Otis James
Benjamin of Ohio: A Story of the Settlement of Marietta
PARTING WITH UNCLE DANIEL
Master Slocomb's craft was not so well loaded but that he could, without inconvenience, take on board Uncle Daniel's wagon with all its belongings, except the oxen, so he urged the old man to finish the journey with him, the two having been friends for many a long year. The result was that Uncle Daniel parted company with us before nightfall, leaving his oxen to our care, but taking everything else he owned.
"I'll have a farm picked out for you folks, an' made ready to plow," the old man cried cheerily, as Master Slocomb's clumsy craft was poled out into the current. All our company stood on the river's bank watching the departure, and really sorry to part with our fellow traveler, who had always shown himself willing to lend a hand when it was needed, without regard to the labor.
We called after him until he was beyond earshot, Isaac Barker cracking jokes as usual, and then we set about making arrangements for our own journey down the river.
OUR FLATBOAT
There were several boats already built and for sale, and Master Rouse and Captain Haskell decided upon one which was not yet finished, so far as the accommodations for passengers were concerned, since it had no roof. It was by far the best craft, to my thinking, of all we saw there.
It was about forty feet long and twelve feet wide, of ample size and depth to carry all our wagons, as well as our people, to say nothing of as much space as would be required in which to house not only our horses, but Uncle Daniel's oxen.
It was not our purpose to take the beasts in the boat at that time, but rather to send them across the land to a settlement called Buffalo, at the mouth of Buffalo Creek, fifty-three miles from the ferry, whereas the distance was considerably more than a hundred miles by the waterway.
This was to be done not simply because we wanted to avoid the labor of caring for them, but because the Youghiogheny River was so shallow at that season of the year that a boat drawing more than eighteen or twenty inches of water could not float upon it.
The craft which Captain Haskell and Master Rouse had bought would draw, perhaps, seventeen inches with all our belongings, save the horses and oxen, on board, therefore we would send them across the country in charge of Michael Rouse, Isaac Barker, and Ben Cushing, counting to take them up when we came to Buffalo Creek, for there the river was deeper, the current swifter, and we should have no difficulty in carrying them.
A great time we had of it, packing our goods into the boat in a way to economize every inch of space, and when this had been done, and we learned how much of the craft could be given over to our own use, we set about making arrangements for comfort, first by covering the stern of the boat with mud to the depth of ten or twelve inches, and then building around it a fireplace of stone, where the cooking could be done without danger of setting fire to the timbers.
THE CATTLE ARE SENT AWAY
With blankets and sheets we made a covering for the after part of our ark, so that the women and children would be kept dry in case of a storm.
When all this had been done, and we had bought as much in the way of provisions as could be purchased at a reasonable price, Isaac, Michael, and Ben set off with the beasts.
It gave me a homesick feeling to see them march away; we had been together so long and had gone through so many hardships.
Within half an hour after the horses and oxen, with their drivers, had disappeared, we pushed off from the shore, and very strange did it seem to be carried along by the current, instead of fighting one's way through mud.
I said to myself that now it was the same as coming to the end of our journey, for we had simply to sit still and let the river do the work.
This, however, I soon understood was a mistake, for although we were not forced to trudge through mud and snow, there was ample work for men and boys in holding the clumsy craft out from the shore where she was like to go aground, or again, in leaping overboard and actually lifting her off some shoal on which she had grounded, as it seemed to me, in a very spirit of perverseness.
It is true that we were forced to work quite as hard in navigating the boat as when we plodded over the miry road, and yet there was this advantage, we were able to eat our meals at regular times.
What with rowing and poling, and now and then leaping waist deep into the water to shove her from the shoals, we contrived, after a considerable time, to get as far as the Monongahela River, where the water was deeper and the current swifter, permitting us to get some rest now and then, and for the first time since leaving Mattapoisett did this journey begin to seem pleasing.
It was Sunday evening when we arrived at Pittsburgh, making our clumsy craft fast to a stake on the shore at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, with the Ohio in full view.
AT PITTSBURGH
The town of Pittsburgh, the largest we had seen since coming into the state of Pennsylvania, appeared to me a most prosperous settlement. There was the fort called Pitt, and half a dozen shops, in addition to the houses which I was told sheltered about five hundred people. Therefore you can understand that it was indeed a place of considerable consequence.
It was not so late in the day but that Master Rouse and Captain Haskell went up into the town, after our boat had been made fast to the stake as I have said, in order to attend to some business, for on the frontier one does not observe so religiously the Sabbath as at home, and travelers who must continue their journey with as little delay as possible, are allowed to make necessary purchases even on Sunday.
When the two men went on shore there was nothing said as to how soon they might come back; but we supposed both would return as soon as their business was done.
Therefore the girls at once set about cooking supper; but when the meal was ready our gentlemen were not returned, and we waited for them until the corn cake was nearly cold, while the fish which we had caught during the day were much the worse for having remained from the fire so long.
About nine o'clock Mistress Rouse and Mistress Devoll decided that the younger children must be fed, in order that they might be put to bed at a reasonable hour, and therefore we ate the meal without waiting longer.
Well it was that we did so, if we counted on satisfying our hunger that day, for two hours later the men were yet absent, and then Mistress Devoll told me we should make our preparations for the night.
Now you know that this was no small task. The beds and bedding were stowed in the wagons during the day, and when night came, all must be taken out and spread upon the bottom of the boat for the women and children, while the boys – and of course I was numbered among them – slept in one of the wagons.
On this night, however, because Captain Haskell and Master Rouse had not returned, Mistress Rouse believed that I should make my bed at the end of the boat near the fireplace, where I could stand guard, or, in other words, where I might be ready to do whatsoever would be needed during the hours of darkness.
TOO MUCH WATER
I congratulated myself not a little that I was to sleep upon a very comfortable sack of feathers, which had thus far served Captain Haskell. Without giving very much heed to the fact that the men yet remained in town when there was every reason why they should have come back to the boat, I laid myself down, and was speedily lost in slumber, for the work during the day had been severe, and I was needing rest sorely.
I may have slept two or three hours, certainly as long as that, when suddenly I was awakened by a sense of discomfort, and, turning over, was brought to my feet very quickly by discovering that the water had come in even over the top of my bed.
I cried out, not from fear, but rather from surprise, and on the instant the women, as well as the older girls, being awakened, started aft to learn what might be the matter, when they plunged nearly to their knees in water.
Straightway the outcry was great, for they, as well as I, believed that the boat was sinking beneath us.
Strangely enough, the women seemed to consider that I was able to play the part of a man at such a time, and Mistress Devoll asked in a tone of fear what ought to be done.
During an instant I stood undecided, hardly having my wits about me, and then, still believing the clumsy craft was going to the bottom, I urged that we get on shore as speedily as possible.
ESCAPE OF THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN
Fortunately for us the boat had been moored with a short hawser, in such a manner that when Captain Haskell and Master Rouse left us they could readily leap from the gunwale to the land, and after the women were gathered on the shoreward side of the boat, instead of being obliged to jump, I found that they might readily step over the rail without wetting their feet in water, although they sank above the tops of their shoes in mud.
Once they had what might be called a firm footing, I passed the younger children over, and while doing so the twins made a great outcry, whereupon Mistress Devoll and Mistress Rouse commanded them to remain quiet.
Our cries and shouts awakened a man who proved to be of great assistance. His house stood on the shore near where our boat was moored, and he came to the door quickly, calling out to know what was the matter, whereupon I told him our boat was sinking and that some half-drowned women and children were shivering on the shore.
All of us were soaked to the skin, for we had floundered about in the water when first awakened, and the man cried out that we should remain where we were until he could light a lantern and come to our assistance, which he did in a very short space of time.
Then, without waiting to learn what might be happening to the boat, he insisted that all should go to his house, which was hardly more than a hundred paces away, and once there he built a big fire in the fireplace, after which he proposed that we older boys go with him to look after the craft, while the women and children dried their clothing.
REPAIRING DAMAGES
When we came to the boat again it was seen that there would have been no danger of her sinking, even though we remained aboard all night. It seems that the river had fallen after we made fast to the shore, and the landward side of the boat rested on the river bank as the waters receded, thus allowing the outer portion of the craft to settle in the stream until the water ran through the seams in the planking about the gunwale, for they were badly calked, having been hurriedly finished by the builders at Sumrill's Ferry while we were putting our goods on board.
There was no possibility of our shoving the huge boat into deeper water, therefore the kindly stranger awakened some of his neighbors, who, with such small aid as I could give, set about taking out the bedding and the clothing which had been wetted completely, carrying the stuff up to the house that it might be dried, and this work served to keep us busy until sunrise, when Master Rouse and Captain Haskell came down to the shore.
They had been busy with some people who intended to go to Marietta, and were so eager to make certain business arrangements that it seemed best to sleep at the tavern, rather than return at a late hour to the flatboat, and one can readily imagine their surprise at finding us with a good third of our cargo on shore.
The kind man who had labored nearly all night in our behalf lived alone in a large log hut, and insisted on preparing breakfast for all our company, not even allowing the girls to do their share of the work, thereby showing himself to be a skillful cook as well as a friendly neighbor.
When Master Rouse would have paid him for his labor, as well as for the food which he had provided, the man refused to take a penny, claiming that he had done only as he would be done by, and therefore I still have a kind feeling in my heart for Pittsburgh.
Master Rouse, Captain Haskell, and I soon had the water bailed out of the flatboat and the bedding, now dried, on board; before the afternoon was more than half spent, we were ready to set out on the last stage of our long journey.
OUR PILOT
We had, however, a new member of the company, an old trapper and hunter by the name of Bruce. Our gentlemen had met him at the tavern, and learned that he was familiar with the river, knowing all the shoals, or at least claiming that he did, and I have no reason to doubt his statement in view of what occurred before we arrived at Marietta.
He had intended to travel in his canoe, which was neither more nor less than a dugout, by which I mean the trunk of a tree hollowed out to make a shell-like craft which would carry a very heavy load. It required delicate handling because of its liability to overset in case any of the cargo was suddenly shifted. In fact, the old hunter laughingly said that if he shifted his pipe from one side of his mouth to the other the canoe would heel.
He had with him flour, half a dozen or more sides of bacon, a number of beaver traps, his camp kettle and equipage, not to speak of his rifle, blankets, and ammunition sufficient to last him during the winter season, while he was in the wilderness far from any other human being.
His canoe was lashed alongside the flatboat and he stood at the huge steering oar which swung from the stern, or rather from that end of the craft which we chose to call the stern, for, it being square at both ends, we might as well have called one the bow as the other.
A CHANGE OF WEATHER
It was about three o'clock when we started. The sky was overcast, and there were signs of rain in the south, while the wind shifted here and there until almost any one might have proved himself a weather prophet by predicting a storm.
Within an hour of sunset the wind swung around to the northwest and blew fiercely across the bend of the river where we then were, kicking up such a sea as to send the crests of the waves over the side of the boat, threatening to sink, if not overset, the unwieldy craft.
We men and boys worked at the oars to the best of our ability, striving to force the clumsy vessel toward the Pennsylvania shore, for the opposite bank, or what was called the Indian side, was said to be infested with savages who, even though they were supposed to be at peace with white people, robbed flatboats and killed travelers at every favorable opportunity.
Master Bruce's huge canoe pounded and thumped against the side of the boat until it seemed certain she would stave in the planks, and finally, regardless of the fact that all his property was on board, the old hunter cut her adrift.
Then, while we rode more easily, the danger was lessened but little, for the wind increased in force, and the waves grew higher, until all of us boys were forced to work at bailing in order to keep the water from rising so high as to soak our goods.
I had not realized that there was any actual danger until I heard the old hunter say to Captain Haskell that we must take our chances of being attacked by the Indians, because it was impossible to force the flatboat over to the Pennsylvania shore, therefore we ought to make harbor wherever we could.
NOISY FEAR
Up to this time the women and the girls had remained reasonably quiet, apparently too much frightened to make any sound; but overhearing what Master Bruce said regarding the necessity of our taking shelter on the Indian shore, they set up a great outcry.
Captain Haskell and Master Rouse, although they were needed at the oars, could do no less than go amidships where the shrieking ones were gathered, and literally force them to hold their peace, for it was most distracting to hear the noise while we had as much as we could do to work the craft.
The old hunter showed that he knew much regarding the handling of such a boat as we were then aboard; for in a short time, by skillful pulling at the plank that served as rudder, aided by those of us who tugged at the oars, she was brought under a high bluff, on the Indian side of the river, and there made fast by a hawser to trees growing near the water's edge.
We were no sooner moored than Mistress Devoll sprang over the side of the boat to the land, declaring that while the storm raged as it did then she would not trust herself on board even though the Indians might be near, and her example was speedily followed by the other women and girls.
It seemed to me a foolhardy act to go on shore when we knew there was danger the Indians might make an attack, yet Master Rouse and Captain Haskell held their peace, allowing the women to do as they pleased, while the old hunter set about putting up a shelter for them by means of four poles, with blankets stretched across after the fashion of a tent.
There the women made beds for themselves and the children, rather than go back to the boat, even though to my mind it was safely secured and could not come to any harm.
Master Bruce was not content with having done this. Just before having landed we saw a thin thread of smoke rising from the trees half a mile distant, and he set off as soon as the makeshift tent had been put up, running the chances of coming upon the savages, in order to discover who our neighbors might be.
