Part 2

Governor Carondelet, at New Orleans, received orders from the home government to deliver the posts on the Mississippi, but refused to do so, as he feared that the English were about to move against New Orleans from the north. In the summer of 1796 he finally received orders to hold the posts, but later was again ordered by the home government to deliver them.[58] Efforts were made by agents of France and Spain to induce the people of the western country to separate from the Union, and form, in conjunction with Franch and Spain an independent government in the Mississippi Valley.[59] The inhabitants of Kentucky and Tennessee, jealous of their rights, ant not satisfied with the efforts of Congress to procure them redress, seemed strongly disposed to take justice into their own hands. There appear to have been no less than five parties among them at this time. The discord between these parties was fanned by the English, Spanish, and French, according to their respective views. The Spanish Treaty went into quiet effect in 1798.[60]

New Orleans was not then, a large commercial city, but merely a small town without capital or enterprise, and reputed to be so fatally unhealthy, that its future growth was considered as entirely improbable.[61] Ascent of the Mississippi, by means of the boats then in use was a slow and most laborious process. Illinois received her goods from Michilmackinack; Kentucky, Tennessee, and the North West Territory, from Philadelphia or Baltimore, on account of the want of storehouses well and regularly furnished at New Orleans.[62] 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.[64]

The country produced all the necessaries of life in abundance, and about 1800 the settlers were sending the residue, with many other articles, such as hemp, cordage, hardware, some glass, whiskey, apples, cider, and salted provisions down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans.[65] The St. Clair which cleared from Marietta in 1801, carried pork, and flour which was sold in Havana for forty dollars per barrel, but was subject to a duty of twenty dollars.[66] With the proceeds of the cargo a load of sugar was purchased and disposed of at Philadelphia. The ships built at Marietta, from this time until 1808, were exchanged for merchandise in the Atlantic cities, and were the most profitable returns which they could make. Although the country was thinly peopled, yet the vessels were always loaded with flour, pork, and other produce, in their downward voyage, thus yielding a double profit.[67] The embargo of 1808 put a stop to this trade and ruined many of the merchants of Marietta, one of the merchants who had a ship in New Orleans at that time, losing over $10,000.[68] Some of the vessels from Marietta, bound to foreign ports, took in cotton, for Liverpool, from the plantations on the Mississippi.[69] The banks of the Ohio having been inhabited for a period of only a few years, the Americans shared but very feebly in the commerce of the Mississippi, which in 1802 consisted of such articles as hams, salted pork, brandies distilled from corn and peaches, butter, hemp, skins, and various sorts of flour. Cattle were sent to the Atlantic States.[70]

Trades people supplied themselves at Pittsburg and Wheeling, and passed up and down the river, conveying to the settlers haberdashery goods, and more especially teas and coffee, taking some of their produce in return.[71] In the beginning of spring and autumn merchandise was sent from Philadelphia and Baltimore to Pittsburg for supplying the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and the settlement of Natchez.[72] Michaux says, "I have heard ... that during the last war, corn being up to an exhorbitant rate, it was computed that the exportations from Kentucky had balanced the price of importations of English goods from Philadelphia and Baltimore, by way of the Ohio, but since the peace, the demand for flour and salt provisions having ceased in the Carribbees, corn has fallen considerable, so that the balance of trade is wholly unfavorable to the country."[73] Butter not consumed in Kentucky was put into barrels and exported by the Ohio to the Carribbees.[74] Salt provisions formed another important article of Kentucky trade, 72,000 barrels of dried pork, and 2485 barrels of salt being exported in the first half of the year 1802.[75]

In 1802 the freitage of a boat to convey flour to Lower Louisiana cost one hundred dollars. The boat carried 25 to 300 barrels, and was navigated by five men, the chief receiving one hundred dollars for the voyage, the others receiving fifty each. Most of the embarkations were made from Louisville, thirty or thirty-five days being required for the journey to New Orleans. The crew embarked at New Orleans for New York, or Philadelphia, and returned from thence by way of the Ohio to Kentucky.[76]

The produce of the settlements upon the Monongahela and Allegheny found an easy conveyance down the Ohio. Corn, hams, and dried pork were the principal articles sent to New Orleans, whence they were reexported to the Carribbees. Bar iron, coarse linen, bottles manufactured at Pittsburg, whiskey, and salt butter were exported for the consumption of Louisiana. A great part of these provisions came from Redstone on the Monongahela.[77] Knoxville exported flour, cotton, and lime to New Orleans by way of the Tennessee River, but this route was not much frequented by the trade, the navigation of the river being very much encumbered in different places by Shallows interspersed with rocks.[78] In Tennessee the major part of the cultivators sold their cotton to the trades people at Nashville who sent it by the river to New Orleans, from thence it was sent to New York or Philadelphia, or exported direct to Europe.[79] Considerable quantities of corn were shipped from Illinois, in flat boats, to New Orleans, before the purchase of Louisiana. Cattle, and horses were raised for the market, some were shipped to New Orleans, and considerable live stock to the lead mines in Louisiana.[80] Furs and peltries were articles in great demand, and were generally shipped to Mickanaw, Philadelphia, and New Orleans.[81]

During this early period in the settlement of the West, boats were employed in the trade up the Mississippi and Ohio, as well as in carrying articles of export down these rivers, Mr. Vigo, a trader of Illinois, exported furs to Pittsburg as early as 1790.[82] Wagons from Pittsburg to Philadelphia and Baltimore in 1802 carried fur skins that came from the Illinois country.[83] At Nashville in 1802 the first attempt was made to send cottons by the Ohio to Pittsburg in order to be thence conveyed to the remote parts of Pennsylvania. Michaux speaks of meeting several barges laden with cotton, near Marietta, "going up the river with a staff, and making about twenty miles a day."[84] The merchants at this place received a considerable quantity of their goods from New Orleans by way of the Mississippi, Ohio, and Cumberland.[85]

By April, 1802, the news of the cession of Louisiana by Spain to France, according to the secret treaty of Ildefonso,[86] October 1, 1803, reached the United States, and early in 1803 a treaty was negotiated giving the United States the possession of Louisiana.[87] 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. She brought with her money, and the various representatives of money, established, credit, confidence, commercial intercourse, united action, and mutuality of interest. Through her influence the forests were penetrated by roads, bridges were thrown over rivers, and highways constructed through dreary morasses. Traveling was rendered easy, and transportation cheap. Through this influence the earth was made to yield its mineral treasures ... agricultural products have increased ... manufactures ... such have been the trophies of commerce."[88]

In 1803 the Miami Exporting Company was created. Its object was to reduce the difficulty and expense of transportation by collecting the produce of the country and shipping it to New Orleans. At the time the association was formed, the agriculture and commerce of the West, were at the lowest point of depression.[89] No artificial roads had been made; canals had not been thought of; the natural impediments in the rivers of the country rendered their navigation difficult and hazardous at all times, always tedious, and often impracticable; and when the water was at its most favorable stage, the distance of the principal port, the imperfect means of transportation, and the low price of produce were such, that a large portion of the avails of a cargo was consumed by the expense of taking it to market. The average time required to make a trip to New Orleans and back to Cincinnati was six months. The craft made use of were small, and the cargoes light, and when they arrived at New Orleans in flat boats, which could not be taken back, the boats were abandoned. The pirogues and keel boats returned with such articles as the market of New Orleans afforded. 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. The boats used in this trade were called arks, were manned by four boatmen, carried no sail, and were capable of carrying from two to five hundred barrels of flour.[92] Vessels were built at Elizabethtown, on the Monongahela, laden with the produce of the country, and sent to the West India Islands.[93] Harris speaks of meeting the ship "Pittsburg" of 275 tons burthen, from the same place, laden with 1700 barrels of flour.[94] Articles of cabinet work, made at Pittsburg, supplied many of the settlements of the Ohio and Mississippi.[95] The produce received by the merchants of this place, from the farmers, was sent to New Orleans, and the proceeds sent to the Atlantic States to meet their payments.[96] The articles of merchandise brought over the mountains to Pittsburg were placed on trading boats, which floated down the river, stopping at the towns to sell their articles. These boats contributed much to the convenience of the settlers, by bringing to them the little necessaries which it would be very troublesome to go a great distance to procure.[97]

Kentucky cordage and flour, and Monongahela flour were sent to New Orleans in 1804.[98] During 1805, Monongahela flour,[99] Kentucky tallow, and white baling rope were received at this port.[100] Kentucky tobacco and Monongahela flour were advertised for sale at New Orleans in 1806.[101]

During the dry season which usually prevailed during August and September, the Ohio was so low that a loaded boat could not descend from Pittsburg. Accordingly, when the boatmen found that they would not be able to reach Pittsburg in time, they ordered their goods sent to Wheeling, where the water was deep enough at all seasons.[102] The merchants of Ohio at this time, 1807, received their goods overland from Philadelphia and Baltimore, and some small supplies from Alexandria. Payments were made to them in the bulky produce of the country, which they sent to New Orleans.[103] From the American Bottom in Illinois, great quantities of corn, pork, and other produce were sent to New Orleans.[104] Schultz in his voyage down the Mississippi in 1808, met two boats from Green River loaded with tobacco; four with flour and whiskey from Cincinnati; two with horses from Limestone; two with cotton and tobacco from Cumberland; two with lime in bulk from Virginia;[105] three from Pittsburg with flour, whiskey and pork;[106] five from Kentucky loaded with horses and tobacco;[107] besides a great number of boats whose cargoes he does not mention.[108] Floating stores with a various assortment of merchandise, among which were to be found copper stills, used for distilling peach and apple brandy, and rye whiskey, floated down the Ohio from Wheeling, stopping wherever they could find a market for their goods.[109] Tobacco was exported down the Cumberland to Baltimore.[110]

During the years 1807-10 we find advertised in the New Orleans papers, Monongahela and Kentucky flour,[111] Kentucky beef and pork,[112] Kentucky tobacco,[113] Monongahela whiskey,[114] Kentucky bogging,[115] Kentucky cordage, Kentucky ham,[116] and Kentucky packing cloth.[117] From the first of the year to May 16, 1808, 112 boats arrived in New Orleans by way of the Ohio.[118] Schultz in 1808, says of New Orleans, "the levee in front is crowded with large vessels from every part of the world. They generally lie three deep, in a line extending from near the center of the town to ¼ of a mile below. 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. Two of those present along the levee I recognized as my own statesmen (New York). One of them was loaded with cherry plank from Chatoque Lake, and the other with ice, the latter of which they sold at 25 cents a pound."[119]

Sugar was exported from New Orleans and sold along the river.[120] West India goods were sent in barges by way of New Orleans to Louisville and Cincinnati.[121] In the early part of the year 1811, sugar, hides, logwood crates, and other articles were shipped to Cincinnati from New Orleans.[122] Nashville exported bales of cotton to Pittsburg in large keel boats requiring nine boatmen.[123] Lead prepared at the mines was deposited at St. Genevieve, Louisiana, from whence it was sent up the Ohio as far as Pittsburg, and down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and distributed from these places through out the United States.[124]

FOOTNOTES:

[49] Peck, J. M., Annals, 331-333.

[50] Peck, J. M., Annals, 334.

[51] Ibid., 335.

[52] Forman, S. S., Journey, 41.

[53] St. Clair, A., Papers, (Smith's Edition), II., 175.

[54] Pope, J., Tour, 26.

[55] Ibid, 41.

[56] Treaties and Conventions, 777.

[57] Treaties and Conventions, 783.

[58] Allinson, M.

[59] Peck, J. M., Annals, 504. Burnet, J., Notes, 445, 446.

[60] Flint, T., History and Geography. I., 170-171.

[61] Hall, J., The West, 107.

Collot, V., Journey, II., 95, "The population is composed of about ten thousand souls, including free mulattoes and slaves.

[62] Collot, V., Journey, II., 197.

[63] Ibid., II., 198-199.

[64] Ellicott, A., Journal, 24.

[65] Ellicott, A., Journal, 23-24.

[66] Hildreth, S. P., Memoirs, 159.

[67] Hildreth, S. P., Memoirs, 309.

[68] Ibid.,

[69] Ibid., 161.

[70] Michaux, F. A., Travels, Early W. Travels, III., 191.

[71] Ibid., 191.

[72] Ibid., 157-158.

[73] Michaux, F. A., Travels, Early W. Travels, III., 205.

[74] Ibid., 245.

[75] Ibid., 247.

[76] Ibid., 239-240.

[77] Ibid., 158.

[78] Michaux, F. A., Travels, Early W. Travels, III., 266.

[79] Ibid., 252.

[80] Reynolds, J., MY Own Times, 90.

[81] Ibid., 91.

[82] St. Clair, A., Papers, (Smith's Edition), II., 175.

[83] Michaux, F. A., Travels, Early W. Travels, III., 157-158.

[84] Ibid., III., 252.

[85] Ibid., III., 241. "It is now clearly demonstrated that the expense of conveying goods which go up the river again from New Orleans to Louisville, is not so great as that from Philadelphia to Limestone."

[86] Treaties and Conventions, 276.

[87] Ibid., 275-278.

[88] Hall, J., The West, 14-15.

[89] Burnet, J., Notes, 397-399.

[90] Burnet, J., Notes, 396-397.

[91] Harris, T. M., Tour, Early W. Travels, III., 334-335.

[92] Ibid., III., 334-335.

[93] Ibid., III., 338.

[94] Harris, T. M., Tour, Early W. Travels, III., 353.

[95] Ibid., III., 343.

[96] Ibid.

[97] Ibid., 344.

[98] Louisiana Gasette, I. 15.

[99] Ibid., I., 29; I., 78.

[100] Ibid., I., 53.

[101] Ibid., II., 162; II., 171; I., 194; II., 169.

[102] Schultz, C., Travels, I., 125-126.

[103] Schultz, C., Travels, II., 22.

[104] Ibid., II., 38.

[105] Ibid., II., 100.

[106] Ibid., II., 125.

[107] Ibid., II., 126.

[108] Ibid., II., 135-136.

[109] Cuming, F., Tour, Early W. Travels, IV., 116.

[110] Ibid., IV., 279.

[111] Louisiana Gasette, VI., 648; III., 286.

[112] Louisiana Gasette, III., 286.

[113] ibid., iii., 298.

[114] Ibid., VI., 525.

[115] Ibid. Louisiana Moniteur, May 10, 1809.

[116] Ibid., May 10, 1809.

[117] Louisiana Moniteur, May 10, 1809.

[118] Louisiana Gasette, p 2, Col. 3. May 21, 1808.

[119] Schultz, C., Travels, II., 200.

[120] Cuming, F., Tour, Early W. Travels, IV., 264.

[121] Schultz, C., Travels, II., 126.

[122] Niles, Weekly Register, I., 71.

[123] Cuming, F., Tour, Early W. Travels, IV., 97.

[124] Schultz, C., Travels, II., 56.

_CHAPTER III._

_EMIGRATION. GROWTH OF THE RIVER TOWNS._

One of the greatest hindrances to the early settlement of the western territory was the continued hostility of the Indian tribes living in that portion of the country. The two leading causes of disquiet among the western people during the years 1787-1788 were due to this cause, and to the Spanish possession of the Mississippi.[125] At Fort Harmar, January 9, 1789, one treaty was made with the Iroquois, confirming the previous one of October 22, 1784, at Fort Stanwix,[126] and another with the Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, and Sacs, confirming and extending the treaty of Fort McIntosh, made in January 21, 1785.[127]

These treaties were not respected, and the year 1790 saw the old frontier troubles renewed. The Wabash Indians, especially, who had not been bound by any treaty as yet, kept up incursions against the Kentucky settlers, and the emigrants down the Ohio.[128] Three boats descending the Ohio River in March, 1790 were attacked by twenty-two Indians, above the Falls, and twenty-six horses, merchandise valued at from twelve to fifteen pounds, and several saddlebags containing cash were lost by being left in the two abandoned boats.[129] "The pioneers who descended the Ohio on their way westward, will remember while they live, the lofty rock standing a short distance above the mouth of the Scioto, on the Virginia shore, which was occupied for years by the savages, as a favorite watch-tower, from which boats ascending and descending, could be discovered at a great distance. The murders and depredations committed in that vicinity at all periods of the war were so shocking as to attract universal notice, and letters were written to General Harmar, from various quarters, calling his attention to the subject. They informed him that scarcely a boat passed the rocks without being attacked, and in most instances captured; and that unless something were done without delay, the navigation of the river would necessarily be abandoned."[130] September 19, 1790 Governor St. Clair notified the War Department that the depredations continued on the Ohio and Wabash; that nearly every day brought an account of some new robbery or murder; and that shortly before this, a boat belonging to Colonel Vigo of Post Vincennes, was fired upon near the mouth of Blue River, and three men killed, and later, in attempting to ascend the Wabash, the boats were attacked and the crew's personal baggage and arms stolen. As the boat was navigated by Frenchmen, the Indians suffered them to depart with the peltries.[131] Pope, in 1791, speaks of being frequently alarmed at the hostile appearance of Indians onboth sides of the Ohio, who suspecting that the number of white men was greater than their own, were deterred from attacking them.[132]

The savages who assailed the new settlements in the West, resided chiefly on the northwest side of the Ohio River. The British government, alarmed at the advance of the United States westward, had established agencies among them for the sole purpose of keeping alive their hatred against the American people.[133] The frequent, predatory movements of the savages, following in such rapid succession, produced universal alarm throughout the country, and the sttlers began to think that they would be obliged to abandon it.[134] The glorious campaign of General Wayne with his defeat of the western savages at the Battle of the Miami, 1794, put an end to this warfare.[135] The Treaty of Greenville,[136] signed by the various Indian nations, on August 3, 1795, and ratified by the Senate on December 22, closed the old Indian Wars of the West. In 1796, after some delay, the British government surrendered the northern posts,[137] thus removing the danger from that quarter.

On July 13, 1787 the Ordinance of 1787 was passed;[138] which because of its wise provisions and liberal terms, may be considered as one of the most important documentsin our history. The whole territory lying north and west of the Ohio, extending to the Mississippi, and to the northern lakes, was comprehended within one district, for temporary government. The act contained a provision for the creation of not less than three, nor more than five States, each State to have at least 60,000 free population.[139] The prohibition of slavery probably aided in attracting settlers to this region The fourth article provided that "thenavigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territories, as to the citizens of the United States, and those of other States that may be admitted to the Confederacy without any tax, import, or duty therefor."[140]

In the year 1787, the Ohio Company purchased 1,500,000 acres of land from Congress. The total price agreed upon was nearly three and a half million dollars, but the payment was made in public securities worth only about twelve cents on the dollar.[141] Joel Barlow was sent to Europe to sell the lands, and a subordinate association, called the Scioto Company, was formed to aid him. Mr. Barlow made considerable sales to individuals and companies in France, and many emigrants came to this country, who would have been ruined by the bad faith of the Company, had not the government generously interfered in their behalf.[142] From 1790-1795 the Ohio Company expended more than $11,000 in defending their settlements, which was never repaid them by the United States.[143] J. C. Symmes of New Jersey in 1787, entered into a contract with Congress for the purchase of a million acres between the two Miami Rivers. He finally paid for about one third of it, for which he received a patent.[144]

The early adventurers to the Northwest Territory were men who had spent the prime of their lives in the War of Independence. Many of them had exhausted their fortunes in maintaining the desperate struggle, and retired to the wilderness to conceal their poverty.