Historic Highways of America (Vol. 9)

The Ohio River is a greater and more important stream than is generally realized. It drains a vast and rich territory; its northern source is in latitude 42° 20′, while its mouth, thirteen hundred miles away, is in latitude 37° north. Its eastern tributaries are in longitude 78°, while its outlet is in longitude 89° 20′. It thus comprises 5° 2′ of latitude and 11° 20′ of longitude. The Ohio drains a greater area than the Mississippi above the mouth of the Missouri; nearly one quarter of the waters which flow into the Gulf of Mexico come from it.

The lower Mississippi and Missouri, only, drain more territory than the Ohio; but the downfall of rain in the Missouri drainage is not so great in actual water supply as that which falls within the 214,000 square miles drained by the Ohio. Moreover, in the district drained by the two heads of the Ohio, the Allegheny and the Monongahela (20,000 square miles), it has been estimated that the ratio of discharge to downfall is much greater than on any of the tributaries of the Mississippi. In 1868, 1,342,605,725,800 cubic feet of water passed Pittsburg, and in 1869, 1,634,846,499,200 cubic feet. At the same time the annual downfall of rain in the entire Ohio drainage was twenty and one-half trillion cubic feet, while the discharge of the Ohio into the Mississippi at Cairo was five trillion cubic feet. The ratio of discharge to downfall therefore was 0.24.

These estimates, which undoubtedly approximate the truth, are of moment to our study. Nature cast, with a lavish hand, her waters where they would count tremendously in the opening of this continent: for the waters that fell here flowed into the West and the social movement was to be westward. The Ohio, more than any river, was to influence the flood-tides of immigration. The provision of water was, comparatively, abundant; that was the first necessity. A large proportion of the water that fell flowed away; that was the second necessity. It flowed approximately west; that was the third necessity. Thus it is that this river, of all rivers, has a place among the Historic Highways of America which were controlling forces in the early days of our national expansion westward.

There are various theories concerning the name Ohio, the most popular and generally acceptable being that Ohio was the English way of spelling and pronouncing the name Oyo, "beautiful" which the Indians had given to the river. The French, who usually translated Indian names, called the Ohio River La Belle Rivière. Later came the English, and the Iroquois name Oyo was Anglicized to Ohio, the modern name of the river. This makes a very satisfactory explanation of La Belle Rivière, were it not that the Reverend John Heckewelder affirmed that the French name Belle Rivière was not a translation from the Indian, since there was no such Indian word meaning "beautiful." Mr. Heckewelder felt dissatisfied with the theory that Ohio meant "beautiful," and while yet associated with the Indians and familiar with their language, made a study of their names for the Ohio River with interesting and enlightening results. In tracing the derivation of the word Ohio he shows that, in the Miamis language, O'hui or Ohi, when prefixed, meant "very," while Ohiopeek meant "very white" (caused by froth or white caps) and Ohiopeekhanne meant "the white foaming river." He further states: "The Ohio river being in many places wide and deep and so gentle that for many miles, in some places, no current is perceivable, the least wind blowing up the river covers the surface with what the people of that country call 'white caps;' and I have myself witnessed that for days together, this has been the case, caused by southwesterly winds (which by the by are the prevailing winds in that country) so that we, navigating the canoes, durst not venture to proceed, as these white caps would have filled, and sunk our canoe in an instant. Now, in all such cases, when the river could not be navigated with canoes, nor even crossed with this kind of craft-when the whole surface of the water presented white foaming swells, the Indians would, as the case was at the time, say, 'juh Ohiopiechen, Ohiopeek Ohiopeekhanne;' and when they supposed the water very deep they would say, 'kitschi Ohiopeekhanne,' which means, 'verily this is a deep white river.'"[1]

The traders who penetrated the Indian country were commonly careless of the pronunciation of names; any word which bore a fragment of similarity to the true name was satisfactory. There is, however, great excuse for this, as it was impossible for white men to acquire the "Indian ear" and pronounce the gutturals of the Indian language. Thus the abridgement of many words was carried to such an extent that nothing significant of the original Indian name remains. The newcomer learned of his predecessor and the "nick-names" were adopted and handed down leaving the true names to pass out of memory and existence. For instance Pittsburg was commonly called "Pitt" by the traders; Youghiogheny, "Yough;" Hockhocking, "Hocken." Our word Lehigh has no signification but was shortened from the original Indian name Leehauhanne. In this same manner, the traders adopted the first syllables of the word Ohiopeekhanne, thus obtaining an easier name to pronounce and remember.

The Reverend Mr. Heckewelder is probably the best authority on Indian names and customs, so that, presumably, his version of the derivation and meaning of the name Ohio is the most authentic; but, the question remains, why should the French have called it La Belle Rivière? One cannot pass, however, without noting that in the Onondaga language there was a word ojoneri-the j being pronounced like our y. The Reverend David Zeisberger, who compiled a copious dictionary of the Onondaga language, asserted that ojoneri meant "beautiful" but in an adverbial sense, describing the manner in which something is done-synonymous with our word well. If the French translated an Indian name La Belle Rivière, it was the first syllables of this word, ojoneri, that they translated-about as correctly as Washington translated Illinois when he first heard it "Black Island" (?le Noire) or Lieutenant-governor Hamilton of Detroit translated Rivière d'Anguille (Eel River, as the Indians called it) as if it were Rivière d'Anglais.

It is believed that the famous La Salle was the discoverer of the Ohio; three years of his life are unaccounted for at a moment when, as Fate would have it, we would like most to know where the brave explorer went. Suddenly we lose sight of La Salle near Niagara-searching earnestly for a great western river. Where he went we do not know but there is evidence that he came to what the French later knew as La Belle Rivière and descended it to "the Falls," or Louisville, Kentucky, about 1670.

The earliest actual description of the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers is contained in the narratives of two men who came to the Ohio about the middle of the eighteenth century. Here we find the earliest authentic experience of travelers on this great water highway. This first glimpse of the Allegheny and Ohio is alluring in its suggestiveness; there is so much to be noted, between the lines. No story of the Ohio can be written without presenting the faintly filled-in pictures of Céloron and Bonnécamps: of the rugged hills, the rapid waters, the humorous scattering of the Loups and Renards; the solemn proclamations "in a loud voice" of sovereignty; the flotilla of canoes sweeping around the hill and out of sight. But almost all of this is left to the imagination; lacking this, the story is but a meaningless record of landings and departures, harangues and horrors. To every reader the story must appear differently, but to all it must be a first glimpse of the primeval Ohio.

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Bonnécamps's Map of the Ohio River (1749)

On the afternoon of the fifteenth day of June in the year 1749 a gallant company of French, with savage allies, under the direction of Monsieur Céloron de Bienville, embarked on the St. Lawrence in twenty-three canoes at La Chine near Montreal. Progress was slow for, in addition to the passengers, provisions, and camp necessities, the weight of a number of leaden plates caused the canoes to glide deeply in the clear waters. It is to the journals of Céloron and Father Bonnécamps, both of which are preserved in the archives of the Department of the Marine, in Paris, that we owe our knowledge of this first recorded voyage down La Belle Rivière, and with this expedition of 1749 begins the authentic history of the Ohio River.[2]

Céloron and his detachment, with M. de Contrec?ur as captain, proceeded up the St. Lawrence and into the lakes. After coasting the southern shore of Lake Erie, he arrived at the Chautauqua portage-now known as Barcelona or Portland-on the sixteenth of July; and with the dawn of the following day began the ascent of Chautauqua Creek, called by the French Rivière aux Pommes. Much patience and labor was expended on this unnavigable stream, and it was not until the twenty-second of the following month that the band entered Chautauqua Lake, having spent six days of this time in toiling over the six-mile portage which connects Chautauqua Creek with the lake. Céloron now voyaged down the lake and on the morning of the twenty-fourth of July entered Conewango Creek. The water was low and, borrowing the words of Céloron: "On the 29th at noon I entered 'la Belle Rivière' I buried a plate of lead at the foot of a red oak on the south bank of the river Oyo and of the Chauougon, not far from the village of Kanaouagon, in latitude 42° 5′ 23′′."[3] Of this same occasion Father Bonnécamps wrote: "Finally, overcome with weariness, and almost despairing of seeing the Beautiful River, we entered it on the 29th at noon. Monsieur de Céloron buried a plate of lead on the south bank of the Ohio; and, farther down, he attached the royal coat of arms to a tree. After these operations, we encamped opposite a little Iroquois village, of 12 or 13 cabins; it is called Kananouangon.[4]

It is an ancient custom of the French people to assert claim to lands in their possession by burying leaden plates at the mouths of all streams that drain that territory. When Céloron started upon his memorable journey he carried with him six leaden plates. These plates were about eleven inches long, seven and a half inches wide, and one-eighth of an inch thick. Each was engraved with an appropriate inscription, leaving a blank space for date and name of place of deposit at the mouths of the various streams.[5] A Procès Verbal, similar in nature to the inscription on the plate, was drawn up and signed by the officers present. To the nearest tree was tacked a plate of sheet-iron stamped with the royal arms. The officers and men of the expedition were drawn up in battle array and the chief in command shouted "Vive le Roi," declaring possession in the name of the King of France. La Salle established this custom on this continent in the latter part of the seventeenth century and now this chevalier of the order of St. Louis penetrates the half-known Central West to make good the precedent established fifty years and more ago.

Although the treaty of Aix la Chapelle ended a tedious war in Europe, many points of controversy remained unsettled in the New World. At the conclusion of the war, England lost no time in taking measures to occupy the disputed territory. The Ohio Company was formed and the crown granted half a million acres to this association on the condition that settlements protected by forts be made upon the granted lands. These demonstrations on the part of their rivals had aroused the French to action. The Marquis de la Galissonière, Governor of Canada, dispatched Céloron and his company with orders to descend La Belle Rivière and take possession of all the territory drained by it and its tributaries, in the name of the King of France. In order to reach the field of action he has come a forty-four days' journey filled with bitter lessons. Today his first leaden plate has been buried, and tonight his weary "soldiers" have, for the first time, pitched their camp on the bank of the river in question. The first act of the real mission he has come to perform took place this afternoon with the interment of the plate-but that is only one of six! They rest in disputed territory and already has Céloron sent his right-hand man, M. de Joncaire, on to La Paille Coupée,[6] to reassure the suspicious savages.

On the thirtieth the expedition moved on to Paille Coupée. Here a council was conducted by Joncaire whom the Indians addressed as "our child Joncaire." He had previously been adopted by the Indians and consequently had a great influence over them.[7] The "speech" of the Marquis de la Galissonière, brought and presented by Céloron to the Iroquois, is especially interesting and to the point, as it plainly shows the French attitude with reference to the English:

"My children, since I have been at war with the English, I have learned that that nation has deceived you; and not content with breaking your heart, they have profited by my absence from this country to invade the land which does not belong to them and which is mine. This is what determined me to send to you Mr. Céloron, to inform you of my intentions, which are, that I will not suffer the English on my land; and I invite you, if you are my true children, to not receive them any more in your villages. I forbid, then, by this belt, the commerce which they have established lately in this part of the land, and announce to you that I will no longer suffer it. If you attack them you will make them retire and send them home; by that means you will be always peaceable in your village. I will give you all the aid you should expect from a good father. If you come to see me, next spring, you will have reason to be satisfied with the reception which I will give you. I will furnish you with traders in abundance, if you wish for them. I will even place here officers, if that will please you, to govern you and give you the good spirit, so that you will only work in good affairs. The English are more in the wrong in coming to this land, as the Five Nations have told them to fly from there to the mountains. Give serious attention, my children, to the words which I send you; listen well, follow it, it is the way to see always in your villages a haven beautiful and serene. I expect from you a reply worthy of my true children. You see the marks to be respected which I have attached along La Belle Rivière, which will prove to the English that this land belongs to me and that they cannot come here without exposing themselves to be chased away. I wish for this time to treat them with kindness and warn them; if they are wise they will profit by my advice."[8]

The result of this council was not entirely satisfactory to the French. It was too plainly evident that there existed a feeling in favor of the English. Bonnécamps writes in his journal: "... and in the evening he received their reply, that every one had been satisfied-if one could believe it sincere; but we did not doubt that it was extorted with fear."[9] Such fears, however, did not alter the determination of the French. On July 31, Céloron writes: "I sojourned at this village, [Paille Coupée] having been stopped by the abundance of rain, which pleased us much. The water rose three feet during the night."[10]

The expedition left Paille Coupée on the first of August and journeyed all day "between two chains of mountains, which bordered the river on the right and left." Father Bonnécamps notes that "the Ohio is very low during the first twenty leagues; but a great storm, which we had experienced on the eve of our departure, had swollen the waters, and we pursued our journey without any hindrance."[11] Under date of August 1, Father Bonnécamps, tourist-like, recounts a snake story, accompanying it by the impressions of a newcomer into the Ohio Basin:

"Monsieur Chabert on that day caught seven rattlesnakes, which were the first that I had seen. This snake differs in no way from others, except that its tail is terminated by seven or eight little scales, fitting one into another, which makes a sort of clicking sound when the creature moves or shakes itself. Some have yellowish spots scattered over a brown ground, and others are entirely brown, or almost black.

"There are, I am told, very large ones. None of those which I have seen exceed four feet. The bite is fatal. It is said that washing the wound which has been received, with saliva mixed with a little sea-salt, is a sovereign remedy. We have not had, thank God, any occasion to put this antidote to the test."

After having marched nearly four leagues on this first day of August, the party reached a village of Loups and Renards-clans of the Delaware Nation.[12] Having been informed of the approach of this expedition, all except one man had fled. Céloron explained to this solitary individual that he did not mean to harm the Indians, and invited them "to go to the village lower down, which was but four or five leagues distant, where he would speak to them." Proceeding on down the river he passed another Loup village of about the same size, six cabins. To these inhabitants he also addressed himself and requested them also to go to the most considerable village, where he promised to "speak to them on the part of their Father Onontio." They arrived there a little after the travelers.

At this "considerable village" of Loups, after having progressed eight or nine leagues in the hot August sun, the tired company rested during the night. The second of August was spent at the village, and Céloron spoke, conciliating the assembled savages.

Under date of August 3, Father Bonnécamps writes: "We continued our route, and we marched, as on the first day, buried in the somber and dismal valley, which serves as the bed of the Ohio." During this day's journey, two Indian villages were passed. The first village was abandoned by its inhabitants in favor of the woods, at the approach of the expedition. The second village, Venango,[13] consisted of but nine or ten cabins. Céloron disembarked here and spoke to the inhabitants "nearly as I had spoken to the Loups, and re?mbarked immediately. This evening I buried a lead plate and the arms of the king by a tree, and drew up the Procès Verbal."[14] This second plate was buried "near" or "underneath" a large boulder upon which were numerous Indian hieroglyphics. Following the course of the river, this rock was about nine miles below the mouth of French Creek, then called Rivière aux B?ufs by the French. According to Bonnécamps: "we buried a 2nd plate of lead under a great rock, upon which were to be seen several figures roughly graven,"[15] while Céloron himself informs us: "I ... have buried on the south bank of the Ohio, four leagues below the River aux B?ufs, opposite a bald mountain and near a large stone, on which are seen several figures, rather roughly engraved, a lead plate and attached in the same place to a tree the arms of the king."[16] This plate has never been found.

On the morning of the fourth, a conference was held, it being decided that Joncaire with the chiefs should precede the party to Attiqué and inform the inhabitants of the good intentions of the approaching band, and to beg them not to flee from their village. Of this day Father Bonnécamps writes:

"The 4th. We continued our route, always surrounded by mountains-sometimes so high that they did not permit us to see the sun before 9 or 10 o'clock in the morning, or [after] 2 or 3 in the afternoon. This double chain of mountains stretches along the Beautiful River, at least as far as rivière à la Roche ('Rocky River'). Here and there, they fall back from the shore, and display little plains of one or two leagues in depth." Céloron seems to have had his mind too full of serious matters to notice his surroundings or, at least, to have given us the benefit of any observations; and Father Bonnécamps's eyes are the first through which we can gaze upon the primeval Ohio.

On the fourth the expedition made about fifteen leagues. Camp was broken at an early hour on the fifth, and after having journeyed three or four leagues the voyageurs passed a river, the confluence of which with the Allegheny, Céloron describes as "very beautiful;" a league further down they passed another. "They are both south of la Belle Rivière. On the heights there are villages of Loups and Iroquois of the Five Nations. I encamped early to give time to Mr. de Joncaire to arrive at the village Attické."[17]

After having journeyed about five leagues on the sixth they reached Attiqué where they found Joncaire and his chiefs awaiting their arrival; all the inhabitants of the village had fled to the woods. "I re?mbarked and I passed the same day the ancient village of the Chaouanons [Shawanese], which has been abandoned since the departure of Chartier and his band, who were removed from this place by the orders of the Marquis de Beauharnois, and conducted to the river Vermillon, in the Wabash, in 1745."[18] At this place Céloron "encountered" six English traders with fifty horses and about one hundred and fifty packs of peltry with which they were returning to Philadelphia. Céloron warned these Englishmen against intruding upon the territory of the French king and gave them a letter to deliver to the governor of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia.[19]

On the seventh they passed a village of Loups where only three men remained-"the rest of their people had gone to Chinique, not daring to remain at home. I invited these three men to come with me to Chinique to hear what I had to say to them." Céloron tells us that they re?mbarked and proceeded on down to "Written Rock" which was inhabited by the Iroquois and governed by an old woman[20] who is "entirely devoted to the English." All the savages had fled in alarm from the village and "there only remained ... six English traders, who came before me trembling.... I made them the same summons as to the others, and I wrote to their governor.... This place is one of the most beautiful that until the present I have seen on the Belle Rivière."[21]

This village was commonly known throughout the pioneer period as Shannopin's Town; it was about four miles above the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. There could be nothing more singular than the omission of any references to the Monongahela River, but neither Céloron nor Bonnécamps refer in any wise to it. As they did not travel at night and as, from the Ohio River, the Allegheny does not now, and did not then, appear to be so important a stream as the Monongahela, there can be but one explanation for this astounding omission. As no mention whatever is made of the Monongahela, and as no plate was buried here, either Céloron's party did not see it, or, believing it took its rise in Pennsylvania and was already settled by the English, they tacitly omitted to claim it for their king. The first supposition is absurd; the formation of the country is particularly significant and would attract the attention of the most unobserving; the meeting of the river tides, the difference in the color of the waters-everything would attract the attention of the voyageur. The second supposition is inexplicable; the only possible shred of evidence that the French ever intended that the English should have even a chance to claim any land in the Monongahela Valley is in the Sixth Article of the capitulation signed by Washington at Fort Necessity in 1754.[22]

The company spent the night of the seventh about three leagues below "Written Rock," and as Chiningué was but two leagues below the camp they easily reached this town, which was one of the "most considerable on the Belle Rivière," the following day. Céloron informs us that this village consisted of fifty cabins of Loups, Iroquois, and Shawanese, and Father Bonnécamps records that they called it Chiningué from its close proximity to a river of that name.[23] This place (a few miles below the present Economy, Pennsylvania) has figured prominently in later Indian history as Logstown. Croghan's Journal under date of August, 1749, says that "Monsieur Celaroon with two hundred French soldiers" had passed through Logstown just before his arrival. Inquiring of the inhabitants the object of "Celaroon's" expedition, he was told that "it was to drive the English away, and by burying iron plates, with inscriptions on them at the mouth of each remarkable creek, to steal away their country."[24]

Upon reaching Chiningué Céloron compelled several English whom he found established there to leave and sent by them a letter, similar to the one previously spoken of, to Governor Hamilton. The Indians were very suspicious of Céloron, and here his Iroquois and Abenaki allies deserted him. They treated his speech with contempt and tore down the plates which had been nailed upon the trees.

Céloron left Chiningué on the eleventh and at noon of the thirteenth interred a plate of lead "at the entrance of the river and on the south bank of the Kenawah, which discharges itself to the east of the river Ohio."[25] According to Bonnécamps's journal, the plate was interred at the mouth of the Kanonouaora. This third plate was probably buried at the mouth of Wheeling Creek in West Virginia, though the descriptions of the place as given by both Céloron and Bonnécamps are so vague that it is quite impossible to identify positively the site.[26]

At seven o'clock on the morning of the fourteenth, the expedition was again on its way down the river. They passed two rivers, the entrances of which, Céloron tells us, were very beautiful. On the fifteenth the route was continued, and a leaden plate was interred "at the foot of a maple, which forms a tripod with a red oak and a cone pine, at the entrance of the river Yenanguekouan, on the west shore of this river ... and in the same place attached to a tree the arms of the King."[27] Father Bonnécamps gives, as the name of this river, Jenanguékoua. This, the fourth plate, was interred at the mouth of the Muskingum River in Ohio, on the site of old Fort Harmar and within the present city of Marietta. This plate, found in 1798 by some boys bathing in the Muskingum, was presented to the Antiquarian Society of Massachusetts in the library of which it is now preserved.

On the sixteenth at nine o'clock, the party resumed its journey, making nearly twelve leagues. On the seventeenth Céloron makes record of having seen two "beautiful" rivers the names of which he says he does not know. "I disembarked early to hunt, being altogether reduced to a diet of bread."[28]

The journey was resumed at an early hour the next day, but the party was forced to camp at noon, as the rain prevented their continuing. On this day, the eighteenth of August, the fifth leaden plate was "buried, at the foot of a tree, on the southern shore of the Ohio and the eastern shore of Chiniondaista."[29] Father Bonnécamps gives the name of this river, the Great Kanawha, Chinodaichta. The spelling of the name on the plate, which was found in 1846 and has been preserved by the Virginia Historical Society, differs somewhat from that of the Journal, that on the plate being Chinodahichetha. This place, where the fifth plate was interred, was named Point Pleasant, West Virginia, by the early settlers and still bears that name.

At this point the expedition was delayed on account of rain, but all re?mbarked on the twentieth, and during the day encountered a Loup, who, upon being asked how many inhabitants there were at St. Yotoc,[30] replied there were eighty or a hundred cabins. On the following day Joncaire, two chiefs of the Sault de St. Louis, three Abenakis chiefs, and M. de Niverville were sent ahead to St. Yotoc "to tranquilize the nations and restore their spirits, in case any carrier of news had troubled them."

Céloron gave his envoys a start of several hours before resuming his journey. By embarking early on the morning of the twenty-second, they were enabled to reach St. Yotoc that day, and encamped opposite the village. The next three days were spent in holding councils. The Chaouanons (Shawanese) inhabitants of "St. Yotoc" were very suspicious of the French and their intentions. Bonnécamps says: "Monsieur the Commandant had great difficulty to reassure them." "The situation of the village of the Chaouanons is quite pleasant-at least, it is not masked by the mountains, like the other villages through which we had passed. The Sinhioto river, which bounds it on the West, has given it its name. It is composed of about sixty cabins. The Englishmen there numbered five. They were ordered to withdraw, and promised to do so."

The expedition embarked on the morning of the twenty-sixth of August and reached Rivière la Blanche[31] that night at ten o'clock. Here they waited two days for Le Baril, the chief, and his band of Miamis, to join them and proceed to La Demoiselle to hear Céloron's speech. "Finally, on the morning of the 31st, they appeared, followed by their women, their children, and their dogs. All embarked, and about 4 o'clock in the afternoon we entered Rivière à la Roche, after having buried the 6th and last leaden plate on the western bank of that river,[32] and to the north of the Ohio."[33] "I ... have buried on the point formed by the right shore of the Ohio, and the left of the River la Roche, a plate of lead, and attached to a tree the arms of the king."[34]

With the burial of this sixth and last leaden plate, which, so far as known, has never been discovered, Céloron's voyage on La Belle Rivière ended, and on the morning of the first of September the canoes began the ascent of the shallow Rivière à la Roche en route to Quebec by way of Lake Erie.

Through the eyes of these travelers the Governor of New France looked upon the great valley of the Ohio and realized its extent and strategic value. The many large rivers entering it, the Indian villages which dotted its banks and, more than all else, the avidity of English traders for the fur trade of these villages, were the items in the report of these first voyageurs which led quickly to the French fort-building here and precipitated the old French War.

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Captain Gordon's Map of the Ohio River (1766)

From original in Library of Congress