A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana/Ohio
A
TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION
OF THE
STATE OF OHIO.
The first purchase of land in the State of Ohio, after the Indian title was extinguished, was made by the Ohio company. On the 27th of November, 1787, Congress made and executed a contract with the agents of the Ohio company for the sale of one million and an half of acres, at the price of one million of dollars, to be paid for in final settlement securities. This tract was bounded on the east by a line called the seventh range which had been previously run; southerly on the Ohio river; westerly on the seventeenth range of townships, and to extend so far north, that a line running east to the first boundary, should contain, exclusive of the reservations, the quantity of land contracted for.
The first regular settlement of this State commenced in the year 1789. A party of about sixty men from New-England, under the superintendence of General Rufus Putnam, and hired and paid by the company, arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum on the 7th of April, and immediately began to clear the land on the eastern side of the river. In the month of August, eight families had arrived, who inhabited the temporary buildings, erected for their accommodation, on that pleasent and commanding situation where the beautiful and thriving town of Marietta now stands. In the course of the autumn more arrived, so that, at the beginning of June, 1790, there were twenty families on the ground.
It was the intention of this company, among whom were many of the officers of the revolutionary army, to have made a rapid settlement, but the Indians beginning to commit depredations, checked the emigration from the Atlantic States. In the winter of 1791, several persons in the out settlements were killed, and others taken prisoners. The people were obliged to erect posts of defence at Bellepre and at Wolf Creek. Marietta was strongly stockaded, and the inhabitants lived in a garrison state, until after the victory gained by General Wayne, on the 20th of August, 1794.
Soon after the Ohio company had made this purchase, another contract was made with Congress by Col. John C. Symmes, for a tract of land supposed to contain about one million of acres, lying within the following limits: beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, and thence running up the Ohio to the mouth of the Little Miami river; thence up the main stream of the Little Miami to the place where a due west line, to be continued from the western termination of the northern boundary line of the grant made to the Ohio company, shall intersect the said Little Miami river; thence due west, continuing the said western line to the Great Miami river; thence down the Great Miami to the place of beginning.
Settlements commenced in the autumn of 1789, on this tract, under the direction of Col. Symmes, principally by emigrations from the State of New Jersey. But the settlers here were subjected to embarrassment similar to those of the Ohio company, in consequence of the Indian war. The settlement made little progress until after the conquest of General Wayne, and the treaty with the Indians, in the succeeding year.
Not long after the commencement of these settlements, another of considerable magnitude was begun, on a tract of land, called the Connecticut Reservation, situated on the northeast corner of the State, and bounded east by the Pennsylvania line,on the north by lake Erie, and extending westward as far as Sandusky lake. These settlers came principally from the State of Connecticut.
These were the first settlements undertaken on a large scale, within the limits of the State of Ohio, but made little progress until after the close of the Indian war.
Another very considerable settlement commenced, in 1796, on a tract of land, called the Virginia Reservation, situated between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers. This land was located by army warrants, granted originally to the troops of the Virginia line of the revolutionary army. A part of the settlers were from Virginia, but far the greatest number from the State of Kentucky. The town of Chillicothe was began in the autumn of this year (1796), and so rapid was the increase of inhabitants that it was made an incorporate town in about five years. The Territorial Assembly of the representatives of the people convened in this town for several years, and it continued the seat of government until 1809, when, by act of Assembly, it was moved to Zanesville on the river Muskingum.
On the 13th of April, 1802, the people were authorized, by an act of Congress, to form a constitution and State government, and were accordingly admitted into the Union upon the same footing with the original States. By the same act, the boundaries of the State were established on the following lines, viz. "Beginning on the east by the Pennsylvania line; on the south, by the Ohio river to the mouth of the Great Miami river; on the west by a line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami, and on the north by an east and west line drawn through the southerly extremes of lake Michigan, running east, after intersecting the due north line aforesaid, from the north of the Great Miami, until it shall intersect lake Erie, or the territorial line, and thence with the same through lake Erie, to the Pennsylvania line aforesaid."
The number of inhabitants, since the peace with the Indians, in 1795, has been rapidly increasing. In 1803, it appeared that there were 15,314 white males of 21 years of age and upwards. Calculating on this data, it has been supposed, that the whole number of inhabitants at that time could not be less than 76,000. It has been presumed that the emigrants coming into the State annually, for several years, were about 12,000. The embarrassment, however, occasioned by the embargo, operated as a very serious check on the acquisition of inhabitants from the other States, as well as from foreign nations. The present number within the State, cannot with much certainty be ascertained. By a late estimation, from the probable natural increase, and the additions by emigration, the population is stated, in round numbers, to be 200,000. The accuracy of this estimation will soon be decided by the next census.[1]
Having traversed a large portion of the State in several directions, it will be attempted to give a cursory description of the face of the country, soils, and the natural and cultivated productions, beginning at the eastern boundary.
Near the mouth of the Little Beaver Creek the boundary line between the States of Pennsylvania and Ohio, meets the Ohio river, 42 miles below Pittsburgh. Near the creek are some rich bottoms or intervals, but the land back rises into high hills; on some of them is a good soil and capable of cultivation. There are some handsome farms, producing wheat, rye, barley, oats, flax, hemp and Indian corn. Not far from the mouth of the Little Beaver, a spring has been found, said to rise from the bottom of the river, from which issues an oil which is highly inflammable, and is called Seneca oil. It resembles Barbadoes tar, and is used as a remedy for rheumatic pains. People who have travelled for several days on foot, have found much relief by rubbing this oil over their joints.
The land from the Little Beaver to the Muskingum, on the Ohio, ascends into high hills, some of them terminating in elevated peaks, but there are frequently, large rich vallies that intervene, at the base of the hills. Towards the Muskingum the summits of the hills become more broad and fleet. Some of them are free of rocks, and having a rich soil admit of cultivation. The greater part of these hills may be profitably improved for orchards and grazing of sheep and cattle. As far as Wheeling and Grave Creek they abound with coals, and generally of a good quality.
In many of these hills are quarries of excellent free stone, capable of a good polish, and make beautiful walls in buildings. Some of these stones, when first taken out of the ground, are so soft that they can be worked into various forms with carpenter's tools. On the side of a hill above Steubenville, it is said, there is a spot of ground, that when covered with a considerable depth of snow, a smoke is seen to rise from it, as if it were heated by a subterranean fire. And that near the base of the same hill, if an hot sun succeeds a shower of rain, an excellent white, fine salt may be collected from the surface of the rocks. Not far from Georgetown, 38 miles below Pittsburgh, it is said, a gold mine has lately been discovered. A specimen, it is reported, has been tried by a silver-smith at Pittsburgh, who declared it to be pure gold, without alloy. The lump had the appearance of being found in running water.
The base of some of the hills extends to the bank of the river, others recede leaving wide bottoms of a very rich and deep soil. When the hills approach the river on one side, they usually recede from it, on the other, so that there are wide bottoms, alternately, on both sides the river. Much of the soil in these bottoms, especially the first, (for there are two and three bottoms rising one above the other, forming a sort of glacis) has been found as deep as the bed of the river. The hills are clothed with a thick forest of trees, consisting of white, red and black oak, hickory, ash, chestnut, poplar, sassafras, dogwood, and the grape vine. The bottoms are covered with a heavy growth. The largest trees are button-wood, called here sycamore, elm, black walnut, tulip tree, and beach. The smaller trees consist of hickory, white walnut or butter-nut, locust, honey-locust, buck eye, mulberry, sugar-maple, cherry tree, crab-apple tree, plumb tree, papaw, and willow. The grape vine abounds on the bottoms, and grows to a prodigious size, ascending to the tops of the loftiest trees. The passenger, gliding down the river in the summer, is amused and delighted with the appearance of these vines on the upper branches and tops of the trees, forming large canopies, festoons, arbours, grottoes, with numerous other fantastic figures. Some of the trunks of these vines are of a size which will admit them to be split into four rails for fence.
The sugar-maple is a tree of immense value to the people of this State. It ought to be a first object with every man, when he begins to cultivate his land, as much as possible, to preserve these trees. Each tree, from eighteen to twenty inches in diameter, will yield four pounds of sugar every season. The process of making is to tap the tree with an auger, drive into the hole a wooden tube, and place a trough under it to receive the water. Large kettles being placed in the most convenient situation among the trees, and a fire made under them, the water is brought in buckets, where it is moderately boiled, until it comes to a consistency which scarcely admits of any longer stirring with a stick made for that purpose. It is then removed from the kettle, and is still constantly stirred until it is cold. As it cools it granulates and becomes bright and dry. The grain of this sugar, made at the beginning of the season, very much resembles the sugar made in Louisiana from the sugar cane, and not inferior to the best Musquevado. The quality of the sugar depends much on care and cleanliness in making of it. The season for making, and the time it continues, varies according to the state of the weather. It generally commences in February and continues about six weeks. When the trees are at a distance from the house, a camp is formed in a central place among the trees, and is called the sugar camp. The whole family sometimes resorts to this camp, and women and children assist in making the sugar. In camps consisting of one hundred and fifty to two hundred trees, have been made from five hundred to a thousand pounds of sugar, in one season. An average price of the sugar may be about ten cents per pound. Sugar has been made late in autumn, after frosts or falls of snow, but it depends on the weather.
The land back from the Ohio is best for farms. The hills diminish in height and size, and though interspersed with ridges and swelling hills, a large portion of the ground is sufficiently level for. all the purposes of cultivation. Much of the land on hills and ridges is arable, and admits of easy tillage, having a rich and deep soil; and most of the ridgy and rough lands may be made useful for grazing and orchards. From the eastern boundary to the river Scioto, the same growth of trees and shrubs which have been mentioned generally prevail; although the different kinds grow more plentifully on some lands, than they do on others, and in several places there are considerable growths of pine. In the tract of land called the seven ranges there are some hills and ridges which are high and form steep precipices. In this kind of land the soil is thin, and growth small, consisting of oak and hickory, the summits of the hills tufted with pine. On the seven ranges there are few inhabitants, excepting near the Ohio. These people are principally emigrants from Pennsylvania.
The great road from Cumberland on the Potomac river, commonly called the United States road, crosses the Ohio at Wheeling, where there is a distributing post-office, that receives and despatches the mail once a week to the westward, and twice a week to the eastward. Where this road leaves the Ohio it takes a westerly direction, and passes through the State of Ohio to Limestone, in Kentucky. This road is the great thorough fare of people, in which there is incessant travelling from different parts to the Atlantic States, and from these States into the western country. The land through which the road passes from the Ohio to Zanesville, on the Muskingum, is uneven, but rich, pretty thickly settled and well cultivated. There are four thriving villages. St. Clairsville is the largest, containing a number of handsome houses and several stores of goods. It is the principal town in the county of Belmont.
Passing down the Ohio from Wheeling to Muskingum, there are only scattering settlements on the rich lands near the river.
The town of Marietta, situated at the confluence of the Muskingum with the Ohio, has greatly increased in population and wealth. Before the settlement commenced, the ground on the eastern side of the Muskingum was laid out in the form of a city, containing one thousand lots of 90 feet front and 180 feet rear. The squares were oblong, separated by spacious streets, which intersect at right angles. A large square was reserved for a market, and several others, in different parts of the city, for public uses, or pleasure ground* There are now, on the city ground, more than one hundred houses, and about one sixth part are built with brick, and stone. Many of the houses are large and built in a handsome style. The form in which the town is built, adds much to its elegance, and the gentle rising of the city ground back from the Ohio, affords an extended and delightful prospect of the rivers and distant hills, which is greatly heightened and enlivened by the shipping and various kinds of water craft floating on the streams. A part of the town is built on the opposite side of the Muskingum, and the houses not inferior in elegance to those on the city ground.
Marietta is the seat of justice for the county of Washington, and has a court-house and jail. There are two religious societies ; the largest is Congregational, who have erected a handsome meeting-house. It has an academy, which is also improved as a house for public worship.
Within the area of the ground laid out for a city, at the northeast part of it, are a number of the ancient works so frequently found in the western country. They consist principally of two large oblong squares and an elevated mound, in the form of a cone. The largest square contains forty acres, and the smallest twenty. They are enclosed by walls or ramparts of earth, without any ditches, from six to ten feet in height, and about thirty feet in breadth at the base, with twelve openings, or gate-ways, at regular distances from each other. From one of the angles of the largest square nearest the Muskingum, is the appearance of the walls of a covert way leading towards the river. The highest part of the remains of these walls is twenty-one feet, and forty feet in breadth at the base. The mound of earth, in form of a sugar-loaf, is thirty feet in height, and the base 115 feet in diameter. It is situated at a little distance from the smallest square. These works were included in public squares and have been carefully preserved; but a small opening has been made in the conic mound and found to contain human bones. Although these ancient works fill the beholder with astonishment, others have been discovered of far greater magnitude. On a branch of the Muskingum, about ninety miles from Marietta, there are these ancient works extending about two miles in length, and the ramparts and mounds of a much greater height than those found here. Vestiges of ancient works, of different forms and sizes, and at small distances, are to be found over the whole State, and in many other parts of the western country.
Marietta is favourably situated for commerce and manufactories. The depth and gentle motion of the water, in the mouth of the Muskingum, and the cheapness of excellent ship timber, render this one of the best places for 3hip-building on the Ohio river. A number of large ships and brigs - were built in a short time, and the employment was rapidly progressing until a stop was put to it by the embargo. Three rope walks, of nearly a thousand feet in length, were erected, and the numerous mechanic branches, connected with the highly important employment of ship-building were established. The Muskingum (which means, in the Indian language Elk's Eye) is of immense importance to this town. The current is moderate, rarely overflowing its banks, and may be navigated with keel boats and other craft, during the summer, as far as Zanesville, sixty miles from Marietta. There are falls, but happily formed for erecting water works of every description. Above the falls the river is again navigable, not only in the main stream, but many of the numerous branches which meander through a rich and level country in their way to the river. The largest branch is the Tuskarawa, which, with only a portage of seven miles and an half, communicates with the Cayahoga river, emptying into lake Erie. The immense quantity of produce which this fertile tract of country is capable of yielding for market, and the easy transportation, cannot fail of rendering Marietta a convenient place of sale or deposit, from whence, by the ships built here, it may be sent abroad. Materials for many different manufactories may be procured here with so much facility, and from the well known spirit of industry and enterprize prevailing among the people, there can be no doubt of their entablishment in process of time. A bank was established here in 1807, with a deposit of an 100,000 dollars, from which essential benefits have been derived. There is a post-office, two printing offices, and two weekly papers.
Ascending the Muskingum from Marietta, at the distance of five miles, is Captain Devol's ship-yard, where a number of large vessels have been built, and one of them more than 200 tons. The workmanship and timber of these vessels are said not to be inferior to any that have been built in the United States. Their frames were black walnut, which is said to be as durable as the live oak and is much lighter. The plank of these vessels are said to be of an unusual length and firmness. The forests here abound with the best of timber, such as white oak, black walnut and locust, and the prodigious height and size of the trees, admit of the selection of any dimensions which can be wanted. Excellent masts of yellow pine are easily procured. Iron-ore is found, in places, in almost every part of the State, and a sufficiency of bar iron can be obtained without difficulty. But the want of a greater number of furnaces and forges, keeps up the price higher than it otherwise would be. As much tar as can be wanted is brought down the Alleghany river. The people can, with ease, raise as much hemp and flax as would be sufficient to supply the whole of the United States. The lands on the Muskingum above Marietta are rich, thickly settled and well cultivated. At the distance of twelve miles is the town of Adams, and twenty-three miles, by water, is the town of Waterford, within the purchase of the Ohio company. At a small distance above this purchase, the bottom lands are narrow, and the hills are many of them steep, tufted with pine, for about thirty miles. They then begin to recede from the river, and bottoms increase in width to Zanesville; at the distance of a few miles west of the river the face of the country is swelling hills, with a rich soil, and the growth principally beach and oak.
The hills on this river abound with coal, and much of it of an excellent quality. It is said a vein of coal has been found crossing the bed of the river, remarkable for its purity. The pieces of the coal have the appearance of varnish, somewhat resembling japan, and when laid on the fire, a kind of fusion is produced, which continues until it is consumed by evaporation, without disagreeable smell, and deposits scarcely any cinder or ashes. Coal has been sold at Marietta at about three cents the bushel, and is much used by the inhabitants for fuel, in preference to wood, when wood can be purchased at one dollar per cord.
Descending the Ohio, at the distance of ten miles below Marietta is Bellepre. This beautiful village is several miles in length, extending to the Little Hockhocking river. The people are principally farmers. The good management and excellent culture of their farms has been much admired. An early attention was paid to raising different kinds of fruit trees. Orchards of apple trees of large extent have been planted, which are now become extremely productive. The fruit is of various kinds and of the best flavour. Prodigious quantities of cider is made, and when the fruit is properly collected and carefully made, the liquor is of the first quality. They have likewise large peach orchards for making peach brandy. In this part of the State apple trees and all garden fruit trees thrive surprisingly, and the flavour and size of the fruit is considered superior to that of the Atlantic States. The gardens yield all the culinary plants in high perfection. The various sorts of melons are delicious and grow to a large size.
Opposite to Bellepre is the beautiful island owned by Mr. Blannerhasset. The name of this unfortunate man, whom Col. Burr, by his artifice seduced to engage in his nefarious schemes, is well known. This may render some description of this delightful seat the more interesting. The following was written by a gentleman, on a tour from Philadelphia, and published in the Ohio Navigator.
"Blannerhasset's Island.—On ascending the bank from the landing, (a quarter of a mile below the eastern end) we entered at a handsome double gate, with hewn stone square pilasters, a gravel walk, which led us about one hundred and fifty paces to the house, with a meadow on the left, and a shrubbery on the right, separated by a low hedge of privy-sally, through which innumerable columbines and various other hardy flowers were displaying themselves to the sun. The house is built of wood, and occupies a square of about fifty-four feet each side, is two stories high, and in just proportion; it is connected with two wings,by a semicircular portico, or corridor running from each front corner. The shrubbery well stocked with flowering shrubs, and all the variety of evergreens natural to the climate, as well as several exotics, surrounded the garden, and has gravel walks labyrinth fashion winding through it. The garden is not large, but seems to have had every delicacy of fruit, vegetable and flower, which this fine climate and luxurious soil produces. In short Blannerhasset's island is a most charming retreat for any man of fortune fond of retirement, and it is a situation perhaps not exceeded for beauty in the world. It wants however the variety of mountain, precipice, cataract, distant prospect, &c. which constitute the grand and sublime."
From Bellepre to the Great Hockhocking the country is uneven, and some high hills near the Ohio, but the soil is generally good and the growth is large. Excellent farms are made back from the Ohio on both the Hockhockings, and on their branches where there are large bottoms, and rich swelling hills.
On the Great Hockhocking thirty miles from the Ohio, are the two college townships granted by Congress to the Ohio company for the endowment of a University. Athens, one of these townships, is beautifully situated on a bend of the river, commanding an extensive prospect. The settlements commenced in 1797. The town is laid out in a regular form; the never failing springs of excellent water are numerous; and the soil extremely rich and fertile. The number of families in the town supposed to be about one hundred. An act incorporating the university was granted in 1801. A building has been erected for the instruction of youth, who are at present under the care of a preceptor. The bottom lands on this river are more extensive and of a better quality than those on the Muskingum.
On this river thirty miles from Athens and five miles beyond the line of the Ohio company's purchase, are falls commodiously situated for any kind of water works. The descent of the water is nine feet, and the stream never fails at any season of the year. Above the falls, the land on both sides the river, is level and rich. There the hills flatten off into extensive plains. From the great Hockhocking, or the Ohio, to Galliopolis, and from thence to the mouth of the Scioto river, the land is hilly, clothed with an heavy growth of excellent wood and useful timber, but interspersed with rich bottoms and intervals. Receding from the Ohio the hills and ridges diminish, until the land becomes sufficiently level for all the purposes of culture. Where settlements have been made in this hilly land, the farms are very productive, and it is considered as the best land in the State for orcharding.
On Shade river, ten or twelve miles below the Great Hockhocking, handsome, flourishing settlements have commenced. Opposite the mouth of the great Kanhawa is Fairhaven, a small, but beautiful village, most delightfully situated.
Three miles below is Golliopolis situated on the high bank of the Ohio. It was began in the year 1792, and was settled by about five hundred French people, emigrants directly from France, who erected about an hundred houses.
These people, wholly unacquainted with clearing up forests of heavy timber, after forming handsome gardens, and planting vineyards and orchards, became discouraged. Finding themselves in hazard by the Indian war, they began to desert the town. Some went down the river about twenty-five miles and settled on donation lands given them by Congress, opposite little Sandy creek, but many of them went down the Mississippi to Louisiana. The town has since been on the decline. It is the seat of justice for the county of Gallia. Before these people left Galliopolis they made a considerable quantity of wine, mostly from the native grape. Some of the wine made here, when improved by age, is said to have been of an excellent quality.
From Galliopolis to the mouth of the Great Scioto are few settlements, excepting the new French settlement: on a tract of 20,000 acres given by Congress to the original French settlers at Galliopolis. This tract extends eight miles on the Ohio river, and is situated nearly opposite the Little Sandy river. Adjoining this land is a grant of 4000 acres, made to Man. Gervis,who has laid out a town upon it, to which he has given the name of Burrsburgh.
Above the mouth of the Great Scioto is the town of Portsmouth and below it the town of Alexandria, both of which are favourably situated for becoming places of much business. The Scioto is a large and beautiful river. When overflowed, the waters extend but a small distance from its natural banks. Both sides are bordered with rich bottoms and a great extent of excellent land for culture. It is navigable for keel boats to a great distance, and for small craft to a portage within four miles of Sundusky lake.
Having gone down the Ohio to the Scioto river, we will now return to Zanesville, on the Muskingum, and on the great road leading from Wheeling to Limestone, in Kentucky. Zanesville is situated on the east bank of the Muskingum, about eighty-five miles by water from Marietta. Congress, in 1796, made a grant of this tract of land to Ebenezer Zane, as a compensation for opening a road from Wheeling to Limestone, and establishing and maintaining ferries over the rivers on this route. Col. Zane laid out this town in 1800. Its progress was slow, and there were few houses with either brick or stone chimneys, until 1805. Since that time its improvements have been nearly equal to its local advantages. It is situated on a bend of the river opposite to the great falls, and being on elevated ground, has a variegated and commanding prospect. It contains a considerable number of large and convenient houses; and the buildings are annually increasing. The court-house is nearly completed, built with beautiful free stone and in an elegant style. The seat of the State government is now removed to this town, where it is expected it will be permanent. The post-office in this town is a distributing office, from which mails are sent off in different directions. On the west side of the river is Springfield, containing about fifty houses, and some of them handsome buildings. There are four or five stores of different kinds of goods. Here Licking Creek discharges its waters from the westward into the Muskingum, after meandering through an extensive country of the first rate lands. About four miles from the mouth of this creek is a beautiful cataract formed by a rock extending across the stream at right angles, and producing a fall of seven and an half feet, while the water above and below appears to be on a perfect level. Besides a grist and saw mill, a furnace has been erected, which was expected to go into operation the last summer. Near the furnace is the appearance of a large quantity of iron-ore, supposed to be of a superiour quality. Coal abounds in this vicinity and can be procured nearly as cheap as at Marietta.
On the State road, west of the Muskingum, are rich and moderate swelling hills. On the northern side of the road they gradually flatten off almost to a level, and are clothed with excellent timber, consisting principally of oak, hickery, beach, black walnut, blue and black ash, mulberry, elm, buckeye, cherry, and gum. The soil is deep and rich. This description of land extends from the head waters of the Muskingum, to the waters of Scioto and Miami's, and northward to Lake Erie with little variation. Only a few large hills and ridges are distributed over a great extent of country.
On the State road, 39 miles from Zanesville, is the town of New Lancaster. This town was laid out by Col. Zane, in the year 1800, on a delightful spot, and has increased with great rapidity. It is built on the east side of the Great Hockhocking, where the stream is not more than six yards in width, but on rising ground, and where a beautiful prairie or natural meadow, stretches along the bank of the river for several miles, and about half a mile in width. This prairie renders the situation of the town exceedingly pleasant and agreeable. It contains perhaps about an hundred houses, built in a very neat manner, with hewn timber, and principally on one street. It has an handsome brick court-house, four stores of goods, and four taverns. The town and the adjacent country is settled mostly with Germans, from the vicinity of Lancaster, in Pennsylvania. It is the seat of justice for the county of Fairfield.
From New-Lancaster to Chilecothe is thirty-eight miles, and the face of the country, excepting near Lancaster, where are a few moderate hills, is very much a continued plain. It has a thin soil and is badly watered. The growth small, consisting mostly of black and white oak and some hickory. The soil inclines to clay, which is considered indifferent for farming land. On the southern extremity of this glade of land commence the chains of hills which extend on the Ohio and its branches for several hundred miles. On the northern extremity of this glade, the land is very flat and low, and much of it too wet for cultivation; but where the swells are so high as not to be overflowed in the winter and spring, the soil is rich, and produces large timber. At the distance of 28 miles from Lancaster, about three miles north of the State road, the Pickawa plains begin and extend to the Scioto river. They are several miles in width, not entirely level, but interspersed with gentle swells, which render the prospect the more agreeable. This tract is destitute of trees or shrubs, excepting a few compact clusters of trees, surrounded with thick bushes, appearing like scattered islands in a bay. The soil is good, and a fine stream of water passes on the south side. They are said to produce the best wheat raised in the State. There are two small villages on them, containing about 50 houses, and a wind-mill has been erected which grinds all their grain. These plains have been considered as the handsomest tract of land in this part of the country. The land from the Pickawa plains, in a northerly direction, for thirty or forty miles is level, interspersed with wet prairies, nearly to the forks of the Scioto, and thinly settled. Near the forks the land is good and thickly settled. In an easterly direction from the forks of the Scioto to the waters of Licking Creek is a largely extended tract of level lands, with some wet prairies but mostly a very rich soil, and is fast settling. At the distance of 38 miles is the town of Granville, built by a number of emigrants principally from Granville in Connecticut, where are thirty houses, and the country well settled around it. East of Granville, about seven or eight miles, is Nework, on the waters of Licking Creek. It contains about 60 houses, a log court house and jail, and a large log Presbyterian meeting house. It is the seat of justice for Licking county. This tract of country is well settled as far east as Zanesville. The land father northward continues level, but is much of it low and swampy, and is thinly settled.
South of the State road as it approaches the Scioto, twenty-eight miles in a southeasterly direction from Chilicothe and 83 from Galliopolis on the Ohio, are the Great Scioto salt-works. The land is hilly and covered with a heavy growth of timber. The salt water is found near the banks of a stream which runs into the Scioto, and is called Salt Creek, at the depth of about, twelve feet from the surface of the ground. Fresh water, as it passes over, is prevented from flittering into the salt water, by an extremely hard pan of clay. There are sixteen furnaces, and when in operation, each furnace will make 70 or 80 bushels of salt in 24 hours. The method of constructing a furnace is to dig a long trench in a hard pan of clay, four feet deep at one end and ten feet at the other, with a gradual descent into the deep end, which is the mouth of the furnace. Ninety kettles of thirty gallons each, arranged in two tiers, are placed in the trench. A fire is made at the deepest end, and a chimney is formed at the other, in a manner that will admit of a strong draught through the length of the furnace. The water is pumped by horses or mules into a large cistern, and then laded into the kettles. An intense heat is necessary for boiling the water. As the water evaporates at the mouth of the furnace, what remains in the kettles is laded into those near the chimney, and these kettles are again filled with water, so that the water near the chimney is in a constant state of crystallization. Tallow and Indian meal are used to promote the crystalization. It requires about 600 gallons of water at these works for one bushel of salt. There are no settlers near the salt-works, excepting those concerned in making salt.
Chilicothe, an Indian name, signifying town, is situated on the west bank of the Scioto, where the State road crosses the river. In the year 1796, Col. Nathaniel Massie, with eight or ten men, who accompanied him from Kentucky, explored the wilderness to this spot. They planted and raised Indian corn, on a rich prairie, about two miles below the town. In autumn they formed the plan and laid out the town in lots. The next spring they brought out their families and commenced the settlement. From this small beginning has risen up, in about thirteen years, one of the most beautiful towns in the western country.
The following description of the Scioto and Chilicothe is from a gentleman who made a tour into the western country, from Philadelphia, in the year 1807, and is taken from the Ohio Navigator.
"Chilicothe is most beautifully situated on the banks of the Scioto about 45 miles by land, and nearly seventy following the meanders of the river from its confluence with the Ohio, which it joins between Portsmouth and Alexandria. In all that distance the river has a gentle current and unimpeded navigation for large keels and other craft of four feet draught of water. It continues navigable for smaller boats and batteaux upwards of one hundred miles above the town towards its source to the northward, gliding gently through a natural, rich, level, and rapidly improving country. The situation of the town is on an elevated and extensive plain of nearly ten thousand acres of as fine a soil as any in America, partly in cultivation, and partly covered with its native forests. This plain is nearly surrounded by the Scioto, which turning suddenly to the northeast from its generally southerly course, leaves the town to the southward of it, and then forms a great bend to the eastward and southward. Water street which runs about east by north parallel to the Scioto, is half a mile long, and contains ninety houses. It is 84 feet wide and would be a fine street, had not the river floods caved in the bank in one place near the middle, almost into the centre of it. There is now a lottery on foot to raise money for securing the bank against any further encroachments of the river. Main street parallel to water street, one hundred feet wide, as is market street, which crosses both at right angles, and in which is the market house, a neat brick building, eighty feet long. The court house in the same street, is neatly built of free stone on an area of 45 by 42 feet, with a semicircular projection in the rear, in which is the benches of the judges. It has an octagonal belfry rising from the roof, painted white with green lettices, which is an ornament to the town, as is the small plain belfry of the Presbyterian meeting house, a handsome brick building in main street; in which street also is a small brick Methodist meeting house. These are the only places of public worship in the town, if I except the court house which is used occasionally by the Episcopalians and other sects.
"The whole number of dwelling houses, as I counted them, is two hundred and two, besides four brick, and a few framed ones now building. I reckoned only six taverns with signs, which small proportion of houses of that description speaks volumes in favour of the place. There are fourteen stores, a post-office, and two printing offices, which each issues a Gazette weekly.
"The soil of the town being of a gravelly kind, the streets are generally clean. The houses are of free stone, brick or timber clapboarded, the first of which is got in the neighbourhood, is of a whitish brown colour, and excellent for building. They are mostly very good, and are well painted. On the whole, I think Chilicothe is not exceded in beauty of plan, situation, or appearance, by any town I have seen in the western part of the United States.
"There is here a remarkable Indian monument in Mr. Winship's garden in the very heart of the town. Like that at Grave Creek, it is round at the base, about seventy or eighty feet diameter, but differs from it by being round instead of flat on the top, which has an elevation of about thirty feet perpendicular from the level of the plain. It is formed of clay, and though it has been perforated by the proprietor, nothing has been found to justify the common opinion of these mounts having been burrows or cemetries. They talk of having it levelled, as it projects a little into market street, but. I think it a pity to destroy any of the very few vestiges of Aboriginal population which this country presents to the curious and inquisitive traveller.
"From a steep hill about three hundred feet perpendicular height, just outside the western extremity of the town, is a most charming view of the streets immediately below, under the eye like a plan on paper ; then the Scioto from one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards wide, winding on the left, with some low hills about two miles beyond it, terminating the view to the northeast ; while to the eastward and to the westward, as far as the eye can reach both ways, is spread a country partly fiat, and partly rising in gentle swells, which, if cultivation proceeds in equal proportion to what it has done since Chilicothe was first laid out, about ten years ago, must in a short time present one of the finest landscapes imaginable."
From Chilicothe, on the State road, to Point Palls, is eighteen miles. At these falls is the town of Bainbridge, consisting of about twenty houses, where there is a post-office. The falls will admit of extensive water-works, and the country around them consists of a rich soil. Two miles below the falls, Point river has washed away the side of a hill that bordered on the bank, which has exposed to view a great variety of fossils. The hill, which is supposed to be nearly 400 feet high, seems to consist principally of lamina of slate stone. These lamina appear to be cemented together by allum and copperas, which is melted and runs out by the heat of the sun. It is collected by the inhabitants and applied to common use. There are round lumps of a mineral substance, from the size of a turkey's egg to that of a large common ball, frequently rolling down, which appear to contain sulphur, lead, and copper. In the vicinity of Point river, which runs into the Scioto, are a great variety of ochres and pigments of different colours, as well as minerals, which would afford an ample field for the investigation of the mineralogists. Many sulphur springs gush out from the hills in the neighbourhood of this river.
South of the State road, and between Point and the Ohio, is a large range of steep hills, called the Sunfish Hills, from a stream of that name which drains them and discharges itself into the Ohio. They are about forty miles wide from Point to the Ohio, and about sixty miles long from the Scioto to the Little Miami. The greater part of these hills are so steep and broken that no settlements can be made upon therm But in those parts of them which will admit of cultivation, the land is rich, clothed with excellent timber, and the settlements rapidly increasing.
From the falls of Point to West Union, the land is hilly, but the soil good and thickly settled. The town is situated on the declivity of a hill, consisting of about sixty houses, mostly of hewed logs, a log court house and jail, and is the seat of justice of the county of Adams. From West Union to the Ohio, opposite Limestone, in Kentucky, on the great road, the land is mostly hilly,the soil rich and clothed with large timber, principally oak and hickory.
The lands north of Chilicothe and the State road to Limestone, are, for about twenty miles, moderately hilly, soil good, producing all the variety of timber common to the State, excepting pine. North of this tract commences the large prairie, or natural meadow; which extends from the Scioto to the Little Miami, a distance of sixty miles, and nearly an hundred miles in a northern direction. This meadow has a level appearance, but is somewhat an inclined plain, which produces a more rapid current in the streams of water than would be expected. Several branches of the Miami and Scioto take their rise in this plain, which is not sunk into swampy land, but most of it sufficiently dry for culture. It is covered with long coarse grass. Cattle feed eagerly on it, and fatten as well as in good pastures. Large droves are brought every spring from Kentucky, and fattened here for the fall market. The soil produces good corn, and if properly cultivated would probably produce large crops of hemp. Some parts are sprinkled over with a light growth of small oaks and hickory. In other parts it is so entirely destitute of any growth of wood, that for a great distance not a single tree is to be seen. It so much resembles an old settled country, that the traveller is constantly looking out for fences and buildings.
The town of Franklinton is situated at the forks of the Scioto, forty-five miles above Chilicothe by land, and about seventy by water. It was laid out about the year 1798, by Lucas Sullivan, Esq. on the west bank of the Scioto, opposite to the mouth of Whetstone river, and on a beautiful swell of ground, which gradually depends in every direction from the centre of the town. It contains about an hundred houses, ten or twelve of which are built of brick. It is the seat of justice for the county of Franklin, and has a handsome brick court house, with a neat cupola. On one side of the town is a delightful prairie, and on the other the river Scioto, which renders the prospect highly pleasing. The land around Franklinton, in every direction, is rich and level, but, at a few miles distant, wood and timber become scarce.
Worthington is nine miles distant on the Whetstone river. It was laid out about the year 1805 by the Rev. James Kilboun and others from Connecticut. The land in the vicinity of this town is very rich and level, covered with a large growth of timber, principally beach, sugar maple, and ash. It produces excellent corn, rye, wheat, hemp, flax, and all kinds of vegetables, and will probably be highly favourable to fruit trees. This town has settled with unusual rapidity.
About sixteen miles northeast of Worthington, is the town of Bixby, a new, but very growing settlement. It has much the same face of country and soil with that of Worthington.
Upon the main branch of the Scioto, thirty-six miles from Franklinton, and near the Indian boundary line, is the town of Delaware, the seat of justice for the county of that name. It is situated on the east bank of the river, and the land level and good in every direction near it, but at present thinly settled.
The Scioto has no falls from the mouth to its source, and glides with a gentle current, the greater part of the distance, over a sandy bottom. It abounds with fish, mostly of the perch and sucker kind, but cat-fish and pike are frequently caught. Near Chilicothe, eighty barrels of the fish called white perch were taken out of one deep place in a day.
The next considerable river, westward, which runs from the northward into the Ohio, is the Little Miami. Its banks are high, and has good land on its borders, but has not a sufficient depth of water for batteaux or boats.
The county of Highland lies on the east side of this river and south of the great prairie, extending eastward within twenty miles of Chilicothe. It is moderately hilly, the soil rich, and the growth of timber generally large. Hillsborough is the seat of justice, and contains about thirty houses, and a handsome brick court house. A tract of swaly, wet land, about eight miles in width, passes through the country, which drains a part of the great prairie. Its waters run off by Oak creek into the Ohio. The road from Chilicothe to Cincinnati passes through it, and the depth of mud and water renders travelling extremely troublesome at all seasons of the year.
The people settled between the Scioto and Little Miami are mostly from Virginia and Kentucky, and the improvements are inconsiderable, excepting near Chilicothe.
Immediately below the mouth of the Little Miami, is the town of Columbia. It was laid out by Col. Symmes, and is the oldest settlement in the State, on the Ohio river, except Marietta; but has increased very little in the number of its inhabitants.
At present, it is only a neat, pleasant village, consisting of about forty houses, built at some distance from each other, on a rich bottom or interval. Nor is it probable, from its situation, that it will ever become a place of much business.
On an eastern branch of the Little Miami, is Williamsburge, the seat of justice for Clermont county, containing about fifty houses, and a handsome stone court house. The face of the country is hilly, but the soil is rich, especially on the banks of the river, where the lands are very fine.
Further up the Miami is Lebanon, situated on the bank, and the largest town on this river. It contains about an hundred houses and is inhabited by the people called Shaking Quakers. They are emigrants from Kentucky, who were first formed into a regular society by a Mr. Macnamara, who still continues to be their head. They have acquired much credit, as a frugal, industrious people.
About twenty-five miles above Lebanon, is Zenia, situated on the bank of the Miami, and is the seat of justice for the county of Greene. It contains about fifty houses and a handsome court house. The country around it is level and fertile. Nine miles above this town is a very singular spring. It issues near the brow of an high, flat topped hill, about a mile from the western bank of the river. Water sufficient to carry an over-shot mill issues from it, and the quantity has never been known to increase or diminish. It throws out a reddish sediment, which concretes into a hard mass, forming a kind of bank, which frequently alters the position of the spring. The side of the hill is very steep, and the elevation of the spring from the base of the hill is about eighty feet. The water is very cold and has a strange taste of iron and copper. It is in high repute for its medicinal virtues, and is become a place of considerable resort.
The land further up the river is level and the growth principally oak. Although the soil is rather thin, it produces good wheat. Springfield is about twenty miles above Zenia, consisting of about fifty houses and the most of them well built. It is situated on the forks of Mad river. From Sringfield to Urbana is fourteen miles. The land north of Springfield is much richer than that which lies south of it. Here the growth varies from oak to beach, ash, sugar-maple, black and white walnut, and cherry. Urbana is the seat of justice for the county of Champaign. It contains about sixty houses and is rapidly increasing in inhabitants. From this town to the Indian boundary line is about sixty miles; the land mostly level, the growth large, inclining to beach, the water good, and will admit of many excellent mill seats.
Returning back to the Ohio, the first town below Columbia is Cincinnati, five miles distant. In the Ohio Navigator a concise and correct description is given of this town.
"Cincinnati is handsomely situated on a first and second bank of the Ohio, opposite Licking river. It is a flourishing town, has a rich, level, and well settled country around it. It contains about four hundred dwellings, an elegant court house, jail, three market houses, a land office for the sale of Congress lands, two printing offices, issuing weekly Gazettes, thirty mercantile stores, and the various branches of mechanism are carried on with spirit. Industry of every kind being duly encouraged by the citizens, Cincinnati is likely to become a considerable manufacturing place. It is eighty-two miles north by east from Frankfort, and about three hundred and eighty by land south southwest from Pittsburgh, north latitude thirty-nine degrees, five minutes, fifty-four seconds, according to Mr. Ellicot, and west longitude eighty-five degrees, forty-four minutes. It is the principal town in what is called Symmes's purchase, and is the seat of justice for what is called Hamilton county, Ohio. It has a bank issuing notes under the authority of the State, called The Miami Exporting company. The healthiness and salubrity of the climate; the levelness and luxuriance of the soil; the purity and excellence of the waters, added to the blessings attendant on the judicious administration of mild and equitable laws; the great security in the land titles; all seem to centre in a favourable point of expectation, that Cincinnati and the country around it, must one day become rich and very populous, equal perhaps, if not superior to any other place of an interior in the United States. The site of Fort Washington is near the centre of the town. It was a principal frontier post; it is now laid out in town lots." A considerable trade is carried on between Cincinnati and New 
From Cincinnati to North Bend, on the Ohio, is sixteen miles; and to the mouth of the Great Miami, where the west boundary line of the State meets the Ohio, is seven miles further. This tract of land, which extends some distance from the Ohio, is interval of the first quality; well settled, and in a high state of cultivation. Receding farther back from the Ohio, the land is hilly, the soil indifferent, and thinly settled. The road up the Great Miami leaves the Ohio at Cincinnati, and comes to the Miami at Hamilton, fourteen miles distant. Hamilton is the spot where fort Hamilton formerly stood. It is situated on a large plain, well cultivated, but does not contain more than ten or fifteen houses. It has been a considerable village, but since Cincinnati has so rapidly increased, Hamilton has been on the decline. Thirty-five miles above Hamilton is Franklin, on the Great Miami, containing about sixty houses, built on one street. The lands in its vicinity are level and rich, and have some of the best cultivated farms in the State. Dayton is thirty miles above Franklin; the country more level than below, and the lands well settled and improved. The town is situated on the east branch of the Great Miami at the mouth of Mad river. Its situation is pleasant, being surrounded by a rich country, and bids fair to become a place of considerable business. It contains about eighty houses, the most of which are neatly built. It is the seat of justice for the county of Montgomery. On the west side of the Miami, a little above Dayton, comes in a large branch, called Stillwater. This branch extends from the Miami, in a westerly direction, beyond the line of the State, which is about forty miles distant. Within the State, the lands on this branch are rich and level. This tract has been settled by a number of French or Quakers, who emigrated from the States of South Carolina or Georgia. In the habits of industry and œconomy, they devoted themselves to the cultivation of the land, and have made great improvements. The tract is thickly settled and very productive. So large a settlement by these quiet, peaceable inhabitants has been a valuable acquisition of the State.
From Dayton to the Indian line, north, is about fifty miles. The lands are mostly level and rich. From the Indian boundary the lands are generally level to the head waters of the stream which run into lake Erie. Some portion of this tract of country is inundated in the winter and spring for two or three months. The head waters of the main branch of the Great Miami, called Leromie's creek communicate, by a short portage, with Au Glaize, which runs into the Miami of the lakes, and another branch, by a portage of somewhat greater length, with Sandusky river. The portage is likewise short from the Scioto to this river, and great advantages are expected to result to the State of Ohio, in future time, by a communication between the waters which descend to the Ohio, and those which run into the lakes.
The waters of the Great Miami are not interrupted by falls,or considerable rapids for three hundred miles. Large boats can pass from Dayton to the Ohio, the greater part of the year. But being subject to a much greater decrease of water, it is less favourable to navigation than the Muskingum, nor is the river equally good for the passage of boats at any season. This river furnishes excellent fish, mostly of the same kind, but somewhat of a greater variety, than the Scioto. Considerable quantities of fine fish are taken in the Little Miami, which afford a good supply for the market, at Cincinnati, in summer and autumn.
The streams in every part of the State are well stocked with fish of various kinds. The most of them appear, at least, specifically different from those in the waters of the Atlantic States. But similar names are applied to many of them. The black and yellow cat-fish are of the largest size, and weigh from four or five to more than one hundred pounds. They nearly resemble the pout of New England. The pike differ little from those over the mountains in form, but are much larger. Some have been caught of thirty or forty pounds weight. There are fish called perch, sturgeon, bass, and salmon, but differ from those fish in the northern States. The buffaloe fish seem to be peculiar to these waters, and are said to be so called on account of a noise they make in the water, resembling a buffaloe.
The State undoubtedly abounds in a great variety of fossils, such as clayes, ochres, pigments, and the most useful ores, but it has been very little explored. The waters of the Scioto, and some parts of the Ohio, particularly the rapids, possess a petrifying quality. Pieces of wood, small fish,and other animals,have been found completely changed into stone. The bones of animals of an enormous size, and some of the skeletons nearly complete, have been dug up in several places, particularly at Big Bone creek, on the left bank of the Ohio.
The quadrupeds which are native are the buffaloe, elk, red deer,[2] bear, wolf, grey and black fox, panther, wild cat, rackoon, beaver, porcupine, ground hog, grey and black squirrels, and those smaller animals which are found in similar climates. As the settlements have advanced, the buffaloe and elk have retreated into the uncultivated country. Grey and black squirrels still continue in prodigious numbers. They are frequently seen swimming across the largest rivers, and are extremely destructive to fields of Indian corn.
Of the winged fowls, the swan and pelican are sometimes seen; geese, brant, and ducks of various species, are found in the rivers; turkies, pheasants, partridges, and quails in abundance, in the forests. Turkies are still in great plenty, though perhaps not so numerous, as before the settlements commenced. They are of a large size, and the flesh of an excellent flavour. Large flocks visit the wheat fields after sowing, and at the time of harvest, and often greatly injure the crop. When their eggs are hatched under hens, the turkey chickens will be tame, and in this way the wild turkey is easily domesticated. The pigeons are so numerous as almost to exceed credibility. At certain times in the year, vast flights resort to particular places, called pigeon roosts. Many of these roosts extend over more than an hundred acres of land, and it is said, some have been found to exceed a thousand acres. They light upon the trees in such numbers as to fill all the branches, and, by their weight, break off large limbs. Every tree in these extended roosts is killed, and the dung on the ground, which has been found from twelve to eighteen inches deep, destroying every species of vegetation beneath them. The green paroquet with a yellow crown, a species of the parrot, is very common. It has a harsh, unpleasant note, and although easily tamed, it cannot be taught to imitate the human voice. The habits o£ these birds are in some respect singular, They are always seen in flocks, which retire, at night, into hollow trees, frequently in large numbers, where they suspend themselves by their bills. These flocks also retreat to hollow trees in the winter. There have been found after a severe winter, prodigious numbers in a large tree, filling the whole cavity, where they had perished by the severity of the cold.[3] There are a great variety of other large and small birds, but the most of them are similar to those which are indigenous in the northern and middle Atlantic States.
Some of the people, who first emigrated into this country, had fearful apprehensions of venomous serpents, but were soon relieved on their arrival. The snakes are very nearly of the same kind, which are found in the middle and northern Atlantic States; probably not so numerous as they were there, on their first settlement. The black and yellow rattle snakes are found in the Ohio State, but are not very often seen, except it be near the places where they have dens. The copper-heads are more frequently met with, about the trunks of fallen trees and about rubbish, under which they retreat in the winter. They resemble the rattle snake in colour, but not so large, are less active and destitute of rattles. Their bite is not considered so dangerous as that of the rattle snake. They have five or six very small poisonous teeth, placed in the same sack, on each side of the upper jaw; the rattle snake has only one on each side, but are very large. The moccason snake, which is very common in the Carolinas, has been seen in some parts of the State, but very rarely. In the prairies, a very small rattle snake, about the size of a man's finger, and ten or twelve inches in length, is frequently found among the grass. They are called the prairie rattle snake, and are said to be venomous. These are all the poisonous snakes found in this country. There are two kinds of water snake; the backs are black, and the belly of the one is a bright red, and of the other of an ash colour. The other snakes are the common black snakes; some with a ring round the neck, but the most of them have none; the striped and green snake, and the speckled snake, usually called the house adder. Lizards, of various colours, and some of them very beautiful and active, are plenty. At the falls of Point Creek, a remarkably large water lizard has been taken with the hook, while fishing for the cat and other fish. The form is that of a lizard; the skin, in colour and smoothness, resembles the New England pout; the legs short, and the tail flattened like an eel. When a pressure is made on the body, thick, milky matter, in large drops, and perfectly white, exudes from the pores of the skin. Some have been caught of eight or ten pounds weight. They are not amphibious, for they will not live longer out of the water than the pout or eel. The other reptiles, and the great variety of insects, found in this country, do not appear materially to differ from those of the Atlantic States.
- ↑ By the census taken in 1810, the number of inhabitants are 230,843.
- ↑ The fawns, when very young, are often found asleep alone in the woods. If caught while napping- and carried some distance, they may be put down, and will follow the hunter as readily as his dog, and come and eat bread out of his hand. In this way the deer are easily domesticated.
- ↑ The large collection of feathers found in a hollow tree, in Waterford, and examined by the Rev. Mr. Harris, were probably the feathers of these birds. Harris' Journal of a Tour to the Ohio. Page 100.