Commerce on Early American Waterways

Earl E. Brown, a retired Marine officer and Naval Aviator, with an M.S. in Operation Research and System Analysis, directed studies for the national government. He has previously published on water commerce in Colonial America.

Table of Contents



Acknowledgments     

Preface     

Introduction: The Use of Rivers and Streams to Transport Heavy Loads to Market     



1. Early Colonial America     

The Beginning     

Rafts, Durham Boats and Conestoga Wagons     

Philadelphia     

Baltimore and the Susquehanna Valley     

The French and Indian War     

The Quakers Lose Control of the Pennsylvania Assembly     

Baltimore     

Between the Wars     

The Revolutionary War 1776–1783     

Pennsylvania     

Baltimore     

After the Revolutionary War     

Pennsylvania     

Middletown, York Haven and Columbia     

Baltimore     

2. The Susquehanna Is Opened to the Chesapeake Bay Cryder’s Run     

3. Arks on the Penns Creek     

The Creek     

Building a Dam Across a Public Highway     

Three Sides to the Chute Controversy     

Ark Navigation     

Butter Rock     

Ark Stoving (Wrecking)     

Ark Cargos     

The Costs to Get Products to Market     

What Was 180,000 Bushels of Wheat Worth?     

Warehouses, Landings and Ark Construction     

Penns Valley Arks     

The Manufacturing of Wheat     

4. Waterways from 1791 to the Early 1800s     

Arks and Rafts in New York State     

Before the War of 1812     

Vying for the Susquehanna River Trade     

The Steamboat     

Baltimore During the War of 1812     

Arks on Other Public Highways     

The West Branch of the Susquehanna River     

The North Branch of the Susquehanna River     

The Lehigh River     

The Main Branch of the Susquehanna River     

Baltimore after the War of 1812     

The Canals     

5. Rafting on the North Branch     

Strong’s Journal     

Strong’s Voyage     

Thomas Yates’ Charts     

6. Rafting on the Main Branches     

The Shamokin Dam     

Simon Girty     

Lazy Man’s Gap     

Lower River Pilots     

Conewago Falls     

Susquehanna Gorge     

Port Deposit, Maryland     

Jacob Tome’s Port Deposit     

William Lowman: a Waterman’s Life in Port Deposit     

Dancing over the Columbia Dam     

7. Rafts on the West Branch     

William Langdon: 1855     

8. Tales of the West Branch     

Getting Stuck on a Rock     

Rafting Grub     

Danger at Shamokin Dam     

A Tragedy at Millers Landing     

Caught in a Spring Snowstorm     

A Rafting Town in Season     

Cherry Tree Joe     

Ladies on the River     

My First Rafting Trip     

Gallows Harbor: How it Got its Name     

9. Log Driving     

Log Drive to Williamsport in 1868     

John Dubois and Hiram Woodward     

The Woodhicks     

The Raftsmen and Log Drivers’ Relationships     

Log Rustlers     

The Camps     

Camp Dubois Opens     

The Jobber     

Felling and Skidding     

Parties along the Sinnemahoning Creek     

How the Number of Logs Was Estimated     

How the Drive Was Organized     

The Drive Begins     

Tragedy on the River     

On to Williamsport     

West Branch Log Drives     

10. Woodhicks     

Jam Breakers     

Woodhick Baseball     

Bullies     

Abe Bloom     

Miles Dent     

Ambrose Campbell and Len Childs     

Big Bob Gowdy     

11. The Mississippi Watershed     

Early Road West     

The Allegheny and Ohio Rivers     

The Mississippi River     

Appendix: Arks and Raft construction     

Ark Construction     

Board Raft Construction     

Manufacturing Sticks     

Manufacturing a Stick into a Spar     

Manufacturing a Stick into a Square Timber     

Building a Hauling or Skidding Road     

Hauling or Skidding Spars     

Landings or Rafting Grounds     

Oars or Sweeps     

Rafting-in a Spar Raft     

Rafting-in a Square Timber Raft     

Double Bowing     

Landing and Snubbing Rafts     

Rafting Shanties     

Rafting-in a Round Log Raft     

Log Slide Construction     



Glossary     

Works Cited     

Index