio. It is laid out principally on one street; and most of the houses are handsome, several being built with brick, and some with faced stone.[36]

It is twelve miles S. W. of West Liberty, and fifty-four miles from Pittsburg; three hundred and thirty-two miles from Philadelphia, and twelve miles above Grave Creek.

It is increasing very rapidly in population and in prosperous trade; and is, next to Pittsburg, the most considerable place of embarkation to traders and emigrants, any where on the western waters. During the dry season great quantities of merchandize are brought hither, designed to supply the inhabitants on the Ohio river and the waters that flow into it; as boats can go from {50} hence, when they cannot from places higher up the river.

Boat-building is carried on at this place to a great extent; and several large keel boats and some vessels have been built.

Opposite the town is a most beautiful island in the river, containing about four hundred acres. Interspersed with buildings, highly cultivated fields, some fine orchards, and copses of wood, it appears to great advantage from the town, and forms a very interesting part of the prospect. After the eyes have been strained in viewing the vast amphitheatre of country all around, or dazzled with tracing the windings of the river, they are agreeably rested and refreshed by the verdure and beauty of Wheeling Island.

At Wheeling we left our carriage, and took passage down the river in a keel boat.

Just below the town stands an old Fort, at the point of land formed by the junction of Big Wheeling Creek and the Ohio river.

The passage down the river was extremely entertaining, exhibiting at every bend a change of scenery. Sometimes we were in the vicinity of dark forests, which threw a solemn shade over us as we glided by; sometimes we passed along overhanging {51} banks, decorated with blooming shrubs which timidly bent their light boughs to sweep the passing stream; and sometimes around the shore of an island which tinged the water with a reflected landscape. The lively carols of the birds, which “sung among the branches,” entertained us exceedingly, and gave life and pleasure to the woodland scene. The flocks of wild geese and ducks which swam upon the stream, the vast number of turkies, partridges, and quails we saw upon the shore, and the herds of deer or some other animals of the forest darting through the thickets, afforded us constant amusement.

From Fish Creek, on the Virginia shore,[37] the country is flat on the banks of the river; and, on the opposite side, generally broken and rough, without much bottom-land; the mountains and hills mostly rising contiguous to the edge of the river. But, below the islands called “The Three Brothers,” the bottom-lands on the N. W. side are extensive and rich.

Here fine cultivated plains and rising settlements charm the eye amidst the boundless prospect of desolate wilds. When we see the land cleared of those enormous trees {52} with which it was overgrown, and the cliffs and quarries converted into materials for building, we cannot help dwelling upon the industry and art of man, which by dint of toil and perseverance can change the desert into a fruitful field, and shape the rough rock to use and elegance. When the solitary waste is peopled, and convenient habitations arise amidst the former retreats of wild beasts; when the silence of nature is succeeded by the buzz of employment, the congratulations of society, and the voice of joy; in fine, when we behold competence and plenty springing from the bosom of dreary forests,—​what a lesson is afforded of the benevolent intentions of Providence!

Having been part of three days upon the river, we arrived at Marietta, in the State of Ohio, on Saturday morning, April 23d.

The second week after our arrival, in consequence of three or four rainy days, the water in the Ohio rose fifteen feet, and gave opportunity for several vessels, which were waiting for a flood, to set sail. Accordingly on May 4th the schooner “Dorcas and Sally,” of 70 tons, built at Wheeling and rigged at Marietta, dropped down the {53} river. The following day there passed down the schooner “Amity,” of 103 tons, from Pittsburg, and the ship “Pittsburg,” of 275 tons burden, from the same place, laden with seventeen hundred barrels of flour, with the rest of her cargo in flat-bottomed boats. In the evening the brig “Mary Avery,” of 130 tons, built at Marietta, set sail.[38]

These afforded an interesting spectacle to the inhabitants of this place, who saluted the vessels as they passed with three cheers, and by firing a small piece of ordnance from the banks.

While at this place I collected several particulars respecting the History and Geography of the State of Ohio, from General Putnam, Judge Gilman, Judge Woodbridge, and others, who obligingly answered my many inquiries.[39] The information thus obtained, together with that which resulted from various visits to neighbouring towns and excursions into the interior country, I have arranged by itself.

“What an excellent remedy, or, at least, what a palliative, for the sufferings of the head and heart, is TRAVELLING. Alternate weariness and rest leave no room for any train of ideas, and every thing conspires to render us as happy as if our sufferings were ended.”

Duke de la Rochefaucalt Liancourt’s Travels.
Vol. I. p. 173.