The Ohio River Trade, 1788-1830

by Hazel Yearsley Shaw

The country produced all the necessaries of life in abundance, and about 1800 the settlers were sending the residue, with many other articles, such as hemp, cordage, hardware, some glass, whiskey, apples, cider, and salted provisions down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans.[65] The St. Clair which cleared from Marietta in 1801, carried pork, and flour which was sold in Havana for forty dollars per barrel, but was subject to a duty of twenty dollars.[66] With the proceeds of the cargo a load of sugar was purchased and disposed of at Philadelphia. The ships built at Marietta, from this time until 1808, were exchanged for merchandise in the Atlantic cities, and were the most profitable returns which they could make. Although the country was thinly peopled, yet the vessels were always loaded with flour, pork, and other produce, in their downward voyage, thus yielding a double profit.[67] The embargo of 1808 put a stop to this trade and ruined many of the merchants of Marietta, one of the merchants who had a ship in New Orleans at that time, losing over $10,000.[68] Some of the vessels from Marietta, bound to foreign ports, took in cotton, for Liverpool, from the plantations on the Mississippi.[69] The banks of the Ohio having been inhabited for a period of only a few years, the Americans shared but very feebly in the commerce of the Mississippi, which in 1802 consisted of such articles as hams, salted pork, brandies distilled from corn and peaches, butter, hemp, skins, and various sorts of flour. Cattle were sent to the Atlantic States.[70]

Trades people supplied themselves at Pittsburg and Wheeling, and passed up and down the river, conveying to the settlers haberdashery goods, and more especially teas and coffee, taking some of their produce in return.[71] In the beginning of spring and autumn merchandise was sent from Philadelphia and Baltimore to Pittsburg for supplying the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and the settlement of Natchez.[72] Michaux says, "I have heard ... that during the last war, corn being up to an exhorbitant rate, it was computed that the exportations from Kentucky had balanced the price of importations of English goods from Philadelphia and Baltimore, by way of the Ohio, but since the peace, the demand for flour and salt provisions having ceased in the Carribbees, corn has fallen considerable, so that the balance of trade is wholly unfavorable to the country."[73] Butter not consumed in Kentucky was put into barrels and exported by the Ohio to the Carribbees.[74] Salt provisions formed another important article of Kentucky trade, 72,000 barrels of dried pork, and 2485 barrels of salt being exported in the first half of the year 1802.[75]

In 1802 the freitage of a boat to convey flour to Lower Louisiana cost one hundred dollars. The boat carried 25 to 300 barrels, and was navigated by five men, the chief receiving one hundred dollars for the voyage, the others receiving fifty each. Most of the embarkations were made from Louisville, thirty or thirty-five days being required for the journey to New Orleans. The crew embarked at New Orleans for New York, or Philadelphia, and returned from thence by way of the Ohio to Kentucky.[76]

The produce of the settlements upon the Monongahela and Allegheny found an easy conveyance down the Ohio. Corn, hams, and dried pork were the principal articles sent to New Orleans, whence they were reexported to the Carribbees. Bar iron, coarse linen, bottles manufactured at Pittsburg, whiskey, and salt butter were exported for the consumption of Louisiana. A great part of these provisions came from Redstone on the Monongahela.[77] Knoxville exported flour, cotton, and lime to New Orleans by way of the Tennessee River, but this route was not much frequented by the trade, the navigation of the river being very much encumbered in different places by Shallows interspersed with rocks.[78] In Tennessee the major part of the cultivators sold their cotton to the trades people at Nashville who sent it by the river to New Orleans, from thence it was sent to New York or Philadelphia, or exported direct to Europe.[79] Considerable quantities of corn were shipped from Illinois, in flat boats, to New Orleans, before the purchase of Louisiana. Cattle, and horses were raised for the market, some were shipped to New Orleans, and considerable live stock to the lead mines in Louisiana.[80] Furs and peltries were articles in great demand, and were generally shipped to Mickanaw, Philadelphia, and New Orleans.[81]

During this early period in the settlement of the West, boats were employed in the trade up the Mississippi and Ohio, as well as in carrying articles of export down these rivers, Mr. Vigo, a trader of Illinois, exported furs to Pittsburg as early as 1790.[82] Wagons from Pittsburg to Philadelphia and Baltimore in 1802 carried fur skins that came from the Illinois country.[83] At Nashville in 1802 the first attempt was made to send cottons by the Ohio to Pittsburg in order to be thence conveyed to the remote parts of Pennsylvania. Michaux speaks of meeting several barges laden with cotton, near Marietta, "going up the river with a staff, and making about twenty miles a day."[84] The merchants at this place received a considerable quantity of their goods from New Orleans by way of the Mississippi, Ohio, and Cumberland.[85]

By April, 1802, the news of the cession of Louisiana by Spain to France, according to the secret treaty of Ildefonso,[86] October 1, 1803, reached the United States, and early in 1803 a treaty was negotiated giving the United States the possession of Louisiana.[87] The purchase of Louisiana, the free navigation of the Mississippi, and the increased importance of the New Orleans market may be set down as among the causes which led to the rapid growth of the western country. "Commerce came, bringing them a market for their products, offering rich rewards to industry, and stimulating labor to the highest point of exertion. She brought with her money, and the various representatives of money, established, credit, confidence, commercial intercourse, united action, and mutuality of interest. Through her influence the forests were penetrated by roads, bridges were thrown over rivers, and highways constructed through dreary morasses. Traveling was rendered easy, and transportation cheap. Through this influence the earth was made to yield its mineral treasures ... agricultural products have increased ... manufactures ... such have been the trophies of commerce."[88]

In 1803 the Miami Exporting Company was created. Its object was to reduce the difficulty and expense of transportation by collecting the produce of the country and shipping it to New Orleans. At the time the association was formed, the agriculture and commerce of the West, were at the lowest point of depression.[89] No artificial roads had been made; canals had not been thought of; the natural impediments in the rivers of the country rendered their navigation difficult and hazardous at all times, always tedious, and often impracticable; and when the water was at its most favorable stage, the distance of the principal port, the imperfect means of transportation, and the low price of produce were such, that a large portion of the avails of a cargo was consumed by the expense of taking it to market. The average time required to make a trip to New Orleans and back to Cincinnati was six months. The craft made use of were small, and the cargoes light, and when they arrived at New Orleans in flat boats, which could not be taken back, the boats were abandoned. The pirogues and keel boats returned with such articles as the market of New Orleans afforded. Under such disadvantages the commerce was nominal, and only necessity prompted the inhabitants to engage in it. For many years, the emigrants created the only demand for the surplus products of the interior settlements.[90]

In the Spring and Fall of the year 1803, numerous trading boats destined for Kentucky, New Orleans, or the towns on the Spanish side of the Mississippi, were continually passing down the Ohio.[91] They carried flour, whiskey, peach brandy, cider, bacon, iron, potter's ware, cabinet work, and other articles, all the produce or manufacture of the country. The boats used in this trade were called arks, were manned by four boatmen, carried no sail, and were capable of carrying from two to five hundred barrels of flour.[92] Vessels were built at Elizabethtown, on the Monongahela, laden with the produce of the country, and sent to the West India Islands.[93] Harris speaks of meeting the ship "Pittsburg" of 275 tons burthen, from the same place, laden with 1700 barrels of flour.[94] Articles of cabinet work, made at Pittsburg, supplied many of the settlements of the Ohio and Mississippi.[95] The produce received by the merchants of this place, from the farmers, was sent to New Orleans, and the proceeds sent to the Atlantic States to meet their payments.[96] The articles of merchandise brought over the mountains to Pittsburg were placed on trading boats, which floated down the river, stopping at the towns to sell their articles. These boats contributed much to the convenience of the settlers, by bringing to them the little necessaries which it would be very troublesome to go a great distance to procure.[97]

Kentucky cordage and flour, and Monongahela flour were sent to New Orleans in 1804.[98] During 1805, Monongahela flour,[99] Kentucky tallow, and white baling rope were received at this port.[100] Kentucky tobacco and Monongahela flour were advertised for sale at New Orleans in 1806.[101]