OHIO
Archaeological and Historical
PUBLICATIONS
WASHINGTON'S CAMP SITES ON THE OHIO
RIVER
BY GUY-HAROLD SMITH
Ohio State University
In the autumn of 1770 George Washington
made a
journey into the interior of North
America in the
interest of the Virginia soldiers who
had fought in
the Indian wars, and had been promised
western lands
as reward for their services. Also
Washington had
personal reasons for making this
reconnaissance of the
lands along the Ohio River. He had the
foresight to
envision the development of the
trans-Appalachian
country and characteristically he was
interested in ac-
quiring some of the choice lands before
they were pre-
empted by others. The story of
Washington and the
Ohio valley has been told elsewhere,1
therefore we will
be content to follow him down the Ohio
River and
back again to Fort Pitt at the junction
of the Alle-
gheny and Monongahela Rivers.
Washington began his journey to the
Ohio River on
October 5, 1770, but he did not begin
the actual de-
scent of the river until the 20th of
the month. The
intervening fifteen days were consumed
in the journey
to the junction of the two rivers which
jointly become
the Ohio, and by certain other journeys
and stop-
overs which delayed him somewhat. He
spent some
time with Captain William Crawford who
was Wash-
1 Archer B. Hulbert, Washington and
the West, New York, 1905.
(1)
2 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications
ington's western representative, and at
Fort Pitt it was
only logical that a few days would be
required to outfit
the party for the river journey.
Washington's river party consisted of
himself, Dr.
Craik who accompanied him from Mount
Vernon, Cap-
tain William Crawford, his western
agent, Joseph
Nicholson, Robert Bell, William
Harrison, Charles
Morgan, Daniel Reardon, and two Indians,
one called
Pheasant and the other left unnamed. On
leaving Fort
Pitt they were joined by Colonel George
Croghan,
Lieutenant Robert Hamilton, and
Alexander McKee.2
These last three Washington left at
Logstown, about
18 miles below Fort Pitt.
The accompanying map showing the
location of
Washington's camp sites was originally
prepared for
the Geographical Committee of the
Washington Bicen-
tennial Commission. In its preparation
the author has
had access to four transcriptions of
that part of Wash-
ington's journal which pertains to the
"Tour to the
Ohio."3
2 Spelled Magee by Washington.
3 Jared Sparks, The Writings of
George Washington, Vol. II, Boston,
1858. This transcription omits that
portion of Washington's diary which
was injured.
Washington's "Tour to the
Ohio," Old South Leaflets, Vol. II, General
Series No. 41, Boston. The copy omits
the entries from Nov. 3 to 16 in-
clusive.
Archer B. Hulbert, Washington's
"Tour to the Ohio" and Articles of
"The Mississippi
Company." Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications,
Vol. 17, 1908, pp. 431-488. Hulbert has
published all of Washington's
journal which covers the trip into the
Ohio valley including the record from
November 6 to 17, which has been
seriously damaged.
John C. Fitzpatrick, Editor, The
Diaries of George Washington, 1748-
1799, Boston, 1925. Volume one includes
Washington's journals through
the year 1770, and the record of his
Ohio journey of the autumn of 1770
is entirely transcribed. Fitzpatrick and
Hulbert's copies of the diaries have
proved most useful to the present
writer.
Washington's Camp Sites on the Ohio
River 3
Saturday, October 20.
On the afternoon of October 20, 1770,
Washington
left Fort Pitt on his most westward
journey into the
interior of North America. From his
journal a simple
entry permits us to locate with fair
accuracy his camp
site. He wrote,
"At two we dind at Mr. Magee's and
Incamped 10
Miles below, and 4 above the Logs
Town."
In his briefer diary entitled
"Where and how my
time is Spent" the entry for
October 20 is as follows:
"Set out for the Big Kanhawa with
Dr. Craik, Captn.
Crawford and others. Incapd abt 14
miles off."
Cramer's Navigator4 gives
"Loggstown" as on the
right bank of the Ohio 18 1/2 miles
below Pittsburgh,
therefore the four miles "above
the Logs Town" given
in Washington's detailed journal makes
his day's trip
14 1/2 miles. This camp quite certainly
was on the north
side of the Ohio near where Economy,
Pennsylvania,
now stands.
Sunday, October 21.
The final paragraph of his journal
states that,
"From Racoon Creek to little Bever
Creek appears to
me to be little short of 10 Miles, and
about 3 Miles
below this we Incamped; after hiding a
Barrl. of Bis-
quet in an Island (in Sight) to lighten
our Canoe."
The Little Beaver Creek enters the Ohio
River a
little over a half mile above the Ohio
boundary. Three
miles below the mouth of the river
places the camp site
near the downstream end of Babbs Island
and about
one mile above East Liverpool. Hulbert suggested
4 Zadok Cramer, The Navigator, Pittsburgh,
1818, p. 69.
4 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Baker's Island about eight miles
farther down stream.
This certainly is too far. The footnote
in Fitzpatrick's
copy states, "This would have
carried Washington
nearly if not quite over the State line
into Ohio." This
obviously is short of the distance
actually covered.
In his entry for the following day he
observes that
he came to the mouth of Yellow Creek
about eight miles
down stream from his camp site, and this
is substan-
tially the correct distance if we place
the camp one mile
above East Liverpool.
It appears thus far that Washington's
party held
their canoes close to the north shore
for nearly all of
his observations on streams are about
those which enter
from the north, and the fertile lands
which he described
are chiefly along the north side of the
Ohio River.
Monday, October 22.
On the next day the party made rapid
progress down
the river covering twenty-eight miles
from the last
camp. They reached "... Mingo
Town; Situate on the
West Side the River a little above the
Cross Creeks."
This camp was located about two miles
below Steu-
benville just above Cross Creek in Ohio
where Mingo
Junction is now located.
Washington states that this is
seventy-five miles
below Pittsburgh. This distance checks
almost exactly
with the 74 3/4 miles shown in
Cumings' Western Pilot5
for 1836, and the 76 1/4 miles given in
Cramer's
Navigator.6 There can be little doubt about this camp
site of the night of October 22.
5 Samuel Cumings, The Western Pilot, Cincinnati, 1836.
6 Cramer, Op. cit.
Washington's Camp Sites on the Ohio
River 5
Tuesday, October 23.
Washington's account states that they
passed the sec-
ond set of Cross creeks and about three
miles below
this ". . . at the lower point of
some Islands . . ." the
Indians told them about land here being
marked. After
discussing this briefly he closes his
account with "At
this Place we Incampd." This
places the site near the
downstream end of Pike Island, but we
have no way
of knowing on which side they camped.
A portion of his entry for October 23
is devoted to
the news that two traders had been
killed, but Wash-
ington reserved space for his usual
comments about the
character of the land and the streams
which enter
the Ohio. Thus far he learned either
from the Indians
or a member of his party that all of
the land eastward
to the Red Stone, a tributary of the
Monongahela, was
claimed by three Virginians.
Wednesday, October 24.
Washington's entry of October 24 states
that, "Two
or three Miles below the Pipe Creek is
a pretty large
creek on the West side, called by
Nicholson, Fox Grape
Vine, by others Captema Creek . . . at
the Mouth of
it... we came abt. 3 Oclock in the
afternoon, and find-
ing no body there, we agreed to
Camp."
This site just above the mouth of the
Captina Creek
on the Ohio side is one of the most
easily located.
Nicholson and one of the Indian guides
went up the
Captina to inquire at the Indian camp
about the death
of the traders. It is apparent that
Washington was a
little hesitant about going farther
down the river until
he could learn more of the details
about the death of the
two white traders.
6 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
From the Indian women they learned that
only one
trader had lost his life and he had
been drowned in
attempting to cross the Ohio. Early the
next morning
they were off again on the downstream
journey.
Thursday, October 25.
Washington's entry for October 25
states that
"About half way in the long reach
we Incampd, opposite
to the beginning of a large bottom on
the East side of
the River."
From this involved statement it is a
little difficult to
fix the location exactly. The camp
probably was on
the Ohio side of the river opposite the
West Virginia
city of Sistersville.
On this date Washington observed the
abundance
of game mentioning in particular the
wild turkeys and
deer.
From time to time he noted briefly the
passing
weather and on this occasion he
recorded seeing a large
number of fallen trees at the entrance
to a tributary
valley. The Indians called the stream
"broken Timber
Creek." Washington explained that
the timber had
been destroyed by a hurricane.
Friday, October 26.
His downstream progress can be checked
quite defi-
nitely, for among other landmarks he
mentions three
islands formerly called the Three
Brothers.
"About 12 Miles below the three
Islands we In-
campd just above the Mouth of a Creek
which appears
pretty large at the Mouth and just
above an island."
This item from his more elaborate
journal gives the
distance by a downstream measurement
from an indefi-
Washington's Camp Sites on the Ohio
River 7
nite location. The three islands
mentioned by Washing-
ton and later known as the Three
Brothers are of vary-
ing dimensions and occupy a section of
the river
approximately four miles in
length. However, the
Navigator7 gives the Third Brother a specific distance
of one hundred and seventy miles below
Pittsburgh and
thirteen miles above the mouth of the
Muskingum. In
The Western Pilot Cumings8 gives the Three Brother
Islands a distance of one hundred and
fifty-eight miles
below Pittsburgh with the mouth of the
Muskingum
sixteen miles farther downstream.
Washington states
that his party camped twelve miles
below the islands,
so this would place his camp four miles
above the mouth
of the Muskingum. In his briefer diary
the following
statement is recorded: "Incampd at
the Mouth of a
Creek about 4 miles above the Mouth of
Muskingum,
distant abt. 32 miles." This
places his camp just above
the mouth of the Little Muskingum and
not Duck Creek
as suggested in Fitzpatrick's
transcription.9 Hulbert10
gives the correct location just above
the mouth of the
Little Muskingum.
Saturday, October 27.
On this day Washington and his party
moved down-
stream past the mouth of the Muskingum,
the Little
Kanawha, and "a cluster of
Islands." This cluster
must have been the higher portions of
Blennerhasset's
Island which was to become of peculiar
interest in con-
nection with the activities of Aaron
Burr.
7 Cramer, Op. cit., p. 82.
8 Cumings, Op. cit., p. 20.
9 Fitzpatrick, Op. cit., Vol. I,
p. 421.
10 Hulbert, Op. cit., p. 463.
8
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
"About 8 Miles below little
Hockhocking we In-
camped opposite to the Mouth of the
great Hockhock-
ing." This entry places his camp
site on the West
Virginia shore of the Ohio River.
Sunday, October 28.
The camp of Sunday, October 28, is very
uncertain.
Washington reports meeting Indians
about four miles
below his camp of the previous night.
He was delayed
by idle councils with the Indians who
finally moved
downstream with his party in order not
to delay the
journey. Fitzpatrick11 reports
the move as three miles
but Hulbert12 gives six miles. In
either case the loca-
tion cannot be exact. In a footnote
Hulbert gives Pond
Creek as the location, and this makes
the site only three
miles below the place where Washington
met the
Indians.
In the entry for the following day
Washington
states that "Opposite to the Creek
just below wch. we
Incampd, is a pretty long bottom, and I
believe tolerable
wide."
If this bottom is the one now known as
"Long Bot-
tom" his camp was probably just
below the mouth of
what is now Pond Creek, which enters
the Ohio from
the West Virginia side.
If he camped six miles below the bottom
in which
he met the Indians his camp may have
been on the Ohio
side just below the mouth of Shade
River.
Monday, October 29.
The entry for this day is a little
indefinite but certain
11 Fitzpatrick, Op. cit., p. 423.
12 Hulbert, Op. cit., p.
465. Jared Sparks's transcription omits
the num-
ber of miles entirely. The copy in the Old
South Leaflets gives six miles.
Washington's Camp Sites on the Ohio
River 9
landmarks which can be identified
indicate that he made
rapid progress downstream. He passed
the rapids at
the point of the Great Bend. He writes
that "for two
Miles and a half below this the River
Runs a No. Et.
Course, and finishes what they call the
"Great Bent.
Two Miles and an half below this again
we Incampd."
From his camp of the night before this
site is thirty-five
miles downstream, a very long distance to
make in a
single day considering that he did not
set out until after
9 o'clock.
On which side he camped we cannot be
sure, but
probably on the West Virginia shore,
for the next
day's entry refers to the wide bottom
on that side reach-
ing to the point of the Great Bend. His
allusion to
having camped in it places the site on
the West Virginia
side but the exact place along the
river cannot be
marked.
Tuesday, October 30.
From the entry of Wednesday, October
31, we learn
that his camp of October 30 was five
miles above the
mouth of the Kanawha River. He wrote:
"I sent the
Canoe along down to the junction of the
two Rivers abt.
5 Miles, that is the Kanhawa with the
Ohio." This site
probably was on the West Virginia side,
for during that
day he had been exploring the land on
the south side of
the river. As Washington approached the
Kanawha
he made a critical examination of the
terrain. On this
date he landed and made an excursion
some distance
from the river where he found the
". . . Land grown up
with Hicky. and oaks of different
kinds, intermixed
with Walnut, etca. here and
there."
10 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Wednesday, October 31.
During the day of October 31 Washington
spent
some time exploring the lands in the
open angle formed
by the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. From
his camping
place of the night before he states
that "We steered
nearly East for about 8 or 9 Miles,
then bore South-
wardly, and Westwardly, till we came to
our Camp at
the confluence of the Rivers." It
is clear then that his
camp on the night of October 31 was at
the junction of
the Kanawha with the Ohio, on land now
included in
the city of Point Pleasant, West
Virginia.
Thursday, November 1.
"We judgd we went up this River
about 10 Miles
to day." In this manner Washington
gives the approxi-
mate location of his camp site.
Presumably it was on
the east side of the Kanawha, for
practically all of his
recorded observations show that he
spent some time
examining the lands to the east of the
river.
Friday, November 2.
His progress up the Kanawha was indeed
slow on
the first day of November, but on the
second he did not
go half so far as on the preceding day.
"We proceeded
up the River with the Canoe about 4
Miles more, and
then incampd and went a Hunting."
Some of the party
went four or five miles farther
upstream but there is no
evidence that the camp was moved. Again
we may
assume that the camp was located on the
east side of
the river.
Saturday, November 3.
Washington camped a second time at the
mouth of
Washington's Camp Sites on the Ohio River 11
the Kanawha River. On November 3 he
recorded:
"We set of down the River on our
return homewards,
and Incampd at the Mouth."
Also from this day's record we know
that Washing-
ton ascended the Kanawha only fourteen
miles, for on
his downstream journey to the Ohio he
gave the direc-
tions and distances which total exactly
fourteen miles.
Sunday, November 4.
The journey up the Ohio began on
November 4 on
which date the party made about twenty
miles, reaching
the bottom in which they camped on
October 27. Wash-
ington recorded observing the bottom
above Point
Pleasant and the bottom along the
horseshoe-shaped
course of the Ohio. Continuing he
writes that "After
passing this bottom and abt. a Mile of
Hills, we entered
into the 3d Bottom and Incampd. This
bottom reaches
within about half a Mile of the Rapid
at the point of
the Great Bent."
Monday, November 5.
Washington and Captain Crawford walked
about
eight miles along the base of the hills
which parallel
the south side of the river, and
probably joined the re-
mainder of the party just below the
rapids in the Great
Bend.
As they made their way upstream they
came to a
bottom which Washington described on
October 29.
This gives us a key to the location of
his camp for the
night of November 5. In his journal he
wrote, "A little
above this Bottom we Incamped...."
The point indi-
cated on the map is somewhat
indefinite, but the camp
was probably located on the south
shore.
12 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Tuesday, November 6.
Five miles upstream they came to
Kiashuta's camp
and were detained all day in a lowland
on the east side
of the Ohio. In his journal he
recorded, "We left our
Incampment a little after daylight, and
in about 5 Miles
we came to Kiashutas Hunting Camp. . .
." A little
further on he added, "I was
detained at Kiashuta's Camp
all the remaining part of this
day." This move of only
five miles is one of the shortest on
his Ohio River
journey.
Wednesday, November 7.
The Washington journal covering the
ten-day period
from November 7 to 16 has been greatly
injured, thus
the location of the camp sites becomes
increasingly dif-
ficult. Fortunately his briefer diary
entitled "Where
and how my time is Spent" gives
some assistance in
making the locations.
The camp of November 7 cannot be
located with
certainty. In the diary he wrote,
"Reached the Mouth
of Hockhocking--distant abt. 20
Miles." From the
mutilated journal we glean the
following:
". . . ile or two, we passed a
good smart . . .
on the East side, this Bottom . . .
opposite to
Great Hockhocking above which, and
opposite to
Dela . . . Hunting Party, we
Incamped."
From these two entries we may conclude
that his
camp was near the mouth of the Hocking
River. From
the fragmented sentence we note that he
located the
camp opposite to the Delaware hunting
party. This
probably means that his camp was on the
Ohio shore
above the mouth of the Hocking River.
This would
Washington's Camp Sites on the Ohio
River 13
free him from their idle conversations
and permit him
to get an early start the next day.
Thursday, November 8.
Exact locations become difficult where
the mutilated
journal permits of several
interpretations.
". . .st below the Mouth of Mus . .
. Incampd" has
been interpreted by Hulbert13 as
"Just below the mouth
of Muskingum we Incamped." In the
shorter diary
Washington wrote that they "Came
within a Mile of
the Mouth of the Muskingum 27
Miles." On that day
he and Crawford explored the hills back
to the south of
the river, and the Indian guide brought
them to the
river lower down than they planned.
This probably
means that the camp was on the south
side of the river
and about a mile below the mouth of the
Muskingum.
Friday, November 9.
The party made only about seventeen
miles and
reached a section along the river later
designated as the
Three Brothers. Washington's journal
carries the brief
record: "Incampd by the 3 Islands."
Not only stormy
weather but a bear hunt delayed the
party for that day.
Obviously only an approximate location
can be made of
the camp for the night of November 9.
Washington's
estimate of the upstream distance was
too high by ap-
proximately two or three miles.
Saturday, November 10.
Because of the continued rain,
Washington's party
did not start out until noon and made
only twelve miles,
according to his diary, to the lower
end of the long
13 Hulbert,
Op. cit., p. 475.
14 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
reach where he camped. As a matter of
fact his esti-
mate of the distance is in error by
about three miles.
The distance traveled was only nine
miles, hence the
rapid current must have affected his
estimation of the
distances.
This location is made from the brief
entry in his
diary, "Arrivd at the lower end of
the long reach abt 12
Miles, not setting of till 12 O
clock."
Sunday, November 11.
From the journal which was injured it
appears that
the party negotiated the long reach on
November 11,
for the fragmented sentence reads as
follows, ". . . we
got . . . head of the long reach abt .
. ." In the briefer
journal he states simply, "Came
about 16 Miles after
hard working the greatest part of the
day." The long
reach measures almost exactly sixteen
miles in length,
thus his camp can be located in a
general way, but
again the side of the river cannot be
determined.
Monday, November 12.
High water delayed the party again on
November
12, and caused Washington to consider
having the
horses brought to Mingo Town just below
the modern
city of Steubenville. From his briefer
journal we learn
that they made only five miles against
the strong cur-
rent. His camp probably was at about
the position of
New Martinsville, West Virginia.
"Only got about 5 Miles . .
." from the diary is all
that we have to make the location, for
his entry in the
journal is devoted to the weather and
the conditions of
the river in flood.
Washington's Camp Sites on the Ohio
River 15
Tuesday, November 13.
From the briefer journal we learn that
Washington
"Reached the uppermost broken
Timber Creek distant
about 7 Miles, contending with a
violent Currt. the whole
day." The stream referred to was
mentioned in the
longer journal in the entry of October
25. This can be
identified as Sunfish Creek in Belmont
County in Ohio.
It is possible then that Washington may
have camped
on the Ohio side of the river at or
near the mouth of
Sunfish Creek.
Wednesday, November 14.
Washington's briefer journal states
that they "Came
to the Captening or Fox Grape Vine
Creek distant about
10 Miles." In the longer but
mutilated journal he men-
tions a distance of eleven miles. A
measurement of
the river course between Sunfish Creek
and Captina
Creek shows that the distance is only a
little over eight
miles. Washington states definitely
that he got out on
the west side and walked through a neck
of land below
the mouth of the Captening (modern
Captina Creek).
It is probable then that he camped on
the Ohio shore
just above the mouth of the
aforementioned creek.
Thursday, November 15.
The weather had improved and the party
was mak-
ing better time upstream. In the
briefer journal Wash-
ington recorded: "Reached Weeling
(on the West)
where there had been an Indian Town and
where some
of the Shawnas are going to settle in
the Spring, distant
from our Incampment 12 Miles." His
estimate of the
distance from their last camp is a few
miles under the
actual distance covered even if we
assume that he
16
Ohio, Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
camped on November 15 two or three
miles above the
mouth of Captina Creek. As a matter of
fact Washing-
ton gives elsewhere in his journal a
list of places and
distances which he made at Fort Pitt
from Thomas
Hutchins' compilation, and from this
record the dis-
tance may be derived by taking the
difference between
the distances of the two places below
Pittsburgh. This
difference is nineteen miles. A careful
measurement of
the distance on the modern accurate
maps shows it to
be just short of nineteen and a half
miles.
Since Washington mentioned the Wheeling
River on
the west side of the Ohio it is
probable that he camped
on that side.
There is still an alternative location
to be considered.
The stream now called the McMahon Creek
enters the
Ohio from the west side about four and
a half miles
below the Wheeling Creek of Ohio. This
stream is
nearly fifteen miles above the Captina.
In the record
for the following day Washington
mentions that they
traveled upstream thirteen miles and
camped a short
distance below the mouth of two cross
creeks. I am
inclined to the opinion that Washington
camped at the
mouth of McMahon Creek on the Ohio side
of the river,
for thirteen miles upstream places his
next camp ap-
proximately where he states it was,
just below the second
cross creeks.
Friday, November 16.
As Washington continued upstream he
took time to
ascend the hills near Wheeling, West
Virginia, where
he could see the Wheeling River
meandering through a
bottom of fine land. On the downstream
journey he
observed two sets of cross creeks and
it was just below
Washington's Camp Sites on the Ohio
River 17
the second set that he camped on
November 16. ". . . A
little below the 2d cross Creeks, we
incampd distance
from our last 13 or fourteen
Miles," is the record from
his longer journal. The distance from
McMahon Creek
to Short Creek in Ohio, which is one of
the cross creeks
referred to by Washington, is almost
exactly thirteen
miles. The shorter diary is not very
enlightening, for
the entry "Got within 13 miles of
lower cross Creeks,
13 Miles," not only confirms the
statement in the journal
but also contradicts it. From the more
extended account
of the adjacent lands in his journal we
may conclude
that his camp was just below the lower
set of cross
creeks.
Saturday, November 17.
At about three o'clock Washington
arrived at Mingo
Town on the Ohio side of the river
about three miles
below Steubenville. This was where he
camped with
the Indians on the night of October 22.
Here he hoped
to be met by the Indian who had been
sent ahead to
bring the horses from Fort Pitt.
The floods had
so delayed him that he passed through
Mingo Town
". . . only the morning before. .
. ." This probably means
the morning of the previous day.
Sunday, November 18.
Washington was still at Mingo Town on
November
18. His very brief entry for that date
relates his bar-
gaining with the Indians to take his
canoe to Fort Pitt,
for which he agreed "to pay 6
Dollars and give them a
Quart Tinn Can."
Vol. XLI--2.
18
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Monday, November 19.
The Indians set off with the canoe on
November 19
but Washington was detained at the
Mingo camp. This
gave him time to make an extended entry
in his journal
including a corrected list of places
and distances which
he had made at Fort Pitt prior to his
downstream jour-
ney. He had copied these distances from
the record of
Thomas Hutchins, who later became
geographer to the
Continental Army.
Tuesday, November 20.
The horses arrived at one o'clock and
Washington
set out at two "and got about 10
miles." He probably
traveled eastward overland directly
toward Fort Pitt,
and camped about five or six miles east
of the Ohio-
Pennsylvania boundary.
Wednesday, November 21.
On Wednesday, November 21, Washington
reached
Fort Pitt, a distance of about
twenty-five miles from the
camp of the night before. His entry for
this date is
concerned chiefly with the character of
the land and its
vegetal cover.
On November 22 Washington spent the
whole day
at Fort Pitt settling his accounts and
entertaining
friends. The following day he set off
for Mt. Vernon
which he reached on December 1 after
having been
absent from home nine weeks and a day,
on his longest
journey into the interior of North
America.
On this "Tour to the Ohio"
Washington penetrated
the Ohio country as far west as the
junction of the
Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. On thirty-one
consecutive
nights from October 20 to November 19,
1770, he
Washington's Camp Sites on the Ohio
River 19
camped upon the banks of the Ohio and
Kanawha
Rivers. Of these thirty-one camp sites
only thirteen
can be located with certainty and of
these, two sites
were used on two or more different
occasions. For
example, he spent four nights at Mingo
Town, one on
the downstream journey and three on his
return.
Five additional sites can be located
with less cer-
tainty, but either from direct
statement in the journal
or from the context it is possible to
give the probable
side of the river chosen for the camp.
Of the remaining thirteen camps eight
can be lo-
cated in a general way, that is, the
approximate position
along the river can be given. Either
because Washing-
ton failed to be explicit in his
journal or because of the
accident which destroyed portions of
the record for ten
days we are unable to determine the
side of the river
on which he camped.
Five positions shown on the map are so
uncertain
that they cannot be regarded as
definite in any sense
whatever. The position along the river probably is
within five miles of the actual site,
but it is still a very
approximate location even as shown on
the small scale
map.
In this year of the bicentennial
celebration of the
birth of George Washington it would be
an appropriate
undertaking of the communities along
the Ohio River to
attempt to mark these sites used by
Washington in so
far as they can be located.
OHIO
Archaeological and Historical
PUBLICATIONS
WASHINGTON'S CAMP SITES ON THE OHIO
RIVER
BY GUY-HAROLD SMITH
Ohio State University
In the autumn of 1770 George Washington
made a
journey into the interior of North
America in the
interest of the Virginia soldiers who
had fought in
the Indian wars, and had been promised
western lands
as reward for their services. Also
Washington had
personal reasons for making this
reconnaissance of the
lands along the Ohio River. He had the
foresight to
envision the development of the
trans-Appalachian
country and characteristically he was
interested in ac-
quiring some of the choice lands before
they were pre-
empted by others. The story of
Washington and the
Ohio valley has been told elsewhere,1
therefore we will
be content to follow him down the Ohio
River and
back again to Fort Pitt at the junction
of the Alle-
gheny and Monongahela Rivers.
Washington began his journey to the
Ohio River on
October 5, 1770, but he did not begin
the actual de-
scent of the river until the 20th of
the month. The
intervening fifteen days were consumed
in the journey
to the junction of the two rivers which
jointly become
the Ohio, and by certain other journeys
and stop-
overs which delayed him somewhat. He
spent some
time with Captain William Crawford who
was Wash-
1 Archer B. Hulbert, Washington and
the West, New York, 1905.
(1)