The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1874-06-18

4 -IFrOm ne ~cleEelana Herala.l

49, ~AS44o4 -0GgWGItGs
II ttFrOm the cleseisnd Hsraid.l
esptaia Brady's escape from the indiana
during the war OF the revolution BY iump-
ing the Cuyahoga river is a feat we'll
chronicled in border history. Those who
examine the place at this time declare il
to be impossible, and place the accounfs
oft among the excusahle fctions Of the
Indian Wa1s. Such persons should take
into consideration the changes that have
been wrought by bridges and mill-dams,
andb the construction ofthe Pennsylva-
MIA and Ohio Canal, since the day Of
Brady.
In IFS natural state the river ran for
about a mile in what wa an impossible
gull, even in low water. From q point
below the cotton mill nearly up 10 the old
glass works of 1925, or the upper village,
it rushed through q straight narrow chan
mel with natural walls Of rock twenty or
thirty feet high, fringed with over-hang-
ing trees. In many places the breadth
was not much greater than the depth.
When the river was in q food the water
was very deep, coursing swiftly through
the dark chasm, made more aombre BY its
chocolate color, with resisfless power
This chasm was produced by the wearing
action ofthe water upon the rocks during
incomprehensible periods Of time. At the
lower part of the present village there
mpst have been in the early ages q eata-
ract twenty or thirty feet high over the
edge Of the conglomerate. Particle by
particle it has been CARRIED away, the
channel receedipg receding Us stream, IN
hit let off the water from q natural basin
above the old village. throngha cut merely
wide enough for the discharge of q full
river. A short distance above the present
bridge at Main street, there was left
standing a natural column Of rock in the
middle Of the channel, with q dwarf pine
on the top, known as the"Standing Stone"
It IS nearly round, its surface nearly on
the level with the banks. and not quite 81
large around as a hay stack. The waters
surging by it slowly wore away its base,
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal was con
structed. The engineers made slack wa
ter Of thatportion of the gorge, by means
Of a dam and lock. They demolished the
standing stone" and cut down the crsggy
edges of the east bank for a tow path.
this accounts for the apparent impossible
ity ola man jumping the ~Cuyahoga at this
point.
In the earliest history, this place, the
standing stone" q lame suggested by the
natural monument which ! have described
was well known as the crossing place Of
an ancient Indian trail, leading from the
Ohio river at the mouth of the Beaver,
up that stream and the Mohoning river,
over the Summit, a short distance south
of Ravenna, down the breakneck creek 10
a ford over a ripple in the upper village.
From there the Indian road had two main
branches. One led north, directly to the
Cuyahoga at the mouth of Tinker's creek
the other continued through Stow, near
the centre, past Cuyahoga Falls, to the
"Old Portage" three miles north of Ak
ron. Here the great trial, or carrying
place." from the Tuscarawas came to the
CuYahoga rlver from the south, and from
thence there was free navigation for canoes
to the lake at Cleveland. There were well
beaten paths used by Indians and traders,
on foot and with ponies, visible long after
b settlement of the country in places,
where the forest had not been cut away.
The first road from the western part Of
{ Portage county to Ravenna, crossed at the
upper ford, near where the red man had
his crossing; but eventually a more direct
route became necessary, and q bridge was
built near the spot Of "Brady's lead,'
here it was most narrow. Before the
bridge there was a crossing for foot pas
sengers, on a Tree felled across the chasm.
On the eastern bank the shelving rock
just above the bridge had fallen, forming
a pile of rough stones with bushes grow
ing out of the crevices. The stringers oil
the first bridge were said to be twenty
seven feet long.
With these explanations, the impossi-
bIlity OF the leap is wholly removed. A
2.k1k - - ia
tomahawk in the hands of q savage, OF
the still more horrid expectation Of death
torture by fire, would quickly take the
risk. He,is repnted to have sprung from
the edge of the west bank, twenty-five
feet above the water, and so, descending
as he went, to have landed on the broken
stones on the east side near the water
level. By the aid of bushes and roots hC
scrambled out of the gorge and reached
e"Brady's Lake, before his red foes over
took him.
The letters of General Bierce and Mr.
Wadsworth explain the principal incl
dents of this, the most exciting foot rae,
vet chronicled in Northern Ohio:
JOHN BARR, Esq.
DEAR SIR-Your favor saying som,
writer in the cleveland Herald "has lately
Insinuated that the story of Brady
Lear" across the Cuyahoga, a little below
Kent, of % feet, is q myth, and giveI
General +. Wadsworth as authority, ?
came to hand last evening.
| have not seen the article, but Genera.
+. Wordsworth is a myth. There never
was any such q There was General
Elijah Wadsworth, of Garfield, who had
a son, +. Wadsworth, for many years {
raorHnnf ~ Da~fo-o ...- L-l.
a few years ago in California. This. ]
presume, is the man the writer means, but
If his other statements are no more cor
rect than his designating F. Wadsworth
by the title of his father, they are moi
very reliable. If he means r. Wadsworth
without the General / venture to say
that neither he nor any other man car
produce any evidence that Mr. WadsWortt
Jla authority to prove "the leap" q myth
have a letter written by him to Seth
Day, of RaVennas February %, 1851
which is very lengthy, or | would copy il
for you. can only give You q few ex'
" In the year 1902 went to PitIsburr
and resided there three or four years, anc
became acquainted with q man by tht
name Of John Summerall. He was IN in.
-teligent, observing man, and had beer
an intimate friend Of Brady"
A lengthy account is here given Of ar
-~expedition Of Brady TO Sandusky, hunting
Indians. He was captured, but escaped
closely pursued by the Indians.
When he arrived near the Cuyahogs
river, in Franklin, Portage county, Ohio
he found the Indians were getting pretty
near to him. He mad intended to cros.
the Cuyah0gA at a noted place known a
The Standing Stone on the Indian trai
from Sandusky to the Salt Springs, The
Standing Stone is about amile above the
present village of Franklin, but he found
The Indians would head him and get there
before he could. He then steered hi.
ours down the river, intending 10 erosl
it below the village of Franklin, where
the bed Of the river was wide, and the
water shallow, but he soon found that his
pursuers had headedshim there and tney
were already on the bank of the river
both above and below him when he col
to the river he found himself at the mar.
row gorge, in the new village of Franklin
and the Indians close on his track behind
him. he had not q moment to spare, and
-itlWas life or death with him, he made thG
famous 'Brady's Leap across the Cuyaho.