Down the Ohio River

Once travelers moving to the Old Northwest reached the Ohio River, their journey was only half finished.  There they engaged passage on some form of river craft (or built one themselves) to carry their possessions and them to the "promised land."  Those styles of river craft varied from canoes, rafts, skiffs, dugouts, galleys, keelboats, flatboats, barges - eventually even steamboats and schooners.  It was quite a parade!

The flatboat was probably the most popular for reasons explained later.  At that time the river bed was as nature had made it, and was continually remaking it.  Yearly floods washed out new channels and formed new reefs and sandbars.  Logs and brush carried from the heavily forested banks,  built new obstructions.  A constant lookout person was a necessity and the pilot had to be skilled and lucky to complete the trip without mishap.  In good days the trip from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati took six days, in bad days it took a month.

The biggest danger was not the river, but the Indian.  Once the flatboat passed white settlement territory, it was fair game.  Even though the Indians rarely left the water's edge, they liked to use captured or renegade whites to run alongside the bank calling out to be saved.  Once the flatboat was lured to shore, the Indians would set fire to the boats. Neither the whites, not the Indians had much use for those that lured pioneers.  The Indians wouldn't allow them into their tribes or villages, and the travelers sure won't allow them to join in their journey, so they were left to wander alone in the wilderness.

Once the flatboat reached their destination, the boat sometimes became a floating store or schoolhouse.  Usually, however, it was broken up and the materials used to build houses.  There were no sawmills, so lumber was precious and many pioneer cabins in the Ohio Valley were built out of the timber of the flatboats.  Later on the flatboats were used for trading down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, but in the early days, just as with the later prairie schooners, they provided the beginning of their homes in the new West.

Next time...Choosing a Homestead
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Today in Pioneer History: "On April 4,  1975, at a time when most of us were using typewriters, childhood friends, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft, a company that made computer software by the name of Windows. "

Pioneer Pieces: West by River!

For 7 decades riverboats provided transportation to the Western Frontier via the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. After Lewis and Clark and Pike had opened the western waterways up to travel, early pioneers had their choice of a flatboat or a keelboat, depending on their financial means and destination.

For short journeys, pioneers usually chose a flatboat which was just a crude log raft with basic box shelter for passenger and cargo. These were economical because once the pioneer reached their destination the logs could be dismantled and sold for lumber. Flatboats were too small for more than a families' basic necessities and were usually used by single men going west who would ride together on one raft.

Keelboats, however, were for longer journeys and were much more manuverable with a wooden keel for steering. Keelboats could be quite large, with lengths as long as 100 feet or more and a crew of 100. Add the livestock, all the household furniture and foodstuffs normally carried in a covered wagon, and the keelboat could become crowded in a hurry!
They were a better choice for most families moving west and could make several trips up and down the river before having to be dismantled for lumber.

On a keelboat, passengers had separate lodgings with beds, heating source and most basic comforts. If you were a family of any means with cattle, servants, farm equipment and a whole house of goods - the keel was your only choice.

Just a note: Once the waterways were open in the early 1800s - the coonskin cap became all the rage back East and in Europe. Everyone, including Daniel Boone if we are to believe the pictures, wore one!

Next time- Full Steam Ahead!