Historic Highways of America, Vol. 9

Waterways of Westward Expansion - The Ohio River and its Tributaries

In the study of Waterways of Westward Expansion, the Ohio Riverthe Gateway of the Westoccupies such a commanding position that it must be considered most important and most typical. Such is its situation in our geography and history that it is entitled to a most prominent place among Historic Highways of America which greatly influenced the early westward extension of the borders and the people of the United States. Not until a late period in the expansion erathe day of steam navigationdid the Great Lakes rise to importance as highways of immigration, and south of the Ohio River Basin there was no westward waterway of importance. The day of the keel-boat and barge was of moment in the broadening of the American sphere of influence on this continent, and nowhere is the study of these [Pg 10]ancient craft made to so good advantage as on the Ohio and its tributaries. This monograph is devoted, therefore, to the part played by this waterway as a road into the West. The two introductory chapters, concerning Cloron and the first occupation of the Old Northwest, added to previous volumes of this series (iii, iv, v, and vi), complete the legendary and historical setting necessary for a proper view of the Ohio in the first momentous years of the nineteenth century. The occupation and filling of the southern shores of the Ohio was the story of Volume VI; the story of the filling of the northern shore is outlined in the second chapter of this book. With the position of the first colonies and settlements in the great valley well comprehended, and a conception of the origin of the different colonies and their varied types, the next logical step in our study is the rise of the river trade and its evolution. It is hardly necessary to point out to any reader of these volumes that the Ohio River was the highway upon which all of the great early continental routes focused. Washingtons Road, Braddocks Road, [Pg 11]Forbess Road, and Boones Roadlike the Indian and buffalo trails they followedhad their goal on the shores of this strategic waterway. The westward movement was by river valleys (a fact perhaps never sufficiently emphasized) and not until the Tennessee, Monongahela, Kanawha, and Kentucky Rivers were reached were any waters found to run parallel with the social movement itself. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 41103
Author: Hulbert, Archer Butler
Release Date: Oct 18, 2012
Format: eBook
Language: English