Preface. xi

Chapter I.

On the Monongahela—The over-mountain path—Redstone Old Fort—The Youghiogheny—Braddock's defeat. 1

Chapter II.

First day on the Ohio—At Logstown. 22

Chapter III.

Shingis Old Town—The dynamiter—Yellow Creek. 29

Chapter IV.

An industrial region—Steubenville—Mingo Bottom—In a steel mill—Indian character. 39

Chapter V.

House-boat life—Decadence of steamboat traffic—Wheeling, and Wheeling Creek. 50

Chapter VI.

The Big Grave—Washington and Round Bottom—A lazy man's paradise—Captina Creek—George Rogers Clark at Fish Creek—Southern types. 64

Chapter VII.

In Dixie—Oil and natural gas, at Witten's Bottom—The Long Reach—Photographing crackers—Visitors in camp. 77

Chapter VIII.

Life ashore and afloat—Marietta, "the Plymouth Rock of the West"—The Little Kanawha—The story of Blennerhassett's Island. 87

Chapter IX.

Poor whites—First library in the West—An hour at Hockingport—A hermit fisher. 99

Chapter X.

Cliff-dwellers, on Long Bottom—Pomeroy Bend—Letart's Island, and Rapids—Game, in the early day—Rainy weather—In a "cracker" home. 109

Chapter XI.

Battle of Point Pleasant—The story of Gallipolis—Rosebud—Huntington—The genesis of a houseboater. 125

Chapter XII.

In a fog—The Big Sandy—Rainy weather—Operatic gypsies—An ancient tavern. 139

Chapter XIII.

The Scioto, and the Shawanese—A night at Rome—Limestone—Keels, flats, and boatmen of the olden time. 150

Chapter XIV.

Produce-boats—A dead town—On the Great Bend—Grant's birthplace—The Little Miami—The genesis of Cincinnati. 168

Chapter XV.

The story of North Bend—The "shakes"—Driftwood—Rabbit hash—A side-trip to Big Bone Lick. 182

Chapter XVI.

New Switzerland—An old-time river pilot—Houseboat life on the lower reaches—A philosopher in rags—Wooded solitudes—Arrival at Louisville. 202

Chapter XVII.

Storied Louisville—Red Indians and white—A night on Sand Island—New Albany—Riverside hermits—The river falling—A deserted village—An ideal camp. 218

Chapter XVIII.

Village life—A traveling photographer—On a country road—Studies in color—Again among colliers—In sweet content—A ferry romance. 233

Chapter XIX.

Fishermen's tales—Skiff nomenclature—Green River—Evansville—Henderson—Audubon and Rafinesque—Floating shops—The Wabash. 251

Chapter XX.

Shawneetown—Farm-houses on stilts—Cave-in-Rock—Island nights. 267

Chapter XXI.

The Cumberland and the Tennessee—Stately solitudes—Old Fort Massac—Dead towns in Egypt—The last camp—Cairo. 280

Appendix A.—Historical outline of Ohio Valley settlement. 296

Appendix B.—Selected list of Journals of previous travelers down the Ohio. 320

Index. 329