Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-12-18

ON the Banks OF the Ohio Which Is 1t?
Wheeling, Marietta or Point Pleasant?
The Claims of Each.
10 ne Editor Of TIE Register
POINT PLEASANT, w. Va, December 10.
i'm the Marietta Register Of August, 20,
1886, recently came into my possession
find the following extracts accredited to
West Virginia Journals:
Point Pleasant is the oldest English
town on the banks of the Ohio. 1t is the
Jamestown of the Ohio Valley. The first
mention made of the place in the Acts OF
the General Assembly, is December %
1892 when a ferry was established from the
lands of Andrew Lewis across the Ohio TO
lands in the North west Territory. The
rates were fixed at : cents for man and
the same for a hOrSe:-U'cstOR HOHd
eff our contemporary were TO examine
the records, we think he would find
Marietta was full grown before Point
Pleasant was out of swaddling clothes and
Wheeling was quite a village ahead Of the
Point. r-PdrkerSJlTg Sentinel.
Whether the World ever acted upon the
suggestion of the SeBiiHI and examined
the records we do not know; neither do
We know the extent of the Investigation
made by the Sentinel, but we do know the
point at which EngliShmen first planted
the standard of civilization on the banks OF
the Ohio, is a question most satisfactorily
answered by the same records" to which
the Sentinel refers, and need not therefore
continue a disputed one.
That il was ut one of these places
Wheeling, Marietta or Point Pleasant, APP
pears to be conceded. Let US then JON
with the World in an examination Of the
records" and see what are the claims OF
each. These records are now the only
source of information for more than a CEN
tury has passed away since the important
event transpired aud in that time all who
could have told of it have passed from
among the living
Every student of early American annals
is familiar with the claims of France to
the Ohio Valley and of her efforts to main
tain the same. He knows also OF the
claims of Great Britain to the same ter
ritOry and that upon which these were
based by both nations. The former acted
upon the principle that, They should keep
who have the power" and the latter upon
a nearly similar one, that They should
take who can" France convinced OF the
iustnes of her title, after addreSsingan APP
neal the nations of the world determined
not to WELD before the threatening attitude
of her powerful rival, and accordingly be-
nan the erection ola number OF forts extern
ding from the st. Lawrence TO the Gulf OF
Mexico. In l7I6, rs preliminary step IN
taking possession of the country drained by
the Ohio and its tributaries, the Marquis
de 10 GalliSOniere, GOyernor-General oil
New France (Canadal determined to place
along the ''Oyo' OF La Belle Rirere num-
Der of leaden plates, suitably inscribed,
asserting the claims of France to the
country on both sides of the river, even to
the source of its tributaries.
The command of the expedition, whose
duty il was to deposit these plates, was
given to Captain Bienville de CelOron and
consisted of eight subaltern officers, SIX
cadets an armOrer, twenty-five soldiers one
hundred and eighty Canadians and nifty
five Indians. fAe expedition left Montreal
June ID, 1TI9, and on the 18th reached the
La Belle Rirere at the junction OF the Al
legheuy and MonOngahela rivers, where
the first plate on the Ohio was buried.
From there the expedition descended the
river depOsiting plates at the mouths OF the
urinciple tributaries among them one at
the mouth of Wheeling Creek, (now Wheel
INCL. one at the mouth of the Musklngum,
now Marietta) and another at the mouth
oftbe Great Kanawha (now Point Pleasant
OF these. the ones inferred at Marietta and
Point Pleasant have been found. These
were the first Europeans that descended
the Ohio and they carried the beautiful
FZeur-de-lis-emblem Of France. None
had vet borne to the banks OF the ''Beantl-
full River" the Red Cross OF st. George
the proud and gorgeous ensign OF old Eng
land.
The final contest for territorial suprem-
acy in America was near ut hand. Ihe
truce secured by the treaty Of Alx-la-
Chapelle ended and the war cloud was
transferred from Europe to the wlids OF
North America, where the storm burst
with all its fury and continued to rage for
six long wears. But the struggle ended
y
and the world knows the result. The
mower and dominion Of France have disap-
peared and no traces Of the prominent
streams and landmarks of the country ana
/ in the leaden plates which inscribed IN ner
language, still lie buried on the banks OIL
the Ohio.
Ii now only remained for England TO
possess the country thus wrested IRON a
sister Kingdom, and her explorers, survey
ors and adventures FASTENED to the Ohio
Valley. In 1865 Major George Crogan and
party descended the Ohio and saw the
present sites of Wheeling, Marietta and
Point Pleasant. (Appendixs Buttler'
History Of Kentucky page S65l, Five
wears later mo, Washington in company
With several virginians, crossed the noun,
tains to Fort Pitt and thence descended
the Ohio to the Great Kanawha where the
month Of ,Octobsr was spent IN maklng
SURVEYS When the work was completed
the marty returned to the East. At thai