The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1900-04-07
HISTORIC RIVERS OF AMERICA.


rolled tenpins in the Catski11 noun
tains and awakened Rip Van Wrinkle
from his twenty years nap. he wa.
not aware of the existence of any
other rivers in the New World be
sides the one named after him. Bu
Hudson and the notorious rip" ha6
been in their last sleep many year.
ere the panorama of civilization un
folded to view the other beautiful
streams known only to the Indians
loved and named by them, and which
were to remain as monuments to theil
almost extinct race.
The traveller from New York to St
Louis--from the Hudson to the Mis-
sissippi rarely thinks of the associ
alton of his own name with thos'
who have trodden the same paths il
centuries before him.
This occurred to me on recen
trip between the cities named, jus
after had been reading bit of In
dian lore. 1t was on December IA
the tooth anniversary of the death o
Washington, that I took the ferry a
the foot of Whitehall street, and in 81
doing remembered it was here tina
Washington bade farewell to hi
army. Then as the boat swung ou
to Jersey City and crossed the Nortl
river, my mind became busy will
history, and 1 naturally thought o
"Hudson. Landing at Jersey City
remembered that Communipaw, oul
landing place, was the first Dutch set
tlement in New York. With my
mind dwelling on such matters as
entered the Baltimore & Ohio train,
resolved to jog my memory to SET
how far my education in history haC
gone, and at the same time to see how
far my studies of geography had beer
impressed upon my mind. When my
journey was ended at St. Louis
found / had crossed all of the mos
historical rivers of our great anc
grand country.
First came the Delaware" river
at Trenton, that famous river, which
s9Pf0lissi 80 osaa = Z century ago was such {
our hungry 9cIe to the movement o
Approach And iIl-cIotked patriots.
Fairlno,,gt Park p''s'pf a ss'ppifsazles. .rougl
affgfats'sst - ! lie beautiful 'Wissahick-
on"etesg I'D its famous driveways.
In Philadelphia the train skirted
the "Schuylkill" river, which, though
not beautiful at that particular point,
is useful to a most important degree
to the commercial interest of that
city.
And at Wilmington, the Brandy
wine," inofensive and quiet, moves
noiselessly by, forgetting completely
the strifes of the latter part of the
eighteenth century and the blood
stains its waters obliterated.
A few miles further on came the
magnificent "Susquehanna" grand,
superb--stretching UP and down as far
as theeye can reach, ,refecting the blue
sky as in a great mirror As a water
study, the Susquehanna at Havre de
Grace presents a most picturesque
view, not excelled by anything in
Switzerland.
Then the ''Gunpowder" river,
famous marshes, known to all sports
men, appeared in great splotches, with
no distinct outlines of river bed.
At Baltimore the "Patapsco" river
widens out to such an extent as to be
considered the head of the Chesapeake
bay, but in reality the bay commences
twelve miles below the city.
About nine miles out of Baltimore
at Relay the "Patapsco" is crossed
over the famous stone arched bridge,
which proudly bears the distinction oi
being the oldest railway bridge of its
kind in the world.
Between Baltimore and Washing
ton the Little Patuxent" river is
crossed. Although this river is in
significant where it is crossed, it wild
ems out and forms an arm of the Ches-
apeake bay, and one of the noted oys-
ter fisheries of Maryland.
The city of Washington lies on the
Potomac" river, which is navigable
to the Chesapeake bay.
Out of Washington, first comes the
"Monocacy" river, which, aside from
its great beauty, has become histori-
cal from the great battle of the Civil
War which bears its nsme.
A little further on at Point of Rocks
the historic Potomac" river becomes
a travelling companion for $50 miles,
and one has time to dwell on its re-
markab1e beauty and far more re-
narkable history, 1t is curious, but
nevertheless fact, that every line OF
territory from New York city to Pitts
burg travelled by the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad was traversed over and
over again by George Washington,
from the time he surveyed wagon
road over the mountains until the end
of the War of the Revolution. His
connection with the French and In
dian War recalls the many names
which the Potomac has borne. It is
said that the first white settlers al
jamestown, Va, gave it the name Of
"Pawtomax," in consequence Of the
tribe of Indians by that name living
along the stream east of Harper s
Ferry. West of that point it was
called by the Indians "Cohongoru-
ton" or "Cohongoluta. 1t was also
called the "Quirrough," in the grant
of the Northern Neck by Charles II
of England, to the Fairfaxes, but il
has not been suggested where he OF
his petitioners obtained that queer
title for it. Then as names change
it evolved into the "Potowmack. :"
Every schoolboy knows (or at least