Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1938-06-16
SIDE LIGHTS
ON
LOCAL HISTORY
By
Stanbery Alderman

.
The Muskingum river was, fol
many years, the chief source O.
prosperity in Morgan county. And
even today we profit from it, bu
not nearly SO much as in the days
previous to 1900.
A detailed account of it's traffic
would fill a book many times the
size of these articles, and then al
would not be told.
The late Captain Irven Travis, In
a number of papers, read before the
old Scientific Society, has covered
the ground most thoroughly, and to
those wanting more information
about the river, the boats that were
upon it, and it's traffic, I refer you
to the papers of Captain Travis,
that were published in the local pa.
pers at the time they were present
ed to the society They are the re-
suit of a lifetime spent on the river
and many months of research in
their preparation. Any attempt on
my part to discuss this subject
would be an anti-climax, after read
ing his papers.
For those who do not have the
time nor inclination to hunt these
papers up and read them, 1 shall
very briefly sketch the subject.
Robertson in his history gives
some attention to this subject but
nothing as complete as Captain
Travis has done.
The prosperity of Morgan county
has depended, to a very great ex-
tent, upon her agriculture and
methods of transportation.
We live in one of the hilly sec.
tions of the state, and road building
was always slow and expensive
matter. So the river was, for years,
our main artery of transportation.
In recent years, with the coming
of improved methods and materials
for road building, we have caught
up with other parts of the state and
today we have as fine roads as main
arteries of commerce, with good
ones as secondary feeders, as can be
found in any other county of our
population. Perhaps we excell many
others in this regard.
At the very first session of the
commissioners petitions for roads
were presented, and ever since that
subject has been before us.
But the river was the only means
to carry our produce any distance.
From the earliest knowledge we
have of it, the Indians used it as a
way to come from it's upper reaches
to the Ohio. Their canoes were es
pecially adapted to travel in shall
low and rapid waters. The pioneers
saw the benefits to be derived from
it's use and as far back as we have |
their products down to Marietta, !
sippi and on to New Orleans. At |
about 16 to 20 feet wide and SO to
good lumber that could be sold /
when the boat reached it's destina-
tion and was torn down. In fact the !
sale of the lumber in the boat was
often the net profit on the trip.
have heard my great grandfather,
John (Deacon) Miller, tell of his
building boats and carrying salt
and other produce down the river.
1t was the first business in which
he engaged as young man.
After the -four mills were estab-
1ished, flour was one of the staple
cargoes, and the best boats could
carry as much as 400 barrels at a
trip. Some were more elaborate
than others, having part decked
over to protect the cargo. From six
to 10 men were necessary to handle
the boat. Until dams were built,
the heavy loads could only be TAX
en- out in the spring when the river
was on a rise. 1t is said that JOS
eph Mcconnell built the first fiat
boat at McConnelsville about 1925;
he loaded with barrel slaves and
started for a trip down the Missis-
sippi, but lost his boat and cargo
somewhere about Memphis, when 1t
hit snag.
The first steamboat ever on the
Muskingum was the Rufus Put
nam" It's first trip was made in
January of 1924.
From then on steamboats, were
more and more common until after
the improvement of the river by
locks and dams, when no river
boasted more of finer boats than
the Muskingum, nor did any furnish
a greater amount of traffic.
The first improvement of the riv-
er was authorized by the legislature
in March, 1886. This was brought
about by the desire to have canal
system connecting Lake Erie with