82 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
CONTEMPORARY DESCRIPTION OF OHIO IN
1788.
In 1888, Mr. John H. James, of Urbana,
Ohio, whose col-
lection of historical works is hardly
excelled, published a trans-
lation of a French pamphlet used by Mr.
Barlow and his asso-
ciates in Paris, when engaged in the
sale of lands in the Ohio coun-
try.
"The pamphlet," says Mr. James, in his introduction,
" was published in French and English; the French copy
being
a translation of the English copy, first
published in Salem,
Massachusetts, in 1787. The French
edition was published in
Paris in 1789, the year of the breaking
out of the French Revo-
lution. It was one of the means employed
by Joel Barlow and
the agents of the Scioto Company to
promote the emigration
from France, which resulted in the
settlement of the French at
Gallipolis in 1790."
"The French copy from which I make
the translation,"
continued Mr. James, "is dingy with
age, and formerly be-
longed to one of the early settlers at
Gallipolis, whose name,
with the date, 1805, is inscribed on the
cover."
The title page of the pamphlet is as
follows:
" A Description of the Soil,
Productions, etc., of that Por-
tion of the United States Situated between
Pennsylvania and
the Rivers Ohio and Scioto and Lake
Erie."
Mr. James, in his introduction, says of
the authorship of
the pamphlet, that "it was
published anonymously, but was
written by Mr. Manasseh Cutler,"
and "that while its tints are
sufficiently couleur de rose, and
some of its statements * * *
appear extravagant in the light of our
present knowledge, yet it
must be remembered that one hundred
years ago Ohio was a
comparatively unknown region, concerning
which all intending
settlers were enthusiastic; and a
comparison with other con-
temporary authorities shows that it
represents very fairly the
state of information existing concerning
the Western country."
The extravagant statements in the
pamphlet, it will be
noticed, are acceded to by Mr. Thomas
Hutchins, the geographer
of the United States, and by others who
had visited the country.
Description of the Soil, etc. 83
The following is Mr. James' translation
of the French
edition of the pamphlet, with foot notes
added by him:
MR. JAMES' TRANSLATION OF THE
FRENCH EDITION OF OHIO.
The great river Ohio is formed by the
confluence of the
Monongahela and the Allegheny in
Pennsylvania. It flows
from about 290 miles west of the city of
Philadelphia, and
about 20 miles west of the western
boundry of Pennsylvania.
In following the ordinary route the 290
miles are increased to
320, and the windings of the Ohio
increase the 20 miles to
about 42.
These two sources of the Ohio are both
great navigable
rivers; the first flows from the
southeast, and there is, between
it and the navigable waters of the
Potomac, in Virginia, a por-
tage of only about 30 miles;1 the latter
opens a passage to the
northeast, and rises not far from the
source of the Susquehanna.
The State of Pennsylvania has already
adopted the plan of
opening a navigation from the Allegheny
River to Philadelphia
by way of the Susquehanna and the
Delaware. In following
this route there will be only a transit
by land, or portage of 24
miles.2
At the junction of these two rivers, or
at the source of the
Ohio, we find Fort Pitt, which gives its
name to the city of
Pittsburgh, a flourishing settlement in
the vicinity of the
fortress. From this city the Ohio
pursues its way to the south-
west for 1188 miles (including the
windings of the river) and
empties into the Mississippi, after
traversing for this prodigious
distance a most fertile and agreeable
country, and having in-
creased its waters by those of several
other navigable rivers:
the Muskingum, the Hockhocking, the
Scioto, the Miami, and
the Wabash from the northwest; the
Kanawha, the Kentucky, the
Buffaloe,3 the Shawnee,4
and the Cherokee5 from the southwest;
all these rivers, navigable for a
distance of from 100 to 900
miles, fall into the Ohio, and it is
this river that furnishes a
great part of those united waters which
flow into the ocean
through the bed of the Mississippi.
The Ohio, from Pennsylvania to the
Mississippi, sepa-
84 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
rates the State of Virginia from other domains of the
United States, or in other words from
the territory not
comprised within the limits of any
particular State. This
territory extends westward to the
Mississippi, and north
to the frontiers of the United States.
Commencing at the
meridian which forms the western
boundary of Pennsylvania
they have laid off a space sufficient
for seven ranges6 of munici-
palities (townships). As a north and south line extends along
the Ohio in a very oblique direction,
the western boundary of
the seventh range strikes the Ohio nine
miles above the
Muskingum, which is the first large
river which empties into the
Ohio. Their junction is 172 miles below
Fort Pitt, following the
winding of Ohio, but in a straight line
little more than 90 miles.
The Muskingum is a river which flows
slowly, and has
banks high enough to prevent all
inundation. It is 250 yards
wide at the place where it enters the
Ohio, and is navigable for
large vessels and bateaux as far as Tree
Legs, and for small boats
to the lake at its source. From thence
by means of a transit by
land of about one mile,7 communication
is opened with Lake
Erie by means of the Cuyahoga, which is
a river of great value,
navigable through its whole length,
without any cataracts to
obstruct its course. The passage from
Lake Erie to the Hudson,
through the State of New York, is well
known. The longest
transit by land on this route is that
which is caused by the falls
of Niagara, which interrupts the
communication between Lakes
Erie and Ontario. After that, one passes
by the River Oswego,
Oneida Lake, Woods Creek (the bay of the
woods), and by
means of a short portage, enters the
Mohawk; another portage
occasioned by the cataract near the
confluence of the Mohawk,
and the Hudson brings the voyager to
Albany.
The Hockhocking is somewhat like the
Muskingum, but not
so large. It is navigable for large
vessels for about seventy
miles, and much further for small ones.
On the banks of this
much frequented river are inexhaustible
quarries of building
stone, great beds of iron ore, and some
rich mines of lead. We
find also, very frequently in the
neighborhood of this river, coal
mines and salt springs, which abound in
this Western country.
The salt which is obtained from these
springs furnishes a never-
Description of the Soil, etc. 85
failing abundance of this article of
prime necessity.8 Beds of
clay, both white and blue, of an
excellent quality, are met with
also throughout this region. This clay
is adapted for the manu-
facture of glass, of pottery, and all
kinds of brick. Armenian9
clay, and several other useful deposits,
have also been discovered
along the different branches of this
river.
The Scioto is a river longer than either
of those of which we
have thus far spoken, and furnishes a
navigation much more con-
siderable. For an extent of two hundred
miles large vessels can
navigate it. Then there is a passage to
be made by land of
four miles only to the Sandusky, a river
also navigable, which
enters into Lake Erie.10 It
is by the Sandusky and Scioto that
they pass generally in going from Canada
to the Mississippi. This
route is one of the most considerable
and most frequented found
in any country. By it are united some of
the most extensive
territories, and when we consider the
rapidity with which
settlements are made in the Western part
of Canada, upon Lake
Erie, and in Kentucky, we may predict
that there will be an
immense commerce between these people.ll
It is certain that the
lands which border upon, and which lie
near these rivers, will be
of the greatest value from their
situation alone, and quite apart
from their natural fertility. There can
be no doubt that the
flour, wheat, hemp, etc., exported from
the extensive regions
surrounding Lakes Huron and Ontario
would have an easier
transit by means of Lake Erie and the
neighboring rivers than
by any other route. The merchant who
shall in future inhabit
the banks of the Ohio will be able to
pay more for these com-
modities than the merchant of Quebec, by
reason of these
advantages, because they can be
transported from the former
of these countries to Florida and the
West India Islands with
much less expense and risk, and at a
much lower rate of insur-
ance than from the latter. In fact, the
transportation of these
productions of the soil, the expenses
upon the Ohio included,
would not amount to a fourth part of
what it would cost from
Quebec, and it will be still cheaper
than it is by way of Lake
Oneida.
The Scioto has a gentle current, which
is interrupted by no
cataracts. Sometimes in the spring it
overflows its banks, which
86 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 3
are covered by vast fields of rice,
which nature here produces
spontaneously.12 For the
rest, we find in abundance in the
country which borders upon this river,
salt springs, coal mines,
deposits of white and blue clay and of
free stone.
The general expressions of admiration
which are com-
monly made use of in speaking of the
natural fertility of
the countries watered by these western
rivers of the United
States render difficult the description
one would wish to make,
unless one takes particular pains to
mark on the map the places
which merit especial attention, or
unless he gives an exact
description of the territory in general
without regard to the risk
he runs of being charged with exaggeration.
But upon this
point we are able to say that we have
with us the unanimous
opinion of geographers, of surveyors and
of all those travelers
who have collected precise information
concerning the character-
istics of the country, and who have
observed with the most scru-
pulous exactitude all the remarkable
objects which nature there
displays. They all agree that no part of
the territory belonging
to the United States combines in itself
so many advantages,
whether of salubrity, fertility or
variety of productions, as that
which extends from the Muskingum to the
Scioto and the Great
Miami.13
a Colonel Gordon speaking of his
travels through a country
much more extensive in which this is
included and of which it
is indubitably the most beautiful part,
makes the following obser-
vations: " The country along the
Ohio is extremely agreeable,
filled with great plains of the richest
soil and exceedingly salubri-
ous. One remark of this kind suffices
for all that region bounded
by the western slope of the Allegheny
Mountains and extending
to the southwest a distance of five
hundred miles down the Ohio,
thence to the north as far as the source
of the rivers that empty
into the Ohio, and thence eastward along
the hills which sepa-
rate the lakes from the river Ohio as
far as French creek. I
can, from the perfect knowledge which I
have of it, affirm that
the country which I have just described
is the most salubrious,
a. An English Engineer during the war of 1755-63.
Description of the Soil, etc. 87
the most agreeable, the most
advantageous, the most fertile land
which is known to any people of Europe,
whatsoever."
The lands which are watered by the
different rivers empty-
ing into the Ohio, of which we have just
spoken, are, since the
time of Col. Gordon, better known, and
can be described with
more precision and in a manner which
ought to inspire confi-
dence.
They are remarkable for their variety of
soil from which
results everything which can contribute
to the advantages due to
their local position and which promise
the success and the riches
which ought to burst forth among every
agricultural and manu-
facturing people.
The great level plains which one meets
with here and which
form natural prairies, have a
circumference of from twenty to
fifty miles, they are found interspersed
almost everywhere along
the rivers. These plains have a soil as
rich as can be imagined
and which with very little labor can be
devoted to any species of
cultivation which one wishes to give it.
They say that in many
of these prairies one can cultivate an
acre of land per day and
prepare it for the plough. There is no
undergrowth on them and
the trees which grow very high and
become very largea only
need to be deprived of their bark in
order to become fit for use.
The kinds of timber fit for the purposes
of the joiner which
grow most abundantly in this country and
the most useful of
trees which are found here are the
sugar-maple, the sycamore,
black and white mulberry, and black and
white walnut, the
chestnut, oaks of every kind, the cherry
tree, beech tree, the
elm, the cucumber tree, ironwood, the
ash tree, the aspen, the
sassafras, the wild apple tree, and a
great number of other trees
of which it is impossible to express the
names in French.
General Parsons has measured a black
walnut near the Mus-
kingum, of which the circumference, five
feet above the ground,
was twenty-two feet. A sycamore measured
in the same way
had a circumference of forty-four feet.
One finds on the heights
white and black oaks as well as the
chestnut, and nearly all the
trees we have just named, which grow
there, very large and to a
a. Large and high trees are an
indication of rich soil.
88 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
proportionate height. One finds both on
the hills and on the
plains a great quantity of grapes
growing wild, and of which the
inhabitants make a red wine, which
suffices for their own con-
sumption. They have tried the experiment
of pressing these
grapes at the settlement of Saint
Vincent,14 and the result is a
wine which, by keeping a little while,
becomes preferable to the
many wines of Europe. Cotton of an
excellent quality is also a
product of the country.
The sugar-maple is of great value to a
region situated as
this is in the interior of the country.
It furnishes enough sugar
for the use of a large number of people,
and for this purpose a
small number of trees are usually kept
by each family. A
maple tree will produce about ten pounds
of sugar per year, and
it is produced with little difficulty.
The sap of the tree flows in
the months of February and March; it
becomes crystalized after
being boiled, and the sugar is equal in
flavor and whiteness to
the best Muscavado.
All parts of this country are abundantly
supplied with ex-
cellent springs, and one finds
everywhere both small and large
creeks, on which mills may be
established.l5 These brooks, use-
ful for so many purposes, have the
appearance of being disposed
by the hand of art in such a manner as
to contribute toward pro-
curing every advantage which can make
life desirable.
There is a very little bad land in this
territory, and no
marsh. There are plenty of hills; their
position is agreeable,
and they are not high enough to
interfere with their cultivation.
Their soil is deep, rich, covered with
trees of good growth, and
adapted to the cultivation of wheat,
rye, indigo, tobacco, etc.
The communication between this territory
and the ocean is
principally by the four following
routes:
First: The route by the Scioto and
Muskingum to Lake
Erie, and thence by the River Hudson we
have already de-
scribed.
Second: The passage by the Ohio and Monongahela
to the
transit by land already mentioned, which
leads to navigable
b. A French settlement made some fifty years ago on the Wabash
river to the westward of the Scioto.
Description of the Soil, etc. 89
waters of the Potomac. This land transit
is about thirty miles,
but it will very probably be diminished
in a little while, by
means of the plan which is actually in
contemplation for opening
a communication between these rivers.
Third: The Great Kanawha, which empties
into the Ohio
toward the confines of Virginia, between
the Hocking and
Scioto, affords a very ready navigation
toward the Southeast,
and requires but a short portage to
reach the navigable waters
of the James River in Virginia. This
communication, useful to
the settlements between the Muskingum
and Scioto, will very
probably be the most frequented for the
exports of the manu-
factures of the country,16 and
still more for the importation of
foreign goods, because they can be
carried more cheaply from
the Chesapeake to the Ohio, than they
now are from Philadel-
phia to Carlisle and the other counties
situated in the lower parts
of Pennsylvania.
Fourth: But above all, it is upon the
Ohio and Mississippi
that there can be transported a great
number of things necessary
for the markets of Florida and the West
Indies, such as wheat,
flour, beef, bacon, timber for joinery
and ship-building, etc, that
they will be more frequented than any
river upon the earth.
The distance from the Scioto to the
Mississippi is eight hundred
miles, thence to the ocean nine hundred;
all this journey can be
easily made in fifteen days, and the
voyage in reascending these
rivers is not so difficult as one would
suppose. Experience has
demonstrated that one can make great use
of sails on the Ohio.l7
Here again is a fortunate circumstance:
it is that the Ohio
Company a is on the point of
establishing its settlements, and it
is making them in a manner alike,
systematic and judicious. Its
operations will serve as a useful model
for all the settlements
which will be found in the future in the
United States. Add to
this that this new colony is established
so near the western
boundary of Pennsylvania as to appear to
be only a continuation
of the older settlements, by reason of
which there will no longer
be reason to fear that these unsettled
regions may be occupied
a. At this moment the establishments of this company are com-
menced and are very flourishing.
90 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
by the savages, as has too frequently
happened in situations very
far removed from the seat of
government.18
The intention of Congress, and that of
the inhabitants, is
that these settlements shall be made in
a regular manner; that
they shall follow the course of the
Ohio, and that they shall
commence by occupying the northern part
of the country toward
Lake Erie.19 And it is hoped
that not many years will probably
elapse until the whole country above the
Miami will be raised in
value to such a point that the
advantages which travelers have
celebrated will be seen in their true
light, and it will be admitted
that they spoke nothing but the truth
when they called this
country the garden of the universe, the
center of wealth, a place
destined to be the heart of a great
Empire.
The following reflections will not
escape either the philoso-
pher or the statesman, who shall see
this delightful part of the
United States settled upon a wise system
and in a well ordered
manner:
1. The labor of the agriculturists will
here be rewarded by
productions as useful as, and more
varied than in any part of
America; the advantages which are
generally found divided in
any other climate are here united; and
all the advantages which
other parts of the United States
present, are here combined in
the highest perfection. In all parts the
soil is deep, rich, pro-
ducing in abundance wheat, rye, corn,
buckwheat, barley, oats,
flax, hemp, tobacco, indigo, the tree
that furnishes the food for
the silk worm, the grape-vine, cotton.
The tobacco is of a
quality much superior to that of
Virginia, and the crops of wheat
are much more abundant here than in any
other part of America.
The ordinary crop of corn is from sixty
to eighty English
bushels per acre. a The bottom
lands are especially adapted to
the production of all the commodities we
have just enumerated.
There where the vast plains, which are
met with in this terri-
tory, are intersected with little
brooks, the land is suitable for
a. General Parsons, one of the
Commissioners for negotiating the
Treaty of 1786 with the Indians, reports
that Mr. Dawson, who has lived in
this country ten years, has raised from
eighty to one hundred bushels per
acre. Last year he cultivated seven
acres, on which his crop was six hun-
dred bushels.
Description of the Soil, etc. 91
the culture of rice, and it grows here
abundantly. Hops also
are produced spontaneously in this
territory, and there are also
the same peaches, plums, pears, melons,
and in general all the
fruits which are produced in the
temperate zone.
There is no country more abounding in
game than this.
The stag, fallow deer, elk, buffalo and
bears fill the woods and
are nourished on these great and
beautiful plains, which are en-
countered in all parts of these
countries, an unanswerable proof
of the fertility of the soil; wild
turkeys, geese, ducks, swans,
teal, pheasants, partridges, and so
forth, are here found in
greater abundance than our domestic
fowls in all the older settle-
ments of America. The rivers are well
stocked with fish of
different kinds, and several of these
fish are of an exquisite
quality. In general they are large, the
cat-fish (poisson-chat)
has an excellent flavor and weighs from
twenty to eighty pounds.
One will find here provisions for
several years, and the
borders of each one of these rivers will
serve for a long time in
place of a market. When inhabitants
shall come here from all
parts of the world nature will have
provided for them, at least
for one year, all they need, without the
necessity of making any
purchases.
2. There is no place more suitable from
its situation and
productions for the establishment of
manufactures than this.
The necessaries of life are abundant and cheap.
The raw
material for all things necessary for
clothing and personal adorn-
ment are here found in quantities. Silk,
flax and cotton bring a
good price here; but these articles,
being manufactured and be-
ing adapted for the different purposes
of use and luxury, would
still be cheap here by reason of the
small amount of freight
necessary to pay for their
transportation. The United States,20
and perhaps other countries besides,
will be replaced, or super-
seded in the market, by the competition
of the inhabitants of
the interior parts of America.
The construction of vessels will be one
of the most consider-
able branches of business on the Ohio
River and its tributaries.21
In the lowest stage of water in the Ohio
we find a depth of four
fathoms from the mouth of the Muskingum
to its junction with
the Mississippi. In only one part is it
very rapid, and there the
92 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications. [Vol. 3
navigation is interrupted for about one
mile. Elsewhere through-
out its whole extent the fall is not
more than fifteen feet, and
the bed of the river, which has a
breadth of two hundred and
fifty rods, has never less than five
feet of water. In winter it
increases to thirty feet. The river can
be ascended not only by
means of oars, but they readily surmont
the current by means
of sails only. Geographers and others who have seen the
locality are of the opinion that if a
canal22 were dug at a little
less than half a mile south of the
river, at a point where a low
prairie is found, the current could be
avoided and navigation
thus be without interruption the whole
year round.
Hemp, iron and ship timber are abundant
and of good
quality here. During the highest stage
of water, which is from
February to April, and frequently in
October and November,
vessels can easily pass the rapids with
their cargoes to the sea
even in the present condition of the
river.
An English engineer, who has made a
thorough examina-
tion of the western country, has
communicated the following
observations to Lord Hillsborough in
1770. This nobleman
was the Secretary of State for the
Department of America at
the time when we were colonists of Great
Britain, and when our
country was regarded solely, as it could
be made available for a
market for English fabrics:23
"No part of North America has less
need of encourage-
ment in order to furnish rigging for
ships, and the raw material
destined to Europe, and to furnish to
the West India Islands
building material, provisions, etc.,
than the Ohio country, and
that for the following reasons:
"1. The country is excellent,
climate temperate; grapes
grow without cultivation; silk worms and
mulberry trees abound
everywhere; hemp, hops and rice24 grow
wild in the valleys and
low lands; lead and iron abound in the
hills; salt springs are
innumerable; and there is no country
better adapted to the cul-
ture of tobacco, flax and cotton than
that of the Ohio.
"2. The country is well watered by
several navigable
rivers, which communicate with each
other, and by means of
which, with a very short transport by
land, the productions of
the Valley of the Ohio can even at this
moment25 be conveyed at
Description of the Soil, etc. 93
a much lower price to the seaport of
Alexandria26 on the River
Potomac, where General Braddock landed
his troops, than mer-
chandise can be carried from Northampton
to London.
"3. The Ohio river is navigable at
all seasons of the year
for large boats,27 and during
the months of February, March and
April it is possible to construct large
vessels upon it and send
them to the ocean loaded with hemp,
iron, flax, silk, tobacco,
cotton, potash, etc.
"4. Flour, wheat, beef, planks for
ship-building and other
things not less useful can descend the
Ohio to Western Florida
and go thence to the West India Islands
more cheaply and in bet-
ter condition than the same merchandise
can be sent from New
York or Philadelphia to the same
islands.
"5. Hemp, tobacco, iron and similar
bulky articles, can
descend the Ohio to the ocean at least
50 per cent. cheaper than
the same articles have ever been
transported by land in Pennsyl-
vania over a distance no greater than
sixty miles, although the
expense of carriage there is less than
in any part of North
America.
"6. The freight for transporting
goods manufactured in
Europe from the sea-board to the Ohio,
will not be so consider-
able as it now is, and always will be,
to a great part of the coun-
ties of Pennsylvania, Virginia and
Maryland. When the farm-
ers or merchants who dwell upon the Ohio
set about providing
for transportation they will build
vessels of all kinds suited for
commerce with the West India Islands and
Europe, or, as they
will have black walnut, cherry, oak,
etc., sawed ready for for-
eign commerce, they will make of them
rafts in the same man-
ner as is practiced by those who live
about the headwaters of
the Delaware in Pennsylvania, on which
they will put their
hemp, their iron, their tobacco, etc.,
and with which they will
go to New Orleans.
"The following observations should
not be omitted: They
manufacture a great quantity of flour in
the region situated in
the west of Pennsylvania, and they send
it by land to Philadel-
phia, which costs a great deal, and
thence they send it by sea to
South Carolina and Eastern and Western
Florida, where they
grow little or no grain. One may say
that nature herself has
94 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
designed the Ohio to be the river by
which the two Floridas may
be supplied with flour, and that not
only for the consumption of
these two provinces, but still more for
a considerable commerce
which they carry on in that article with
Jamaica and the Spanish
settlements of Mexico. Quantities of
mill-stones may be pro-
cured from the hills which border the
Ohio, and the country
everywhere abounds with water-courses
suited to the construc-
tion of mills of every kind. The passage
from Philadelphia to
Pensacola is rarely made in less than a
month, and they ordi-
narily pay fifty shillings a ton freight
(a ton consists of sixteen
barrels) for transportation that far.
Boats carrying from 500 to
1000 barrels of flour go in nearly the
same time from Pittsburgh
to Pensacola as from Philadelphia to
Pensacola, and at half the
expense. Merchants on the Ohio can
furnish flour on better
terms than Philadelphia, and without
running the risk of dam-
age by sea or the delays of
transportation on that element; and
besides, without paying insurance,
advantages which can not be
enjoyed in the case of goods shipped
from Philadelphia to Pen-
sacola. And let no one imagine that this
is a supposition
merely; it is the constant
experience. About the year 1746
there was a scarcity in New Orleans, and
the French settle-
ments on the banks of the Illinois,
feeble in number as
they were, sent thither in one winter
alone 800,000 weight
of flour."28 So that, in
place of furnishing other nations with
raw materials, some company of
manufacturers might be intro-
duced and established in the countries,
so attractive their situation,
under the direction of men thoroughly
competent to the task.
Such an establishment would produce a
considerable augmenta-
tion of population and wealth to these
new settlements and would
set a useful example to other parts of
the United States.
3. The measures which have been taken by
the act of
Congress, providing for the disposition
of the lands west of the
Ohio as far down as the Scioto for the
establishment and main-
tenance of schools, and of a
University29 shed an especial lustre
on these settlements and inspire the
hope that by the particular
attention which has been given to
education, the fields of science
will be extended, and that the means of
acquiring useful knowl-
edge will be placed on a more respectful
footing in this country
Description of the Soil, etc. 95
than in any other part of the world.
Without speaking of the
advantages of discovering in this new
country species hitherto
unknown in natural history, botany and
medical science, it can-
not be questioned that in no other part
of the habitable globe
can there be found a spot where, in
order to begin well, there
will not be found much evil to
extirpate, bad customs to combat,
and ancient systems to reform. Here
there is no rubbish to clear
away before laying foundations. The
first commencement of
this settlement will be undertaken by
persons inspired with the
noblest settlements, versed in the most
necessary branches of
knowledge, acquainted with the world and
with affairs,30 as well
as with every branch of science. If they
shall be so fortunate
as to have at first the means of
founding on an advantageous
plan these schools and this University,
and of sustaining them
in such a manner that the professors may
be able to commence
without delay the different labors to
which they may be called,
they will, in the infancy of the colony,
have secured to them-
selves advantages which will be found
nowhere else.
4. In the ordinance of Congress for the
government of the
territory northwest of the Ohio it is
provided that when the
territory shall have acquired a certain
amount of population it
may be divided into several States. The
most eastern of these31
(this is already provided for) is
bounded by the Great Miami on
the west, and by Pennsylvania on the
east. The center of this
State will be between the Scioto and the
Hockhocking. The
seat of government of one of these
States will very probably be
at the mouth of one of these two rivers.
And if we may be
permitted to forecast the future, we may
imagine that when the
United States of America, composed of an
intelligent and re-
nowned people, shall have greatly
extended the boundaries of
their dominions the general government
will establish itself
upon the banks of the Ohio. This country
is at the centre of
the whole Nation, it is a place the most
convenient for all, the
most agreeable and probably the most
healthy.
It is undoubtedly of the greatest
importance that the Con-
gress shall soon fix the place of its
residence; nevertheless, in
the present state of the country it is
possible, some may think it
not expedient to fix it immovably. Take
the chain of the
96 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL.
3
Allegheny Mountains from north to south,
it is probable that
twenty years will not elapse before
there will be more of the in-
habitants of the United States living on
the banks of the West-
ern than on the Eastern rivers. The
Western people ought
now to understand that the government is
disposed to favor
them as much as their brethren who
inhabit the Eastern part
of the country. It is even necessary
that they should have this
feeling in order that they may not
cherish dreams of inde-
pendence, that they may not seek for
other alliances, and that
they may not take steps with especial
view to their own welfare.32
As it is indisputable that it ought to
be the principal object of
the Legislature, and the one dearest to
its heart to unite as great
a number of people as possible, and
render them happy under
one government, every step which
Congress may take toward
this new constitution will have this
object in view; and, we will
hope, will promote the success of the
plan, and cause it to be
regarded as inviolably established.
There is no doubt, what-
ever, that sooner or later the
government will either reserve to
itself or purchase a suitable site on
which to build the city of the
confederation,33 which will be at the center of the whole coun-
try; and that it will make known its
intentions in this regard as
soon as circumstances, such as an equal
population in the new
State, etc., will permit.
Such a determination, taken in advance,
will give the older
States the power of carrying it into
execution without causing
any disturbance or dissatisfaction to
any person, whilst it would
inspire the new States with the hope of
some day seeing the
plan realized.
Extracts from letters of an American
farmer, by M. S'John
de Crevecoeur, French Consul to
America. Second edition, Vol.
3, page 394.
The Ohio is the grand artery of that
portion of America
which lies beyond the mountains; it is
the center in which meet
all the waters which flow on one side
from the Allegheny Moun-
tains, and which descend on the other
from the high lands in the
vicinity of Lakes Erie and Michigan. It
has been calculated
that the region watered by all these
streams, and comprised be-
Description of the Soil, etc. 97
tween Pittsburg and the Mississippi,
contains a territory of at
least 260 miles square, or 166,980,000*
acres. It is, without
doubt, the most fertile country, with
the most varied soil, the
best watered, and that which offers to
agriculture and commerce
the most abundant and ready resources of
all those which Eu-
ropeans have ever discovered and
peopled.
It was on the tenth of April, at eight
o'clock in the morn-
ing, that we abandoned ourselves to the
current of the Ohio.
* *
* * This pleasant and tranquil navigation appeared to
me like a delightful dream; each moment
presented to me new
perspectives, which were incessantly
varied by the appearance
of islands, points and bends of the river,
constantly changing
with the singular variety of shore, more
or less wooded, from
which the eye would, from time to time,
wander to survey the
great natural prairies which intersect
them; constantly embel-
lished by promontories of different
heights, which seemed to
disappear for a moment, and then
gradually develop to the eye
of the navigator bays and coves, of
greater or less extent,
formed by the creeks (little navigable
rivers) and the brooks
which fall into the Ohio. What majesty
in the mouths of the
great rivers before which we passed.
Their waters seemed as
vast and as deep as those of the river
on which we were
voyaging.
Never before had I felt so disposed to
meditation and revery;
involuntarily my imagination darted into
the future, the remote-
ness of which gave me no trouble,
because it appeared to be
near. I saw in fancy these beautiful
shores ornamented with
handsome houses, covered with crops, the
fields well cultivated;
on the declivities of the hills exposed
to the north I saw orchards
planted, on the others vineyards,
plantations of mulberries,
acacias, etc. I saw also on the low
lands the cotton plant and
the sugar-maple, the sap of which has
become an article of com-
merce. I grant indeed that all the
shores did not appear to me
equally adapted to cultivation, but the
different masses of trees
with which they will necessarily remain
covered will add still
more to the beauty and the variety of
the landscape of the
* Evidently an erroneous calculation.
Vol. III-7
98 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
future. What an immense chain of
plantations! What a great
career of activity, of industry, of
culture and commerce is
offered to the Americans. I consider
therefore the settlement
of the country watered by this great
river as one of the greatest
enterprises ever presented to man. It
will be the more glorious
because it will be legally acquired with
the consent of the an-
cient proprietors and without the
shedding of a drop of blood.34
It is destined to become the foundation
of the power, wealth and
future glory of the United States.
Toward noon of the third day we cast
anchor at the mouth
of the Muskingum, in two fathoms and a
half of water. To
give you a faint idea of what I may call
the anatomy of the
Ohio, I wish to tell you about this
river to make you understand
the utility of all its branches.35
It empties into the Ohio 172 miles from
Pittsburg and has a
width of 120 toises,36 it is
deep and navigable for large boats for
147 miles into the interior. Its
freshets are moderate and it
never overflows its banks, which are
elevated, without being
steep. One of its branches approaches at
the same time the
principal of the sources of the Scioto,
called the Seccaium and
the Sandusky River. This last falls, you
are aware, into the
great bay of the same name at the
farther end of Lake Erie. It
is near one of the principal branches of
the Muskingum that the
great Indian village of Tuscarawas is
built, whence a portage of
two miles only leads to the Cuyahoga
River, deep and but
slightly rapid, the mouth of which on
Lake Erie forms an ex-
cellent harbor for vessels of 200 tons.
This place seems de-
signed for the site of a city, and
several persons of my acquaint-
ance have already thought so.37 All
the voyagers and hunters
have spoken with admiration of the
fertility of the hills and
valleys watered by the Muskingum,38 as
well as the excellent
springs, the salt wells, the mines of
coal, particularly that of
Lamenchicola, of the free-stone,
fullers-earth, etc., which they
find everywhere.
The next morning at day break we weighed
anchor, and
after three days of quiet and pleasant
navigation we came to
anchor opposite the Scioto, 218 miles
from the Muskingum and
390 miles from Pittsburgh, for the purpose of receiving on board
Description of the Soil, etc. 99
Gen. Butler, who came to conclude some
negotiations with the
Shawnees. It is from him that I had the
following details con-
cerning this fine river, upon the banks
of which he resided dur-
ing the last five years of the war: The
Scioto is almost as wide
as the Ohio; its current is navigable
for boats of medium size as
far as the village of Seccaium, 111
miles from its mouth; it is at
this village that the great portage to
the Sandusky begins, which
is but four miles. Judge of the
importance of this communica-
tion, always much frequented by whites
and Indians; the latter
who have horses and wagons, transport
merchandise at so much
per hundred. This river waters a most
extensive and fertile
country, but rather flat. These vast
plains, so well known as
the Scioto bottoms, commence a few miles
above the river Hus-
kinkus and continue almost to Seccaium.
They are watered by
the fine creeks, Alaman,39 Deer,
Kispoks, etc., and by a great
number of considerable brooks. Several of these plains are
from twenty-five to thirty miles in
circumference, and as if Na-
ture had wished to render them still
more useful to men, she has
sprinkled them with hills and isolated
mounds, on which she
had planted the most beautiful trees.
These plains are never
overflowed, and their fertility is
wonderful. If a poor man, who
had nothing but his hands, should ask
me, "Where shall I go
to establish myself in order to live
with the most ease, without
the help of horses or oxen?" I
would say -to him, "Go to the
banks of one of the creeks in the Scioto
bottoms; all that you
will have to do will be first to obtain
permission from the In-
dians from the neighboring village (this
permission is no longer
necessary since the treaty with them);
second, scratch the sur-
face of the earth and deposit there your
wheat, your corn, your
potatoes, your beans, your cabbage, your
tobacco, etc., and
leave the rest to nature. In the
meantime amuse yourself with
fishing and the chase."
Every spring a prodigious number of
storks come to visit
these plains; they are at least six feet
high, and more than seven
feet from tip to tip of wings. I have
never seen them come to
feed that they were not surrounded by
sentinels, who watch
around them to announce the approach of
enemies. Sometimes
before their departure they assemble in
great flocks, and the day
100 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
being fixed, all rise, turning slowly,
and preserving always the
same order, they describe long spirals
until they are out of sight.
Finally, on the tenth day after our
departure from Pitts-
burgh, we cast anchor in front of
Louisville, having made 750
miles in 22½ hours of navigation.
CERTIFICATE.
Having read, attentively, the pamphlet
in which is given a
description of the Western Territory of
the Untied States, I, the
undersigned, certify that the facts
therein contained concerning
the fertility of the soil, abundant
productions and other advan-
tages for the husbandman, are true and
reliable, and that they
correspond perfectly with the
observations I have made during
ten years which I have spent in that
country.
[SIGNED] THOMAS HUTCHINS,
Geographer of U. S.
NOTES.
NoTE 1.-All the produce of the
settlements about Fort Pitt can be
brought to Alexandria, by the
Youghiogany, in three hundred and four
miles, whereof only thirty-one are land
transportation; and by the Monon-
gahela and Cheat Rivers in three hundred
and sixty miles, twenty of
which only are land carriage.-Gen.
Washington to Gov. Harrison, Oct.
10, 1784.
NoTE 2.-Pennsylvania--although the
Susquehanna is an unfriendly
water, much impeded, it is said, with
rock and rapids, and nowhere com-
municating with those which lead to her
capital,-has it in contemplation
to open a communication between Toby's
Creek, which empties into the
Allegheny River 95 miles above Fort Pit
, and the west branch of the
Susquehanna, and to cut a canal between
t e waters of the latter and the
Schuylkill, the expense of which is
easier to be conceived than estimated
or described by me. A people, however,
who are possessed of the spirit of
commerce, who see and who will perceive
its advantages, may achieve
almost anything. In the meantime, and
the uncertainty of these under-
takings, they are smoothing the road and
paving the ways for the trade of
the western world.-Gen. Washington to
Gov. Harrison, Oct. 10, 1784.
NoTE 3.-The Buffalo-Apparently the Green
River.
Description of the Soil, etc. 101
NoTE 4.-The Shawnee-The Cumberland River was so called
until it
was given its present name by Dr.
Walker, in 1747, in honor of the Duke
of Cumberland.
NOTE 5.-The Cherokee-The Tennessee was formerly so-called.
NoTE 6.-Seven Ranges.
NOTE 7.-This old Indian portage, between
the head waters of the
Muskingum and those of the Cuyahoga, is
within the present limits of
Portage county, from which the county
derives its name.
NoTE 8.- Salt Springs-"We have
found several salt-licks within our
surveys, and we are assured there is a
salt spring about forty miles up the
Muskingum, from which a quantity of salt
for the supply of the country
may be made. Some gentlemen at Fort
Harmar doubt this information,
and think a supply may be made at a
spring on the branch of the Scioto."
-Pioneer History.
So great was the scarcity and value of
salt during the first ten years of
the settlement-not less than six or
eight dollars a bushel-that the Ohio
Company, in their final division of
their lands, passed the following
resolution:
" WHEREAS, It is believed that the
great 'salt springs' of the Scioto
lie within the present purchase of the
Ohio Company; therefore,
" Resolved, That the division of land to the proprietors is made
upon
the express condition and reserve that
every salt spring now known, or
that shall hereafter be found, within
the lands that shall fall to the lot of
any proprietor, be and are hereby
reserved to the use of the company, with
such quantity of land about them as the
agents and proprietors shall think
proper to assume for general purposes,
not exceeding three thousand
acres; the person on whose land they are
found, to receive other lands of
equal value." It so happened that
the Scioto springs were situated a few
miles west of the purchase and on the
lands belonging to the United
States. When Ohio became a State, these
noted springs, with those on Salt
Creek, in Muskingum county and at
Delaware, were reserved by Congress
for the use of the State, with large
tracts of land adjoining to furnish fuel
for boiling the salt water. For many
years these springs were leased to
individuals, and became a source of
revenue to Ohio.
NoTE 9.-Armenian Clay--A sort of Ochre.
NoTE 10.-The routes of navigation and
portage referred to in the
text, between the lakes and the Ohio
River, by way of the Sandusky and
Scioto, and of the Cuyahoga and
Muskingum Rivers, and also that from
Presqu' Isle (Erie, Pennsylvania,) by
way of French Creek to the Ohio,
seemed to have been discovered and used
by the French at a subsequent
period.
General Washington, in a letter written
October 10, 1784, to Benjamin
Harrison, then Governor of Virginia
(Writings of Washington, Vol. IX,
p. 58), in which he discusses at length
the best mode of communication
102 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 3
between the tide water region of
Virginia and the Northwestern territory,
by means of the Potomac and James
Rivers, says: "It has long been my
decided opinion that the shortest,
easiest and least expensive communica-
tion with the invaluable and extensive
country back of us would be by one
or both of the rivers of this State,
which have their sources in the
Apalachian Mountians. Nor am I singular
in this opinion. Evans, in his
map and analysis of the Middle Colonies,
which, considering the early
period at which they were given to the
public, are done with amazing
exactness, and Hutchins* since, in his
Typographical Description of the
Western Country, a good part of which is
from actual surveys, are decidedly
of the same sentiments."
"The navigation of the Ohio,"
he continues, " being well known, they
will have less to do in the examination
of it; but, nevertheless, let the
courses and distances be taken to the
mouth of the Muskingum, and up
that river (notwithstanding it is in the
ceded lands) to the carrying place
to the Cuyahoga; down the Cuyahoga to
Lake Erie, and thence to Detroit.
Let them do the same with Big Beaver Creek,
although part of it is in the
State of Pennsylvania; and also with the
Scioto. In a word, let the waters
east and west of the Ohio, which invite
our notice by their proximity, and
by the ease with which land
transportation may be had between them and
the lakes on one side, and the Rivers
Potomac and James on the other, be
explored, accurately delineated, and a
correct and connected map of the
whole be presented to the public."
He estimated that if the improvements
here indicated should be con-
structed, the distance from Detroit,
" by which all the trade of the North-
western part of the United Territory
must pass " to the tide- waters of Vir-
ginia, could be made 176 miles less than
to those of the Hudson at Albany.
"Upon the whole, the object in my
estimation is of vast commercial and
political importance." * * * "
I consider Rumsey's discovery for work-
ing boats against the stream by
mechanical powers principally as not
only a very fortunate invention for
these States in general, but as one
of those circumstances which have
combined to render the present time
favorable above all others for
fixing, if we are disposed to avail our-
selves of them, a large portion of
the trade of the Western country in
the bosom of his State
irrevocably." (Gov. Harrison replied
to this letter
that he had submitted it to the
Assembly, which would probably take
favorable action. The James River
Improvement enterprise, in which, if I
mistake not, Washington was a large
stockholder, was doubtless the-
result.)
It must be remembered that ideas to what
constitutes a navigable
stream have greatly changed in the
course of a century. When transpor-
tation and travel were carried on upon
our western waters by means of
flat-boats, broad-horns, keel-boats, and
even bark canoes, which drew
* The Geographer of the United States.
Description of the Soil, etc. 103
only a few inches of water, and pushed
their way up the rivers and their
tributary creeks and bayous, and "
wherever the ground was a little moist,"
many a stream figured as a navigable
river which in these days of steam-
boats would hardly be regarded as a
reliable mill stream.
NoTE 11.-General Washington, in speaking
of this country in 1784,
says that it will, so soon as matters
are settled with the Indians, and the
terms by which Congress means to dispose
of the land found to be favor-
able are announced, be settled faster
than any other ever was, or anyone
would imagine."- Writings, IX,
p. 62.
NOTE 12.- A plant called wild rice, on
which numerous wild fowl feed,
is found in the marshes bordering Lake
Erie. A similar growth on the low
bottoms of the rivers may have been
mistaken by the early explorers for
the rice of commerce.
NoTE 13.- "By the advice of Thomas
Hutchins, Esq., Geographer of
the United States, this tract (the Ohio
Company's purchase) was located on
the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers, he
considered it the best part of the
whole western country, and he had
visited it from Pennsylvania to
Illinois."
NoTE 14.-St. Vincents, or Post St. Vincents,
or Post Vincennes, as it
is variously called, on the site of
Vincennes, Ind., was one of the early
French settlements in the Valley of the
Mississippi.
NOTE 15.-" The other mill I saw in
the year 1797 on the Scioto River.
It was built on two large dug-outs or
canoes, with a wheel placed between
them. This mill, after being moved up or
down as the settlers at different
stations needed its assistance in
grinding corn, was tied to a tree in a rapid
current, which, running against the
wheel between the canoes, turned the
stones above under a kind of umbrella
made of bark. At a distance it had
the appearance of a crane flying up the
river. It made a sound, for want
of grease, like the creaking of a wooden
cart."-American Pioneer, Vol.
I, p. 59.
NOTE 16.-" For my own part, I think
it highly probable that upon
the strictest scrutiny, if the falls of
the Great Kanawha can be made navi-
gable, or a short portage be had there,
it will be found of equal importance
and convenience to improve the navigation
of both the James and the Po-
tomac. The latter, I am fully persuaded,
affords the nearest communica-
tion with the lakes; but the James River
may be more convenient for all
the settlers below the mouth of the
Great Kanawha, and for some distance
perhaps above and west of it."- Washington
to General Harrison, October
10, 1784.
NoTE 17.-The reader of to-day who is
whirled over the distance sep-
arating Cincinnati and Pittsburgh
between breakfast and supper, will be
interested in the following advertisement
of a line of packet boats running
up and down the Ohio between those
places one hundred years ago, mak-
ing the round trip in four weeks, and
which were doubtless regarded as
104 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
attaining the very acme of speed and
safety in traveling. The advertise-
ment is taken from the " Centinel
of the North Western Territory," pub-
lished at Cincinnati in 1793, five years
after the first settlement of Ohio,
and the first paper established north of
the river:
OHIO
PACKET BOATS.
Two boats for the present will set out
from Cincinnati for Pittsburgh
and return to Cincinnati in the following
manner, viz.:
First boat will leave Cincinnati this
morning at 8 o'clock, and return
to Cincinnati so as to be ready to sail
again in four weeks from this date.
Second boat will leave Cincinnati on
Saturday, the 30th inst., and re-
turn to Cincinnati in four weeks, as
above.
And so regularly, each boat performing
the voyage to and from Cin-
cinnati to Pittsburgh once in every four
weeks.
Two boats, in addition to the above,
will shortly be completed and reg-
ulated in such a manner that one boat of
the four will set out weekly from
Cincinnati to Pittsburgh and return in
like manner.
The proprietors of these boats having
maturely considered the many
inconveniences and dangers incident to
the common method hitherto
adopted of navigating the Ohio, and
being influenced by a love of philan-
thropy and desire of being serviceable
to the public, has taken great pains
to render the accommodations on board
the boats as agreeable and con-
venient as they could possibly be made.
No danger need be apprehended from the
enemy, as every person on
board will be under cover, made proof
against rifle or musquet balls, and
convenient port-holes for firing out of.
Each of the boats are armed with
six pieces, carrying a pound ball; also
a number of good muskets and
amply supplied with plenty of
ammunition, strongly manned with choice
hands, and the masters of approved
knowledge.
A separate cabin from that designed for
the men is partitioned off in
each boat for accommodating ladies on
their passage. * *
Passengers will be supplied with
provisions and liquors of all kinds,
of the first quality, at the most
reasonable rates possible. * * *
NOTE 18.-One of the controlling
considerations in the selection of a
site for the settlement by the Ohio
Company at the mouth of the Muskin-
gum was that it might be under the
protection of Fort Harmar.
NOTE 19.-The plan originally proposed by
Congress for the survey
and sale of the first seven ranges west
of Pennsylvania contemplated that
the ranges should extend northward to
Lake Erie, but the subsequent
arrangements with the State of
Connecticut recognized her claim to the
soil (but not the jurisdiction which was
reserved to the United States) all
in that portion of Ohio north of the
41st parallel of latitude, and east of a
north and south line drawn at a distance
of 120 miles west of the Pennsyl-
vania line, and forming what is known as
the Connecticut Western
Reserve.
NOTE 20.- The expression " United
States " seems to be used as refer-
ring to the older settled states of the
Atlantic sea-board.
Description of the Soil, etc. 105
NoTE 21.-Ships on the Ohio-In 1799,
Louis Anastasius Tarascon, a
French merchant of Philadelphia, sent
two of his clerks, Charles Brugiere
and James Berthond, to examine the
course of the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers from Pittsburgh to New Orleans,
and ascertain the practicability of
sending ships ready rigged to the West
Indies and Europe. They reported
favorably, and Mr. Tarascon, associating
them and his brother with him as
partners, immediately established in
Pittsburgh a large wholesale and
retail store and warehouse, a ship yard,
a rigging and sail loft, an anchor-
smith's shop, a block manufactory, and,
in short, everything necessary to
complete vessels for sea. The first
year, 1801, they built the schooner
Amity, of 120 tons, and the ship
Pittsburgh, of 250, and sent the former,
loaded with flour, to St. Thomas, and
the other, also with flour, to Phila-
delphia, from whence they sent them to
Bordeaux, and brought back wine,
brandy and other French goods, part of
which they sent to Pittsburgh in
wagons, at a carriage of from six to
eight cents per pound. In 1802 they
built the brig Nanino, of 250 tons; in
1803, the ship Louisiana, of 300 tons,
and in 1804, the ship Western Trader, of
400 tons."-American Pioneer,
Vol. I., p. 307.
"As soon as ship-building commenced
at Marietta, in 1800, the farmers
along the borders of the Ohio and
Muskingum Rivers turned their atten-
tion to the cultivation of hemp in
addition to their other crops. In a few
years sufficient was raised not only to
furnish cordage to the ships of the
West, but large quantities were worked
up in the various rope walks and
sent as freight in the vessels to the
Atlantic cities.
"By the year 1805 no less than two
ships, seven brigs and three schoon-
ers had been built and rigged by the
citizens of Marietta. Captain Jona-
than Devoll ranked amongst the earliest
of Ohio shipwrights. After the
Indian war he settled on a farm five
miles above Marietta, on the fertile
bottoms of the Muskingum. Here he built
a 'floating mill' for making
flour, and in 1801 a ship of 230 tons,
called the Muskingum, and the brig
Eliza Greene, of 150 tons."-Ibid, Vol.
I, p. 90.
NoTE 22.-A plan since carried out by the
construction of the Louis-
ville and Portland canal.
NoTE 23.-Since preparing the translation
of the report to Lord Hills-
borough, I have met with the original
document in English. It will be
found in Volume II, page 6, of the
" Olden Times," a periodical published
at Pittsburgh in 1846 and 1847.
This report to Lord Hillsborough appears
to have been made when he
was considering the petitions of Thomas
Walpole and others to the king
for the privilege of making a purchase
of land and founding a colony on
the south side of the Ohio River, which
petition had been referred to the
Board of Commissioners of Trade and
Plantations, of which he was presi-
dent, for report. See a very interesting
article by Professor Hinsdale on
the western land policy of the British
Government, in the Ohio Archaeo-
logical and Historical Quarterly for December, 1887.
106 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
NoTE 24.--The English version has
"rye" where the French has
"riz "- rice.
NoTE 25.-In the English original are
here inserted the words "in
the year 1772."
NOTE 26.-" The new settlement at
the mouth of the Muskingum
attracted the attention of the House of
Burgesses in Virginia, and an ap-
propriation of money was made to survey
a route for a road from Alexan-
dria on the Potomac to the Ohio River
opposite Marietta. The commis-
sioners found a very feasible course,
and the estimated distance only three
hundred miles. A road was cut out, and
for many years before the build-
ing of the National Turnpike from the
Cumberland to the Ohio, merchan-
dise was brought in wagons to the stores
in Marietta from the Port of
Alexandria."-Pioneer History, p.
245.
NOTE 27.-The English version here says,
"like the west country
barges, rowed by only four or five
men."
NoTE 28.-The settlements in Illinois
were the earliest made by the
French in the Mississippi Valley; that
at Kaskaskia dating back to the
seventeenth century.
Vivier, writing from Illinois, in 1750,
says: "We have here whites,
negroes and Indians, to say nothing of
cross-breeds. There are five French
villages, and three villages of the
natives, within a space of twenty-one
leagues, situated between the
Mississippi and another river called the Kar-
kadiad (Kaskaskia). In the five French
villages are perhaps eleven hun-
dred whites, three hundred blacks, and
some sixty red slaves, or savages.
The three Illinois towns do not contain
more than eight hundred souls all
told. Most of the French till the soil;
they raise wheat, cattle, pigs and
horses, and live like princes. Three
times as much is produced as can
be consumed, and great quantities of
grain and flour are sent to New
Orleans."
Twenty years later one man is said to
have furnished the king's stores
from his crop 86,000 pounds of flour.
NoTE 29.- At the time of the sale by
Congress of public lands to the
Ohio Company, two townships of land
(each six miles square) were re-
served for the benefit of a university,
and section number 16 (being a lot
a mile square and containing 640 acres)
in each township sold, was at the
same time reserved for the support of
the schools in said townships.
Another section (number 29), was in the
same manner reserved for the
support of religion.
Note 30.-"The colony at Marietta,
like those of some of the ancient
Greeks, enrolled many men of highly
cultivated minds and exalted intel-
lects; several of them claimed the halls
of old Cambridge as their alma
mater. The army of the Revolution
furnished a number of officers who
had distinguished themselves for their
good conduct, as well as for their
bravery."-American Pioneer, Vol.
I, p. 85.
Description of the Soil, etc. 107
NoTE 31.-Ohio.
NoTE 32.- The apprehensions here
expressed were not wholly ground-
less. The ties of Union among the states
were probably at their weakest
in 1787. The articles of confederation
which, under the stress of a com-
mon danger had carried the State through
the war, had since its close
proved wholly insufficient to reconcile
their conflicting interests and serve
the purpose of a Federal Government.
NOTE 33.-This was written in 1787. At
that time the Continental
Congress was sitting in New York, and a
convention which framed the
Constitution of the United States was in
session in Philadelphia. As the
result of the convention's labors was
not published until the autumn of
1787, it is probable that the clause of
the Constitution giving Congress
exclusive jurisdiction over such
districts not exceeding ten miles square,
as may by cession of particular States
and the acceptance of Congress be-
come the seat of Government of the
United States, was not known to the
writer of the pamphlet. At all events
the site of the future Capital was
wholly undetermined.
NoTE 34.- The Ordinance of 1787 provided
that, "the utmost good
faith shall always be observed toward
the Indians; their lands and property
shall never be taken from them without
their consent, and in their prop-
erty, rights and liberty they never
shall be invaded or disturbed, unless in
just and lawful wars authorized by
Congress; but laws founded in justice
and humanity shall from time to time be
made for preventing wrongs being
done to them and for preserving peace
and friendship with them."
NOTE 35. The valley of the Muskingum and
of its chief tributary,
the Tuscarawas, (both of which at that
day were known as the Mus-
kingum,) was not only the scene of the
Christian Mission in Ohio - that
of the Moravian Brethren. Fifteen years
before the settlement of Marietta
these Christians had penetrated the
wilderness as far as the Tuscarawas,
and within the next few years had
established upon its banks several
villages of Indian converts- Schoenbrun,
Gnadenhutten and Salem.
Schoenbrun had two streets, laid out in
the form of a T. On the trans-
verse street, about the middle of it and
opposite the main street, which
ran from east to west, and was both long
and broad, stood the church.
* * *
* At the northwest corner of the main street was the school
house. The bottom, from the foot of the
bluff to the river, was converted
into cornfields. The town contained more
than sixty houses of squared
timber, besides huts and lodges.--Life
of Zeisberger -page 380.
NoTE 36.-Toise - An old French measure
equal to about six feet, in
use, so far as I know, only in Detroit.
Long since superseded in France, I
found it a few years ago surviving in
that ancient and conservative city, in
daily business transactions.
NOTE 37.- The site of the present city
of Cleveland. " From an early
day the leading Virginia statesmen
regarded the mouth of the Cuyahoga
108 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 3
as an important commercial position.
George Washington in his journey
to the French forts, Venango and Le
Boeuf, in 1753, obtained information
which led him to consider it as the
point of divergence of the future com-
merce of the lakes meeting the ocean;
Virginia being then regarded as
the State through which this trade must
pass to the Atlantic. Mr. Jeffer-
son, in his " Notes " upon
that State, points out the channel through which
it will move to the ocean. He considers
the Cuyahoga and Mahoning as
navigable, and separated only by a short
portage to be overcome by a canal.
Once in the Ohio, produce, in his
opinion, might ascend its branches and
descend the Potomac to the sea."- Charles
Whittlesey in American
Pioneer, Vol. 2, p. 24.
NOTE 38.--THE FOLLOWING DESCRIPTION OF
THE MUSKINGUM VALLEY
IN ITS PRIMEVAL CONDITION IS FROM THE
LIFE OF ZEISBERGER.
He (Zeisberger) was now in the valley
which was to be the scene of
his greatest works and severest trials.
Blooming like the rose, with its
farms, its rich meadows and gorgeous
orchards, it was in his day, although
a wilderness, no less a land of plenty,
and abounded in everything that
makes the hunting grounds of the Indians
attractive. It extended a dis-
tance of nearly eighty miles, enclosed
on both sides by hills, at the foot
of which lay wide plains, terminating
abruptly in bluffs, or sloping gently
to the lower bottoms through which the
river flowed. These plains, that
now form the fruitful fields of the
"second bottoms," as they are called,
were then wooded with the oak and
hickory, the ash, the chestnut, and the
maple, which interlocked their branches,
but stood comparatively free
from the undergrowth of other forests.
The river bottoms were far
wilder. Here grew walnut trees and
gigantic sycamores, whose colossal
trunks even now astonish the traveler;
bushy cedars, luxuriant horse-
chestnut and honey-locusts, cased in
their armor of thorns. Between
these, clustered laurel bushes, with
their rich tribute of flowers, or were
coiled the thick mazes of the vine, from
which more fragrant tendrils
twined themselves into the nearest
boughs, while here and there a lofty
spruce tree lifted its evergreen crown
high above the groves. These forests
were generous to their children. They
gave them the elm bark to make
canoes, the rind of the birch for
medicine, and every variety of game for
food. The soil was even more liberal. It
produced strawberries, black-
berries, raspberries, gooseberries,
black currants and cranberries; nour-
ished the plum, the cherry, the
mulberry, the papaw and the crabtree, and
yielded wild potatoes, parsnips and
beans, Nor was the river chary of its
gifts, but teemed with fish of unusual
size and excellent flavor.
NOTE 39.--Alaman--Paint Creek.
[The pamphlet from which the foregoing
description and
notes is taken is now out of print and
quite rare. A few copies
may yet be had of A. H. Smythe, the
publisher, Columbus, 0.]
82 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
CONTEMPORARY DESCRIPTION OF OHIO IN
1788.
In 1888, Mr. John H. James, of Urbana,
Ohio, whose col-
lection of historical works is hardly
excelled, published a trans-
lation of a French pamphlet used by Mr.
Barlow and his asso-
ciates in Paris, when engaged in the
sale of lands in the Ohio coun-
try.
"The pamphlet," says Mr. James, in his introduction,
" was published in French and English; the French copy
being
a translation of the English copy, first
published in Salem,
Massachusetts, in 1787. The French
edition was published in
Paris in 1789, the year of the breaking
out of the French Revo-
lution. It was one of the means employed
by Joel Barlow and
the agents of the Scioto Company to
promote the emigration
from France, which resulted in the
settlement of the French at
Gallipolis in 1790."
"The French copy from which I make
the translation,"
continued Mr. James, "is dingy with
age, and formerly be-
longed to one of the early settlers at
Gallipolis, whose name,
with the date, 1805, is inscribed on the
cover."
The title page of the pamphlet is as
follows:
" A Description of the Soil,
Productions, etc., of that Por-
tion of the United States Situated between
Pennsylvania and
the Rivers Ohio and Scioto and Lake
Erie."
Mr. James, in his introduction, says of
the authorship of
the pamphlet, that "it was
published anonymously, but was
written by Mr. Manasseh Cutler,"
and "that while its tints are
sufficiently couleur de rose, and
some of its statements * * *
appear extravagant in the light of our
present knowledge, yet it
must be remembered that one hundred
years ago Ohio was a
comparatively unknown region, concerning
which all intending
settlers were enthusiastic; and a
comparison with other con-
temporary authorities shows that it
represents very fairly the
state of information existing concerning
the Western country."
The extravagant statements in the
pamphlet, it will be
noticed, are acceded to by Mr. Thomas
Hutchins, the geographer
of the United States, and by others who
had visited the country.