Hazel Yearsley Shaw

“ The Register, of November 30, 1816, says, "Missouri and Illinois exhibit an interesting spectacle at this time. A stranger to witness the scene would imagine that Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Carolinas had made an agreement to introduce them soon as possible to the bosom of the American family. Every ferry on the river is daily occupied in passing families, carriages, wagons, negroes, carts, etc." [499] Much of the surplus produce of the State of Ohio was consumed by the numerous emigrants, who came from New York, and the eastern States, but more especially from Pennsylvania. ”

“ The application of steam power to the purposes of navigation, forms the brightest era in the history of the West. It was that which contributed more than any other single cause to the advancement of Western prosperity. The amount of produce raised for soncumption, and for export was very great, and the people were, therefore, liberally disposed to purchase foreign products. The amount of commercial capital employed, as compared with the population was great. ”

“ Experience alone will establish what size of boats, or draught of water will be best for the navigation of both rivers ... it appears very reasonable, however, to suppose that the boats of small draught of water would be best calculated for the Ohio, taking into consideration the different stages of the water and how subject that river is to fall very low.... To the commercial interest of New Orleans the steam navigation is of immense consideration, the vast sums of money annually paid in Philadelphia and Baltimore for goods, and carried over the mountains in wagons, would concentrate here. ”

“ The large rivers whose meanders they pursued formed the boundaries of States, so that living continually on the lines which divided different civil jurisdictions, they could pass with ease from one to the other, and never be made responsible to any. It is a singular fact, that lawless and wild as these men were, the valuable cargoes of merchandise committed to their care, and secured by no other bond than their integrity, were always carried safely to their destination, and the traveler, however weak, or however richly freighted, relied securely on their protection. ”

“ As the region of Pennsylvania and New York, drained by the Allegheny, was a pretty good place to emigrate from, families were constantly leaving for the countries down the river, and made these rafts available as the means of moving. Indeed, for the purpose, nothing could be more convenient, for the movers could build themselves a comfortable shanty of the loose lumber, a shed for their horses and cows, if they wished to take them along, and be quite at home during a journey, that would often occupy three or four weeks. ”

“ Fearon says, "there is a class of men throughout the western country called 'merchants', who, in the summer and autumn months, collect flour, butter, cheese, pork, beef, whiskey, and every species of farming produce which they send in flats and keel boats to the New Orleans market. The demand created by this trade, added to a large domestic consumption, insures the most remote farmer a certain market. ”

“ Beck says, "The export trade must then be divided between New Orleans and New York. She (New Orleans) commands the greatest interior; she is the key to the richest and most extensive inland region of any mercantile capital in the world. Besides the produce required [83] for her own consumption, and that of Louisiana and Mississippi, she will be the entrepot of the produce destined for the West Indies and the provinces of South America. The capital of New Orleans is disproportionate to the quantity of produce landed there. ”

“ I think the time is at hand when these periodical transmontane journeys are to give place to expeditions down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans. The vast and increasing produce of these states, in grain, flour, cotton, sugar, tobacco, peltry, timber, etc., which finds a ready vent at New Orleans, will be returned through the same channel in the manufactures of Europe, and the luxuries of the East to supply the growing demands of this western world. ”

“ The trade, especially the exports, formed a very large element of the business of Cincinnati. Birkbeck, writing in 1818, says, "Cincinnati is, however, a most thriving place, and backed as it is already by a great population and a most fruitful country, bids fair to be one of the first cities of the West. We are told, and we cannot doubt the fact, that the chief of what we see is the work of four years. The hundreds of commodious, well furnished brick houses; the spacious and busy markets; the substantial public buildings; the thousands of prosperous well dressed, industrious inhabitants ”

“ The 'Register' of May 14, 1825 says, "Emigration is powerful to the West." [522] Kentucky was at this time losing her citizens by hundreds and thousands, by removal to the west faster than she had acquired them from the east for some years. [523] The progress of population in Illinois had been greatly retarded by the violent and illegal efforts that were made to cause the introduction of slavery, year after year, and while the question was agitated, persons hesitated about locating themselves in Illinois, preferring to stop in Ohio or Indiana, or even to proceed to Missouri. ”

“ About the year 1818 the States of New York and Virginia began to show themselves as the rivals of Pennsylvania, which till that time, with the exception of New Orleans had enjoyed the most considerable portion of the commerce of the west. ”

“ The emigrants from Jersey and Maryland spread themselves on both sides of the river, as they descended the Ohio, but during the years, 1793-1796, it was observed that they settled rather on the right than the left, particularly on both the Miamis, [28] the Muskingum, the Great and Little Sciotos, and the Wabash. [151] During this time the population of Kentucky did not increase much, owing to the dearness of land, and the uncertainty of tenures, which led the emigrants to prefer the Northwest Territory, where the land was equally good, and the titles indisputable. ”

“ During this time, he is at present completely deprived of a market for his produce, and is moreover obliged to pay the merchant an exorbitant price for his necessaries. It frequently happens, that in the Western States during the summer and fall, the price of those articles for which they depend upon New Orleans is raised 50 and sometimes 100%. But New Orleans is at all times a very uncertain market. It not unfrequently happens that a few boat loads of produce completely supply the demand. ”

“ Shoals of immigrants were seen on all the great roads leading in that direction. Oleanne, Pittsburg, Brownsville, Nashville, Cincinnati, and St. Louis overflowed with them. Ohio and Indiana beheld thousands of new cabins spring up in their forests. The settlements which had been broken up during the war, were repeopled, and many immigrants returned again to the very cabins which they had occupied before the war. Boon's Lick, and Salt River, in Missouri, were the grand points of immigration, as were the Sangama and the upper courses of the Kaskaskia's in Illinois. ”

“ We have had undoubted proofs of the good effects of the steamboat navigation between this city (New Orleans) and Natchez, and why not extend its beneficial effects to the Ohio and to the different navigable streams emplying into that river. The want of public spirit, properly directed has retarded the salutary object so long. If enterprising men would propose [45] and form associations and companies for building steamboats on the different navigable waters west of the Allegheny mountains it is reasonable to suppose that few men of capital would withhold their support ... ”

“ Many go down to New Orleans from Pittsburg, which adds 500 miles to the distance by water, and 300 by land. The storekeepers of these western towns, visit the eastern ports of Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, once a year, to lay in their stock of goods. The great variety of articles, and the risk attending their carriage to so great a distance, by land and water, renders it necessary that the storekeepers should attend both to their purchase and conveyance. ”

“ The prohibition of slavery contributed greatly to the population of Ohio, and turned the current of European emigration from Kentucky and Tennessee, and spread it widely not only over this State, but also over Indiana and Illinois. [520] The fertility of the soil, the low price of lands, the security of titles, and the high price of labor also served to attract emigrants to this State. ”

“ The purchase of Louisiana, the free navigation of the Mississippi, and the increased importance of the New Orleans market may be set down as among the causes which led to the rapid growth of the western country. "Commerce came, bringing them a market for their products, offering rich rewards to industry, and stimulating labor to the highest point of exertion. ”

“ From the time of the Treaty of Greenville the inhabitants in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and the adjoining States, had gone on increasing with astonishing rapidity, and swarms were pressing forward from the new settlements even beyond the Mississippi. [150] The emigrants from the Eastern States, established themselves in general on the Ohio. ”

“ Conveyance of goods from Philadelphia to Illinois required fifty-five to sixty days; from New Orleans seventy to seventy-five days; the expense of carriage being twelve piastres the hundred weight by way of Philadelphia or Baltimore, and five piastres by way of New Orleans. [63] So long as the importation of goods was attended with so much difficulty and expense, and the western country was forced to depend upon the Atlantic States for their supply of European manufactures, the balance of trade was against them. ”

“ In western Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, and a part of Tennessee, flour, corn, small grains, pulse potatoes, and other vegetables; fruit, as apples, fresh and dried, dried peaches, and other preserved fruits, beef, pork, cheese butter, poultry, venison hams, live cattle, hogs, and horses were exported. The greater part of the flour was sent from Ohio and Kentucky; wheat was grown with more ease in Illinois and Missouri, and Ohio engaged in the culture of yellow tobacco. [482] Large quantities of flour were shipped from Wellsburg, West Virginia to New Orleans. ”

“ Emigrants were usually, at this early period, 1789, detained for several days for a boat to be made ready for their use. Such a boat, conveying settlers to Marietta, was built after the fashion of a large, oblong box, covered half its length with a roof to shelter the people and their goods from the weather, while the open space contained their teams and wagons. The waters of the Youghiogheny and the Monongahela were low, and the boat grounded on sand bars, requiring the voyagers to lean over the side into the cold water, and pry her off into the current. ”

“ Flint advises emigrants to go from Baltimore to Wheeling as that route is cheaper than the one from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. [517] In 1819 travelers were not so numerous as in 1818, owing to the decline in trade, and depression in the price of land. Flint says, "travelers however are still so numerous that a stranger not fully aware of the rapidity with which new settlements are forming, and of the great populace of the eastern States, might be apt to imagine that the Americans are a singularly volatile people." ”

“ Flour, and fish were exported from Cincinnati to New Orleans, in the year 1818. [433] Birckbeck, in 1818, writes as [77] follows, "The demand for grain will probably equal the produce for some years, owing to the influx of new settlers; and the Southern States, down the Mississippi to New Orleans, will be an increasing and sure market for our surplus of every kind; vast quantities of pork, and beef are shipped for New Orleans from Kentucky and Indiana." [434] "500 persons every summer pass down the Ohio from Cincinnati to New Orleans as traders or boatmen, and return on foot. ”

“ These river towns developed and increased in importance as the river trade became an ever increasing object of importance. Pittsburg and Cincinnati were by far the two greatest commercial and manufacturing centers of this western country during the years 1811-1830. As this great stream of emigrants poured into the West, the soil was brought into cultivation, and its surplus produce exchanged for articles of home and foreign manufacture. ”

“ An intelligent gentleman at this place informed me, that this stream of emigration has flowed more copiously this year, than at any former period, and that the people now moving westward are ten times more numerous than they were ten years ago. ”

“ As the population of the country rapidly increased, and the means of communication by water were improved, the resources of the country were developed, manufactures sprang up, and the commerce of the Ohio Valley experienced a remarkable growth. ”

“ Private adventurers from New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, carried on a tolerable trade at New Orleans, and had an advance of cent per cent on their goods, which were nevertheless cheaper than Spanish importations. ”

“ During the dry season, great quantities of merchandise are brought hither, designed to supply the inhabitants on the Ohio River, and the waters that flow into it, as boats can go from hence, when they cannot from higher up the river. Boat building is carried on at this place to a great extent, and several large keel boats and some vessels have been built. ”

“ The same distance at the upper end is always lined with one or two hundred Kentucky boats and New Orleans boats, from the interior of the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee, as well as from the Territory of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Missouri. ”

“ Some have loads of cider, and what they call "cider royal," or cider that has been strengthened by boiling or freezing. There are dried fruits, every kind of spirits manufactured in these regions, and in short, the products of the ingenuity and agriculture of the whole upper country of the West. The fleet unites once more at Natchez or New Orleans." [470]
The "Fame" from Pittsburg, arrived in Cincinnati, in 1827 with a cargo, part of which consisted of 102 pieces of cannon, and [86] and about 80 tons of grape shot, for the United States Navy. ”

“ Under such disadvantages the commerce was nominal, and only necessity prompted the inhabitants to engage in it. For many years, the emigrants created the only demand for the surplus products of the interior settlements. [90]
In the Spring and Fall of the year 1803, numerous trading boats destined for Kentucky, New Orleans, or the towns on the Spanish side of the Mississippi, were continually passing down the Ohio. [91] They carried flour, whiskey, peach brandy, cider, bacon, iron, potter's ware, cabinet work, and other articles, all the produce or manufacture of the country. ”