Excerpts from Putnam’s journal
Excerpts from the river journey section of Gen. Rufus Putnam’s journal:
Friday, March 29, 1787
Launched our great boat named the Union Galley (Different writings call the flatboat by many names, including the Adventure Galley and Mayflower). She was intended to carry 24 tons … the same day we launched a large walnut canoe called the Katting Tender. Having before put in the river two other canoes one called the Ellen the other the Wesel of about 800 burden. This with the Adelphia ferry boat of about 3-ton burden makes up our fleet with which we shall proceed down river.
Monday, March 31, 1787
Col. Sproat, Mr. Foster and others set out with the horses and oxen for the mouth of Buffalo Creek and are to take 500 pounds of hard bread, a number of venison hams with a firken of butter from Washington on pack horses. (A firkin is a small cask that holds around 11 gallons.)
Put a part of our loading on board but the rain prevented our completing the loading and setting out as intended.
Tuesday, April 1, 1787
45 minutes past one o’clock we left Sumrells Ferry and falling down 6 miles took in one ton of hay and proceeded to Mr. Gee’s Ferry where we arrived at 9 o’clock the same.
Wednesday, April 2, 1787
Got underway at 4 o’clock in the morning and arrived at Pittsburgh about 8 am — left Pittsburgh at 2 o’clock pm. Passed great Beaver Creek at 8 in the evening. (Pittsburgh at that time was already an established community. They did not record what they spent 6 hours doing in the town before continuing down river.)
Thursday, April 3, 1787
Came to (a nautical term for stopping) about 3 mile above Harmon Creek at 4 o’clock am. Waiting for day light to find said creek, at 7 o’clock the same morning came to 戮 of a mile below Harmon Creek having passed it through mistake — Mr. Foster arrived about 12 o’clock having been engaged in forwarding a quantity of pork from Mr. Southenland to the river, distance 4 miles. The provisions were all got to the river this evening but the heavy rains which fell this evening prevented there loading a raft of boards from coming down. (Harmon Creek flows into the Ohio River just north of U.S. 22 in Weirton.)
Friday, April 4, 1787
Having got the provisions on board and the boards on the raft, we set out 1 o’clock and arrived with the galley at Buffalo about 3 o’clock, leaving the Adelphia Ferry boat to take in some port at Mr. Henderson opposite Mingo Bottom — found the provisions not brought down as expected but Mr. Wells was zealously engaged in the butchering. (Buffalo Creek is at the south end of Wellsburg. The town is named for Alexander Wells, who was likely the man helping the explorers with loading the boats with more provisions. Mingo Bottom would later become Mingo Junction and is across the river from Wellsburg. A community was already there. In 1770, George Washington wrote … “we came to the Mingo Town, situated on the west side the river, a little above the Cross Creeks. This place contains about twenty cabins, and seventy inhabitants of the Six Nations.”)
Sunday, April 6, 1787
Put everything on board early and left Buffalo 23 minutes past 9 o’clock am. Passed Short Creek 46 minutes past 10, Wheeling 32 minutes past 12, Grave Creek 55 minutes past 2 o’clock pm. Came to at the southernly part of Round Bottom 55 minutes past 3 except the first mile in the morning we rowed none except to steerage way, but the awing to baggage above the gunwale, the wind being of north easterly gave us about 2 knot through the water. Left Round Bottom 陆 past nine in the evening.
Monday April 7, 1787
Pass the west line of the 7th range 35 minutes after 11 o’clock am – arrived at Muskingum at one o’clock pm and came to on the fort point (Fort Harmar) on fork between the Ohio and Muskingum where we landed with some of our stock and baggage with some of the provisions, both baggage and provisions having suffered considerably by wet weather before the hard bread brought from Washington County (Pa.) being wholly lost and the venison hams much injured by the pack horses falling into a mill race. (Edible food would be a reoccurring problem for the settlers, who had to turn to Virginians across the river to get through the following winter.)