Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-15

M along the Ohio and
"Old Rickory." Mississippi rivers as
Pittsburg's itself. This city is now looked
upon as the head of navigation. But 1t re-
ceived no such distinction IN the palmy
days of Brownsville. Then, it was Browns
vile from which the beginning of great
river voyage was made. From the mossy
levee of that hamlet famous passengers en-
barked, or valuable freight was loaded on
steamboats, for all Western and Southern
destinations. That was 60 miles above
Pittsburg, and when the wharves of the big
city were touched by steamers from Browns
vile, travellers merely stepped over the
| g-plank from one boat to the other, and
were speedily whisked out of sight of the
metropolis, which is now really the actual
starting point for that same ride.
DECLINE AND FALL.
And so it was that 80 years ago the head
of navigation was 60 miles higher up than
it is to-day. But in these days the 60 miles
of upper river is just as navigable, if not
more So than it was then, and pretty lit
| tie line of steamers ply between Pittsburg
| and Brownsville. Why, then, was the
grand river route of the Ohio and Missis-
sippi reduced that much? In the answer
| lies the tale of Brownsville's decline and
| Pittsburg's glory. And to this narrative
there is a sequel-the prosperity of the
whole Ohio Valley, and indirectly that of
the Father of Waters also.
From the very commencement of river
navigation this town of Brownsville meas
ured arms with Pittsburg Robert Fulton,
to Pittsburg to build and launch the first
and his financial backer, Livingston, had come
steamboats, for experimental steam naviga-
tion of the western rivers. From the courts
OF Louisiana they had secured monopolistic
grants of the rights between the shores of
the wide Mississippi. Their control of the
promised navigation between Pittsburg and
New Orleans would compare in our times
with
A PRINCES FRANCHISES.
But ere Fulton had launched two vessels
from the Pittsburg wharves, a plucky COM
pany of villagers had been organized in
Brownsville, and soon sent past the shop of
Fulton and Livingston in Pittsburg the
| third steamboat that ever piled the western
waters. 1t was the Enterprise. True, Full
toms good boat Vesuvius reached New
| Orleans several months in advance of the
Enterprise in 1914, but in rounding that
| far-away finish, the Enterprise return ID to
| Pittsburg and Brownsville. the first steam
boat to ever successfully ascend the Missis-
sippi. Fulton was afraid to risk his first
vessels to steam alone, and attached sails to
| them but the sturdy little company of
Brownsville boat-builders depended entire
| ly upon steam. And still the next boat
built and sent out from Brownsville went
| far beyond the experiments of Inventor
! Fulton, at Pittsburg, because it carried the
first high-pressure engine ever boated on
| the rivers.
Then, to crown the throwing of Browns
vilie's gauntlet at tine feet of the Eastern
genius down at Pittsburg, the villages two
boats, the Enterprise and the Washington,
broke the embargo which
FULToN's MONOPOLY
of the Mississippi promised. Fulton had
caused the arrest OF Captain Shreve COM
mander and one of the owners of the Browns
vile boats, when he was returning North,
and had reached a point 200 miles above
New Orleans. The arrest was for infring-
ing upon his exclusive rights of steamboat
ing on the Mississippi river. Backed by
! the farmers of Brownsville, Shreve stub
bornly resisted the charge in the courts,
carrying the case up to the Supreme bench,
finally winning, and thus securing free
navigation of the Father of Waters.
Que of the most superb relics of the ante
railroad period in the United States is the
old National Turnpike. The section of it
which crosses the Allegheny Mountains is
still in excellent condition. Descending
the western slope of the mountains, the
teamster found himself within ten miles
drive of Brownsville, the grand changing
place from the rambling old stage coach to
the palatial steamboats, which made early
steamboat riding on the Western rivers
memorable. Henry Clay was
THE LEADING SPIRIT
in inducing Congress to authorize the
building of the National road, and in the
period of which he was a distinguishing
character, there became no more popular
route to his home down the river than this
same road. And before long it gained the
name of "the road which lay between the
White House, the Capitol and the homes of
the nations Western statesmen" Browns
vile became sort of general jumping-off
place. and it was not uncommon, SO it is
said by old residents, for members of Con-
gress to decide among themselves before
leaving Washington whether they would
stop over at Brownsville for a rest-and
sup or two of that old Monongahela rye.
Thus it was that many celebr ated person.
ages visited the town of Brownsville in
those early days. There are people still liv-
ing up there who love to talk of their recol-
lections of the past For instance, am told
by one of ''the oldest inhabitants" that
when a steamboat from Pittsburg and the
West came within two miles of the town the
pilot blew his whistle as many times as he
had through passengers for the East. The lis
4opi fau Eaanorc md dcra aOa l,i1,
up in town were thereby notified how MANY
people they would have to have accommo-
dations tor And the signal also served to
notify the town that boat was about due,
and by the time it arrived
A GREAT CROWD
was generally gathered on shore waiting
to see who of prominence was among the
passengers.
Nelson Bowman, one of the oldest of the
townspeople, son of a settler, Jacob Bow
man, lives in grand old stone mansion,
built over 100 years ago, which sits upon
the summit of a small, rounded hill in the
center of the village, and which has tower
of Norman style OF architecture, giving the
whole structure resemblance to a foreign
castle. Not only Bowman, but several other
aged citizens of the place remember the re-
ception General Lafayette received there in
1924. He had stopped at Brownsville
while en- route over the National road from
Washington to the home of Andrew Gal
latin.
Andrew jackson was frequent visitor to
Brownsville. On one occasion when he
stopped over one Monday night to await
morning boat, and only short time before
he became President Of the United States,
the Congressman of the district, Mr.. Craw-
ford, insisted that together they should at