Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1938-01-20

Europe, where he had visited Lafay-
ette Here were Mr.. William Holt
den and his two sisters. Then came
couple much engrossed with one
another, Colonel Mills and Miss VIII.
son, soon after his wife. There was
Captain Knox, even then a well
known boatman, and there were
those young beaux, SO welcome ev.
erywhere, William A. Whittlesey, n.
T. Nye, A. V. d. Joline, Robert and
John Crawford. There were the
two Misses Nye, Miss Hannah Dodge,
and Miss Elizabeth Barker, with her
brother David, who was then the
wealthiest man in Washington coun
ty. There was Mrs. Doctor Hill
dreth and young Mr.. Barnes of New
York, the acknowledged admirer Of
Miss Nancy Wood...."
At last the little boat left the
shore and headed up the river. AS
it neared Rainbow, about six miles
above Marietta, so named by the
early settlers on account of the
beautiful arch made by the river,
the cannon was again fired that
those living along the river might
know of it's arrival and come out
and see this history making pas
sage.
Along here lived the Stones, and
Putnams, lineal descendants of the
old hero of Pomfert. Along here al
so lived Captain Johnathan Devol, q
veteran of the Revolution, who had
been the chief builder of the May,
flower, in which, had arrived, IN
1888, the men who were to found
the great state of Ohio. The re.
porter states that while the boat lay
at the shore, waiting for Miss Stone
IDr,t 70 Of nar rH
old Captain Devol hobbled down to
the river bank and bowed low to the
captain of the Rufus Putnam, and
in acknowledgment of this act OF
courtesy the cannon was again fired
and the wind whipped the stars ana
stripes, as if in honor of the old vet.
eran.
At each settlement along the riv-
er the boat was stopped and crowds
gathered to view the strange sight
and at several stops others came
aboard to make the trip to Zanes-
Vile Our reporter makes note of
the fact that while steamboats, had
been seen around Marietta since
1916, but very few, up the river,
ever had even heard of such a
strange device, and the excitement
on viewing this strange ship was in.
tense Men, hearing the report OF
neither the Fourth of July nor the
! 22nd of February, rushed, barehead-
ed. to the banks of the river to learn
/ the cause, and women, many with
I infants in their arms, followed the
boat as far as it could be seen, and
one man jumped upon his horse and
raced after the boat until it was hid
from view by the hills Some,
alarmed by the unaccustOmed sound,
h II
/ that either the day of judgment was
! at hand or the British had again
risen and were trying to retake the
country.
l again will quote from our re
porter: In addition to the seen
cry along the winding river, with
it's very beautiful wooded shores,
there was much historical interest
in this first steamboat excursion up
the Muskingum.. During the ev"
ening Big Bottom was passed, the
scene of the massacre by the In
dians and the blOodiest event in the
annals of the first settlement. Here,
33 years before in the same month,
and at about the same hour, as the
weary settlers were cooking their
supper, after a hard days work, II
of them We're ruthlessly murdered
and five taken prisoner by the saw
ages, two, only escaping to tell the
dismal tale So sudden was the at
tack that no man raised an arm N
defense, and the only blow struck
was by the hand of a woman, driven
mad with grief at seeing the brains
of her two children knocked out and
their bodies thrown into the fire. A
tomahawk put an end to her mis-
cry, more, it would seem, in mercy
than in cruelty. At Luke Chute. the
night being dark and rainy and the
current very swift, the boat was
obliged to lay up till daylight. Here,
as all were knitting up the raveled
sleeve of care and the entire boat
was wrapped in quietness, a sudden
alarm was given. Mr.. Joline, find
ing someone wandering near his
bed and supposed him to be there
for some evil purpose, grasped the
offender, and in his excitement rails
ed many bump and caused one
black eye, before it was discovered
that the supposed villain was inno-
cent Mr.. Whittlesey, walking in his
Sleep"
The progress made the next day
was slow, as in addition to the swift
current, the river being half bank
full. no fuel had been provided and
the supply had to be purchased from
time to time from the settlers along
the way. The boat passed McCon~
nelsville at noon on Saturday and
about ten o'clock The banks of the
river were lined with spectators who
had heard the cannon, seen the
L. 4 H.