The 981 Project Podcast

Read Part One of Flood to Food Banks here.

By the spring of 1937, the Ohio River had retreated to its banks, but the questions it left behind were harder to contain. Across the valley, local officials and federal administrators began asking what might happen if the same machinery that fed the stranded could be used to feed the poor.

That question found its first real test in Pittsburgh, a city still defined by its mills and smoke. In the months after the flood, the Red Cross and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) turned their emergency kitchens into an experiment. Instead of closing when the waters receded, they stayed open—serving families displaced not by water, but by chronic unemployment. The effort became known informally as the Pittsburgh “trial project.”

The idea spread quickly. Relief experiments cropped up in other cities—St. Louis, Cincinnati, Louisville—each adapting WPA labor and surplus commodities in its own way. None were as formally structured as Pittsburgh’s, but all were feeling their way toward a similar question: how do you feed people once the emergency ends?

But Pittsburgh stood out for its scale and precision. Backed by federal administrators who had cut their teeth on flood relief, the city developed a system for inventorying, storing, and distributing food that could function even when emergency funds dried up.

At its core, the project asked whether public welfare could operate with the efficiency of disaster relief. WPA clerks cataloged household needs; local grocers became distribution partners; surplus commodities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture—flour, beans, lard, canned fruit—were tracked, stored, and rationed according to family size. The Red Cross supplied social workers, and city officials provided warehouses and trucks. Together they built a prototype for what would later be called food security logistics.

The trial wasn’t perfect. Federal funding ebbed with each budget cycle, and the social stigma of “relief food” remained. But the administrative bones of the system—the inventories, supply chains, and coordination among civic and charitable agencies—became a model. The project didn’t design the Surplus Commodities Program, but it mirrored the same principles—standardized inventories, warehouse distribution, and coordinated logistics—that federal policymakers would embrace by 1939.

The Great Flood’s legacy, it turned out, wasn’t only the levees that kept rivers in check—it was the blueprint for a nation learning to feed itself in good times and bad.

And here’s a picture of Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, with Pittsburgh steelworkers in 1933.

Now that you’ve read about the Pittsburgh “trial project” and its sister cities, test what you know about how these experiments evolved into the modern food-bank system in this month’s quiz.

Note to my fantastic new subscribers:

It’s the rare person who can answer all ten trivia questions without any prep. I couldn’t answer them without a significant amount of research, either! Do your best and enjoy learning something new.

QUESTIONS:

Each question has one correct answer, found in the footnotes.

1. What made Pittsburgh the ideal testing ground for the “trial project?”

A. It had strong labor unions and civic coordinationB. It had an existing network of flood-relief warehouses and staffC. It was home to one of the nation’s largest steelworker populationsD. It was the operational capital of the New Deal’s relief agencies in the East

2. Which New Deal administrator was known for saying, “People don’t eat in the long run—they eat every day?”

A. Harold IckesB. Eleanor RooseveltC. Harry HopkinsD. Henry Wallace

3. Which prominent women helped shape Pittsburgh’s approach to relief work?

A. Frances PerkinsB. Eleanor RooseveltC. Mary McLeod BethuneD. All of the above

4. What immediate challenge did Pittsburgh face once the floodwaters receded?

A. Contaminated food suppliesB. Unemployment in the millsC. Housing shortages in the suburbsD. Labor strikes in city services

5. Which local partner helped the WPA convert emergency kitchens into year-round distribution centers?

A. The Heinz CompanyB. The City Department of Public WelfareC. Carnegie SteelD. The Allegheny Conference on Community Development

6. What role did the Red Cross play in Pittsburgh’s trial project?

A. Operated soup kitchens independentlyB. Supplied social workers and coordinated volunteersC. Focused solely on medical careD. Distributed industrial food waste to the poor

7. What was unique about Pittsburgh’s data collection?

A. It used punch-card tabulators from local millsB. WPA clerks tracked every meal and household servedC. It relied on volunteer recordkeepers from churchesD. All records were destroyed after the project ended

8. What type of food filled Pittsburgh’s relief warehouses?

A. Locally grown produce and dairyB. Imported European goodsC. USDA surplus commoditiesD. Restaurant leftovers donated by civic clubs

9. Why did some Pittsburgh residents resist the program?

A. Fear of socialism and stigma around “relief food”B. Dietary restrictions in immigrant communitiesC. Disputes between union and non-union householdsD. Concerns about federal control of local farms

10. What enduring lesson came from Pittsburgh’s “trial project?”

A. Feeding systems could be industrialized like steelB. Charity worked better than coordinationC. Flood control was more important than hunger reliefD. Relief should be handled only by private agencies

Up next in Part Three of Flood to Food Banks: How Did the U.S. Government End Up in the Grocery Business?

Intermission

Here’s a great documentary about the Great Flood of 1937 in Pittsburgh, which peaked at 46 feet. The segment featured an interview with Dr. H. Ward Ewalt, a Pittsburgh optometrist who filmed the flood and the damage it created around the city. It includes footage of the flood in downtown Pittsburgh, the J&L mill in Hazelwood, Lawrenceville, Manchester, Etna, Turtle Creek, Bellevue and Millvale. Ewalt passed away in 1995 after a long career in optometry.

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This is Part One of “Flood to Food Banks,” a three-part exploration of how the Ohio River became America’s testing ground for social uplift.

With American hunger back in the national headlines, I’ve been thinking about how this story of hunger relief began. I was surprised to learn it wasn’t with pantries and food drives, but with the Ohio River’s most devastating flood at the start of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s second term.

My own research on the topic started several years ago, when I visited the Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History in Parkersburg, West Virginia, during the summer of 2021. However, at the time, I wasn’t looking for the origins of the modern food bank system—I hadn’t even thought about it. It was just part of my general reconnaissance of the region and its many historical facets.

I bought an admission ticket and stepped into the first-floor gallery, where a black gauge climbs the white brick wall, ending past the landing of the second story balcony. It was like a ruler of reckoning showing flood levels from 1884, through 1964. If you look at the picture below, the scale begins at forty feet, because that’s the elevation of the museum floor above the river’s normal height. I tilted my head up, then back a little farther, squinting to see the highest line of its record crest: 55.4 feet, January 26, 1937.

The number is tidy, and the mark is exact, but the mind resists it without context, so here’s mine. At five-foot-one, I calculated it would take nearly eleven of me stacked head to toe to reach 55.4 feet. And yes, if you look closely in the mirror beside the gauge, you can see me in the reflection—small against a wall that once marked catastrophe.

Now, imagine the whole town underwater to understand what fifty-five feet really means in human terms.

What began here as an act of rescue in 1937—feeding, housing, and clothing the displaced—would teach government and charity alike how to manage hunger, and other human needs, long after the waters receded. It didn’t invent the modern food bank, but it changed how the nation understood feeding as logistics — a mindset federal agencies would soon build into national food programs.

Even before the river crested, the Red Cross was on the ground, issuing rations and setting up shelters in churches and schools. When the flood reached its peak, President Roosevelt declared a national emergency—one of the first in response to a natural disaster—and released ten million dollars for relief. In today’s dollars, we’re talking $220 – $250 million.

His order unlocked every corner of the New Deal: Works Progress Administration crews (WPA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Red Cross all moving in a single rhythm.

Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt’s trusted advisor and briefly his Secretary of Commerce, oversaw the WPA’s seven divisions, from heavy construction to public service, education, and the women’s sewing and nursing projects that reached into every county. The WPA had begun as a jobs program employing more than 8.5 million people for an average monthly salary of about $41. Under Hopkins, the seven divisions moved as one—not only repairing infrastructure, but also delivering food, sewing blankets, and keeping disease at bay.

Within a week of the crest, field kitchens were serving thousands of meals a day—a wartime scale of feeding in a peacetime disaster. The flood proved that compassion, when well organized, could act on a scale it had never attempted in peacetime.

Back at my tour of the Blennerhassat Museum, I walked into another exhibit hall featuring a wooden skiff resting beneath a photograph of a long-ago packet boat. It’s small, flat-bottomed, and open to the air—the kind of boat that Parkersburg’s police and firemen rowed to deliver food and evacuate families, scraping across flooded porches and telephone wires along the way. For weeks, the city was an archipelago of rooftops and rescue routes, as were sister cities for all 981 miles of the river.

But police and fire crews weren’t the only ones rowing skiffs. Younger men from the Civilian Conservation Corps were pulled from their usual duties—planting trees, building bridges, and breaking the ground—literally—on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

My grandfather was a “CC man,” as they called themselves, but wasn’t serving at the time of the flood. Had he been, he would have rowed a skiff through flooded streets, delivering food and medicine, and disinfecting the mud with lime and kerosene to prevent disease—plus anything else the relief effort required of him.

So yes, before America could build a system to feed its hungry, it had to learn how to feed its stranded. The Ohio River flood didn’t just reshape levees and zoning maps—it rewired the nation’s sense of how care could be organized.

By the spring of 1937, the Ohio was back in its banks, but the idea it unleashed kept flowing east. Relief workers and engineers carried their notebooks to Pittsburgh, where federal and local leaders began asking a new question: could the same system that fed the stranded be adapted to feed the poor?

That experiment—the Pittsburgh “trial project”—is where this story turns next week, and yes it will include trivia.

This post is public so feel free to share it.

This essay is part of “Flood to Food Banks,” a three-part exploration of how the Ohio River corridor shaped America’s approach to organized care.

Here’s a documentary about the 1937 Flood, filmed in 1980, so it’s not Ken Burns-quality production values. But that doesn’t matter. Its focus is Evansville, Indiana and the Tri-State, with a panel of people who lived through it. Great stuff.

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I don’t mind embracing my age, so I’ll confess to watching The Daniel Boone TV show (1964–1970). I can even sing the theme song.

If you’re a youngster, you may have seen it on cable reruns: Boone as the all-around good guy and frontier hero, conducting surveys and expeditions around Boonesborough, running into both friendly and hostile Indians, before, during, and even after the Revolutionary War.

Of course, there’s the TV Boone and the historical one—the Boone who symbolized Virginia’s land policies more than he shaped them himself.

Multiple states claim Daniel Boone because of his travels across the frontier — Pennsylvania, where he was born; North Carolina, where he came of age; Kentucky, where he blazed the Wilderness Road and helped open the interior to settlers; and Missouri, where he lived out his final years.

Today, our focus is Kentucky: how Boone’s surveying and trail-blazing symbolized Virginia’s land policies, and how those policies paved the way for statehood in 1792.

The explanation begins in1609 when King James I granted the Virginia colony a charter that stretched “from sea to sea,” sweeping aside the French, the Spanish, and of course the Indigenous nations already here.

During the Revolution, Virginia organized Kentucky County (VA), and by the 1780s it was further divided into Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln Counties. Together these counties formed a distinct bloc that petitioned Congress for separation from Virginia again and again.

With over 70,000 settlers by 1790, Kentucky had the numbers and leverage to become a state in 1792 and added the counties of Nelson, Bourbon, Madison, Mercer, Mason, and Woodford. For comparison, Ohio didn’t qualify for statehood until 1802, and that was through an exception called The Enabling Act.

“Wasted Land”

The Virginians of 1790 often described Kentucky as “wasted land,” which is not a legal term. “Waste” in property law usually referred to land not in active agricultural use (unfenced, uncleared, unplowed). Colonists and early legislators often borrowed this language to justify dispossession.

Today, we can appreciate that just because the land wasn’t managed with European methods doesn’t mean it was not being managed at all. For centuries, Shawnee, Cherokee, Mingo, and other nations had hunted, farmed, and burned the forest here. They moved seasonally between river bottoms and uplands, and their claims overlapped, making Kentucky one of the most contested landscapes in eastern North America.

Virginia dismissed this history and parceled Kentucky out as if it were empty. This language laid the groundwork for legislation like Virginia’s Land Law of 1779, which opened “unpatented lands” in the Kentucky district to Revolutionary War veterans of the Virginia Line, through bounty warrants.

This swath of land is the Military District of Kentucky, shown in gray on the map below. Many veterans never came — selling their warrants to speculators — but the district shaped settlement patterns all the same.

The Land Law also legalized settlers’ preemption claims—squatters’ rights that gave anyone who had already built a cabin or cleared fields the first chance to buy land.

Encouraged by these policies, thousands funneled through the Cumberland Gap along Daniel Boone’s Wilderness Road, transforming the region within a generation.

The Dodgy Deal Behind Boone’s Road

Boone became the symbolic scout, but in reality he was on the payroll of the Transylvania Company, a massive speculative land venture of dubious legality.

In 1775 its founder, Richard Henderson, tried to buy twenty million acres directly from the Cherokee at Sycamore Shoals, paying with trade goods. Boone, then living in North Carolina, was hired to blaze the Wilderness Road and help build Fort Boonesborough to anchor the claim.

But the Royal Proclamation of 1763 forbade private purchases of Indian land, and both Virginia and North Carolina dismissed Henderson’s colony as a usurpation of their authority (the treaty at Sycamore Shoals took place on land that was then part of North Carolina).

Congress also refused to recognize it. Virginia eventually voided the purchase, though it granted Henderson and his partners 200,000 acres in Kentucky as a consolation prize, while North Carolina compensated them with land in present-day Tennessee.

It was an audacious bit of what people used to call “frontier lawyering”—an illegal land grab dressed up as a colony whose backers walked away with hundreds of thousands of acres. Henderson wasn’t just any dreamer and schemer—he was a North Carolina judge, with the connections and confidence to push further than most men would dare. And if the playbook looks familiar, that’s because versions of it are still making headlines today.

Transylvania collapsed as a colony, but Boone wasn’t a shareholder or speculator — he was the hired scout. When Virginia voided the Transylvania Company’s deal, Boone lost nothing personally, and his service was rewarded with land rather than reproach.

His association with Henderson’s speculative scheme faded in popular memory, leaving behind the heroic figure of Boone the pathfinder—a symbol of Kentucky’s opening, even if the machinery of land policy mattered far more than one man’s ax and rifle.

Metes and Bounds

Unlike Ohio, with its tidy federal grid of townships and ranges, Kentucky land was surveyed the old Virginian way: metes and bounds. A deed might run “from a white oak to a creek bend, then along the ridge to a large boulder.” This irregular system produced overlapping claims, and lawsuits that shaped county borders and political fights for generations.

The questions that follow will trace how these land policies—from Boone’s trail to the Military District—helped Kentucky emerge as America’s fifteenth state.

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QUESTIONS

Answers in the footnotes. I’ll tell you if there is more than one correct answer.

1. Why did Virginians in the 1790s describe Kentucky as “wasted land?” Only one answer is correct.(a) It lacked mineral resources.(b) They didn’t recognize Indigenous land use methods like seasonal migration, controlled burns, and unfenced fields.(c) Because it was too remote to govern effectively from Richmond.(d) Because Native peoples had already abandoned it.

2. Which Native nations actively used and claimed Kentucky, making it one of the most contested landscapes in eastern North America? More than one answer applies.(a) Shawnee(b) Cherokee(c) Mingo(d) Iroquois (Haudenosaunee)

3. What was Kentucky County, Virginia, and how did it pave the way for statehood? One correct answer.(a) A single super-county created in 1776 that was later subdivided, forming a political bloc for separation.(b) A military district organized solely for veterans.(c) A western extension of Fincastle County, created to manage the frontier.(d) A territory directly administered by Congress.

4. Why did Kentucky become a state in 1792 while northwestern Virginia counties had to wait until the Civil War to separate in 1863 (becoming West Virginia)? One correct answer.(a) Kentucky’s fertile farmland and central location drew migrants rapidly, giving it the numbers to press for statehood.(b) Northwestern Virginia’s rugged mountains and poor transportation kept its population scattered and politically weak.(c) Congress wanted to balance free and slave states, which helped Kentucky’s case.(d) All of the above.

5. How did Virginia encourage migration into Kentucky? One correct answer.(a) By offering veterans bounty land warrants.(b) By legalizing squatters’ “preemption claims.”(c) By promoting migration through the Cumberland Gap and Boone’s Wilderness Road.(d) All of the above.

6. Daniel Boone was celebrated as the heroic trailblazer of Kentucky, but in reality he was… One correct answer.(a) A contractor for the speculative Transylvania Company.(b) A figurehead whose Wilderness Road became popular mainly because Virginia policy created courts, militias, and land offices on the other side.(c) A wealthy land baron who accumulated thousands of acres and held them until his death.(d) Both a and b.

7. Imagine you are a farmer in 1790s Kentucky. Your deed says your land runs “from a white oak tree to a bend in the creek, then along the ridge to a large boulder.” Your neighbor’s deed says nearly the same thing. What happens next under Virginia’s “metes and bounds” survey system? More than one answer is correct.(a) The two deeds overlap, and you end up in a lawsuit that could last for decades.(b) The county court gets stronger, since everyone needs it to sort out overlapping claims.(c) Speculators step in, buying up “disputed” land and reselling it to multiple buyers.(d) The problem disappears once the federal survey grid reaches Kentucky.

8. Where was Kentucky’s Revolutionary War Military District located? One correct answer.(a) North of the Ohio River.(b) South of the Green River in south-central Kentucky.(c) Along the Cumberland Gap.(d) In eastern Appalachia.

9. Why did many veterans never settle in the Kentucky Military District? One correct answer.(a) They sold their warrants to speculators.(b) Some found the land too remote or already contested.(c) Many preferred to remain in Virginia or move further west.(d) All of the above.

10. How did Kentucky’s different settlement zones shape its antebellum identity? One correct answer.(a) The Bluegrass became a slaveholding plantation core.(b) The Military District was a mix of small farms and speculative claims.(c) The Appalachian east remained poor and isolated.(d) All of the above.

Intermission

Here’s a list of pertinent books from our topic today:

Steven A. Channing, Kentucky: A Bicentennial History—concise, thematic overview.
Lowell H. Harrison & James C. Klotter, A New History of Kentucky—the standard survey.
Robert Morgan, Boone: A Biography—balanced, myth-busting Boone.

Here’s a Boone documentary by Kentucky’s PBS affiliate, KET. I couldn’t embed it here, so you’ll have to follow this link.

Want to get a jump on next month’s quiz? Read Steven Stoll, Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia — enclosure & the Appalachian commons. One of the most meaningful nonfiction books I’ve ever read.

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I rode my motorcycle to Athens, Ohio, for a BMW Riders Association rally over the Labor Day weekend. Some of my non-riding friends assume rallies are always boozy events with wet T-shirt contests, but rallies are as diverse as the people who sponsor and attend them. The quieter variety just doesn’t make the headlines.

The BMW rallies I attend feel more like family reunions—the chance to connect with like-minded friends and swap stories about destinations, roads, motorcycle mishaps, and everything except politics and religion. Honestly, I can’t tell you what most of my riding friends do (or did) for their livelihoods. We’re too busy enjoying the one thing we have in common: a deep love of motorcycles and the road.

Many rallygoers camp on the grounds, which adds to the sense of community—and sometimes the humor. Case in point: this sign I spotted. If you don’t see the unintended humor, give it a minute.

I extended my time in Southeastern Ohio for another week so I could do deep research for the book I’m writing for the University of Illinois Press, tentatively titled, Along the Ohio: Stories the River Still Holds.

While in Marietta—a river city that was the first settlement in the Northwest Territory—I learned that one of the most respected makers of historical markers is headquartered there. This is the kind of serendipity that makes my pulse race.

Please treat yourself to this video about Sewah Studios, which includes scenes from each phase of the manufacturing process. I’ve watched it a couple of times now.

Evolution of a Late-Blooming History Buff

I didn’t study history in college, mostly because I wasn’t cut out for teaching (which is what I thought the field would necessarily lead to). Besides, my parents weren’t about to bankroll a degree without a solid career plan, so I majored in business. What’s funny is that the part of business that has always fascinated me is its role in cultural history. But that’s a story for another day.

Motorcycle travel became my history professor. Out on the road, I’ve picked up lessons in geology and paleontology (Wyoming is top-notch in that department), along with human and cultural history, and plenty of “what-happened-right-here” lessons. Despite my history education being scattershot—it’s more like postcards than a sequenced curriculum—those fragments taught me to look harder at what’s missing, as well as what’s been preserved in public memorials and commemorations.

Side note: my kids will someday have the joy of sorting through the 1,000+ postcards I’ve collected on my travels. I’m not doing Swedish Death Cleaning on that collection.

I spent the better part of a day in Special Collections at Marietta College poring over brittle papers and pamphlets from 100+ years ago, and it occurred to me that the wording on some of the historical markers didn’t line up with what I was reading. So which version should we believe—the plaques or the papers?

You’d think the archives would settle it, but there’s a counterargument to sticking with what’s held in any one collection. After all, history is collected in many different places, and hauled across rivers and seas by descendants of those who lived it.

Think about it: history isn’t set in stone. New stories—and new information about old ones—surface all the time: in journals used as insulation for an old home, in the margins of a family Bible, in overlooked archives. Women’s lives are often missing from “the record,” as are the histories of marginalized and ostracized people.

I’m enamored with discovering new angles on old stories I thought I knew—the narratives erased or ignored because they didn’t matter to those entrusted with recording the news at the time.

When I asked the Special Collections librarian what it takes to get a marker approved, she gave me a wry smile. “Anyone can put up a sign on their property and call it a historical marker”—distinguishing between informal commemorations and the formal program. She continued, “But if you want the official emblem, or to be included in recognized history trails, you have to apply to the sponsoring organization.”

She went on to explain that Ohio’s formal system—with the Ohio History Connection’s emblem and inclusion on official trails or registries—is distinct from whatever individuals might erect on their own property. In other words, there is an “official” class of markers in Ohio, and acceptance into the state program is what makes the difference.

Still, this doesn’t ensure an error-free or fulsome accounting of the historical place or event being marked.

Sometimes local history projects—whether a roadside plaque, a county museum, or a “heritage tourism” trail—are there to reassure the hometown crowd of their historical importance, or to entice visitors to come and spend a little money. They elevate local heroes, polish away contradictions, and speak in absolutes—”first,” “leader,” “freedom’s shore.”

What they sidestep is what remains contested, unknown, or uncomfortable. That’s one reason why you can’t count on a marker to tell the full story; the other is the small space available for telling it.

Markers are written in their own moment, reflecting the priorities—and blind spots—of the people and institutions that sponsored them. What counted as “the story” a century ago may not be the story we’d choose to tell today. They bear the stamp of their time, and they age quickly. What once read as civic pride can, in hindsight, read as erasure.

And that gap between pride and omission is exactly where I’ve been finding the stories worth telling.

Case In Point: Portsmouth, Ohio

While in Portsmouth, Ohio, I had the good fortune to interview Dr. Andrew Feight, a professor of history at Shawnee State University and a leading authority on the Underground Railroad in southern Ohio. He pointed me to a marker on Shawnee State’s campus and noted some of its shortcomings. Read it for yourself and see what you notice:

The marker isn’t technically false, but it is partially true.

Take, for instance, “loosely connected safe havens.” The phrase makes the Underground Railroad sound casual or ad hoc. In reality, it was highly organized in some places, with networks of Black and white activists, churches, and communities. Sure, there was the occasional solo actor, I grant you that.

Or consider the list of services rendered, “nursed, concealed, disguised, and instructed.” It implies a universal experience, when the level of assistance varied widely depending on place and circumstance. It wasn’t like the Red Cross with a mission statement and list of services.

And then there’s the claim that this was “one of America’s greatest social, moral, and humanitarian endeavors.” That’s boosterism. It elevates the moral heroism of Ohioans while glossing over contradictions like Ohio’s Black Laws, violent resistance to Black settlement, and the complicity of locals who aided slave catchers.

The Case of Hannah Putnam

Here’s a story from Marietta, Ohio worth considering. David Putnam Jr. was the town’s most outspoken abolitionist, a banker turned activist whose home became its best-known Underground Railroad stop. There’s even a marker on Fort Street in his honor. What’s not mentioned are the laws and neighbors who made his work so noteworthy, including the state’s Black Laws.

Putnam is remembered in Marietta for his abolitionist zeal, but his entire family shared the danger. Hannah and the children lived with the constant risk that freedom seekers might be discovered under their roof. The children were so accustomed to the peril that they knew to close a door quickly and quietly if a stranger appeared, lest someone catch sight of a hidden guest.

One cold November night in 1844, Hannah went into labor as an angry mob gathered outside their house, riled by rumors that fugitives were being harbored there. David galloped across the Muskingum River for Dr. Cotton, leaving Hannah to wait while anti-abolitionists from Washington County, Ohio and from Wood County, Virginia (now West Virginia) threatened to storm the home and tear it down.

Neighbors stepped in to protect her. Dr. John McCoy, described in the press as a tall, swarthy man whose black cape and broad-brimmed hat gave him a forbidding silhouette, stood guard with other prominent citizens, including Caleb Emerson, Col. Augustus Stone, and Cortland Sheperd. They urged the mob to disperse, reminding them that no one had a warrant and no enslaved person had actually been seen inside.

Still, the night and Hannah’s labor dragged on. Hours passed as the mob pressed and muttered outside, until a cold rain began to fall. At last, even the Virginians admitted they would follow Dr. McCoy’s example and go home rather than endure the weather.

By the time Dr. Cotton returned, the danger had ebbed, and Hannah delivered her sixth child in safety.

It was one of many nights when principle and peril shared the same roof—and one that ought to put Hannah’s name on a plaque alongside her husband’s

Her absence from David’s marker is exactly what I mean when I talk about the tension between boosterism and reckoning. Markers often tell a polished version of events, but the fuller story, the one that lingers in archives and family memory, reveals who’s been left out.

In summary: historical markers are useful starting points, but they rarely tell the whole story. The real work—and the real discovery—comes when you dig past the plaque. That’s what I’ve been doing here on The 981 Project and what I’ll show you when Along the Ohio is published.

Next time you see a marker, take a moment to look for grand pronouncements and ask what might be missing. Did the “great man” of history have a wife or partner? Wonder what her life was like?

When a marker says “the first ever,” ask yourself why it was the first ever—and what story lies behind the milestone. Those are the spaces my research keeps leading me into, whether I arrive by motorcycle or by way of an archive box.

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Between 1915 and 1970, the Ohio River was more than a border between North and South—it was a corridor of change. As millions of African Americans left the rural South in what came to be called the Great Migration, cities like Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Cairo became places of arrival where new communities took root.

Why did so many leave? Some were pulled northward by wartime jobs that could no longer be filled by low-wage immigrant workers. Others were pushed by violence, poverty, and political exclusion in the South. Trains heading to Pittsburgh or Chicago were often full of passengers carrying not much more than a suitcase and a lead from a cousin or neighbor who had gone before.

Isabel Wilkerson documents this on a national scale in The Warmth of Other Suns (2010), a deeply researched narrative history of the Great Migration that uses personal stories to illuminate what moved people, where they went, and what they left behind. The book won major awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction and the Anisfield-Wolf Award. She also shared these insights in a widely viewed TED talk.

The reception in the Ohio Valley was complicated. Industries needed hands, but employers often confined newcomers to the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs. Middlemen cropped up, sometimes helping, sometimes exploiting. Housing was another battle: in Cincinnati, the West End became a crowded hub later targeted for “urban renewal”; in Pittsburgh, the Hill District thrived culturally even as city planners bulldozed blocks for highways and stadiums; in Louisville, Black families were steered into neighborhoods like Smoketown and the West End.

Migration also shifted the balance of political power. Where voting rights were less restricted, Black communities could organize, cast ballots, and even tip elections. That influence sparked new opportunities as well as new forms of resistance. We still see echoes of this today in debates over redistricting, representation, and voting rights — reminders that the Great Migration continues to shape American life.

From steel towns to stockyards, from church basements to union halls, the Great Migration reshaped the Ohio River valley in ways still visible today. The questions that follow will help you trace how work, politics, housing, and community life along the river were transformed by this movement of people.

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QUESTIONS

Answers in the footnotes.

1. Why did the Great Migration accelerate in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois during WWI?

A. Northern industries recruited Black workers to replace European immigrants whose migration slowedB. Southern states began subsidizing train fare northC. Black newspapers advertised opportunities in Northern citiesD. Federal New Deal programs required quotas of Black workers

2. Who were “labor brokers” (also called “labor agents”) during the Great Migration, and why were they controversial?

A. Recruiters hired by Northern industries to bring Southern Black workers northB. Middlemen who sometimes exploited migrants by taking a cut of their wages or charging feesC. Community leaders who voluntarily helped migrants find housing and jobs without payD. Organizers who tried to unionize Black workers as soon as they arrived

3. When Black Southerners arrived in Northern states, many employers assumed they would be best suited for which kinds of jobs?

A. Domestic service and janitorial workB. Stockyards and meatpacking plantsC. Foundries and steel millsD. Agricultural and food-processing labor (e.g., canneries, sugar beet fields)

4.How did Black migration reshape politics in Ohio River states (PA, WV, KY, OH, IN, IL)?

A. African Americans gained the right to vote without poll taxes and literacy testsB. The Black vote began to swing elections in cities like Chicago and ClevelandC. Both major political parties ignored Black voters until after WWIID. Migration triggered white backlash and restrictive housing covenants

5.What role did the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) play in the Great Migration?

A. It provided free rides north for Southern migrantsB. It hired thousands of Black workers as porters, track laborers, and dining car staffC. It ran ads in Black newspapers promoting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia jobsD. It lobbied Congress to restrict Black migration to control wages

6.By 1970, how had the Great Migration reshaped cities along the Ohio River?

A. Louisville’s Black population grew as rural Kentuckians moved into the city for industrial and wartime jobsB. Cincinnati’s West End became a major Black community before being decimated by urban renewalC. Pittsburgh’s Hill District flourished culturally but faced job losses as steel began to declineD. Cairo, Illinois, became a safe haven for Black migrants

7.How did U.S. Steel shape the Great Migration in Pittsburgh and other Ohio River steel towns?

A. It recruited Black workers to fill labor shortages, especially during WWI and WWIIB. It smoothed the transition by giving Black workers a month of free housing in mill townsC. It sometimes used Black workers as strikebreakers, straining relations with white immigrant laborD. It helped fund Black newspapers to support migrant communities

8.What role did the meatpacking and stockyards of Louisville and Cincinnati play in the Great Migration?

A. They hired Southern Black migrants into grueling, low-wage slaughterhouse and processing jobsB. They provided pathways into stable union jobs from the very beginningC. They became organizing grounds where Black workers later joined interracial CIO unions in the 1930sD. They were entirely closed to Black labor until after WWII

9.How did Pullman porters influence Black migration and community life in Ohio River cities like Cincinnati and Louisville?

A. They provided steady, respected work for Black men, though under harsh conditions and low payB. They carried The Chicago Defender and other Black newspapers south, spreading word about Northern opportunitiesC. They organized one of the first national Black labor unions, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car PortersD. They ensured that Black families in river cities were exempt from housing segregation

10.How did housing policies and practices affect Black migrants in Ohio River cities?

A. Restrictive covenants and redlining confined Black families to segregated neighborhoodsB. Urban renewal projects displaced Black communities, often in the name of “slum clearance”C. Federal housing programs after WWII encouraged integrated, mixed-race suburbsD. Despite barriers, Black neighborhoods like Pittsburgh’s Hill District and Cincinnati’s West End fostered strong cultural and political life

If you’ve lived in or near these places — the Hill District in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati’s West End, Smoketown in Louisville — what stories have come down in your family?

Intermission

I was recently in Cincinnati, getting to know more about Black History and the West End. This video includes much of what I discovered there:

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I felt like I was twenty again, introducing my boyfriend Matt to my parents in a rush of hope they would like him. But this time, Matt was my spouse of 40 years and I was introducing him to Pittsburgh.

From our Airbnb on Mt. Washington, the whole city lay at our feet—426 bridges, mostly yellow, strung across rivers like necklaces, glass towers glinting where smokestacks once stood, and of course Point Park, headwaters of the Ohio River.

We boarded the Duquesne Incline, its wooden car polished by a century of hands and dungaree work pants. The pressed-tin ceiling gleamed like a copper penny, and an old lantern swung overhead as if it remembered gaslight. Even the lettering on the sign—Duquesne Incline Car #2 seemed to whisper history.

We rattled down the hillside toward the city, then hoofed it to PNC Park to watch the Pirates play the Reds in a river rivalry. The closer we got to the Clemente Bridge, the more fans we saw in yellow gear. Matt struck up a conversation with a couple wearing shirts that looked Hawaiian at first glance, but instead of hibiscus and palm fronds, the fabric was scattered with Pittsburgh’s own icons—bridges, skyline, maybe even a pierogi or two. It was the perfect welcome: playful, civic-proud, and just a little kitschy.

The woman tipped us off that it was Bucket Hat Night at the stadium, and I felt a silly rush of adrenaline at the thought of scoring fanwear just for walking through the gate.

This was my first night at a professional baseball game, and I suspect someone alerted the whole stadium staff because our section usher even finagled a photo opp for me with the Pirate Parrot.

I don’t know much about baseball, but I do know about people watching, and I got more than I bargained for that night. Little kids with their scorecards and ball mitts, camera kisses, and of course the “Great Pittsburgh Pierogy Race” sponsored by Mrs. T’s Pierogies.

Matt had to ask what a pierogi really is, since they were human-sized on the track surrounding the field. If you’re also in need of the information, it’s an Eastern European dumpling, usually stuffed with potatoes, cheese, or sauerkraut—comfort food carried here by the waves of Polish, Slovak, and Ukrainian immigrants who once poured into the mills and mines. In Pittsburgh, it’s been elevated from kitchen staple to cultural mascot, and nowhere is that clearer than in the delirious spectacle of grown adults racing around the diamond in dumpling suits.

But not every story in Pittsburgh that week brought pep to my step. On August 7, ICE agents raided Emiliano’s, a Mexican restaurant chain, detaining 16 workers, leaving broken doors, trashed kitchens, and fear in their wake. Here’s an update on that story.

The ICE raid at Emiliano’s echoed an old Pittsburgh story. A century ago, the “new” immigrants bringing their dumplings from Poland, Slovakia, and Italy were branded as dangerous or unfit, their strikes met with state militias and Pinkertons, their very presence resented by nativists and the Ku Klux Klan.

Roughly a hundred years ago, nativist tensions boiled over in Carnegie, just a few miles from where Matt and I were staying. On August 25, 1923, thirty thousand Klansmen gathered in nearby Scott Township to initiate new members, then—against the warnings of local officials—marched into Carnegie, a borough known for its proud Irish Catholic community. As they crossed the Glendale Bridge, residents met them with rocks and clubs. Shots followed, leaving more than a hundred people injured and one Klansman dead.

In the aftermath Carnegie residents were charged, Klansmen were not, and the national Klan leader, Hiram Wesley Evans, used the death as propaganda to lure even more recruits. Yesterday’s “foreign” Catholics and Slavs, today’s Mexican restaurant workers—the names and cuisines change, but the scapegoating machinery looks hauntingly familiar.

Yet even in those dark chapters, people found ways to knit themselves together—through churches, clubs, and often through sport. Pittsburgh has long used games as a kind of glue, binding neighborhoods that outsiders tried to divide (as you learned in August Trivia).

I saw it again when Matt and I visited the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum inside the Heinz History Center, where the displays trace everything from mill league softball to the Steelers’ dynasty years.

If the Sports Museum showed how games helped Pittsburghers find belonging, the city’s native son and playwright August Wilson revealed the same search playing out in living rooms and backyards.

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I’m not a theatah person, but everyone I know from Pittsburgh insisted I visit the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, which honors the city’s most famous playwright. Their pride was unmistakable: to Pittsburghers, Wilson is both neighbor and national treasure, their own Shakespeare whose words have traveled far beyond the Hill District streets—once called “Little Harlem” for their music and community. I went expecting to be dutiful, maybe polite. Instead, I was surprised at how deeply the exhibit pulled me into the Black experience.

The Writer’s Landscape is no ordinary museum gallery. It’s an immersive journey through Wilson’s American Century Cycle—ten rooms, each devoted to one of his plays, plus recreations of his office and a diner where he listened and wrote. The spaces are staged as acts—The Coffee Shop, The Office, The Street—and together they form a living map of the places, people, and rhythms that shaped his work.

The Hill District came alive for me not only in the exhibit but in a live production of Fences at Wilson’s childhood home. Watching it there—surrounded by the very streets and houses that inspired the play—drove home how rooted his work is in this place. If you can’t get to a stage performance, the film adaptation with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis carries much of the same power.

Our guide at The Writer’s Landscape, a retired University of Pittsburgh employee, told us she used to look down from her office window and see Wilson sitting on Pitt’s quad with his notebook. He wasn’t idling—he was listening, taking notes, watching the small dramas of everyday life. She also told us that in tenth grade, Wilson was accused of plagiarism when he turned in a 20-page paper on Napoleon. His teacher couldn’t believe a boy his age could produce such work. In truth, he had already been writing assignments for his older sister to help her graduate. Rather than defend him, the school pushed him out.

The exhibit underscored how Wilson turned exclusion into fuel for his art.

I often find myself the only white visitor at African American cultural sites, but that wasn’t the case here. Seeing other white tourists walk those rooms alongside me gave me hope that perhaps the maxim is sinking in: Black history is American history.

What I recognized in Wilson wasn’t just theater, it’s the fruits of what can happen when writers listen. When we sit still, gathering voices, and noticing how they fit into the larger story. It’s a practice I lean on too, although not as elegantly or prolifically as Wilson, whether I’m writing about roads, rivers, or the memories my own family carries.

If that kind of listening interests you, I’m exploring it more fully in Buckskin Rides Again, my weekly series about a 4,820-mile motorcycle journey through family, memory, and the American road.

You can catch up on past dispatches here, and claim your free subscription.

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After the Civil War, industrial giants along the Ohio River—think Carnegie Steel, the railroads, and early electrical firms—began sponsoring baseball and football teams as part of a larger push to shape worker behavior, boost morale, and anchor company loyalty. Before jumping into the quiz, here’s some background.

Industrial Culture Loved “Manly” Sports

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, steel mills, coal mines, and railroad yards weren't just workplaces—they were gritty proving grounds for “real men.”

Baseball emphasized discipline, timing, and team cohesion—ideal traits for industrial workers.
Football, especially in its early brutal form, was framed as a crucible of toughness and hierarchy. Company executives loved it for “character building.”

The captains of industry (cough-cough) started “works teams” not simply as morale boosters, but also as tools of corporate paternalism, offered up alongside housing, clinics, and “recreation grounds” to reduce turnover and, conveniently, undermine union organizing. I wrote about this in the Kentucky coal fields on my website because my maternal family experienced Henry Ford’s “largesse”.

Some players held nominal jobs—night watchman, messenger, or other make-work titles—but were effectively paid to win, not to work. By the early 1900s, companies like Carnegie Steel were recruiting ringers and paying salaries that rivaled the minor leagues, all while claiming amateur status.

Teams like the Youngstown Ohio Works and Homestead Library & Athletic Club dominated regional leagues and occasionally squared off against professional clubs in exhibition games. The line between amateur sport and industrial propaganda? Let’s just say it was easy to blur when the scoreboard looked good.

I was in Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum and will give you a longer story in a future newsletter.

When Works Teams Became Controversial

First get to know The Ohio–Pennsylvania League (O–P League)

Founded: 1905 and featured franchises based in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The league was founded by Charlie Morton and operated for eight seasons, with the Akron Champs winning four league championships.
Level: The teams would be considered a Class C minor league by later standards, though such classifications weren’t fully formalized at the time.
Region: Mostly small-to-mid-sized industrial cities along the Ohio River and its tributaries—including Youngstown, Niles, Canton, Akron, and New Castle, PA.

In the 1905 Ohio–Pennsylvania League season, the Youngstown Ohio Works—sponsored by Carnegie Steel—drew sharp criticism for paying its players nearly double the league average, despite claiming to be “amateur.” Local newspapers fretted that the team’s salaries threatened the entire league's viability by forcing smaller-town clubs to overspend or fold.

To make matters wilder, a riot broke out during a game in Niles, Ohio, triggered by a fight among fans that escalated into dozens flooding the field and interfering with play, revealing how tightly corporate ambition, sport, and public spectacle intertwined.

Works teams weren’t just mascots of industrial generosity—they were flashpoints for debates about fair play, regional pride, and the limits of corporate influence in civic space. And when fans stormed the field, they showed that sport still belonged to the community—not just the company.

From Works Teams to the Big Leagues

As the 20th century unfolded, the scrappy industrial teams of the Ohio River Valley gave way to the polished machinery of professional leagues. No longer rooted in a specific mill or factory, teams began to represent entire cities—and their fans. With that shift came new forces: advertising, syndication, star players, and spectacle. Sports were no longer just tools of corporate morale or community cohesion. They became business.

The relationship between fans and teams evolved too. Where once the pitcher might’ve been your neighbor or coworker, now he lived in a nicer part of town—or maybe another city altogether. But the ties didn’t break—they morphed. Media coverage, mascots, and radio broadcasts helped forge a new kind of loyalty, more symbolic than social. The rise of mass media didn’t just change the game; it changed who the game was for.

Note to my fantastic new subscribers:

Monthly trivia is for sport. It’s not a test of intelligence or character. I had to do a significant amount of research before writing this. Do your best and enjoy learning something new.

Would you share this quiz with someone else? Please?

QUESTIONS

Answers in the footnotes. Good luck.

Which of the following are true about the Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team near Pittsburgh in the early 1900s? Select all that apply.
Its roster included multiple Ivy League All-Americans recruited by William Chase Temple with unusually high salaries.
The team emerged after the Homestead Steel strike of 1892, partly as a reputational salve. Critics later argued that its star-studded roster was a public distraction from the brutal union-busting that preceded it.
The payroll in 1901 was publicly disclosed at $25,000—an enormous sum that drew criticism as elitist spectacle.
Labor unions accused the athletic club of serving as distraction from the harsh conditions inside Carnegie’s steel mills.
Why did industrial companies in Ohio River towns sponsor baseball and football teams after the Civil War, but not sports like badminton or basketball?Select all that apply.

A. Baseball and football aligned with masculine ideals prized by factory and mill culture.B. Badminton and basketball were seen as leisure or indoor sports, more associated with schools and churches.C. Outdoor team sports made better use of company-owned land and attracted large public crowds.D. Basketball’s origins in Canadian-American YMCA culture made it less aligned with factory-floor values.E. Football had a prestigious association with elite colleges, which company owners wanted to emulate.

Which statements about early company-sponsored or community-supported sports in Ohio River towns are true? Select all that apply.

A. Youngstown, OH, was known for company-backed baseball teams like the Ohio Works, which blurred the line between amateur play and professional recruitment.B. Homestead, PA, supported powerhouse football teams backed by Carnegie-linked institutions, drawing national talent under the guise of amateurism.C. Inspired by World War II-era efforts like the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, many companies in the Ohio River region began sponsoring women's sports to support wartime morale and workplace equity.D. Evansville, IN, had a robust boxing scene tied to its riverfront economy and immigrant labor population, though it wasn’t directly employer-sponsored.E. Public athletic programs for women lagged behind men's, reflecting the gender norms of industrial paternalism and limited corporate investment in female recreation.

Which of the following help explain how company-sponsored teams in Ohio River towns contributed to the rise of professional sports leagues in the U.S.?Select all that apply.

A. Companies began recruiting elite college athletes, which normalized the idea of paying players for performance—even while claiming "amateur" status.B. High-salary “works teams” created financial pressure on smaller clubs, accelerating the need for more formal league structures and revenue models.C. Factory teams pioneered rule changes like designated hitters and shorter innings to boost productivity at work.D. Local fan enthusiasm and press coverage helped build a media ecosystem that professional leagues would later rely on.E. Some “company men” who managed teams (like William Chase Temple) went on to shape or own professional franchises.

How did the rise of professional sports leagues in the early 20th century change the relationship between teams, fans, and media in Ohio River towns and beyond? Select all that apply.

A. Games were increasingly covered by regional and national newspapers, helping transform local teams into entertainment brands.B. Factory workers began traveling long distances to follow their favorite teams, sparking the earliest forms of organized sports tourism.C. As professional teams replaced works teams, fans lost some of their personal connection to the players, who no longer worked or lived in the same communities.D. Professionalization led to more women attending games, since the new stadiums were cleaner and marketed as family-friendly venues.E. Local radio broadcasts in the 1920s and '30s created a shared experience across class and geography, reinforcing fan loyalty and team identity.

Which of the following are true about the racial dynamics of early 20th-century works teams in Ohio River industrial towns? Select all that apply.

A. Most company-sponsored teams were white-only, even in racially mixed workplaces.B. Black athletes were sometimes invited to play if they could significantly improve the team’s performance.C. Black workers often formed their own teams through churches or Black civic organizations.D. Employers promoted Black participation in sports as a way to reduce racial tension in the workplace.E. Segregation in company sports mirrored the broader exclusion of Black workers from upward mobility and social visibility in factory culture.

Which of the following are true about Native American imagery in early 20th-century sports along the Ohio River and in its industrial towns? Select all that apply.

A. Many industrial or semi-pro teams in Ohio River towns used Native American names to project strength, bravery, and “warrior spirit”—values prized by factory owners and fans alike.B. Native-themed mascots were often introduced in towns where Indigenous communities still had a strong physical or political presence.C. The rise of Native imagery in Ohio River Valley sports coincided with federal Indian assimilation policies, such as Indian boarding schools and cultural bans.D. Teams often leaned into frontier myths, naming themselves after tribes who had historically lived—or fought—near the Ohio River.E. These team names reinforced ideals of manhood and toughness that paralleled factory labor expectations in mill towns like Wheeling, Cincinnati, and Evansville.

Which of the following are true about immigrant-sponsored sports teams in Ohio River towns during the industrial era? Select all that apply.

A. Teams were often organized around specific ethnic groups, such as Polish, Irish, or Italian communities.B. These teams played exclusively in private leagues and were banned from company-sponsored fields.C. Ethnic leagues sometimes competed against company teams in informal exhibition games or town tournaments.D. Some teams were sponsored by saloons, churches, or ethnic halls—serving as a point of pride for new arrivals.E. Industrialists encouraged ethnic leagues as a way to foster multiculturalism and racial equity.

How did “Blue Laws” affect early industrial sports culture in Ohio River towns?Select all that apply.

A. Some towns prohibited games on Sundays, the only rest day for many workers.B. Games played on Sundays were sometimes raided or fined by local authorities.C. Blue Laws were most strictly enforced in Catholic-majority towns.D. Labor unions and immigrant communities often pushed back against Blue Laws.E. Some industrialists supported Blue Laws to limit unruly gatherings of workers.

What role did railroads play in shaping company sports rivalries in the Ohio River Valley? Select all that apply.

A. Teams from different towns used rail lines to compete in regional tournaments and exhibition games.B. Some industrialists owned both railroad companies and sports teams, consolidating control of transportation and publicity.C. “Rail Series” games were common—where towns along the same rail corridor played annual grudge matches.D. Players were required to work on the railroad in the off-season to maintain amateur status.E. Traveling teams helped spread company propaganda and brand loyalty to nearby towns.

Intermission

I found a video that claims to be the oldest video of a football game from 1903, when Princeton played Yale. Enjoy.

ANSWERS

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Next week I’ll be fulfilling a 30-year dream: a week at the Chautauqua Institution. The main lecture series focuses on The Middle East: The Gulf States’ Emerging Influence,which promises to explore the region’s histories, demographies, and shifting power dynamics—especially among the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iran, and Iraq. It’s an ambitious and timely program, centered on understanding these states in relation to each other and the broader Middle East, including the Israel–Palestine conflict.

I know just a little more than nothing about the Gulf States’ history, but most of it came from reading T.E. Lawrence’s biography and watching Lawrence of Arabia.Steep learning curve ahead of me there. I’m excited about that!

Not much Fodder from Chautauqua—But…

My spouse and I are road-tripping from home in North Carolina to Chautauqua, with a two-day stop in Pittsburgh to include a Pirates–Reds game. The Reds are scrapping for a wild card spot; the Pirates… not so much. But that’s not really why I’m going. I’m going because Matt’s excited—and for the view: skyline on one side, river and bridges on the other, right at golden hour. Matt’s never seen the skyline and I can’t wait to see his response.

Bring on the Parrot and Pierogis

Then there’s the mascot sideshow, which I suspect will be the real show for me. Word is that a giant green parrot might break into dance or trip a human-sized pierogi during the mid-inning sprint. The Great Pierogi Race is apparently a fan favorite, and honestly? I’m here for it. If you need me during innings five and six, hold that text—I need to see whether Cheese Chester can finally take down Sauerkraut Saul.

Start Boning Up for August Trivia

I’m thinking about a sports-themed August Trivia, so start boning up—you’ve been forewarned.

Meanwhile, I’ve been working on something much weightier.

I’ve Got a Book Deal—Now I Need a Title

NEWS FLASH: I’m writing a book for the University of Illinois Press! Would you help me find the perfect title? Here’s what it’s about:

For nearly a thousand miles, the Ohio River marked the line between slavery and freedom—a boundary drawn in water, and carried forward in memory, myth, and silence. Though often overshadowed by the Mason-Dixon Line or the Deep South, the Ohio remains America’s longest and only visible slavery border, its legacy still etched into the landscapes it divides.

In [TITLE], travel writer and narrative essayist Tamela Rich follows the river from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, stopping at courthouses, riverfront parks, faded historical markers, and places where no sign remains at all. What emerges is not a neat chronology, but a mosaic of reckoning: towns shaped by what they choose to remember—and what they quietly forget.

With a motorcyclist’s eye for detail and a memoirist’s restraint, Rich explores how the river’s legacy lives on in tourism slogans, plantation reenactments, Underground Railroad memorials, and gaps in the public record. This is not a story of reconciliation, but of recognition: of how borders shape belief, and how history lingers even in the rearview mirror.

You can give me your opinion for a title HERE. Thanks so much!

Let’s Meet Up?

I’ll be back in the region over the Labor Day Weekend. If you’re anywhere near Athens or Marietta, Ohio, please get in touch. I’d love to meet you in person.

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When I started poking around for significant historical events in our region that took place in July, I came upon The Great Railroad Strike.

“Huh?”Same here.

Lately I’ve been diving into railroad history, thanks to a few of my spring motorcycle stops out West. My father’s family worked for the Santa Fe (now part of BNSF) and in a fascinating twist, his family tree contains union men and union busters. I’ll be talking about that in my new series, “Buckskin Rides Again,” beginning July 20.

Here’s what you need to know to crush this month’s quiz.

In the summer of 1877, the nation’s railroads ground to a halt—not because of weather or mechanical failure, but because tens of thousands of workers had had enough. Sparked by wage cuts on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Martinsburg, West Virginia, the Great Railroad Strike quickly spread across the industrial heartland, disrupting cities from Pittsburgh to Chicago.

It was the first major, national labor uprising in U.S. history—an unplanned but powerful response to mounting frustrations over low pay, dangerous conditions, and unchecked corporate power during the Gilded Age.

The roots of the strike stretched back four years to the Panic of 1873, a financial crisis that triggered a long and brutal depression. Railroads overbuilt during boom times and then collapsed into bankruptcy, responding with layoffs, wage cuts, and speedups that made a hard job even harder. With few labor protections and no social safety net, workers were left to fend for themselves in a climate of growing desperation.

This quiz will explore key moments, people, and places involved in the 1877 strike. Don’t worry if you’re not a historian—each question is designed to deepen your understanding while testing what you already know. Think of it as a whistle-stop tour through one of the most pivotal labor movements in American history.

Here’s a quick summary of how it affected states in our 981 Project.

The strike’s legacy in Kentucky is worth a note. In Louisville, where white railroad workers decided not to strike, these workers ended up avoiding pay cuts by siding with the Louisville and Nashville (L&N) Railroad against a general strike by Black workers.

Some white workers even formed their own militia to protect railroad property,” says Shannon M. Smith, a history professor at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University who has written about the 1877 strike in Louisville. “So rather than siding with other workers, they sided with the company.”

Note to my fantastic new subscribers:

Monthly trivia is for sport. It’s not a test of intelligence or character. I had to do a significant amount of research before writing this. Do your best and enjoy learning something new.

Would you share this quiz with someone else? Please?

QUESTIONS

Answers in the footnotes. Good luck.

How did the Panic of 1873 contribute to the conditions that sparked the Great Railroad Strike of 1877? (Select all that apply)

A) It led to widespread railroad bankruptcies and aggressive cost-cuttingB) It triggered a long economic depression, increasing unemployment and worker desperationC) It caused major public investment in rail infrastructure, raising expectations for worker benefitsD) Railroad companies responded with repeated wage cuts and layoffsE) It hardened public opinion against organized labor and fueled anti-union sentiment

Why didn’t the hardships caused by the Panic of 1873 lead to meaningful protections for railroad workers before the 1877 strike? (Select all that apply)

A) The federal government had no established system of unemployment relief or labor regulationB) The Supreme Court prioritized contract rights and property over collective labor actionC) Business leaders promoted the idea that free-market forces—not laws—should determine wages and conditionsD) Most state governments remained neutral, refusing to intervene in labor disputesE) The idea of federal intervention in the economy or social welfare was still politically unpopular

What specific events in Martinsburg, West Virginia, triggered the beginning of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877? (Select all that apply)

A) The B&O Railroad announced another round of wage cuts during an ongoing economic depressionB) Workers were outraged by the hiring of Chinese immigrant labor to replace striking crewsC) Freight trains were made longer, increasing workload and danger without additional payD) Local militia forces refused to use violence against the strikers, prompting calls for federal troopsE) Strike leaders issued a coordinated call for national labor action from Martinsburg

Why were railroad companies able to maintain poor working conditions with little pushback before 1877? (Select all that apply)

A) There were few or no labor laws regulating work conditionsB) Railroads had powerful allies in government and mediaC) Workers feared arrest or blacklisting if they organizedD) Most legal decisions favored company property rights over worker protectionsE) The country was recovering from a financial panic and jobs were scarce

Which of the following accurately describes the leadership and ideology behind the Great Railroad Strike of 1877? (Select all that apply)

A) The strike was organized and led by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)B) European anarchist groups coordinated protests in multiple citiesC) The strike was largely spontaneous, with no centralized leadershipD) Local working-class communities often joined in, even if they weren’t railroad employeesE) The strike laid early groundwork for future labor organizing in the U.S.

What were some of the longer-term effects of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 on labor organizing in the United States? (Select all that apply)

A) It led directly to the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) B) It exposed the need for more coordinated labor action, spurring the growth of groups like the Knights of LaborC) It inspired future protests and strikes, including the 1886 Haymarket Affair in ChicagoD) It demonstrated that spontaneous uprisings could succeed without any formal organization or ideologyE) It contributed to public fears of radicalism, prompting crackdowns on labor and immigrant communities

Which of the following are true about the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), the company at the center of the 1877 strike? (Select all that apply)

A) It was one of the earliest railroads in the U.S., created to help Baltimore compete with New York’s Erie CanalB) Its route followed the Ohio River to connect eastern cities with expanding markets in the MidwestC) It was financed in part by the city of Baltimore, which held early stock in the companyD) The railroad carried both passengers and freight, including coal, grain, and manufactured goodsE) It played a strategic role in the Civil War, carrying Union troops and supplies

Fraternal organizations (like the Freemasons, Odd Fellows, and Knights of Pythias) were everywhere in the 19th century and sometimes overlapped with working-class networks. Their mutual aid models later influenced the structure of labor unions and workers' benefit societies. What role did fraternal organizations (e.g., Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias) play in the Great Railroad Strike of 1877? (Select all that apply)

A) They organized secret meetings to plan strike actions across state linesB) They mostly stayed on the sidelines, focusing on charity and social orderC) Their networks sometimes helped strikers quietly, but not officiallyD) Their emphasis on mutual aid influenced the structure of future labor unionsE) They acted as formal mediators between railroad executives and strikers

Which of the following are true about the Knights of Labor, one of the earliest national labor organizations in the U.S.? (Select all that apply)

A) They accepted both skilled and unskilled workers, including women and Black workersB) They were a secret society at first, but later grew into a mass movementC) They limited membership to railroad workers onlyD) They played a major role in organizing during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877E) They promoted the eight-hour workday and cooperative ownership of businesses

What made the violence in Pittsburgh during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 especially significant? (Select all that apply)

A) Local militia refused to take action, so the Pennsylvania National Guard was brought in from another cityB) Troops opened fire on strikers and bystanders, killing at least 20 peopleC) Enraged citizens responded by setting fire to railroad property, including cars and roundhousesD) The city’s business leaders paid the militia directly for protection servicesE) The event exposed class divisions not only between workers and owners, but between different cities and communities

Movie Trailer Intermission

I’m going “off topic” here but stay with me. While I rarely go to theaters for movies these days, I made two exceptions over the holiday weekend.

First up, This is Spinal Tap,which I saw back in the day (1984). It’s where “turn it up to eleven” originated, kids. I believe it’s the first “mocumentary” but some call it a “rockumentary” because it follows an English rock-n-roll/heavy metal band on its American tour.

Matt and I were in a theater full of fellow grayhairs, laughing until we cried—while also cringing at the casual misogyny baked into the script and lyrics. It’s a weird emotional split, holding both the hilarity and the discomfort. But we humans are built for contradiction. We do it all the time. On limited release through August 7, just in time for the September release of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.

Next, F1, which is great storytelling. The only exception I take is the romance trope Hollywood can’t seem to resist. I can’t be giving anything away—it’s telescoped in the trailer, for heaven’t sake.

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Hello friends,

My personal update is short and sweet: I am now a mother-in-law. My eldest son tied the knot on June 6 in a lovely garden ceremony. Arizona-based family joined us in North Carolina and we played cards, had a cookout, and sorted through a big box of family photos. Oh, the memories—remembered and made!

Life is short, my friends. Give love the room it needs to overcome your fears.

June has always been a month of thresholds—marriages, migrations, and moments that ripple outward. One such moment happened fifty-six years ago, when a river caught fire and Americans could no longer look away.

On June 22, 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire for at least the thirteenth time. That blaze gained national attention—especially after Time magazine published dramatic photos (actually from the 1952 fire) and highlighted it as a symbol of unchecked industrial pollution.

What does this have to do with the Ohio River? The Cuyahoga fire became a tipping point for public awareness. It wasn’t the largest fire, or the most destructive—but it was the one America saw. And it helped spark a movement that culminated in the Clean Water Act of 1972.

The Ohio River, running through the heart of the country’s manufacturing corridor, never made headlines for catching fire, but it was every bit as polluted. Its legacy was slow violence: toxic water, chronic illness, ecological collapse—and a long path toward repair.

This month’s quiz explores the murky legacy of Ohio River pollution.

But first, let’s go down Memory Lane with this SNL skit for Swill Water, with pitchman Bill Murray. (Swill is reputedly sourced from Lake Erie).

Note to my fantastic new subscribers:

Monthly trivia is for sport. It’s not a test of intelligence or character. I couldn’t answer these questions without a significant amount of research, either! Do your best and enjoy learning something new.

Would you share this quiz with someone else? Please?

QUESTIONS

Answers in the footnotes. Have fun (despite the subject matter)!

True or false? Matchbox once sold a Swill Water delivery truck toy.
How did the environmental crises of the Cuyahoga and Ohio rivers differ in terms of public impact and perception? More than one applies.
The Cuyahoga River caught fire multiple times, becoming a national symbol of pollution.
The Ohio River was less polluted than the Cuyahoga and received little attention.
The Ohio River suffered chronic industrial and sewage pollution but lacked a dramatic event to trigger public outrage.
Both rivers experienced visible and dangerous pollution, but only the Cuyahoga catalyzed federal environmental reform.
Which of the following factors help explain why the Cuyahoga River caught fire while the Ohio River did not, despite both suffering significant industrial pollution? More than one may apply.
The Cuyahoga's lower stretch is slow-moving and canal-like, allowing flammable substances to accumulate.
The Ohio River's faster current and larger volume dispersed pollutants more effectively.
The Cuyahoga passed directly through dense clusters of oil refineries and steel mills.
The Ohio River was better regulated and kept cleaner during the industrial era.
Which of the following statements accurately describe historical and current restrictions on swimming in the Ohio River? Choose more than one answer.
In many industrial-era cities, swimming in the Ohio River was banned or strongly discouraged due to health risks.
The Clean Water Act immediately made all sections of the Ohio River safe for recreational use.
Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) still lead to modern-day swimming advisories after heavy rain.
ORSANCO (The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission) and local agencies have continued to monitor bacteria levels and advise against swimming in certain areas.
What were typical forms of industrial waste discharged into the Ohio River before the 1970s? Choose as many as apply.
Heavy metals
Oil and grease
Plastic pellets
Slaughterhouse refuse
How can pollution from a small industrial spill—like one near Union Carbide’s Institute, West Virginia plant in 1985—ultimately affect the Ohio River, even if toxins aren’t dumped directly into it? More than one applies.
The chemicals can travel through connected creeks and tributaries that feed the river
Rainfall and groundwater flow can carry pollutants downstream over time
Some pollutants may settle in soil or sediment but later remobilize during storms or floods
The Ohio River watershed includes many smaller waterways that drain into it
You may have missed the 2019 film, Dark Waters. Based on a true story, the film follows Rob Bilott, a corporate defense attorney (played by Mark Ruffalo) who takes on an environmental lawsuit against DuPont. The case centers on decades of PFAS pollution in Parkersburg, West Virginia, where DuPont knowingly released toxic chemicals, evaded regulation, and spread PFAS globally—into drinking water, bloodstreams, and ecosystems. For the record, PFAS is the entire chemical family, while PFOA is one (very toxic and infamous) member. Which of the following elements depicted in the film Dark Waters are factually accurate? More than one applies.
DuPont classified PFOA as proprietary and did not inform regulators of its environmental impact
The plant’s smokestacks regularly emitted PFOA-containing dust, contributing to air pollution downwind
The EPA had already banned PFOA by the time Rob Bilott filed his lawsuit
Blood testing revealed that nearly the entire local population had PFOA in their systems
Which pollution incident is generally regarded as the worst single environmental disaster on the Ohio River during the 20th century?
The 1964 barge explosion and oil spill near Owensboro, Kentucky
The 1988 Ashland petroleum tank spill that contaminated the Ohio River and Pittsburgh’s drinking water
The 1950s mass fish kill near Cincinnati due to raw industrial sewage discharges
The 1977 toxic waste release from a chemical plant near Louisville, Kentucky, following a flood
Why does pollution in the Ohio River often spike after heavy rain? One of these answers is incorrect.
Combined sewer systems overflow and release untreated waste into the river
Rainfall increases groundwater filtration, cleaning up the river
Stormwater runoff carries agricultural chemicals and animal waste into the watershed
Urban surfaces funnel oil, debris, and heavy metals into the river via storm drains
Which of the following factors contributed to the harmful algal bloom (HAB) that covered over 600 miles of the Ohio River in 2015? More than one is correct.
Excess fertilizer and manure runoff from farmland
High summer temperatures and low river flow
Industrial oil spills from upriver plants
Heavy rainfall flushing nutrients into the river

Intermission (Good News!)

The Ohio River Way National Water Trail has been designated as a national water trail, joining the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail as part of the National Trails System.

The Ohio River Way is a 308-mile water trail spanning sections of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The route takes paddlers—kayaks and canoes as well as motorized watercraft—past small river towns and metropolitan centers like Louisville. Falls of the Ohio and gateway communities Jeffersonville, Clarksville and New Albany are an integral part of the Ohio River Way. Source.

ANSWERS

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I recently visited a restored archeological site in the Sonoran Desert. Today it’s known as Besh Ba Gowah, a term roughly translated from the Apache meaning “place of metal.”

Besh Ba Gowah made me realize how little I knew about native people in the Ohio River Valley, and that’s what inspired this month’s trivia quiz.

Did it ever occur to you that there are no Indian reservations in the Ohio River border states? Why is that?

Today, the absence of federally recognized reservations in the Ohio River border states is largely due to three factors: 1) historical displacement, 2) lack of territorial continuity leading to assimilation, and 3) the erosion of Native sovereignty through federal policies that led to economic control of these peoples by the U.S. government.

While some tribes in the region, like the Shawnee and Miami, have regained federal recognition in recent decades, they do not have large, contiguous reservations like those in the western U.S.

You might first think this happened as a result of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which initiated a mass exodus of Native Americans, particularly from the southeastern U.S., to what is now Oklahoma, known as the Trail of Tears. While many tribes in the Ohio River border states were forcibly removed, some, like the Shawnee and Miami, were fragmented and dispersed across various regions. Those who remained were often not granted land rights or reservations.

However, the effort to erase Indian peoples and culture began much earlier than that Act. Land treaties and military conflict forced tribes in the Ohio Valley to cede large portions of their land. The Treaty of Greenville (1795), which followed the defeat of Native forces in the Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794), is a notable example of such a land cession. Tribes were often coerced or manipulated into giving up their territories in exchange for meager concessions, setting the stage for further removal.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the U.S. government adopted policies of assimilation aimed at integrating Native Americans into mainstream American society. The Dawes Act of 1887, which sought to break up tribal lands into individual allotments, further weakened Native communities and prevented the establishment of reservations.

As a result of these policies, Native American populations in the Ohio River border states were marginalized, and many tribes lost federal recognition, making it difficult for them to claim land for reservations. Tribal members were often forced into state-controlled systems, which did not allow for the formation of reservations.

This website by the Chickasaw Nation is a treasure trove of video interviews and other resources.

Now on to the quiz!

Note to my fantastic new subscribers:

Would you share this quiz with someone else? Please?

QUESTIONS

Answers in the footnotes. Have fun!

What was the primary effect of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, following the end of the French and Indian War, on Native American tribes living in the Ohio River Valley?
It granted Native Americans sovereignty over their lands
It established new boundaries that restricted Native Americans to specific territories
It allowed Native Americans to trade freely with European settlers.
It recognized Native American alliances with the French
The Treaty of Greenville (1795) was significant because it marked a major land cession by Native tribes in the Ohio River Valley. What did the U.S. government promise in exchange? More than one may apply.
Monetary compensation and trade goods for the land
A formal apology for the destruction of Native villages
Military support in protecting Native lands from further encroachment
The return of some land taken by settlers
Which Native American leader, who fought to protect his people’s land from European encroachment in the Ohio River Valley, became well-known after his leadership during the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811?
Tecumseh
Pontiac
Blue Jacket
Standing Bear
What were the main reasons for passing the Indian Removal Act of 1830? More than one applies.
To relocate Native American tribes to reservations in the western territories
To provide land for European settlers to expand westward
To grant Native American tribes sovereignty over their lands
To forcibly assimilate Native Americans into European-American agricultural practices
The U.S. government created reservations for Native American tribes in the 19th century. Legislators didn’t come up with this concept on their own. What practices elsewhere inspired this policy? Yes, this is an essay question.
Why were Native American tribes in the Ohio River border states (like the Shawnee and Miami) particularly vulnerable to displacement during the early 19th century? More than one may apply.
They had no alliances with other tribes
Their lands were in the path of settlers moving westward
They lacked military power to resist U.S. forces
They had assimilated into European farming practices
Which of the following Native American tribes played a role in the resistance against European settlers in the Ohio River Valley during the 18th century? (Select all that apply)
Shawnee
Miami
Iroquois
Cherokee
Which factor made the Dawes Act of 1887 particularly damaging to Native tribes in the Ohio River border states?
It forced Native Americans to abandon their communal way of life and adopt European-style farming practices.
It granted Native American tribes full autonomy over their lands, allowing them to govern themselves.
It divided tribal lands into individual allotments, causing a loss of collective control and leading to the sale of surplus lands to non-Native settlers.
It created permanent reservations for Native tribes, offering them protection from further displacement by European settlers.
I can’t resist another Tecumseh question. The War of 1812 was a conflict between the United States and Great Britain, driven by issues such as trade restrictions, impressment of American sailors, and British support of Native American resistance to U.S. expansion. Which of the following statements about Tecumseh and his role in the War of 1812 are correct? Select all that apply.
Tecumseh fought alongside British forces against the United States during the War of 1812.
Tecumseh’s primary goal was to defeat the British and secure Native American sovereignty.
Tecumseh led the Shawnee and other Native American tribes in an alliance with the British to resist U.S. expansion.
Tecumseh was killed in the Battle of New Orleans, where he fought for the American cause.
Which of the following Native American tribes originally from the Ohio River Border States have gained federal recognition in recent years? More than one may apply.
Shawnee Tribe
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
Delaware Tribe of Indians
Pequot Tribe

ANSWERS

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I’m sending this from somewhere between North Carolina and Phoenix, Arizona during my trip to visit family. I had to delay my motorcycle trip by five days waiting for the turbulent storms to dissipate in the lower Midwest and upper South, which has led to extremely high waters along our beloved Ohio River. The Associated Press has revived historical memories of the Great Flood of 1937, which killed 385 people and left approximately one million homeless from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois.

I wrote my last newsletter about the Covington flood wall murals, which have been doing strong work this spring, and I’m continuing the theme today with flood wall mural trivia.

Note to my fantastic new subscribers:

QUESTIONS

Answers in the footnotes.

Who painted the Covington flood wall murals?a) Diego Rivera started them before his death. His large frescoes helped establish the mural movement.b) Robert Dafford painted them all. He’san internationally acclaimed mural artist and blues enthusiast from Louisiana who has painted more than 400 murals in the United States and Europe.c) Thomas Hart Benton, a Missouri native who was at the forefront of the Regionalist art movement. His fluid, sculpted figures showed everyday people in scenes of life in the United States.d) Shepard Fairey, an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene.
What is the primary purpose of the murals? Only one applies.a) To advertise local businessesb) To beautify the city with abstract artc) To depict and preserve the region’s layered historyd) To showcase modern Kentucky life
What river(s) does the Covington flood wall protect against? More than one may apply.a) Kentucky Riverb) Licking Riverc) Ohio Riverd) Sciota River
The mural that features the Roebling Suspension Bridgehighlights a major architectural achievement linking Covington and Cincinnati. What role did this bridge play in regional commerce, and why was its construction significant for Covington’s identity? More than one answer may apply.
It facilitated the transport of goods between Covington and Cincinnati, strengthening the region’s role as a key industrial hub.
Until the invention of the Model T, it was primarily a pedestrian bridge that connected two cultural districts in the region, boosting tourism and art exchange.
Its engineering innovation—as the first major suspension bridge in the U.S. to use wire cables—made it an architectural marvel of its time while helping solidify Covington's identity by connecting it to the economic and cultural heart of Cincinnati.
It was the first bridge to connect Covington to the rest of the United States, fostering a boom in agricultural exports.
The mural known as Resident Artists, features Frank Duveneck and John Farney. Which of the following is true of these artists? Choose wisely.
The inclusion of John Farney and Frank Duveneck suggests that Covington’s cultural history was primarily shaped by international art movements rather than local artists.
The inclusion of Frank Duveneck and John Farney highlights Covington’s strong cultural and artistic legacy, which extended beyond its industrial growth in the late 19th century.
A mural depicting the Latonia Race Track shows a lively day at what was once one of the most prestigious Thoroughbred tracks in the country. Which of the following is true about the mural and what it represents, historically? Choose one.
In the mural, the jockey in red silks wears a badge with the initials “A.J.” This is widely understood to be a tribute to Alonzo “Lonnie” Clayton, one of the most successful Black jockeys in American horse racing history.
The mural shows the grand reopening of the racetrack in the 1950s, after World War II prompted a decades-long closure.
The jockeys in the mural are all modeled after famous Triple Crown winners, despite none ever racing at Latonia.
The mural known as Covington Churches features several of Covington’s historically and architecturally significant churches, depicting the city’s religious diversity. True or false: One of the houses of worship in that mural is a Jewish temple.
Also depicted in that mural is the Western Baptist Theological Institute, founded in Covington in the 1840s. The seminary owned a large amount of land in the region. What happened to this land after the seminary dissolved over disagreements about whether ministers could enslave people?

a) The land was sold to local businesses for commercial development.b) It was repurposed as a public park and remains a popular site for community events.c) The land became part of Northern Kentucky University's original campus and other civic developments.d) The land was used to create a historic landmark to honor the seminary’s contributions to education.

The mural known as 1913: Federal Ball Park captures the energy of a baseball game in the early 20th-century with players, fans, and the iconic stadium in the background. True or false: Federal Ball Park was the home of the Cincinnati Reds before they moved to Crosley Field in 1912.
Which of the following best describes the challenges and benefits of integrating more murals into Covington’s urban landscape, considering recent initiatives the development of immersive public art?
Mural expansion would likely face little resistance, with most community members favoring its aesthetic value and historical preservation benefits.
Integrating more murals would enhance Covington’s cultural identity, but it could be challenged by concerns over historical accuracy, economic costs, and the preservation of existing architecture.
Covington is committed to expanding its mural project as part of an effort to revitalize the city and attract tourists.
The city of Covington is focused on creating new murals specifically to erase older, controversial historical representations.

INTERMISSION

Mark your calendars if you live between Portsmouth, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky. For the fifth year, paddlers will complete the Ohio River Way Challenge, an extraordinary expedition in 30-foot voyager canoes from May 5-15. Details here!

I can’t make it this year, but it’s on my calendar for 2026!

ANSWERS

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In 2023, I wrote about the flood wall murals in Covington, Kentucky, and the stories they tell have stayed with me. Robert Dafford, a historical muralist, led the team that painted scenes capturing the city’s development along the Ohio River as well as similar projects in Paducah, and in Portsmouth, Ohio. From the first Americans to call the region home and the colonists who displaced them, to the influence of German immigrants and religious communities, Dafford’s artistry can turn even the most disinterested onlooker into a history lover.

Dafford’s murals are more than decorative—they’re acts of historical recovery. The Meeting at the Point initially seems like a typical scene of early American exploration, but a closer look reveals a Native American figure in the background—a silent witness to the coming displacement. Kennedy's Ferry and Landing celebrates economic prosperity, but if you zoom in, Dafford quietly acknowledges the labor of African-Americans powering the region’s boom. These subtle inclusions tell a fuller story—exactly the kinds now being scrubbed from classrooms, parks, and other public spaces.

This trend is not abstract. For example, in Florida and Texas, new curriculum laws restrict how teachers can address slavery, systemic racism, and the civil rights movement. Florida even blocked an Advanced Placement African American Studies course, declaring it “lacking in educational value.”

At the federal level, the National Park Service recently stripped Harriet Tubman and slavery from its Underground Railroad webpage, reframing the Underground Railroad not as a network for escape from slavery, but as “one of the most significant expressions of the American civil rights movement” that “bridged the divides of race.” This effort to obscure the harsh realities of slavery and downplay the profound struggle for freedom reflects a broader trend: sanitizing painful aspects of history.

This erasure of difficult truths is even taking place in The U.S. Naval Academy, whose library removed hundreds of books on civil rights and the Holocaust under new guidelines targeting so-called “divisive” materials.

In Washington, D.C., the words “Black Lives Matter” have been scrubbed from the street outside the White House—wiped out not by the hands of vandals, but by city officials, likely in response to shifting political winds. What began as a powerful public statement now serves as a reminder of how quickly symbols of justice and accountability can be erased.

In today’s partisan political climate, with interest groups trying to reshape what version of history we pass down and how we understand our cultural roots, I sometimes wonder if these murals would even get the civic green light today. Would Dafford’s quiet insistence on including inconvenient truths survive a public meeting?

As a travel writer, my work often takes me on a journey through history, inspired by the places I visit and the people I encounter. A small historical marker can spark deep research as I unravel stories of where people lived, fought, or died. History feels more real to me when it’s tied to specific places and personalities, and the murals invite us to engage with history in the very places where it unfolded, offering a powerful, accessible form of education. They serve as a reminder that history is not just something to learn from books, but something we can experience firsthand—woven into the fabric of the spaces we inhabit. No admission fee. No curated exhibit. Just layers of story, waiting for someone to pause and take it in.

These murals stand in sharp contrast to the ongoing debate over Confederate monuments. I’ve had many conversations with people who argue that these statues should remain—not as celebrations of the Confederacy, but as tools for teaching history. They view them as reminders of a painful past, something we shouldn’t forget or remove from public gaze. On the surface, that sounds reasonable. How can we learn from history if we don’t confront it?

But here’s the problem: Confederate monuments don’t just teach history—they glorify a past rooted in white supremacy and the brutal exploitation of human beings. These statues were often erected not in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, but decades later, during the height of Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement, as assertions of white dominance. They are not neutral. They were designed to send a message—and they still do.

Removing Confederate monuments has nothing to do with erasing history—and everything to do with refusing to honor a legacy of inhumanity.

If our goal is education, there are better ways. Germany offers a powerful example. The country teaches the history of the Holocaust in depth and with gravity, but you won’t find statues of Hitler or Goebbels in public squares. Instead, you’ll find memorials to the victims—stumbling stones set into sidewalks, museums, and plaques that acknowledge the horror without glorifying its architects. The Germans chose to remember without revering.

That distinction matters. We can and must preserve history, even the darkest parts. But we don’t need to place the dark stories on pedestals—literally or figuratively. That’s why I find Dafford’s murals so powerful. They don’t scold or preach. They don’t demand a single takeaway. Instead, they offer layered stories—some easy to spot, others tucked into the background—waiting for a curious eye to catch the Native figure or the Black laborers on Kennedy’s dock.

One mural in particular, The Flight of the Garner Family depicts a quiet moment: Margaret Garner, an enslaved woman, crossing the frozen Ohio River with her family in 1856, fleeing toward freedom. It’s a tense and quiet scene: bundled figures on the ice, with Covington in the distance. Dafford doesn’t portray the tragic aftermath—Garner’s desperate act to prevent her daughter from being returned to slavery by taking the girl’s life. By illustrating the moment of flight, he invites viewers into a fuller, more complicated narrative.

As we grapple with what should be preserved in our public spaces, the murals in Covington remind us that history is more complex than we often admit. It’s not always about celebrating heroes; it’s about giving voice to the forgotten, the marginalized, and those whose stories have been silenced. By doing so, we learn not just about the past, but about who we are and who we want to be.

Stories of real people make abstract lessons tangible and relatable. They allow us to emotionally connect with history, see ourselves in the past, and better understand the world we live in today.

Here’s a video explaining the history and nuances of all the murals by author and historian Karl Lietzenmayer. Enjoy!

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Hello, friends.

For my personal update, I’ve been working with Joan Lunden on her legacy memoir, which will be published in March of 2026. Joan was the longest-running female host ever on early morning television, and her post-Good Morning America career has been equally fascinating and full. I’ll let you know when she settles on a title and cover design.

Next week, I’m headed out on my motorcycle to visit family in Arizona. I'm thinking of stopping in Roswell, New Mexico, because I am a connoisseur of roadside kitsch and conspiracy theories. The weather should be splendid. I’ll post the occasional picture on Instagram if you’re interested.

I’ll be back on the Ohio River in late August/early September for a BMW motorcycle rally in Athens, Ohio. If you’d like to get together, please reach out. I’d love to meet you in person.

Alright, on to the quiz. If you’ve readThe Ghosts of Eden Park, you’re familiar with the role of the Ohio River in bootlegging, but it’s been used for lots of other illicit businesses over the years. Let’s see how you do with these ten questions.

Note to my fantastic new subscribers:

Would you share this quiz with someone else? Please?

QUESTIONS

Answers in the footnotes. Have fun!

Going back to the 18th and early 19th centuries, Ohio River criminal syndicates capitalized on the river's ever-growing traffic to evade taxes or to smuggle contraband humans and goods. We’ll come back to the trafficking of humans in a later question. What goods were the basis for most of the criminal activity along the river? More than one may apply.
Tobacco and alcohol
Counterfeit currency
Everyday goods like textiles and grains
Newport, Kentucky, became a major hub for organized crime in the 1940s and 1950s while neighboring Covington, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio, did not. Which of the following reasons best explains Newport’s “success” as a crime town? More than one applies.
It was small enough that local law enforcement could be easily influenced, but close enough to a major city (Cincinnati) to draw in big-money gambling customers.
Figures like Newport Police Chief Frank "Screw" Andrews openly worked with crime bosses rather than against them.
Unlike Ohio, Kentucky had looser gambling laws, creating a gray area where illegal casinos could flourish with little state interference.
Newport had a history of vice industries dating back to the 1800s, including brothels and saloons that made illegal activity feel like "business as usual."
Las Vegas-style casino operators, like Moe Dalitz (who later helped develop the Vegas Strip), used Newport as a testing ground before heading west.
Newport, Kentucky, was known as a mini Las Vegas due to its numerous illegal casinos. Which famous mob family was heavily involved in running these operations? Hint: It’s the oldest of the “Five Families” that dominate the New York and New Jersey region.a) The Genovese Familyb) The Gambino Familyc) The Dalitz Family
Which Ohio River city was used as a stand-in for New York City to film the recent gangster movie, The Alto Knights, starring Robert De Niro?
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Louisville
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 effectively criminalized freedom for escaped enslaved people, which was a major force in Ohio River border states. While it didn’t classify freedom seekers as criminals by legal definition, it subjected them to punishment, forced capture, and denial of rights in ways that mirrored criminal prosecution—without any of the legal protections given to actual criminals. Which of the following is true of this Act? More than one applies.
Unlike other legal systems where crimes have statutes of limitations, a fugitive slave could be hunted for life—even if they had lived freely for decades.
Anyone who helped a fugitive slave—whether by providing shelter, food, or transportation—could face fines of up to $1,000 (roughly $35,000 today) and six months in prison.
Slavery was legal under U.S. law at the time, so escaping from bondage was considered a violation of property law, similar to stealing a horse—except the “stolen property” was the person’s own body.
Freedom seekers were subject to hot metal branding, known as the “scar-based identification system.” This was believed to deter repeat escape attempts.
Blackbirding is the nickname for kidnapping free Black people and illegally selling them into slavery. If you watched the movie or read the book, Ten Years a Slave you will know about this history. Which of the following statements best describes how blackbirding networks operated north of the Ohio River before the Civil War? Choose one.
They were loosely organized groups of bounty hunters who only targeted escaped enslaved people.
They were well-organized operations involving kidnappers, corrupt officials, and Southern enslavers who conspired to abduct free Black people.
They were illegal and faced harsh prosecution in free states like Indiana and Ohio.
They were primarily based in the Deep South and had no real influence in the Midwest.
A final question on human trafficking. What’s the difference between trafficking and smuggling human beings? Yes, this is an essay question.
The 1962 film, How the West Was Won, featured Jimmy Stewart as a mountain man floating down the Ohio River with a group. Along the way, they stop at Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, where they meet a group of pirates led by Walter Brennan's character, Alabama Colonel Hawkins. Hawkins’ character was based on a real pirate who led a gang of outlaws there after the Revolutionary War. What was the name of the notorious gang at Cave-In-Rock?

a) The James-Younger Gang (as in Jesse James)b) The Harpe Brothersc) The Exterminatorsd) The Mason Gang

Which Ohio River city’s police chief was a Prohibition-Era bootlegger?a) Newport, Kentuckyb) Madison, Indianac) Evansville, Indianad) Paducah, Kentucky
How did Kentucky, the heart of American bourbon production, handle Prohibition? Yes, this is an essay question, but I have faith in you.

INTERMISSION

Did you watch the Ken Burns documentary Prohibition? Here’s the trailer.

ANSWERS

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The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America

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Hello friends!

I don’t often share personal news here, but exceptional times call for exceptional correspondence. As I mentioned in my other newsletter, I’m taking comfort in simple pleasures these days, including knitting and crocheting while binge listening to the Thursday Murder Club series. The movie adaptation is coming out on Netflix this year.

Here’s an afghan I finished (left) and another that I’m making for my son’s birthday in March (right). I’m sprinting to the finish with that one!

I hope you are able to find something to do with your hands or body to balance some of the negativity that’s relentlessly assaulting our heads and hearts.

Now, on to the quiz! This (loosely) ties Ohio River towns and culture with that of the ancient Greeks and Romans. I’m told Gladiator II was a stinker, and if you skipped it, I don’t think your quiz score will suffer. Good luck!

Note to my fantastic new subscribers:

QUESTIONS

Answers in the footnotes.

Which Kentucky city along the Ohio River is named after the first emperor of Rome?
Nero
Augusta
Julius
Hadrian
What Indiana town takes its name from the famous site that markedthe end of Sparta’s dominance in the Greek world?
Marathon
Troy
Thermopylae
Delphi
The word “Sparta” reminds me of the 1960 movie Spartacus starring Kirk Douglas. Stay with me as I get you to an Ohio River connection. Spartacus (the book and movie) is about the historic slave revolt of 73 BCE. Spartacus's rebellion was the largest slave revolt in Roman history. The screenplay was written by the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo, who served time in a federal prison after being found in contempt of Congress in 1950. In which Ohio River city did Trumbo serve his federal sentence?
Ashland, Kentucky
Cincinnati, Ohio
Marion, Illinois
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
I’m not going to give you the obvious question about Cincinnatus being the namesake of Cincinnati. Instead, I’ll tell you that the city was was originally named "Losantiville." Now, can you tell me why?
The Losant family was first to settle the area. Their land lies across from the Licking River where it empties into the Ohio.
It was supposed to be named Loganville, but the signmaker’s apprentice screwed up the letter “g” and it looked like an “s.” The town’s fathers let it slide after the signmaker said he would donate the sign.
It’s a portmanteau combining
L, for Licking River
os, Greek for mouth
anti, Latin for opposite
ville, French for town
In which state would you find the Ohio River town of Rome? More than one may apply.
Ohio
Kentucky
Indiana
Illinois
What famous Roman phrase associated with Julius Caesar means "I came, I saw, I conquered," and could describe early settlers’ ambitions along the Ohio River?
Alea Iacta Est
Carpe Diem
Sic Semper Tyrannis
Veni, Vidi, Vici
The term "Athenaeum" derives its name from Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and refers to institutions dedicated to education, arts, or culture. What states have Athenaeums located near the Ohio River? More than one may apply
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Ohio
Pennsylvania
West Virginia
How many American states have cities, towns, counties, villages, townships and boroughs named “Athens?”
Surprisingly, only 8
At least 13 (a baker’s dozen)
27, which is more than half
Are any Ohio River cities named for Roman deities? C’mon, this is a 50/50 opportunity to gain a point.
Several schools and universities in the river area have mascots inspired by Greek and Roman figures. Which of the following mascots is NEITHER Greek nor Roman?
Argonaut
Gorlock
Hoplite
Minotaur

INTERMISSION

Pittsburgh in 50 Maps,is a book right up the 981 Project’s alley.

Whether you call it the Steel City, the City of Bridges, City of Champions, Hell with the Lid Off, or even the Paris of Appalachia, Pittsburgh’s distinctive character is undeniable. Pittsburgh in 50 Maps considers the boundaries of the city’s 90 distinct neighborhoods (plus Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood), the legacy of the steel industry, and how immigration continues to shape the city. You’ll also find the areas with the highest concentrations of bike lanes, supermarkets, tree cover, and fiberglass dinosaurs. Each colorful map offers a new perspective on one of America’s most consistently surprising cities and the people who live here.

ANSWERS

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I’m officially an old timer, since I can give you a first-hand account of the 1977 & ‘78 blizzards. Technically, the ‘78 blizzard was more intense because of the record-breaking snowfall and extreme winds. I grew up in Central Ohio, about 30 miles east of Columbus. After a good week or so at home, we ventured out to the grocery store and were shocked that the snow reached power/phone lines.

The weather forecast called for frigid conditions and heavy snowfall, but I tell you, when I saw LIGHTNING and heard THUNDER in the middle of that storm, I thought doomsday had arrived.

Before you dismiss my observation as fanciful, this phenomenon is known as thundersnow. Watch Jim Cantore do the thundersnow dance here!

Okay, if you want to call it a “winter thunderstorm,” that’s an acceptable answer for TV Jeopardy contestants, but you’re gonna hafta accept being called a spoil sport or a kill joy by the rest of us. Your choice.

Another thing I recall is that Mom’s tropical fish aquarium froze. No, not like a block of ice, more like a slurry of the consistency we got from the old Icee Drink machines at Sears stores. I was pretty sad about the little angelfish and tetras suspended there as if Samantha on Bewitchedhad put a spell on them, but here’s the real miracle: those fish survived! No kidding. I think we were out of power for a good week, but once we got it back, the slurry melted and the fish swam around like nothing had happened.

With that, it’s time for January Trivia, focused on the history, pop culture, and earth science behind winter weather in the region. This should be fun!

Note to my fantastic new subscribers:

QUESTIONS

I’m going for quality over quantity this month using these nine questions. Answers in the footnotes.

What conditions produce thundersnow? Choose one.
Exactly the same conditions that produce thunderstorms. Duh! That’s to say, when there is moisture, static electricity/instability, and a lifting mechanism in the atmosphere (known as convection).
Basically the same conditions that produce thunderstorms, with the addition of snowflakes and sleet pellets that collide in the clouds, creating static charges. The static builds up until it's discharged as lightning. The lightning generates intense heat, which causes the air to rapidly expand and produce thunder.
Where is thundersnow most common in the United States? More than one may apply.
The Great Lakes region
Around the Great Salt Lake
The Northeast during nor'easters
The entire length of the Ohio River froze during the winter of 1917-1918. What happened as a result? More than one may apply.
As temperatures dropped, ice flows formed and sharp ice pierced ship hulls or piled on decks, weighing down and sinking 36 boats.
The Great Ice Gorge of the Ohio River formed and finally broke on February 12, after holding firm for 58 days.
More than 100 coal barges were lost and coal yards along the river were flooded. The shortage of coal almost shut down the power plant that supplied heat and light to Cincinnati.
The harbor and the canal at Louisville were kept open by breaking the ice with dynamite because the ice boats weren’t up to the task.
Now it’s time to talk about the blizzard of 1977, which was caused by a strong blocking high over the Arctic Ocean that brought Arctic air into the central and eastern United States. The cold air combined with a build-up of precipitation and wind to create a severe blizzard. Which of the following is true? More than one applies.
January 18, 1977 the temperature in the Cincinnati area was -25°F, the coldest day in that city’s history since the National Weather Service began keeping official records in the nineteenth century.
Louisville saw significant snowfall, compounded by high winds that created drifts several feet deep. Some rural areas nearby were completely cut off. The city opened emergency shelters in schools and other public buildings.
Indiana farmers lost livestock due to the extreme cold and inability to transport feed.
Huntington, West Virginia, experienced issues with frozen water mains, leading to water shortages.
True or false: The Ohio River became a “frozen highway” in 1977 from Huntington, West Virginia, to Evansville, Indiana, because the ice could support the weight of a person and in limited areas, even motor vehicles.
Let’s compare the ‘77 and ‘78 storms. The Blizzard of 1977 was caused by a combination of extreme cold (from Arctic air) and high winds, with snow already on the ground due to prolonged cold weather prior to the storm. The Great Blizzard of 1978 was different in which key ways? More than one is correct.
The storm was caused by an explosive low-pressure system comparable to a Category 3 hurricane.
Wind gusts reached up to 70 mph, causing severe drifting and whiteouts.
Wind chills of -40°F (compared to -60°F in 1977).
Which of the following were “breakthroughs” after these two storms? Choose as many as apply.
The National Weather Service (NWS) recognized the need for more accurate weather prediction models, including increased reliance on satellite imagery.
Automobile manufacturers began incorporating features such as heated seats and rear defrosters.
Cities developed and implemented snow emergency routes and plans to ensure more efficient snow removal and emergency response in future storms.
The North Face, Columbia Sportswear, and Patagonia intensified their focus on developing high-performance outerwear, incorporating advanced insulation materials to provide better protection against extreme cold.
Okay, sports fans. Did either blizzard affect the Cincinnati Bengals football schedules?
In the 1970s, the freezing of the Ohio River was a rare event, but it was not uncommon in the mid-19th century. There are several accounts of enslaved people crossing “ice bridges” over the river from Kentucky in search of freedom. Their stories, reported in newspapers and fictionalized, made up an important component of the public discourse in advance of the US Civil War. Which of the stories below is based in fact?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin tells the story of Eliza Harris, who crossed the partially frozen Ohio River with her child to reach freedom in Ohio.
Beloved embellishes the story of Margaret Garner, who crossed the icy river with her family into Cincinnati, where she killed her daughter, claiming it was better for her go home to God than back to slavery.
The Price of Freedom tells the story of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue and centers the people of Oberlin, Ohio, who sheltered Kentuckians John and Frank after they rode stolen horses across the frozen river. Found guilty of violating the Fugitive Slave Act, 37 townsmen were sentenced to three months in prison.

ANSWERS

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December 16 marked the anniversary of the 1967 collapse of the bridge that crossed the Ohio River between Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio. The Point Pleasant Bridge is usually called the Silver Bridge, and its collapse is often associated with the Mothman, a creature reportedly sighted in the area leading up to the disaster.

The devastating event took place at rush hour, on a bridge built in 1928 when Model Ts were in use, not the heavier cars that followed. Two cars avoided plunging into the river, but 46 people died, and 9 bodies were never recovered.

My great-grandmother lived on the Ohio side of the bridge and we crossed it several times visiting family before its collapse—yes, I’m “that” old. This month, we’ll explore bridge construction techniques, the disaster itself, the folklore and history of the Mothman, and a good bit more within ten questions.

Note to my fantastic new subscribers:

QUESTIONS

The Silver Bridge was named for:
Beloved local architect John H. Silver, who was born in Point Pleasant, but died one month before the bridge opened in 1928.
It was the first bridge in the United States to use eyebar chain suspension, a design that relied on a series of metal links (eyebars) to support the structure. Its shiny aluminum paint was innovative for the time, so the locals disregarded its official name.
Both.
We often tell our children that the weakest link in a chain determines its fate. This is also true of the Silver bridge collapse because…
A tiny crack developed in the lower part of eyebar 330 due to stress corrosion cracking. When the crack grew, it caused a sudden brittle fracture of the eyebar, leading to the rapid failure of the suspension chain and the subsequent collapse of the entire bridge.
In 1968, a junior-level bridge inspector noticed the stress on eyebar 330 and reported it to his supervisor. Instead of placing the issue on a list of items to re-inspect, the boss hid the report. Only after the bridge collapsed did the junior inspector come forward, but since he didn’t keep his own copy of the report, and the official copy of the file had been “temporarily misplaced,” the federal inspectors with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) wrote him off as a glory seeker until he was vindicated in 1997 when the file was found.
Both.
The eyebar chain system was considered innovative because it used fewer materials compared to traditional suspension cables. Which of the following is true about bridge design? More than one may apply.
The eyebar design's failure mode is non-redundant, meaning that if one key component fails, the entire structure can collapse.
Today, bridges typically use cable-stayed or suspension systems with wire cables, which are more robust and offer multiple lines of support.
Most existing bridges with similar designs to the Silver Bridge have either been retrofitted or replaced to meet modern safety standards.
A cryptid is an animal or creature that is said to exist but has never been proven to do so. Cryptids are often featured in folklore and other accounts, and the list includes Mothman. What other creatures are considered to be cryptids? More than one may apply.
Bigfoot/Sasquatch
The Loch Ness Monster
The Jackalope
The Flatwoods Monster aka “Braxie”
For a year prior to the collapse of the Silver Bridge, the Mothman was sighted in the area, leading to the hypothesis that Mothman either caused or prophesied the accident. Which of the following characteristics were described by people who claimed to see the Mothman? More than one may apply.
Height between 6 to 7 feet with a humanoid form.
Wingspan 10 to 15 feet, resembling those of a bat or bird.
Large, glowing red eyes said to shine or glow in the dark.
The creature’s head seemed small or nonexistent, with the eyes appearing to be set directly into its shoulders or chest area.
What do skeptics of Mothman believe the sightings misidentified? More than one may apply.
Barn owls, barred owls and snowy owls.
Herons, or sandhill cranes.
An extra-dimensional spirit monster heralding the Age of Aquarius.
Richard Gere and Laura Linney starred in a 2002 movie about the Silver Bridge collapse. The Mothman Prophesies is a supernatural thriller about a journalist (Gere) whose wife sees the Mothman before she dies in a car accident. Two years later, he finds himself in Point Pleasant. Were any TV shows/episodes based on the Mothman? If so, name the show(s).
The 2002 movie kicked up interest in the Silver Bridge collapse and all things Mothman. Unveiled a year later, in 2003, Point Pleasant West Virginia, has its own Mothman statue made of stainless steel. How did artist Bob Roach land on the final design?
Interviewing witnesses.
Frank Frazetta's 1980 painting (as featured on the cover art for a paperback edition of John A. Keel's book, The Mothman Prophecies, which was used by screenwriters of the movie of that name).
He modified the original Mothman statue in Fryburg, Germany, where miners saw a headless winged creature with red eyes at the entrance of a mine in 1978. They evacuated immediately. The creature became known as the "Freiburg Shrieker," and had the physique of a body builder with wings.
What can visitors see at the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, West Virginia?
Eyewitness accounts and newspaper clippings about the original Mothman sightings.
Props and costumes from the 2002 film The Mothman Prophecies.
Artifacts and exhibits related to the Silver Bridge collapse of 1967.
A taxidermic Sandhill crane made to look like Mothman.
True or false? In June 2020, a petition on Change.org was initiated to replace Confederate statues in the United States with statues of Mothman. By July 2020, the petition had garnered over 22,000 signatures.

Intermission

There’s a good podcast about the collapse of the Silver Bridge and Mothman here at Ohio Mysteries. Click through for newspaper clips and such, but you’ll have to ignore the incorrect pronunciation of Gallipolis. Trust me on this—I say it like the locals.

A quick search revealed other podcasts, so please let me know if any are worthwhile.

ANSWERS

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Hello, Readers. In an effort to give you something neutral to discuss at Thanksgiving gatherings, I give you River Trivia. You’ll find questions on hydrology, dams, locks, dredging, flood management, plus specific questions about the Ohio River in the aftermath of the Great Flood of 1937. Try them out at “the kids’ table” too.

Thanks to everyone who reached out about October ‘24 Trivia. I love knowing that something I’ve written has made you ponder. In case you missed it or would like to share it (please do!) click the link below.

Note to my fabulous new subscribers:

QUESTIONS

What is the term for the total amount of water flowing past a given point in a river over a specified period?a) Water Tableb) Dischargec) Runoff
What is one primary purpose of constructing a dam on a river?a) To increase sediment transportb) To increase biodiversityc) To generate hydroelectric powerd) To prevent aquatic life migration
What is the function of a lock in river navigation?a) To stop water from flowing downstreamb) To raise or lower ships between sections of a river with different water levelsc) To prevent fish from migrating upstream
What is a common purpose of dredging in river management?a) To decrease sedimentation in reservoirsb) To remove sediment and maintain navigation channels

c) To build damsd) To create artificial lakes

What is a common method used to reduce the impact of river flooding in urban areas?a) Channelizationb) Dredgingc) Levees and floodwallsd) Water diversion tunnels
In the Ohio River region, certain species have experienced conservation success and are no longer listed as endangered. One notable example was removed from Ohio's endangered species list in 2012 after substantial population recovery efforts. Its resurgence is attributed to habitat protection, environmental regulations like the banning of DDT, and ongoing conservation programs. What species is this?
Bald eagle
Longheaded darter fish
Red-tailed hawk
Scioto madtom
The Great Flood of 1937, also known as the Ohio River flood, was a catastrophic flood that occurred in late January and February of 1937. How many people were known to be killed in that cataclysmic event?
189
248
385
Which of the following cities was 95% submerged during that flood?
Louisville, Kentucky
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Paducah, Kentucky
Yes or no to each option: did Franklin Delano Roosevelt visit this city in the wake of the flood?
Cincinnati, Ohio
Louisville, Kentucky
Evansville, Indiana
Paducah, Kentucky
The Flood Control Act of 1938 authorized extensive federal investments in dams, levees, and other flood control structures. Which of the following is/are true about the Act and its outcomes?
By constricting rivers with levees, areas on either side of the levees can see higher water levels and more destructive flooding.
The focus on structural solutions often neglected the natural functions of floodplains, leading to habitat loss and disruption of ecosystems.
The Act primarily targeted major river basins, leaving smaller communities and tributaries vulnerable to flooding.

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Last summer, after touring the floodwall murals in Covington, Kentucky, I ate at a pizza joint called The Gruff, situated close to the Roebling Bridge. While the bar filled up with Cincinnati Reds fans, I had my first encounter with bacon-apple pizza at the recommendation of my winsome waitress. As we chatted, I learned she’d just finished high school and was figuring out her next move in life. In time, she asked about my research project, which led me to test a theory about how much Kentuckians remember about their history as a border state.

I asked, “Was Kentucky a Union or Confederate state?”

I could tell by the way her eyebrows shot up that the question surprised her. “Let me think while I run your credit card,” she said.

As I would have done at her age, she got it wrong. Kentucky never seceded from the Union. I just checked the Kentucky Academic Standards and it looks like my waitress would have studied the Civil War in eighth grade, which might explain her leaky memory, but it seems like the kind of thing that would have stuck in the way that you don’t need fingers to remember that 2+2=4. I’m not putting my waitress down or dismissing the quality of her education. In many ways, Kentucky presents itself to the world as a former Confederate state. As an aside, is eighth grade a bit early to study the complexities of the Civil War? Does it do any good to give eighth graders a survey course on something that still divides our country today? I’d love your thoughts.

This brings me to the subject of this month’s trivia: Kentucky and the Civil War. The quiz will lean heavily on research and analysis by the scholar Ann E. Marshall in her book, Creating a Confederate Kentucky: The Lost Cause and Civil War Memory in a Border State.That’s where I found this 1926 quote from E. Merton Coulter, who observed that Kentuckians “…waited until after the war was over to secede from the Union.”

Dr. Marshall reminds us that Kentucky’s white population identified as both Union and Confederate before and after the war, and that African-Americans, who identified with and fought for the Union, were eager to draw upon the Union victory to claim what had been promised to “all men” in the Constitution. That “emancipation narrative” never resonated with the majority of white Kentuckians, no matter their partisan affiliation. In the words of historian Patrick Lewis, Ph.D., “Kentuckians imagined themselves as the last remaining spokespeople with political power for a defeated South.”

With that, it’s time for the quiz.

Note to my fabulous new subscribers:

QUESTIONS

The first four questions will help ground us in Kentucky’s economics and culture before the Civil War. Then we’ll move to the war years, and finally, the aftermath.

The African slave trade was outlawed by Congress in 1808, consequently raising the price of enslaved workers born into what’s known as the domestic slave trade. With proximity to the Ohio River, Lexington and Louisville became major slave markets. When the cotton gin created a cotton boom in the deep South, the average value of an enslaved worker sold in New Orleans rose from $500-1800 between 1800-1860. At the peak of the cotton boom (1850-60) how many enslaved people did Kentucky sell into the cotton belt?
Over 37,000, making it the fourth highest state in the domestic slave trade.
At least 54,000, making it second only to Virginia.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky taxed enslaved workers as property, eventually assessing owners 22 cents per $100 of value. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, with 250,000 enslaved workers in residence, what percentage of Kentucky’s tax revenue was based in human bondage/trafficking?
10%
20%
35%
During Kentucky’s constitutional convention of 1849-1850, delegates debated the possibility of gradual, compensated emancipation. Proslavery forces in the state quashed all hopes of that. What did they accomplish instead?
Section three in the 1850 constitution bill of rights strengthened owners rights, saying, “The right of property is before and higher than any constitutional sanction; and the right of the owner of a slave to such slave, and its increase, is the same, and as inviolable as the right of the owner of any property whatever.”
They chartered The Kentucky Colonization Society and allocated money to purchase land for freed slaves to settle in Liberia. The colony was called “Kentucky in Africa.”
They repealed Kentucky's Nonimportation Act of 1833 to remove a significant barrier to a profitable domestic slave trade. The goal was increased tax revenue for the state.
In the 1860 national election, Abraham Lincoln took 40 percent of the country’s vote. What percentage of Kentucky’s presidential vote went to its native son?
28%
12%
1%
With Kentuckians’ divided in loyalty between Union and Confederacy, the legislature adopted a policy of neutrality at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. Simultaneously, both sides began to build fortifications along the Ohio River border and rival factions organized militias—Confederate sympathizers called themselves the State Guards, while Unionists became the Home Guards. Sounds like a powder keg to me. What caused the legislature to break its neutrality policy?
One month after Governor Magoffin proclaimed neutrality, Kentuckians chose Unionists for nine out 10 of the state’s congressional seats. Later, on August 5, Unionists also won control of the state legislature and affirmed allegiance to the Union.
On September 4, Confederate General Polk ordered the occupation of Columbus, Kentucky, a strategic location in the state’s southwest near Tennessee. The Kentucky legislature appealed for Federal troops to repel the invaders, and General Ulysses Grant answered the call.
On November 18, when a self-constituted group of Confederate sympathizers and delegates from Kentucky counties passed an Ordinance of Secession and established Confederate Kentucky; the following December it was admitted to the Confederacy as its 13th state.
Although most white men did not fight for either army, Confederate sympathizers in the eastern part of the state fought “citizen warfare” in the form of guerrilla attacks on Union supply and communication lines, and Union sympathizers themselves. African-Americans who attempted to enlist in the Federal army were tortured and killed. By 1862, Kentucky became a police state in the hands of Union generals, who wouldn’t allow suspected Confederate partisans to do which of the following activities? More than one applies.
Hold elected office
Teach school
Minister to a church
Serve as a juror
Run a newspaper
By July 4, 1865, the war was over. How did most white Kentuckians celebrate this federal holiday?
They displayed fireworks, cheered marching bands, and even suffered from heat stroke while listening to orators regale the crowds with patriotic speeches. Black Kentuckians were not permitted to celebrate with them.
They let the day pass un-marked.
Between 1865-1885, “Kentucky emerged as one of the most lawless states in America…(with) vigilantism, mob violence, and lynching on an unprecedented scale.” (Creating a Confederate Kentucky p 56.) Most experts agree that this lawlessness arose because Kentucky sat outside the “framework of federal Reconstruction.” Why wasn’t Kentucky subject to Reconstruction? After all, it was a slave state. All the hints are in the intro and answers to preceding questions.
In Fairview, Kentucky, roughly 17 miles from the Tennessee state line, lies an historic site maintained by the state park system. The site's focal point is a 351-foot concrete obelisk that commemorates the birthplace of a Confederate leader who was born there in 1808. Construction began in 1917, stopped in 1918 during World War I, and resumed in January 1922. When finished in 1924 at a cost of $200,000, the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross from the top of the monument. Kentucky is obviously committed to this site; the state closed the obelisk to the public from 1999 until May 2004 for renovations and construction of a new visitor center. Whose birthplace is commemorated here? Your options are in alphabetical order.
John C. Breckinridge
Jefferson Davis
John Hunt Morgan
Gustavus Woodson Smith
What is the legal status of slavery in Kentucky law today?
The first Kentucky constitution of 1792 protected the right to own slaves. The Kentucky constitution still protects this right “as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”
In 2022, Kentucky joined the states of Alabama, Tennessee, Vermont, and Oregon in passing laws that say "slavery and indentured servitude in any form are prohibited."

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Intermission

Chances are, some of the answers to these questions surprised you. Here’s a podcast series I’ve listened to twice now, and plan to listen again. “The Reckoning” is a public radio and podcast series which traces the history and lasting impact of slavery in America by looking at how the institution unfolded in Kentucky. Here’s an interview with the producer and lead interviewer, Dan Gediman.

ANSWERS

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Did you know we’re in a bicentennial year? From now until September, 2025, historical sites in the nation’s first 24 states will be commemorating the Marquis de Lafayette’s Farewell Tour. Planned as a three-month tour, Lafayette was celebrated by all as the “Nation’s Guest” for 13 months. Honestly, it amazes me how Lafayette Fever swept the nation in the 1800s, with crowds thronging to catch a glimpse of the French nobleman who aided the American cause against Great Britain. For comparison’s sake, 4000 people greeted The Beatles in NYC but 80,000 turned out for Lafayette there!

I’ve come across a few theories to explain this phenomenon, which took place fifty years after the Revolution. One says that Lafayette was the swashbuckling symbol of France’s role in securing independence, and Americans were still deeply grateful. Another holds that Lafayette basked in the American reverence for George Washington as his de facto adopted son. (Lafayette even named his son Georges Louis Gilbert Washington de Motier Marquis de Lafayette).

The theory that rings most true for me is that Lafayette’s farewell tour coincided with the vitriolic presidential election of 1824, in which, for the first time, no founding father was running. Perhaps the country was demonstrating a nostalgia and reverence for the past and nervousness about the future, as author Sarah Vowel stated in an interview.

If you’re like me, Lafayette’s place in our history is more legendary than factual. The opening paragraph a New Yorker story from 2021 summed up my sketchy understanding:

Lafayette, like Betsy Ross and Johnny Appleseed, is so neatly fixed in the American imagination that it is hard to see him as a human being. Betsy sews stars, Johnny plants trees, Lafayette brings French élan to the American Revolution. He is, in the collective imagination, little more than a wooden soldier with a white plume on his cocked hat. In the original production of “Hamilton,” Daveed Diggs portrayed him affectionately, with a comically heavy French accent and an amorous manner—a hero, yes, but of the cartoon kind, a near relation of Pepé le Pew.

Allison Epstein wrote a most entertaining sketch of the marquis in her hilarious newsletter, Dirtbags Through the Ages. When Allison can’t criticize someone, take note.

I must leave you to dig into Lafayette’s extraordinary international escapades on your own while we focus on his stops along the Ohio River in this month’s trivia.

Note to my fabulous new subscribers:

Monthly trivia is for sport. It’s not a test. Only the rare person can answer all ten trivia questions without any prep. I couldn’t answer them without a significant amount of research, either! Do your best and enjoy learning something new. Answers in the footnotes.

QUESTIONS

When Lafayette visited Old Shawneetown, Illinois, it was simply called Shawneetown. Why do we call it Old Shawneetown today?
Remember Illinois’ salt industry from last month’s trivia? When Congress granted the salines to Illinois, the state ran the operation using the unpaid labor of enslaved workers who lived in what was then-Shawneetown. After the Emancipation Proclamation, these workers fled, making it a ghost town that eventually came to be called Old Shawneetown.
After a 15-foot flood in 1937, only 20 of Shawneetown’s 400 homes were habitable. Most Shawneetown residents moved three miles inland from the Ohio River, and took the name with them. The remaining section of the original settlement was incorporated as Old Shawneetown in 1956. The town operates several historic sites to this day.
As we’ve discussed before, Marietta, Ohio, was named for Queen Marie Antoinette. Did Lafayette personally know her? Choose the BEST answer.
Lafayette’s relationship with the queen was fodder for the French Revolution. The political club known as the Jacobins advocated for the violent overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic. There were two factions of Jacobins, and the The Montagnards were the most radical. Their leader, Maximillian Robespierre, published “proof” of a long-running affair between Lafayette and the queen in a series of illustrated pamphlets.
In 1789, revolutionary fever was spreading throughout France. Lafayette was named the commander of the National Guard. On October 5, a hungry Parisian mob descended on the palace of Versailles, demanding bread. As the crowd shouted angrily at the unpopular queen, Lafayette kissed her hand on a balcony. Lafayette's charm may well have saved the king and queen on that day, though they would not, of course, survive the revolution.
Lafayette named his youngest daughter Marie Antoinette Virginie to honor both the French queen and the state of Virginia. He did so at the behest of Thomas Jefferson.
Lafayette’s Farewell Tour included a visit to Marietta on May 8, 1825. Which is true about that visit? More than one may apply.
It was not on his original itinerary.
A boat he used on the Ohio River, The Mechanic, was built by John Mitchell on the Little Muskingum River. Lafayette planned the stop in Marietta to thank Mitchell personally for his craftsmanship.
Wealthy landowner Nahum Ward, who had visited Lafayette in Paris a few years earlier, hosted him in his magnificent Putnam Street home. Long lines of people gathered; Lafayette greeted each personally. A list of Revolutionary War officers who settled at Marietta was read to Lafayette, who responded, “I know them all. I saw them at Brandywine, Yorktown and Rhode Island. They were the bravest of the brave.”
Perry County, Indiana, has been named in several treasure hunting books and websites with a story about Lafayette’s lost $8,000 in gold. People are still arguing over the details of the night in May, 1825, when The Mechanic struck either a rock or log in the Ohio River and sank near what is now known as Rock Island. No one disputes that Lafayette’s carriage, papers, and gold also sank with the ship, along with a snuffbox that contained a portrait of Washington. What became of Lafayette’s gold?
A couple of coins were recovered, enough to forge The Washington-Lafayette Cincinnati Medal. This gold medal was given to Lafayette by George Washington's family after Washington’s death.
If anyone recovered any of it, they never went public with the news.
The Washington-Lafayette Cincinnati Medal is associated with the Cincinnati Society for Revolutionary War officers’ descendants. The Society originated in the dark days of 1783 when a group of American officers contemplated a military coup known as the Newburgh Conspiracy because they were not being paid for their services. The Cincinnati order was formed by Washington and a few officers, including Lafayette, to ensure that the ideals of the Revolution would not die after one generation. What events led to the Newburgh Conspiracy? More than one may apply.
Without the power to tax under the Articles of Confederation, Congress relied on irregular, voluntary payments from the states known as requisitions to raise revenue. The states' slipshod record of compliance forced Congress to struggle to support the army throughout the war. Officers and soldiers alike were not being paid regularly, and the army was often forced to requisition supplies from citizens.
In 1780, Congress passed a resolution providing half-pay for retired soldiers. However, as of 1783 the states had yet to comply with Congress’s request for the needed funds. The following year a group of nationalists supported an amendment to the Articles of Confederation that would allow Congress to raise revenue through taxes to support the army and pay its foreign loans. However, the state legislatures rejected the impost amendment.
The Continental Congress sold land to the Ohio Company of Associates, a group of former Revolutionary War soldiers and officers, in several transactions over many years. The land was intended for veterans to either sell or live on, but the funds never met the true needs of the veterans.
In 2007, the The Washington-Lafayette Cincinnati Medal sold for $5.3 million to which entity?
George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens in Virginia.
The American Numismatic Society in Manhattan.
The Fondation Josée et René de Chambrun at the Château La Grange, Lafayette’s historic home 60 miles east of Paris.
When The Mechanic sank en route to Louisville, Lafayette’s itinerary was delayed by three days. He would nevertheless visit Louisville, Shelbyville, Frankfort, Lexington, Georgetown, Covington, and Maysville. While in Lexington, on May 16, 1825, Lafayette bowed to Lewis Hayden. What is the significance of this gesture?
Hayden was an enslaved boy who would later travel the Underground Railroad to find his freedom in Boston, and eventually become an abolitionist who helped others achieve freedom.
Hayden was the first graduate of Transylvania University in Lexington and stood beside President Horace Holley on the dais as he conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws to Lafayette.
Which former or future president did Lafayette meet during his visit to Cincinnati?
William Henry Harrison
Martin Van Buren
Andrew Jackson
At least two oil portraits were painted while Lafayette was on his farewell tour, one by Matthew Harris Jouett, and another by Samuel Morse. Which one was paid for by The Kentucky General Assembly and is now on display in the old Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort?

After a two-day visit in Pittsburgh, Lafayette traveled roughly 35 miles to Butler, Pennsylvania, on the regular stagecoach route between Pittsburgh and Erie, escorted by the Pittsburgh City Light Troop of Cavalry. After a meal in the small town of 500, he walked among the wide-eyed and shook hands with not fewer than 400, including speaking to many men who had fought during the Revolution and the Battle of Brandywine. He recognized some of their faces as the old soldiers stood in review, conversing in detail about the events of the battle, which had nearly taken his life. Fast forward 99 years, what has Butler become infamous for? Yes, this is an essay question.

Please share this with someone you think would enjoy it.

Intermission

I’ve recommended The Road To Now podcast several times, and these two episodes are in keeping with our theme. First, an interview with a Frenchman who established The Lafayette Trail—mapping each of Lafayette’s stops. Check out his videos following in the footsteps of the Frenchman.

Second, meet a Franco-American historical interpreter of both Lafayette and Napoleon Bonaparte. A short child with a prominent nose, Mark Schneider’s wise mother told him he was born to portray European nobility, and he’s been doing so for 25 years. He seems to know everything about Lafayette.

ANSWERS

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I hope you’ve already read my last newsletter about Illinois’ Little Egypt, because this one builds upon it. We’re going to explore the region’s history with legalized slavery. As a reminder, Illinois and Indiana were once called the Illinois Country when first settled by the French, and it was the French who brought the first enslaved African workers there in 1720. The Illinois Country became part of the Northwest Territory in 1787, which meant it was bound by Article VI of the Northwest Ordinance: There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. But slaveholders in the old Illinois Country (Illinois and Indiana) were exempted from the new law. Grandfathered, if you will.

Through the next ten questions, we’ll explore the history of slavery north of the Ohio River in what’s now Illinois and Indiana.

Note to my fabulous new subscribers:

QUESTIONS

The French brought the first enslaved Africans to the Midwest around 1720 to work the mines along the Mississippi. The Illinois Country east of the Mississippi River became part of the Northwest Territory sixty-seven years later. Why didn’t Article VI end the practice of human bondage in the Illinois Country? In other words, on what grounds were the French enslavers granted an exemption from Article VI? More than one may apply.
Slavery was never defined in Article VI.
Article VI didn’t contain an enforcement clause.
Article VI didn’t specify how to unwind slavery in places where it had taken root before the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
The French enslavers cut a deal with Congress that they would phase out slavery within two generations using a plan modeled after Pennsylvania’s 1780 Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery.
In 1800, the Indiana Territory (which included Illinois) received its second territorial governor, William Henry Harrison. He had served as secretary of the Northwest Territory and was elected a territorial delegate to Congress, which means he knew that Article VI banned slavery. What action(s) did Harrison take in contradiction of Article VI? More than one may apply.
He brought seven of his enslaved workers with him from Virginia to build his residence and gubernatorial office in Vincennes.
He enslaved Shawnee women to help run his household.
He purchased enslaved workers from French owners who had been in the territory. They built his residence and gubernatorial office in Vincennes.
After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 (which involved land west of the Mississippi River), French slaveholders living in Illinois asked Congress to separate Illinois from the Indiana Territory and attach it to Louisiana, where they would have greater protection for their practice of human bondage. The French did not prevail. That same year, the Indiana Territory invented the loophole for prospective enslavers to bring their human property into the state using a practice known as chattel servitude. Instead of calling their human property “slaves” they called them “indentured workers.” Which of these is true about the “indentured servitude”contracts used in the Indiana Territory? More than one may apply.
Indentured contracts could last for 90 years.
Holders of indenture contracts could sell the service contract, along with the worker, to another holder.
Children of indentured mothers were also considered indentured.
Enslaved workers who didn’t sign an indenture contract would be sold into bondage in slave states.
In 1803, “A Law concerning Servants,” in the Northwest Territory established some minimal requirements of masters toward their servants and formed the basis for regulating all slavery and involuntary servitude in the territory. Territorial Governor Harrison and the other white settlers conveniently assumed that all Black people entering the territory were voluntarily indentured before they arrived. This means they assumed that the states from whence the Black workers came had properly supervised these indenture contracts. Ha. How did Harrison et al justify the institution of slavery when appealing to Congress to override Article VI and allow outright slavery in the Territory? More than one may apply.
Slavery would benefit the territory’s economy by stimulating settlement and increasing land values.
Allowing slavery in the Indiana Territory would keep slaveowners living in the Territory from moving west of the Mississippi River, where slavery was permitted by the French and Spanish.
Spreading the practice of enslaved labor throughout the West would benefit the captives themselves as well as the nation's white population, a belief known as diffusion.
A new theory that compared free labor, as practiced among workers in the American North and Great Britain, with slavery. This new theory claimed that because enslavers owned their workers, they took better care of them than the capitalists who merely rented theirs.
The Indiana Territory, which included Illinois, became a “second grade” territory in 1804. This meant Harrison governed with an elected territorial legislature (constituted of slavery proponents and slaveholders). Before the legislature had served a full month, the territory adopted “An Act concerning the introduction of Negroes and Mulattos into this Territory.” Is the following true or false?
Under this law, a servant refusing an indenture contract (which could last 40-90 years) was cause for banishment into a slave state. With Kentucky on the other side of the Ohio River, the threat was easily executed.
One of the first major industries in southern Illinois was making salt from springs along the Saline River in Gallatin County. Located near the border of Kentucky, in the area known as Little Egypt, the salt operation profited from the labor of enslaved people sent into Illinois from southern states where enslavement was legal. In 1818, the salines became the property of Illinois. What happened to the institution of slavery when Illinois took over? More than one may apply.
It went full steam ahead. After all, the saline business contributed a third of the state's revenue.
Illinois law only allowed enslaved Africans to be imported to the Saline River region until 1825, but enslavement persisted in the form of so-called indentured servitude.
In a major precedent, Illinois compensated the enslavers willing to sell their workers to the state, then put the workers on the state payroll as freedmen, but paid them less than workers of European descent.
In February of 1809, the Illinois Territory separated Indiana and Illinois, allowing the two entities to decide how to treat enslaved workers in a democratic manner. The two Indiana counties with the greatest support for slavery (Randolph and St. Clair) went with Illinois. What did the newly constituted Indiana legislature do regarding slavery and indentured servants? Choose wisely:
Indiana repealed some of the territory’s proslavery legislation and prohibited the introduction of any new slaves or indentured servants.
Indiana chartered The Indiana Colonization Society. Based in Indianapolis, it advocated for the relocation of free people of color and emancipated slaves in Indiana to settlements in Liberia, Africa. The ICS was an auxiliary of the American Colonization Society, located in Washington, D.C.
Illinois Territory Legislation in 1813 prevented free Black people from immigrating there. As a result, free African Americans already living in Illinois had to register with the county clerk. The following March, the First Illinois General Assembly enacted a system of “Black Laws” limiting the rights of free people of color. What specific rights were limited by these Black Laws?
They were required to register with the county clerk and provide a “Certificate of Freedom.”
Those who could not present a Certificate of Freedom were arrested—a kind of citizen’s arrest—taken to a justice of the peace, tried, and advertised as a runaway. If claimed, the white person who “arrested” them would receive a reward. If not claimed, they would be sold to into labor without pay (slavery) for up to one year. With this system of oppression, Illinois practiced a form of slavery until the Civil War.
Black people were prevented from offering testimony against a white person in a court of law.
The 1848 Constitution of Illinois did not permit slavery, but five years later, its approach to racial progress started to backslide. In 1853, the state legislature outlawed Black settlers in the criminal code. What was the penalty for Black people who remained in Illinois beyond ten days? Choose one:
They could be arrested and fined. If they couldn’t pay the fines, they were auctioned off.
Men were sent to work in the salt mines for up to one year. Women and children were auctioned off.
Illinois’ Black Laws were repealed in 1865. What event with national import led to this? Yes, this is an essay question.

Intermission

If you haven’t seen MANHUNT yet, grab some Apple TV credentials and watch it! The acting is superb and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Manhunt is a conspiracy thriller about one of the best known but least understood crimes in history, the astonishing story of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

I was surprised to learn the role of Ohio’s Edwin W. Stanton in Civil War History. Born in Steubenville, he served as Lincoln’s Secretary of War (and the brains behind the hunt for John Wilkes Booth). He died four days after his appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Ulysses S. Grant. Manhunt is really his movie, and Tobias Menzies nailed every scene. The British actor has famously starred in Outlander, Game of Thrones, and The Crown as Prince Philip (in seasons three and four).

For the fuller picture, consider buying the book from The New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning nonfiction book from author James L. Swanson.

If there are any topics you’d like to see me cover in the coming months, please let me know.

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Southern Illinois is where we find Egyptian city names like Carmi, Cairo, Thebes, Karnak, Goshen, and Dongola. Why? Because llinoisans call the lower 16-17 counties “Little Egypt” (see map below).

Americans have been very creative in naming places, but I’m certain that no one who claimed Southern Illinois resembled Egypt had ever been to North Africa beforehand. I went in search of plausible answers for how the region got this unusual name and what made it stick.

Checking with official sources in Illinois, including Southern Illinois University Carbondale and Southeastern Illinois College, there seems to be a consensus that the Mississippi River called to mind the Nile, while the expansive Native American mounds at Cahokia were (kinda) like some of Egypt’s (lesser) pyramids. I can accept that today, but how would settlers scratching out a living in the old Illinois Country have known to compare the Mississippi to the Nile, and the Cahokia mounds to the pyramids?

We can probably thank Napoleon Bonaparte, whose invasion of Egypt in 1798 spurred news coverage all the way to North America. According to the Illinois Periodicals Online (IPO) Project:

Although newspapers were scarce in the Illinois Country, the Kentucky papers covered the leading events of the day, including Napoleon's invasion of old Egypt the previous year…Even at that early day many Americans would have noted the two best-known features of Egypt, the Nile River and the pyramids, particularly those at Giza.

The IPO Project claims that a Baptist missionary, John Badgley, dubbed the area Little Egypt while riding along the bluffs that overlooked the American Bottoms. From there, he would have easily seen the Mississippi River and Cahokia Mounds, maybe recalled a newspaper picture of Napoleon in Egypt, and thought, “Aha!”

This gets even more interesting when you compare Southern Illinois to the Nile Delta in agricultural legacy, which brings us to a Bible story we know today as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. As a refresher, it tells us how Joseph’s brothers sold him into Egyptian slavery. After many years, Joseph rose from enslavement to becoming Egypt’s governor and, foreseeing a famine, wisely rationed the country's produce for seven years in preparation. When the famine took hold, Joseph’s estranged family came to Egypt desperate for food. In time, all was forgiven and they were united in that land. (Longer version in Genesis 37, 39-45). To bring it all home, residents in Northern Illinois traveled south to buy grain after a series of dreadful winters and droughts. In light of that, doesn’t “Little Egypt” make sense now?

Baptist missionary Badgley would have known the story of Joseph and the famine, so I can see why he chose the name Little Egypt from high atop the bluffs of the American Bottoms.

Enslavement in Little Egypt

As longtime readers are aware, I’m writing a book on the racial legacy of the Ohio River as the country’s longest slavery border. Of the six states along the Ohio River, Illinois has the most complicated history with legal slavery, and Little Egypt was where most of it took place. You might be thinking, “What? Slavery in the Land of Lincoln?” Yep. If you’re the product of Illinois public schools, please tell me if this was part of your history curriculum.

Heads up: if you want to get a leg up on this month’s trivia quiz, here’s the book that opened my eyes (and made me want to pour bleach into them). Bondage in Egypt: Slavery in Southern Illinois may only be available in your area via ebook. Next time I travel to Little Egypt I’m going to try to find a physical copy. Author Darrel Dexter has a new book out about the KKK in Southern Illinois, too.

I look forward to August Trivia in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, would you share this with someone who might enjoy it?

Bonus video: The Cahokia Mounds

I was in Cahokia this year with the Filson Society. Cahokia was the largest city north of Mexico in its heyday.

Bonus video: Napoleon in Egypt

Here’s an engaging presentation on Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign from Dr. William B. Ashworth, Jr., Associate Professor of History at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

See you next time for August Trivia!

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This month, at the half-year mark, I’m re-asking quiz questions you’ve already seen. You should nail these! If you’re one of my new subscribers, I welcome you, and don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t get a perfect score. We’re here to have fun!

Ready? Answers are in the footnotes.

QUESTIONS

On February 13, 1861, delegates representing all counties in Virginia met to decide how the state would respond to South Carolina's secession and other events. They voted to remain in the Union and hoped that they could reach a compromise to defuse the situation. Two months later, the same men passed The Virginia Ordinance of Secession, dated April 17, 1861, which declared that “…the bond between Virginia and the United States of America, under the U.S. Constitution, is dissolved.” Delegates at the Virginia Convention of 1861 voted 88–55 to approve the ordinance on April 17 and a statewide referendum confirmed secession on May 23. This meant the northwestern counties needed to act quickly in order to remain part of the Union. What percentage of white men in the northwestern counties voted to stay in the Union?
52%
67%
75%
Within three days of the vote to remain in the Union, General George B. McClellan’s army occupied the region, notably Wheeling, Morgantown, Parkersburg, and Clarksburg. Pouring oil on troubled waters, McClellan said, “I have ordered troops to cross the river. They come as your friends and brothers (and) as enemies only to the armed rebels who are preying upon you. Your homes, your families, and your property are safe under our protection. All your rights shall be religiously respected,” (which included the right to own slaves). The capital had to be moved from Richmond. Where was the first capital in (what would eventually become) West Virginia?
Charleston
Morgantown
Parkersburg
Wheeling
Napoleon Bonaparte sold the Louisiana Territory to fund:
A wedding dowry for his step-daughter Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte so she could become Queen of Holland by marrying Napoléon’s brother, Louis Bonaparte
A war with the British
Both
Louisville, Kentucky took its name from King Louis XVI of France in appreciation for his help during the Revolutionary War. The city was founded by the brother of either Meriweather Lewis or William Clark, leaders of the Lewis & Clark Expedition of 1804–1806. Was the founder of Louisville a Lewis or a Clark?
This Pittsburgh native graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1962 and attended Pitt’s Graduate School of Child Development before going on to be a broadcaster in children's television. This TV personality is recognized by more than forty honorary degrees and several awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. Who is this native Pittsburgher?
This Indiana college was established in 1801 by William Henry Harrison (the ninth U.S. President) while he served as governor of the Indiana Territory. It is now a university. Name that university.
DePauw University
Valparaiso University
Vincennes University
In 2004, four college students set out to steal several volumes of some of the world’s rarest books from the first educational institution west of the Alleghenies. This institution was established in 1780 by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and its rare books were valued at more than $5.7 million. Name the university.
Spalding University
Transylvania University
Tusculum University
We talk a lot about the Northwest Territory. What is the importance of the Southwest Territory? Choose as many as apply.
It’s formal name is the Territory South of the River Ohio, and was created from lands of the Washington District that had been ceded to the U.S. federal government by North Carolina.
The new territory was essentially governed under the same provisions as the Northwest Ordinance, but the Article outlawing slavery was not applied to the Southwest Territory.
Kentucky and Tennessee were carved out of this Territory.
There is a small district of land in the central part of Ohio known as the French Grant because it was settled by French fleeing the Revolution in their home country. Why were French entitled to American land? More than one may apply
They were descendants of French families who had aided the American Revolution, including the extended family of America’s favorite Frenchman, Lafayette (Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette).
They had been defrauded by The Scioto Company which had collected some monies from the French without first purchasing the land from the Ohio Company. When the settlers arrived their deeds were worthless. It was five more years before Pres. Washington stepped in and granted them free land in the French Grant, but they had to live on the land for five years in order to own it.
There was a dispute between Michigan and Ohio over who owned the land in the farthest northwest corner of Ohio. When was the dispute finally settled? Fun fact: Those 468 square miles are also called the “Toledo Strip.” ONLY ONE is correct.
During the War of 1812, but ground survey was not completed until 1817.
In 1836, when the Michigan Territory gave up the “Toledo Strip” and received the large majority of the Upper Peninsula and Michigan.
When Michigan became the 26th State on January 26, 1837.
When the 48th Legislature of Michigan passed Act 84 of the Public Acts of 1915 providing for “a joint re-location and permanent monumenting of the line between Ohio and Michigan”.
In 1915 when the 81st General Assembly of Ohio passed the Michigan Act of 1915 (in answer d) under House Bill 701.

Intermission Message

Podcast recommendations!

First, from Ohio v. The World, a two-part series about the Rise and Fall of Pete Rose.

Second, also from Ohio v. The World, a long episode about “Cancelled Ohioans” that’s well worth extending your drive time to finish. Meet Jimmy the Greek, Arthur St. Clair, Senator and Governor William Allen, Congressman Wayne Hays, and Congressman William Breckenridge. Oh, the scandals!

Third, from The Reckoning, a nine-part series about Kentucky’s history with slavery and how that history connects to issues we face today. Loads of experts and thoughtful topics.

Never miss a thing!

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WELCOME NEW SUBSCRIBERS!

Last summer I spent a couple of days in Louisville at the Filson Historical Society doing archival research on Cave Hill Cemetery. I have never done this kind of research before and the Filson staff patiently taught me the ins and outs of choosing boxes from its vast collection that might have artifacts that would shed light on burial regulations from the cemetery’s earliest days (1848-1900). This was of course the heart of the Victorian Era, and those Victorians had, ahem, “interesting” ideas about death. They were obsessed with elaborate mourning rituals, and creepy hair jewelry and hair art, as pictured below.

Americans at this time were also very particular about whose mouldering bones could lie in proximity underground. The cemetery’s 1879 rules, regulations and bylaws, which the Filson stored, specified that Cave Hill was established "for the white race exclusively" and provided that "colored persons, when admitted, must be accompanied by a lot-holder, or some member of the family of the lot-holder, or may be admitted by the written permit of a Manager..."

Interestingly, women were not allowed to enter the grounds unaccompanied because, hey, when you’ve got your foot on the neck of an entire race of people, why not put the other on women? They probably couched this rule in terms of female safety, or perhaps the feminine propensity to faint at the thought of death, or some other patriarchal subterfuge. I’m happy to report that a lot has changed since then. I have freely perambulated the grounds without an escort, and native son Muhammad Ali is buried there, along people of all ethnicities, religious affiliations, professions, and persuasions. I count this as progress.

One thing that hasn’t changed since its founding is the cemetery’s fondness for swans, which was also a Victorian obsession. It still features one in its logo today. This sent me digging around to figure out why. In this Smithsonian article, I learned that beginning in 1482 only English landowners of a certain income could keep them, and any bird found without a “swan mark” on its beak to denote its owner, was automatically the property of the crown. You could think of a swan mark like a cattle brand, but carved into the beak. According to the Smithsonian:

The prestige of swan ownership went far beyond their appeal as a delicacy. They were impressive enough as the centerpiece of a feast, but a swan in itself was not particularly expensive. The real desirability came from the right to own swans at all, because purchasing a swan mark was so expensive. To have a “game” of swans elegantly sculling around the lake of your stately pile required funds and status.

The rules relating to swans prevented ordinary people from interacting with them at all, beyond being able to see them on the river. If you weren’t an officially recognized swan keeper it was forbidden to sell swans, to drive them away from your land, to mark them or even to hunt with dogs or lay nets and traps on the river at certain times of year in case swans were injured.

Side note: here we have an economic lesson in how to drive up the price of something that doesn’t cost much at all.

Swan prestige traveled across the Atlantic like Victorian Christmas tree traditions. The Victorian influence on American culture likely can’t be overstated.

So, there I was in the Filson’s reading room, perusing a file of correspondence from the 1890s to and from Mr. J. G. A Boyd, who managed cemetery operations and was Secretary-Treasurer of the company. Among invoices and mundane requests for maintenance and landscaping, I continued to see letters from the W.A. Conklin Company of New York City, which, according to its fancy letterhead, traded in wild animals, managed zoological gardens, and supplied private menageries. I’ve since learned that William Conklin of the W.A. Conklin Company was Superintendent of the Central Park Menagerie from the 1860s through the 1880s.

Apparently, Boyd had written to Conklin about something befalling the Cave Hill swans, to which Conklin replied in his spidery hand: “Very sorry to hear of your misfortune with the swans. They were certainly a very nice lot. If you care to try again, will have some more while over this month, but am right out of the black…” He then went on to mention his current inventory of a white goose, a Brent goose, and a Rosybill duck, and claimed, “they will breed with any of the ordinary waterfowl.” Other letters discussed which swans would interbreed—it wasn’t often. Before going any further, check out Conklin’s letterhead!

Conklin’s swan inventory and sales price updates continued throughout 1893 and into ‘94. I was itching for resolution on this obviously important matter! What had happened to the swans! Were they replaced? If so, did the replacements survive?

Then, I came upon correspondence from Littleton Cook, District Attorney for Kentucky for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Law Department that put the pieces together. It reads (emphasis mine):

In looking over the General Statutes of Kentucky, in respect to crimes and punishments, I find not one section which covers the case of the killing of the swans about which you in formed me, to-wit, in section 7, article 28, chapter 29, of the General Statutes, it is provided as follows…(see the picture below if this legal detail interests you).

I am inclined to think that the slayer of the swans can and should be successfully prosecuted under this Statute. And as one of the Lot Owners in Cave Hill Cemetery, I am exceedingly anxious that this should be done, not only to punish the wanton and brutal conduct of this man, but to deter others who might be hereafter guilty of any similar outrage against law and decency.

However, as Judge Barr, and Judge Humphrey are members of the Board of Trustees of the Cemetery Company, and as the matter will doubtless be brought before them, they are probably the ones to advise in respect to the steps to be taken in regard to the matter.

I don’t know if you read Cooke’s last paragraph as I do, but it would appear that Judges Barr and Humphrey should recuse themselves from any business coming before them from Cave Hill Cemetery. When it comes to judicial recusals, apparently some things never change right to the present day.

But wait! There’s more!

No sooner had I solved the mystery of the misfortunate swans did I come across another series of correspondence about stocking the cemetery’s ponds with black bass or crappie. Post haste! See pictured below two selected letters, first from Congressman Asher G. Caruth, who tried to intervene with the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries to get Cave Hill a satisfactory delivery date for black bass and crappie. I’m cracking up just thinking about all these mustachioed men with their quill pens taking care of waterfowl and fish business.

On a more serious note, Cave Hill was one of the first rural cemeteries established in such a way that would protect it from being repurposed over time. In the words of Cave Hill’s dedication speaker in 1848:

It must be guarded from the rapacity of the buyers and sellers of another generation. If this complete security cannot be gained, nothing is accomplished and we must abide, as best we may, the mockery and dishonor attached to a spot which is the cemetery today, and which may be the shambles to-morrow.

…We adhere to the maxim, that the earth belongs to the living. That spot especially, to which we entrust the remains of our dead, belongs to us and to our children. It must not be given away; it must not be sold; it must not be taken from us…”

I hope you’ll take three minutes to enjoy this PBS affiliate video about Cave Hill. More than a final resting place, now it’s a community center and arboretum for the living—many a walker, jogger, and bird watcher enjoy its lovely grounds every day in addition to those who come to remember a loved one. The current management team has big plans for creating a dossier on everyone interred there, which, when the cemetery is filled, will be about 150,000 people.

I bet there are some fascinating Cave Hill stories in my readership. Please, dish!

It would make my day if you shared this story with someone who might enjoy it. Thanks in advance.

I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with July Trivia.

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When people hear the word “reparations” today, it’s usually in a context of compensating African-Americans or Indians for damages they suffered, including forced and unpaid work, or for theft of their land and livelihoods among other harms. As a reminder, Japanese-Americans received reparations after they were deprived of their liberty (internment) and for property that was confiscated from them during WWII.

Today, we broaden that lens and look at the instances when Ohio was carved up as a form of reparations to Revolutionary War veterans and other classes of people who Congress wanted to “restore to good condition,” before Ohio became a state.

Before we go to this month’s trivia, let’s get clear on the definition of the word reparation(s). I lifted this directly from Dictionary.com

Reparation: noun

the making of amends for wrong or injury done:

In reparation for the injustice, the king made him head of the agricultural department.

something done or given to make amends:

The prosecutor has requested a reparation of $32 million to victims of the crime.

Synonyms: compensation, satisfaction, atonement, indemnification

Usually reparations.
compensation in money, material, labor, etc., payable by a defeated country to another country or to an individual for loss suffered during or as a result of war:

The U.S. government eventually disbursed reparations to Japanese Americans who had been interned during World War II.

monetary or other compensation payable by a country to an individual for a historical wrong:

The article is about reparations to Black people for the enslavement of their ancestors.

restoration to good condition.

Synonyms: repair, renovate, renewal

REMINDER: It’s the rare person who can answer all ten trivia questions without any prep. I couldn’t answer them without a significant amount of research, either!

Do your best and enjoy learning something new. Answers in the footnotes.

QUESTIONS

All questions refer to this district map. For this quiz, try thinking of Ohio as a clock face. The districts in question start at the 12:00 position with the district labeled “The Fire Lands 1792.” We’ll move clockwise from there.

All answers are in the footnotes.

Moving to the 1:00 position on the map, we find The Connecticut Western Reserve 1786. When King Charles II granted Connecticut’s 1662 Charter, he defined it broadly and ambiguously. Settlers in the newly-chartered colony seized upon the ambiguities to make the largest claims possible, which stretched from the East Coast through Ohio all the way to the Pacific (which is also what Virginia did earlier). They refused to concede this little patch in The Ohio Country after a series of concessions to other colonies and countries for their western lands until forced to do so by Congress in 1786. Which of the following is true about the Connecticut Western Reserve? More than one may apply.
Connecticut yielded claims to the region to Congress in 1786 so that Congress could establish the Northwest Territory.
Connecticut drove a hard bargain when yielding its claims in 1786. When the Continental Congress created the Northwest Territory the year after the Connecticut cession, it was assumed that Connecticut, not the territory, was empowered to exercise political jurisdiction over the Reserve. The ambiguity lasted until the Constitutional Congress approved the "Quieting Act" in 1800, whereby Connecticut surrendered all governing authority.
The Fire Lands (at 12:00) were carved out of the Connecticut Western Reserve in 1792, and the rest was sold to the Connecticut Land Company in 1795 to fund public education. If this is true, the only lands from the Connecticut Western Reserve that were given in reparation were The Fire Lands.
How did the Fire Lands 1792 district get its name? More than one may apply.
It’s the shortened version of Fire Suffers’ Lands.
It was set aside for anyone who owned Connecticut property that had been burned by the British during the Revolutionary War.
Working for the British, Benedict Arnold raided and burned 140-plus buildings in New London, Connecticut, along with ships docked in the port. Those who suffered in this attack were eligible for land in Ohio as reparation.
The Seven Ranges (at about 3:00), is sometimes referred to as the Old Seven Ranges, and was established the same year as the Connecticut Western Reserve (1786). The Continental Congress needed a survey system for a systematic expansion into Ohio, so the Seven Ranges was a demonstration project of sorts. The ranges were surveyed in what became the Public Land Survey System, still in use today (discussed in May ‘24 Trivia). After the survey was complete, the Secretary of War was to choose (by lot) one seventh of the land to compensate veterans of the Continental army. The rest of the lots were to be sold at auction in New York. Which of these lands were excepted from the New York auction? More than one may apply.
A wealthy merchant, Arnold Henry Dohrman, aided the Revolutionary War effort at great expense while living in Portugal. Unable to fully compensate him monetarily, Congress granted him township 13 of range 7.
After the Revolutionary War, Capt. Ephraim Kimberly, (Company of the 2nd Connecticut) squatted on some of the lands. Congress eventually granted Kimberly 300 acres for his services.
Four sections in every township were reserved for future sale by the federal government in hopes they would bring higher prices because of developed land around them. So if this answer is correct, the federal government did land speculating there.
You’ll have to squint to see this rectangular parcel on the Ohio River between The Seven Ranges at 3:00 and The Ohio Company First Purchase at about 5:00. It’s called the Donation Tract and consists of only 100,000 acres. It was created after the Big Bottom Massacre of 1791 as a buffer zone that would shelter Ohio Company lands from further Indian incursions. To this end, a 100-acre lot would be given to any male, eighteen or older, who would settle on the land at the time the deed was conveyed (no land speculating here). More than one of the following is true about the Donation Tract.
In 1818, lands not conveyed reverted to the federal government and were sold at the Marietta Land Office.
This marked the first time that federal land was given without charge to specified settlers, predating the more famous Homestead Act of 1862 by seventy years.
We can’t determine whether the land really served as an Indian buffer zone for the Ohio Company lands.
My favorite of all the “reparations lands” in Ohio is the Old Military District because I grew up there. Look for it west of the Seven Ranges (covered in Q3) and south of the Congress Lands of 1799-1804. Contrary to what the name implies, many veterans did not settle there. Instead, they used their warrants to speculate. Which of the options listed below were located in the Old Military District and not available to Revolutionary War veterans? More than one may apply.
Moravian Indian Grants.
The villages of Schoenbrunn, Gnaddenhutten, and Salem, which were granted for the sole use of the Christian Indians.
Land to build a road, between Wheeling to what’s today called Maysville, Kentucky. This road became known as Zane’s Trace, and Ebenezer Zane got the concession to establish ferries along the road to cross the Muskingum, Hocking, and Scioto rivers, along with several other land grants in the District.
Starting at the southern border of Ohio at about 7:00, we have the sprawling Virginia Military District (1784). Why is it such an irregular shape, as compared to the others in the state?
It is not surveyed into townships of any regular form. Any individual holding a Virginia military land warrant took land in whatever shape he pleased, provided no one else had claimed it.
It was surveyed using the old English system of “metes and bounds.”
Since it was established before all the other Districts (1784), the others had to be surveyed around it.
Squint your eyes for a little rectangle of land east of the Virginia Military District (1784) and south of the U.S. Military District (1796). It is called the Refugee Tract. How did Canadians and Nova Scotians qualify for land in this District?
Look closely at the map around 8:00 to see the Symmes Purchase, named for Judge John Cleves Symmes of New Jersey in 1788 from the Continental Congress. It was one of the first areas settled in Ohio. What’s true about this area? More than one of these four may apply.
Known as the Miami Country, it sits between the Great and Little Miami rivers.
Symmes' men committed many errors while performing the survey, including using magnetic north rather than correcting for true north.
Symmes sold land that he did not own, some as far north as Dayton, meaning that some early settlers found themselves squatters on the public domain.
Not only did Symmes sell some land that he didn’t own, but he did it more than once.
Squint your eyes again as you find a tiny rectangle at about 6:00 within the Congress Lands 1798-1802. This is known as the French Grant because it was settled by French fleeing the Revolution in their home country. Why were French entitled to American land?
They were descendants of French families who had aided the American Revolution, including the extended family of America’s favorite Frenchman, Lafayette (Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette).
They had been defrauded by The Scioto Company which had collected some monies from the French without purchasing the land from the Ohio Company. When the settlers arrived their deeds were worthless. It was five more years before Pres. Washington stepped in and granted them free land in the French Grant, but they had to live on the land for five years in order to own it.
There was a dispute between Michigan and Ohio over who owned the land identified in the area labeled “Michigan Survey 1836.” When was it finally settled? Fun fact: Those 468 square miles are also called the “Toledo Strip.”
During the War of 1812, but ground survey was not completed until 1817.
In 1836, when the Michigan Territory gave up the “Toledo Strip” and received the large majority of the Upper Peninsula and Michigan.
When Michigan became the 26th State on January 26, 1837.
When the 48th Legislature of Michigan passed Act 84 of the Public Acts of 1915 providing for “a joint re-location and permanent monumenting of the line between Ohio and Michigan”.
In 1915 when the 81st General Assembly of Ohio passed the Michigan Act of 1915 (in answer d) under House Bill 701.

Intermission

This month, here’s a podcast about Mad Anthony Wayne and the Battle of Fallen Timbers.Wayne National Forest in Athens County, Ohio, bears his name.

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When I visited Evansville, Indiana, on a bright summer day in 2021, its revived waterfront and fabulous murals captivated me. Since then, I delved into Timothy Egan’s book about the Midwestern Klan, where I discovered that Evansville was a hotbed for KKK activity in the 1920s. Unlike the Klan that terrorized the South during Reconstruction, its second wave looked beyond Blacks to hate and harass. It was nativist, focused on driving out Catholics and first-generation immigrants, as well as Jews—together with Blacks they’d always targeted, they manufactured a much wider target for hate.

It’s important to note that Blacks had been unwelcome in Indiana since its first Constitution specified, “No negro or mulatto shall come into, or settle in the State, after the adoption of this Constitution.” Intrigued by Indiana’s history of trying to maintain a WASP state (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant), I decided the Evansville African American Museum would be a vital stop.

The museum sits in a neighborhood that’s been called Baptisttown since the 1800s, in a building dating back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal Era. Constructed in 1938, it narrowly avoided demolition in the 1990s and opened as a cultural institution in 2007. Its story as compelling as those it narrates.

Evansville in the New Deal Era

By the turn of the (last) century, 54 percent of Evansville’s Black citizens lived in Baptisstown, and by WWI, the neighborhood became overcrowded to where a third of its residents had no access to sewage systems. Think for one second how miserable that must have been on a hot summer’s day (any day for that matter).

Racial segregation in Evansville was of course rooted in Indiana’s Constitutional “Black Laws” but it was later exacerbated by racial restrictive covenants known as “deed restrictions” banning Blacks from living or owning property in most parts of the city. The use of deed restrictions were widespread throughout the country, with more cities adopting them than not. Although the Supreme Court ruled the covenants unenforceable in 1948, it took the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to outlaw them.

But Indiana’s segregation predated deed restrictions. By the time the federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) analyzed Evansville neighborhoods in 1937, segregation was well-entrenched: 90% of Evansville's Black population lived in one of four neighborhoods. The HOLC outlined those four neighborhoods in red on the maps that they provided to lenders and insurance companies to use in deciding whether to do business in an area. Most companies avoided “redlined” neighborhoods, but if they did business there, it would be at a higher interest rate or insurance premium than offered elsewhere.

As I hinted earlier, FDR’s Public Works Administration (PWA) tried to ameliorate the nation’s Depression-induced housing crisis by building 51 projects in 31 cities (seven were in Ohio River cities, including Evansville). The PWA was not focused on desegregation. It followed a “neighborhood composition rule,” meaning PWA housing projects should reflect the previous racial composition of their neighborhoods. Legal scholars note that this violated African Americans’ constitutional rights, but that was a battle for another day. To Evansville’s credit, local leaders resisted efforts to place the housing project outside the city limits, or to use the PWA to clear the neighborhood for white residents, as had happened in PWA communities elsewhere, despite the guidelines.

Evansville is in the heart of Lincoln Country, so the community’s name, Lincoln Gardens, resonated. For about $1m, Lincoln Gardens housed roughly 500 residents in 16 buildings of 182 low-cost apartments. It was the second PWA community to be built in the country.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt brought a touch of celebrity to Lincoln Gardens when she visited Baptisttown in November, 1937. Here’s an excerpt from her “My Day” newspaper column:

First we went to lay a wreath on the tomb of Private Gresham, who was the first solider killed overseas during the World War. Then to look at the slum clearance project in the colored section of the City, which is evidently a matter of great pride to the Mayor. He is very happy that this undesirable section from the point of view of housing, has been wiped out. He told me that the new houses would rent at approximately the same amount per room as the old ones which had been extremely high considering what they were. That is one point in any slum clearance project which has to be watched, for there is no use in providing new housing at a cost beyond the incomes of the former residents of the neighborhood.

As much as I love Eleanor, her fusty descriptions are cringy.

Visiting the Museum

On a balmy late-April morning, Ms. Janice Hale took me for a personal tour of the museum. She had lived in Lincoln Gardens with her mother and sister in the sixties, so her memories and reflections resonated deeply. She went on to a career in the Evansville Housing Authority at Lincoln Gardens, and has volunteered at the museum since her retirement more than a decade ago. Every community organization should be so blessed with the institutional and cultural memory that she brings to her work in Evansville.

The museum retains its shape as a brick apartment building, but with the addition of a semi-circular portico held up by columns shaped to resemble the baobab tree, native to Africa. Ms. Hale emphasized the tree's African mythology that says the ancestors' spirits are stored in its trunks, giving it the nickname, “the tree of life.” This picture of the building from the architect’s website is better than mine.

Stepping inside the two-story gallery space, it was easy to figure out the original placement of the first- and second-floor apartment units. The museum preserved a one-bedroom apartment on the first floor using period furnishings. In the bedroom pictured below, the curators placed a marriage certificate on the wall above the rocking chair because cohabitation by unmarried couples in Lincoln Gardens was forbidden (that prohibition is illegal today). Its kitchen includes a gas-powered refrigerator that was standard issue for each original apartment (pictured bottom-right below and manufactured in Evansville by the Servel company). Imagine how it must have felt to go from a dilapidated home without sewage service to one with a bedroom or two, a private bathroom, a coal/wood-burning stove, and a refrigerator.

I tour a lot of community history museums that are little more than a final resting place for items cleared out of ancestral homes—covered in dust and lacking curatorial vision. This one is not one of them. It places Evansville's Black history into three historical periods illustrated by displays and interactive features—including a Lego studio for kids.

A full history of Black life in Evansville is outside the limits of my newsletter, but The Indiana Historian, (available in full online) offers a tight summary. Dear to my heart is the fact that Evansville was home to the first free public library built north of the Ohio River exclusively for African Americans.

Perhaps you’re a person who might shy away from an African-American history museums and cultural centers, with concerns that it might be too painful or that the programs might produce feelings of shame. I felt two ways about the Black history I learned in Evansville. First, was admiration for people who persevered and even thrived under the American caste system.

Second, I honestly found it painful to look at some exhibits, most notably a children’s counting book. Look closely at what’s inside and note the exaggerated features of the illustrated Black people and the profligate use of the N-word.

I am capable of feeling a lot of things simultaneously, including admiration and pain, as I felt in Evansville. There is a current debate about whether and how to teach Black history to schoolchildren and whether it might induce feelings of shame or result in outright psychological damage. I have been on a mission to educate myself on aspects of history that I wasn’t taught in school, and I’ve learned a lot of disturbing stories. I have never felt personally responsible for things I didn’t do, but I am responsible for holding myself and America to the standards we profess to ourselves and the rest of the world.

American history has shaped my worldview, character, and opportunities I’ve taken for granted. I regret that the history I learned in classrooms was incomplete. Evansville has opened my eyes a bit more widely to why we are the people we have become. I will make a point to visit Black history museums and cultural centers wherever I travel.

I invite you to share your experiences in Evansville, including visits to and memories of Baptisttown and Lincoln Gardens. If you know someone who might enjoy this, please pass it along.

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The more I learn about the Ohio River’s regional history and culture, the more I feel like I’m taking a Virginia history class. You’ll see why when you take this month’s trivia quiz! If you want a leg up, check out this prior newsletter concerning Virginia’s land claims.

Note to my fabulous new subscribers:

QUESTIONS

All answers are in the footnotes.

The first two questions refer to this map.

How did this huge swath of land (above in green) come to be named Virginia? Check all that apply.
When Sir Walter Raleigh’s self-funded settlement on Roanoke Island failed, he needed to curry favor with Elizabeth (the Virgin Queen) to finance another attempt. Part of his pitch was that the new country would be called “Virginia.”
One word: hubris.
Four words: The Doctrine of Discovery.
In what order was Virginia subdivided into colonies? I have alphabetized the answers, so put them in order.
Colony of Carolina.
Colony of Maryland.
Colony of Pennsylvania.
Colony of Plymouth (Plymouth Colony).
Refer to the map below. Virginia was still a huge state in 1783, even after it had been subdivided into the colonies in Q2. Which Virginia founding father, himself trained as a surveyor, authored a plan for ceding Virginia’s northwestern lands to the Confederation Congress in 1784?
Let’s talk about the Virginia Military District in Ohio. In return for ceding its land claims to the Confederation Congress in 1784, Congress granted Virginia roughly 4.2 million acres to provide military bounty land grants as payment (in lieu of cash) for its veterans of the American Revolutionary War. When was the remaining land no longer eligible to be granted to these Virginia veterans? Only one of these is correct:
When the Northwest Territory was established in 1787.
When Ohio became a state in 1803.
On February 18, 1871, when any unsurveyed and unsold District land was ceded to the state of Ohio.
In 1872, when the Ohio legislature gave this land to the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College (now The Ohio State University).
The Northwest Territory was established in 1787 by the Confederation Congress. When did the Territory cease to exist?
When Ohio became a state in 1803.
When the Indiana Territory was finally settled into the states of Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois (1809).
The Northwest Ordinance that established the Territory specifically prohibited slavery. I wrote about that here. Which of these is true of the history of slavery in this region? More than one may apply.
Slavery was introduced to Illinois in 1719 by Philip Francois Renault who brought 500 slaves with him from San Domingo via the Mississippi River.
While the Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery, this did not apply to any slaves already in the Territory when it was established (1787).
Enslavers continued the practice by using contracts of indenture that allowed indentured workers to be bought, sold, and inherited.
What is the importance of the Southwest Territory? Choose as many as apply.
It’s formal name is the Territory South of the River Ohio, and was created from lands of the Washington District that had been ceded to the U.S. federal government by North Carolina (which had once been Virginia).
The new territory was essentially governed under the same provisions as the Northwest Ordinance, but the Article outlawing slavery was not applied to the Southwest Territory.
Kentucky and Tennessee were carved out of this Territory.
Virginia produced a lot of presidents and governors. Which Virginia-born governors in the six Ohio River states were slaveholders? More than one choice may apply.
Ohio Governors Thomas Worthington and Allen Trimble
Indiana Governors William Henry Harrison and Thomas Posey
Illinois Governor Edward Coles
Kentucky Governors George Madison and Christopher Greenup
In a departure from the “Virginia Method” of surveying land, The Northwest Territory used the Rectangular Survey System (RSS). This system can be thought of as a grid that covers the U.S. What was the difference between it and the Virginia Method? More than one may be correct:
The Virginia Method used chains and compasses to mark lines from a starting point, typically a natural feature such as a large white oak tree.
Surveying in Virginia was not based on the metric system.
Virginian surveyors were directed to define polygons that enclosed high-quality land for farming and to exclude areas with poor soil.
Beginning with the Seven Ranges in present-day Ohio, the Rectangular Survey System has been used as the primary survey method in the United States. Which states do NOT use this method exclusively?
Ohio
California
Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming
Wisconsin

And that’s a wrap for May. Do you have an interesting factoid to offer about Virginia’s role in the 981 Project? I’m all ears.

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Every class I took on the American Revolution focused on the thirteen colonies. In my limited knowledge of the war, the French and Spanish were doing their own things west of the Mississippi, leaving the British-owned but lightly settled Illinois Country in between that saw no real action. I had no idea that the southern part of the old Northwest Territory had been a theater of war until I got a postcard advertising the Filson Historical Society’s Northwest & Indigenous Revolution Tour. It was time to expand my world view from where I’d left it in high school.

Our main tour stops were Fort de Chartres, St. Genevieve, The St. Charles Heritage Museum, The Lewis & Clark Boat House Museum, Cahokia Mounds, George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, and its neighboring site Grouseland on the campus of Vincennes University.

France and Spain in the Revolution

The Bourbon kings of France and Spain were cousins. I would have had to know this to say that I forgot it. The two kingdoms were allied against the British during the Seven Years War, 1756–1763, (we call it the French and Indian War). France was badly beaten by the British during that war, and longed for vengeance. From the Seven Years War to the Revolution, the land west of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, called Louisiana, went back and forth between France and Spain and involved a secret treaty.

Here’s a video to explain how and when it happened. You might have to watch it a couple of times—I did! The way these monarchs played with colonies reminds me of third-graders learning chess moves.

Anyhow, the upshot of all this is that through 1777, France covertly supported the Revolution with guns, weapons, and cash through a shell company (thanks, Ben Franklin!). French volunteers poured into the continent, chief among them Lafayette. After a decisive American win at Saratoga, France formally declared war on England in 1778. Spain joined France as an ally in 1779 without declaring war on England itself. As had happened in the Seven Years War, the clash of empires began spreading across the globe, heavily in the Caribbean, and the British cut their losses in North America.

Speaking of Franklin, I’m enjoying the AppleTV series of that name starring Michael Douglas in the title role.

George Rogers Clark Takes Center Stage

Born near Charlottesville, Virginia, the founder of Louisville, Kentucky, George Rogers Clark played a key role in this story. We talked about him at nearly every stop on our Filson Society tour.

To set the stage for the Illinois theater of war, remember that the Seven Years War included the France relinquishing its Illinois territorial claims to England. At the start of the Revolution, the British relied heavily on native tribes to attack backcountry farms and settlements using guns and ammunition they provided. These attacks had the greatest threats to Virginians in Kentucky County (south of the Ohio River), which the Virginia General Assembly had created 1776. Yes, Kentucky was a Virginia county before it became a state.

At the age of 26, after Clark requested and was granted public orders from the governor of Virginia to proceed against the British in the Illinois frontier. He also got a secret commission to launch an attack west into British-held territory. His goal was to seize Detroit, but he started easier targets (see the map above) which had few British forces to defend them.

In his most successful moments he (Clark) crossed over and acted as an Indian war chief: he used their tactics, employed their methods to create group cohesion, shared their sense of honor and justice, terrorized his opponents into believing in his savagery, and even committed what Europeans regarded as atrocities. At the same time, he could put on a uniform and transform himself into a Virginia gentleman. ~National Park Service

With Clark’s victories in hand, after France’s recognition of the new American Republic, the Virginia legislature created the county of Illinois in 1778, comprising all the lands lying west of the Ohio River to which Virginia had any claim.

Clark’s Legacy: In 1783, the Revolutionary War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, and Clark returned to private life. Of importance to The 981 Project was Clark’s role in allotting lands across the Ohio River from Louisville to men who had taken part in his campaigns. He also was appointed a commissioner to make treaties with tribes north of the Ohio River who were continuing their raids into Kentucky.

Fast forward to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s dedication of the Clark memorial June 14, 1936. Here’s part of his address:

George Rogers Clark did battle against the tomahawk and the rifle. He saved for us the fair land that lay between the mountains and the Father of Waters. His task is not done. Though we fight with weapons unknown to him, it is still our duty to continue the saving of this fair land.

Now, let’s look at Clark in the present moment. An editorial for the campus newspaper, UVA Today, stands in counterpoint to the hero worship formerly bestowed upon Clark:

Clark’s approach to Indian people was Jeffersonian. Jefferson had a scientific fascination with Indian people. But he shared the common view that Indians were a barrier to civilization. During the Revolutionary War, Jefferson…wrote (to Clark) that the best way to deal with Native people was “total suppression of Savage Insolence and Cruelties.”

Clark followed Jefferson’s advice frequently following attacks on Shawnee villages, for instance, with the destruction of their houses and crops. His dealings with the Shawnees at the negotiations over the Treaty of Fort McIntosh in 1785—which the Shawnee rejected—further inflamed American relations with Native people and prolonged military conflict. No conquering occurred.

~Christian McMillen, UVA associate dean for the social sciences and professor of history

Indeed, Clark’s star has tarnished, mostly because our country is reckoning with the legacy of “white men as conquerors and empire builders.” His monument on the campus of UVA calls him the “Conqueror of the Northwest” and it features Indian people braced for violence—possibly murder. It has been removed with the approval of the Board of Visitors.

Guy Lopez, a co-founder of the Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) at UVA, described seeing photos of the statue come down as “bittersweet.” Lopez had long advocated for its removal, but he also wishes the $400,000 bill to remove the monument could have been used to fund NAIS programs. His final point landed pretty hard with me: the Clark statue was the only public, large-scale depiction of Native Americans at UVA.

I’ve tried to give a broad view of history here, and to acknowledge our current struggle to interpret, celebrate, and sometimes shun historical figures. As always, I welcome all civil comments and invite you to share this with someone who might find it interesting.

I’ll be back with May Trivia mid-month.

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Welcome new subscribers! One monthly newsletter is devoted to Ohio River trivia, and always includes ten questions. It’s the rare person who can answer all ten correctly without a deep dive into each topic. Do your best and have fun while learning something new.

Before delving into the trivia questions, I’ll prime you for this month’s topic with historical background on higher education in the Ohio Valley.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provided for settlement and government of the territory and stated that “…schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” I talked about this when reviewing David McCullough’s book, The Pioneers.
Before the Northwest Ordinance was approved by the Confederation Congress, a group of Revolutionary War veterans became land speculators by forming the Ohio Company of Associates. They used their Certificate of Indebtedness (an IOU for unpaid service during the war), to buy half a million acres of Ohio land near the mouth of the Muskingum River.
“The appeal of this idea was that it offered to provide (a) a source of funds for the newly formed nation, (b) an opportunity for veterans of the Revolutionary War to get some value from the depreciated scrip in which they had been paid, (c) a scheme for orderly settlement of a frontier area, and (d) an opportunity for financial gain by the initial investors.” Source.
“Provisions of the contract with the Confederation Congress included setting aside two townships in the center of the purchase for a university. These two townships were called ‘College Lands.’" Ohio University was established on them in 1808. Source.

QUESTIONS

Answers are in the footnotes.

In 1828, Ohio University conferred an A.B. degree on John Newton Templeton. What is Mr. Templeton’s historical significance ?
He is the namesake of the Templeton Prize, which honors people whose works “affirm life's spiritual dimensions” with an award of over one million dollars. Past winners include Mother Teresa, physicist Freeman Dyson, and ethologist, conservationist, and activist Jane Goodall
He was the first Black graduate of OU and the fourth Black man to graduate from a college in the U.S.
Both
In 1873, Margaret Boyd received her B.A. degree and became the first woman to graduate from Ohio University. Soon after, the institution graduated its first international alumnus from which country?
France
Turkey
Japan
This Indiana college was established in 1801 by William Henry Harrison (the ninth U.S. President) while he served as governor of the Indiana Territory. It is now a university. Name that university.
DePauw University
Valparaiso University
Vincennes University
In 2004, four college students set out to steal several volumes of some of the world’s rarest books from the first educational institution west of the Alleghenies. This institution was established in 1780 by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and its rare books were valued at more than $5.7 million. Name the university.
Spalding University
Transylvania University
Tusculum University
Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act on July 2, 1862. The Act committed the federal government to grant each state at least 90,000 acres of public land (30,000 acres for every senator and representative in the state). States could sell these lands to benefit higher education by building new institutions or improving existing ones. Which Ohio River Valley institutions are recipients of the 1862 Morrill grants? (choose as many as apply).
Ohio University
The Ohio State University
University of Kentucky
West Virginia University
“Who” were land-grant institutions designed to serve? (Choose all that apply)
“Sons and daughters of toil”
Residents of states where training in agriculture, mechanical arts, and military science were largely unavailable
Future farmers, teachers, and engineers
On Aug. 30, 1890, Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States, signed the Second Morrill Act of 1890 into law. This Act required states to either establish separate Land-grant Institutions for Black students or show that admission to a 1862 land-grant institution was not restricted by race. Which Ohio River Valley institutions received these funds? (choose as many as apply).
Kentucky State University
West Virginia State University
Lincoln University Missouri
Land-grant institutions were intended to emphasize pragmatic disciplines such as agriculture, science, and engineering without excluding classical studies. Riddle me this: if a land-grant university cuts majors or reduces faculty in foreign languages, public health, community planning, educational administration, and its math doctoral program (the only one in the state), is the university still aligned with the intent of the land-grant act? (choose as many as apply).
According to West Virginia University’s President, Gordon Gee, it is.
Perhaps it aligns, but it doesn’t pass the sniff test.
How did the federal government acquire the land used to finance land-grant universities?
Native American tribes, as ceded through treaties and agreements
Native American tribes, through seizure
Both a. and b.
Ohio State University (OSU) Professor Stephen Gavazzi has written two books on land-grant universities. Soon after publishing the 2021 book, he learned that 600,000 acres from 108 different Indian tribes and bands lands were taken and sold to fund OSU. Which of these states did this land come from? (choose all that apply)
Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska
Florida, Mississippi
California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington

The answers are in the footnotes. Good luck!

Intermission Message

I’m on a research trip with the Filson Historical Society’s Northwest & Indigenous Revolution Tour. I’ll meet local experts, architectural historians, artisans, and curators at the conjunction of the Ohio River Valley at the Mississippi River Valley. Follow my daily highlights on Instagram.

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I heard from lots of folks about the last newsletter, “When Virginia Claimed Pittsburgh,” who were shocked by the power and rivalry of colonial governors. Heads up: to succeed in this month’s Ohio River Trivia quiz, you need to read it first. This month’s trivia is focused on Pittsburgh with a little Philly and Pennsylvania sprinkled in for flavor.

Okay, as a reminder, the answers are in the footnotes. Good luck!

QUESTIONS

Which of these nicknames is/has been used for Pittsburgh?
City of Bridges
The ‘Burgh
The Paris of Appalachia
All the above
Only a. and b.
“Hell with the Lid Off” refers to:
A book of that title exploring the ferocious five-year battle between Pittsburgh and Oakland for NFL supremacy during the turbulent seventies
Pittsburgh’s thick smog (coal smoke plus fog)
After a decade as a republic under Oliver Cromwell, England “restored” the monarchy under King Charles II in 1660. The restored king settled a large loan with William Penn's father (also named William) by granting him a “restoration colony” of roughly 40,000 square miles of land west and south of New Jersey, Pennsylvania. Which two of the following are also restoration colonies?
New York
New Jersey
The “Lower Counties” of Delaware (New Castle, Sussex, and Kent)
South Carolina
The British colony of Virginia fought Lord Dunmore’s War on two fronts. First was against the Shawnee and Mingo people of the Ohio Valley. Second was with another colony. Name that colony.
In what year was Pittsburgh finally established as being in Pennsylvania, not Virginia?
1768, when the Mason-Dixon survey was completed
1779, when Pennsylvania and Virginia agreed to extend the original Mason-Dixon line westward to a point five degrees from the Delaware river
In 1783, when Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States in the Treaties of Paris
When Pennsylvania’s Act for Gradual Abolition of Slavery was signed in 1780, were there more enslaved workers in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh?
One of the most-photographed scenes in Pittsburgh is the Duquesne Incline on Mt. Washington. The first Pittsburgh funicular was the Ormsby Mine Gravity Plane, built in 1844. In the course of The ‘Burgh’s industrial history, how many inclines were in service?
11
22
23
Which of these foodie stories about Pittsburgh is true?
The Big Mac was invented there in 1967 by a McDonald’s franchisee
The Klondike Bar was invented there in 1929
To make any salad a “Pittsburgh Salad,” simply add french fries on top
Chipped ham was invented by the same restaurant that invented the Klondike Bar
All the above
Which of these is NOT a Pittsburgh first?
First PBS station
First Ferris Wheel
First Ice Capades
First nighttime World Series Game
First American hospital
This Pittsburgh native graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1962 and attended Pitt’s Graduate School of Child Development before going on to be a broadcaster in children's television. This TV personality is recognized by more than forty honorary degrees and several awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. Who is this native Pittsburgher?

Intermission Message

I always put a little intermission between the questions and answers to keep you from inadvertently seeing the answers before you’re ready. With vacation season straight ahead, I’ve included two posts from my other newsletter. I hope you’ll enjoy them.

The April 8 solar eclipse will be visible throughout most of the Ohio River Valley. NASA will livestream it. Here’s the official website with cool details and interactive features.

ANSWERS

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The more I learn about the European kings who colonized the world, the more they blow my mind. For example, I was just in Barbados and picked up a book about its founding. Essentially, one of King James’s buddies fell into debt with some London merchants and figured the best way out was to start a colony in the Eastern Caribbean, as one does. He asked his king if he could have one, and the sovereign basically said, “Sure, take ‘em all.”

It’s always who you know.

Something not dissimilar happened when that same King James claimed North America from sea to shining sea and called it Virginia, after his cousin, Elizabeth I. Never did James mind the French and Spanish who had been there long before Jamestown failed, or the native people who’d been there for thousands of years before that. Colonizing kings were like toddlers, claiming everything as mine, mine, mine!

We’re on a roll here, so let’s talk about how William Penn got that huge land grant for the colony of Pennsylvania. Once again, debt was a factor. King Charles II of England (grandson to James I) had a large loan with Penn's father (also named William). When Penn pere died, the king settled the debt by granting Penn fils about 40,000 square miles west and south of New Jersey. Penn called it the “sylvania” (Latin for “woods”). Penn + sylvania = Pennsylvania.

Now, to the promised story about Virginia and Pittsburgh. This map will help. As you can see, there were boundary disputes aplenty, including the one in the southwest corner that’s of interest to us.

To set the stage, the French and Indian Wars, which ended in 1763 with The Treaty of Paris, included a proclamation from King George III that forbade all settlements west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. The Ohio Country was delineated as an Indian Reserve.

Surprise, surprise, white settlers kept exploring and moving into these western lands, leading to a series of conflicts, mostly with Shawnee people, who had historical hunting rights south of the river, from which they launched cross-river attacks.

Enter Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of the colony of Virginia. In early 1774, he directed the Virginia militia to seize Fort Pitt and rename it Fort Dunmore to prepare for marching into war with the Shawnee. Dunmore used shrewd logic to justify this power play against Pennsylvania. He admitted that the land once belonged to Pennsylvania, but claimed that they lost the claim during the long French and Indian War, and the crown naturally absorbed title. Bottom line: Dunmore said Pittsburgh belonged to Virginia as a crown colony (Pennsylvania was a “restoration” colony). As the kids would say, what a baller.

Dunmore/Virginia/Britain prevailed against the Shawnee Chief Cornstalk at the Battle of Point Pleasant in October, 1774. Before all of his troops arrived home, the Revolutionary War had kicked off with battles at Lexington and Concord. Dunmore, a British loyalist, was now in trouble.

I can’t tell you Dunmore’s story any better than the The Baltzer Meyer Historical Society Library and Museum:

Dunmore’s British Royal Governorship made him loyal to the crown. As a result, he became an adversary of the colonists. The day after the beginning of the Revolutionary War in April 1775, Dunmore ordered the seizure of weapons and gunpowder from the colonial magazine in Williamsburg, Virginia and had them transferred to a British ship. His deceptive reasoning for this action was his concern that rebellious slaves might get their hands on the arms. Furthermore, on November 7, 1775 Dunmore issued a proclamation offering freedom to all slaves if they became members of the British military and declared their loyalty to the British resistance. Because slavery was the dominant form of colonial labor in Virginia, Dunmore concluded that the fear of emancipation and the arming of slaves would quash colonial insurrection. These contradictory measures, indicating his British allegiance, put him in the crosshairs of colonial revolutionaries.

Further angering the rebellious colonists was Dunmore’s engagement in biological warfare by inoculating slaves with smallpox and sending them into the Virginia mainland. This measure backfired because most of his enlisted slaves died from the disease. Despite his villainous attempts at sabotage, the gunpowder incident and Dunmore’s Proclamation, Fort Dunmore was regained and renamed Fort Pitt during the colonists fight for independence,

But wait, how did Pennsylvania reclaim Pittsburgh?

Dunmore’s ill-fated attempts at securing British power and increasing colonial hostilities led him to seek exile. His asylum took the form of boarding the British warship Fowey off the coast of Yorktown. With Dunmore out of the picture, the boundary line controversy was finally settled during the Revolutionary War when it was agreed to extend the Mason Dixon Line, which had been halted during Pontiac’s Rebellion of 1763.

West Virginia Encyclopedia finishes the tale:

Dunmore was one of the most unpopular figures of his day, accused of deliberately delaying his troops while the Indians attacked Lewis at Point Pleasant and despised for emptying the powder magazine at Williamsburg at the start of the Revolution. Most places in Virginia named in his honor were later renamed.

Stay tuned for March Trivia…some of the facts covered here will help you win!

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Hello, beautiful people. It’s trivia time again!

Those who read my last newsletter reviewing David McCullough’s book about settling the Ohio Territory will remember that the first white settlement on the Ohio River was named Marietta. In a prior quiz, we revealed that Marietta was named for Queen Marie Antoinette, whom Revolutionary veterans thought had done more than anyone else (even Ben Franklin) to convince King Louis XVI to support their effort. So let’s explore more of the French influence in the Ohio River Valley this month, shall we?

QUESTIONS

What’s the name of the county where Marietta, Ohio, is the county seat:
Lafayette
Washington
Orleans
The French named the state of Illinois after:
An Indian name for warriors plus the French adjective ending “ois”
An Indian name for the Devil’s Kitchen Lake
It’s a combination of ILLegitimate and the French adjective ending “ois.” Together, referring to an illegitimate claim on the area by Spain
Terre Haute, Indiana, got its name from the French phrase terre haute meaning “high land.” French-Canadian explorers and fur trappers named it in the early 18th century to describe the unique location above the Wabash River. At the time of its founding, the area was claimed by both the French and British, making it the border between:
Canada and Louisiana
Illinois and Indiana
France and Spain
Napoleon Bonaparte sold the Louisiana Territory to fund:
A wedding dowry for his step-daughter Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte so she could become Queen of Holland by marrying Napoléon’s brother, Louis Bonaparte
A war with the British
Both
In the 1740s, French officials in Canada were concerned over British encroachment into the Ohio Country, which they claimed to be part of New France. They built a series of forts in the 1750s to create a permanent French presence. Their fort, built in what’s now Pittsburgh, was named for the governor general of Canada. What was the name of that fort?
Name the French marquis who fought in the Continental Army against the British in the Revolutionary War. If you’ve seen the musical Hamilton, you already have the answer. The same man became the first foreign citizen to address the U.S. House of Representatives on December 10, 1824. Citizens named dozens of cities across the country in his honor.
Which American helped Lafayette write the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen for the French? It inspired the French Revolution.
The French were famous for building their North American empire on the fur trade. Traders bartered marten, fox, otter, and mink, but beaver became the main staple of the fur trade. The silk hat replaced the beaver hat after a certain member of the British royal family began wearing one in the mid-1800s. Name this man.
Which city is home to the first Catholic university in the Northwest Territory? Hint: Founders named it for the “first and greatest Jesuit missionary.”
Louisville, Kentucky took its name from King Louis XVI of France in appreciation for his help during the Revolutionary War. The city was founded by the brother of either Meriweather Lewis or William Clark, leaders of the Lewis & Clark Expedition of 1804–1806. Was the founder of Louisville a Lewis or a Clark

Intermission Suggestions

Last year I wrote about Tecumseh and the outdoor drama that tells his story in Chillicothe, Ohio. Here’s a podcast about the Ohio-born Shawnee chief from “Ohio Mysteries,” written and narrated by Paula Schleis. Enjoy!

You might enjoy this article I wrote about the transformative power of travel.

ANSWERS

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The other night, my spouse and I were scrolling through the channels and came upon the 1972 pilot of MASH*. Matt and I had watched the CBS reruns on a black-and-white TV every night as we pulled a meal together in his tiny college apartment. We loved the show’s zany characters and its stick-it-to-the-man pacifism and didn’t notice (much less mind) the laugh track. So we curled up on the couch to relive the experience. Here’s the pilot’s plot line: The Swamp’s Korean houseboy, Ho-Jon, gets accepted to study at Hawkeye’s alma mater, but he has to pay to get himself there. The camp raises money by raffling a weekend in Tokyo with a nurse, much to the chagrin of Hot Lips and Burns.

Wow. How did we overlook this in the eighties?

It didn’t end there. The original cast featured a third doctor in the Swamp with Hawkeye and Trapper John named “Spearchucker” Jones. Yep, he was Black. Our heads swiveled from the TV to each other fast enough to warrant a chiropractic visit. Spearchucker? That was a bridge too far. MASH* will just have to remain a fond college memory in chez Rich.

Why did I lead with this little “woke” anecdote when the headline promised a book review? Because the taste and experience of any reviewer grounds their review, and tastes change over time. David McCullough’s approach to his subjects is of a style that no longer appeals to me. He was one of America’s most decorated historians and that alone is reason to read The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West. To his credit, the title clearly tells us he will center WASP men in telling the history of settling the Northwest Territory. I could have chosen not to read it, but I’m not narrow minded. After a lifetime of reading history books that do the same thing—not noticing the bias any more than I noticed “Spearchucker” in MASH* forty years ago—I see it everywhere now and have recalibrated the bar for historians writing today.

If McCullough were submitting this manuscript to his publisher in 2024, I’d like to think he would have used his prodigious skills and massive platform to tell a more fulsome version of history. For example, The Pioneers could have included philosophical and religious differences in how native people and white settlers viewed the land. And if he didn’t want to go that broad, I’d have appreciated a good grounding in the scriptural interpretations of New Englanders who “settled” the “untamed wilderness.” Surely, the author came upon transcripts of sermons justifying the murder of fellow human beings in the process of establishing the first white settlement in the Territory, Marietta, Ohio, as a “City upon the Hill.”

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

~Matthew 5:14

Criticism aside, I learned a great deal from reading The Pioneers.McCullough emphasized throughout the book how these early settlers worked tirelessly to establish the Northwest Ordinance’s three “remarkable conditions” into their new communities:

Freedom of religion
Free universal education
The prohibition of slavery.

I should say that these are New England values, not those of Virginia, which claimed much of the Territory before the Revolution and whose land and government bordered the southern shores of the Ohio River after the Northwest Ordinance. New Englanders settled southeastern Ohio first, but the Virginians entered soon after and started flexing.

Meet the five pioneers of McCullough’s title:

Manasseh Cutler was a Yale-educated New England minister and a leader of the Ohio Company of Associates. This land company bought a large tract in what is now southeast Ohio from the United States after the British ceded it at the end of the Revolutionary War. He vigorously pushed for the Northwest Territory to be slavery free.
General Rufus Putnam also a founder the Ohio Company of Associates and led the first group of settlers in founding Marietta, Ohio. Later, he served as a judge and a member of the Ohio state constitutional convention.
Ephraim Cutler, the eldest son of Manasseh, was not as well-educated as his father had been, yet, he led the charge in establishing a common school system and the Territory’s first university, Ohio University, where he served as a trustee for 29 years.
Samuel Hildreth, a physician, naturalist, and historian who became a member of the Ohio Legislature. With the help of Ephraim Cutler and others, he published Pioneer Historyin 1848, followed by Memoirs of the Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio in 1852.
Joseph Barker’s path to prominence was his important skills as a carpenter, architect, and shipbuilder. Some of the many ships he built at his farm were used for that scoundrel Aaron Burr’s expedition, which I must write about soon. Barker reached the rank of colonel of the militia during the Northwest Indian War, was named a justice of the peace in 1799, and elected to serve as the judge of Washington County's common pleas court from 1830 to 1842.

Here’s a picture I took of Aaron Burr’s plaster death mask at the Blennerhassett Island Museum in Parkersburg, West Virginia. The placard on the left explains this custom.

Slavery in Ohio

I want to zero in on the third “remarkable condition” of the Territory—the abolition of slavery. General Putnam and Ephraim Cutler were delegates to the Territory convention in 1802. Both were shocked when delegates of the Jeffersonian persuasion tried to find a way around the anti-slavery provision of the Northwest Ordinance. Among the ex-Virginians in the delegation was speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, Edward Tiffin, who had manumitted his slaves before moving to the Territory in 1798 and evidently longed for the lifestyle of his birthright.

He and the other wily Virginians figured they could get away with it if they simply redefined the meaning of slavery. Here’s what they proposed: “No person shall be held in slavery, if a male, after he is thirty-five years of age, or a female, after twenty-five years of age.”

New Englanders Cutler and Putnam were very much opposed to slavery, but Cutler carried a special zeal for the issue that his father had championed before the Continental Congress when he negotiated the land deal. Before the vote came to the floor, Cutler fell ill. On the day of the vote, one account held that Putnam and another man carried Cutler to the convention on a stretcher to be sure he had done his part to vote the measure down, which they did.

But wait, there’s more! Tiffin didn’t get his way in allowing slavery, but he cast a tie-breaking vote to deny the voting franchise to the new state's 337 African-American residents. Here’s an interesting article on how Ohio Blacks eventually prevailed many years later. I’ll definitely be writing about this in a future newsletter.

I’m pretty sure I never learned most of this in Ohio History or American History. Did you? Did any of this surprise you?

That’s all for me this month. I’ll be back in February with The 981 Project’s Trivia Quiz. Thanks for reading and sharing!

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Hello, friends. I hope your December was better than mine—I came down with Covid and basically napped my way through the last two weeks of 2023. I managed to listen to a couple of good books and catch up on my podcasts, some of which I’ll list in the intermission between questions and answers for this month’s quiz. Oh, and I knitted this scarf.

If you come down with something this year, my best advice is to BE SICK. Don’t half-ass your respite, as it will only prolong your misery. Be sick, then be well. Of course, this advice applies to those who aren’t a brief illness away from homelessness, of which there are too many in this country.

This month we’ll focus on the interesting history of America’s 35th state, West Virginia. Before we begin, ask yourself what you may have been taught (or picked up) about the reasons West Virginia split from Virginia. I knew it had something to do with slavery since it happened when Virginia seceded, but was slavery the point? I was a blank slate before starting The 981 Project. It never occurred to me that the Northwest Territory’s slavery boundary north of the Ohio River played an oversized role in the drama.

I’ve taken several of this month’s quiz questions and answers from this new book, The Fifth Border State: Slavery, Emancipation, and the formation of West Virginia , 1829–1872, by Scott A. MacKenzie.The author argues that West Virginians experienced the Civil War in the same ways as the border states of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware. These states were both pro-Union and pro-slavery. With that hint of what’s ahead, let’s go to the quiz.

QUESTIONS

Which was the largest slaveholding state before the Civil War?
Before the Civil War, which then-Virginian city on the Ohio River did a brisk business in slaves that were headed for New Orleans, the country’s largest market?
Virginia’s first constitution (1776) limited suffrage to (white male) property holders (slaves were definitely considered property). This tilted representation to slaveholders of the Tidewater and Piedmont regions. With planters setting the state’s legislative agenda and tax policy, the rest of the population felt it got short shrift in government services while paying disproportionately high taxes. By 1850, white European immigrants were entering the region in droves, notably the Irish and Germans, and the percentage of enslaved residents, while never high, was trending downward. What percentage of the population in the three largest northwestern counties of Virginia were enslaved in 1850?
6.2%
4.9%
2.0%
Lincoln was elected in November, 1860. On New Year’s Day 1861, the white citizens of Parkersburg met to discuss secession after considering a move taken by South Carolina. Name that South Carolina event.
The Commonwealth of Virginia called a Constitutional Convention for February 4, 1861. The districts in northwestern Virginia sent thirty-two delegates to the convention of 135 in total. Was the predominating mindset of these northwestern delegates?
Fast-ultimatumists who insisted on demanding Lincoln acquiesce to southern demands or else face secession.
Anti-coercionists who sought compromises with the North until they became untenable.
Unconditional Unionists who opposed secession at all costs.
Tax reform became part of the secession debate. The northwesterners argued that if they were going to fight the Union to protect slavery, the slaveholders should bear that cost. In 1859, the Commonwealth’s tax on slaves amounted to $326,487.60. If the northwestern delegation’s proposed tax reform passed, how much would that tax revenue increase to in the following years?
$750,500 (more than 2x the existing)
$1,000,000 (more than 3x the existing)
$1,750,500 (nearly 6x the existing)
The tax reform proposal got a majority pledge of support on April 11, 1861. What national event prevented bringing it up for a floor vote the following day?
Secessionists’ attack on Fort Sumpter, South Carolina.
President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation calling forth the state militias, to the sum of 75,000 troops, in order to suppress the Southern rebellion.
On February 13, 1861, delegates representing all counties in Virginia met to decide how the state would respond to recent events, especially Abraham Lincoln's election and South Carolina's secession. They voted to remain in the Union and hoped that they could reach a compromise to defuse the situation. Two months later, the same men passed The Virginia Ordinance of Secession, dated April 17, 1861, which declared that “…the bond between Virginia and the United States of America, under the U.S. Constitution, is dissolved.” Delegates at the Virginia Convention of 1861 voted 88–55 to approve the ordinance on April 17 and a statewide referendum confirmed secession on May 23. This meant the northwestern counties needed to act quickly in order to remain part of the Union. What percentage of white men in the northwestern counties voted to stay in the Union?
52%
67%
75%
Within three days of the vote to remain in the Union, General George B. McClellan’s army occupied the region, notably Wheeling, Morgantown, Parkersburg, and Clarksburg. Pouring oil on troubled waters, McClellan said, “I have ordered troops to cross the river. They come as your friends and brothers (and) as enemies only to the armed rebels who are preying upon you. Your homes, your families, and your property are safe under our protection. All your rights shall be religiously respected,” (which included the right to own slaves). The capital had to be moved from Richmond. Where was the first capital in (what would eventually become) West Virginia?
Charleston
Morgantown
Parkersburg
Wheeling
Technically, the part of Virginia that stayed with the Union was still Virginia. Rejecting secession required a reorganization of the state, which it did on June 13 in the “Declaration of the People of Virginia Represented in Convention at Wheeling.” The first governor’s inaugural address did not mention slavery, rather, emphasized loyalty to the Union. The June 13 declaration authorized Governor Pierpont to vacate disloyal state- and county-level officers, but he couldn’t find their replacements. Many prewar elites rejected the thought of submitting to the Lincoln-aligned regime. With all this in mind, and considering the esteem in which the Union-loyal citizens held Virginia, they named their new state West Virginia. Kanawah was a strong contender for the state name. What were the others? Choose three.
Allegheny
Appalachia
Vandalia
Western Virginia

Quiz Intermission Message

Here are the podcast and book recommendations I promised earlier.

With the Napolean movie out (to lackluster reviews), you might enjoy this series on the emperor from real historians at The Rest Is History podcast. I was fascinated.

Part One: Young Napoleon: Teenage Revolutionary
Part Two: Young Napoleon: The Shadow of the Guillotine
Part Three: Napoleon in Egypt

Harvard’s in the news a good bit right now. Here’s a memoir of a privileged white girl growing up in segregated Virginia who became active in the civil rights, student, and antiwar movements, and eventually became a historian of the very conflicts that helped to shape the world she grew up in. The author, Drew Gilpin Faust, became the first female president of Harvard. I listened to the audiobook, which she narrated.

Answers

If I were a presidential candidate and someone asked me what made West Virginia choose the Union over secession, I would confidently say that it was slavery, but not on a moral opposition to the institution. When the enslavers used their legislative power to extract disproportionate taxes from those in the northwest while demanding them to provide free protection against the Federal Army, they forced their fellow Virginians to remain in the Union. Most West Virginians approved of slavery and actually expected the Union to preserve the institution, as did residents of the other four border states: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri.

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The Ohio River was America’s longest slavery border. It shaped the culture and institutions of the entire region before the Civil War, and into the present day. As I continue expanding my body of work here, I’ll show you what I mean.

First, a note about slave borders. We usually think of the Mason-Dixon as the dividing line between slave- and free-states, but it wasn’t intended for that use when it was surveyed to settle a colonial land dispute. The original was only 233 miles long and didn’t even cover the entire southern border of Pennsylvania because parts of it weren’t involved in the land dispute. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 made use of the old survey in defining free states.

The Ohio River (981 miles) is significantly longer, and the 1787 Northwest Ordinance banned slavery on its north side.

The map I’ve inserted below illustrates the Ohio River as an extension of the Mason-Dixon for political purposes related to slavery. This newsletter will not conflate the two borders. I’m a purist in this matter.

Why ban slavery in the Northwest Territory?

Growing up in Ohio, my childish mind assumed a moral superiority of ancestors who nobly rejected chattel slavery. It never occurred to me that Southern states actually insisted on the prohibition when the Northwest Ordinance was drafted.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for the Study of the American Constitution has the clearest explanation for how this went down (bold words my emphasis):

The sixth article of the Ordinance prohibited slavery and indentured servitude in the territory. When Congress considered the Ordinance in July 1787, Massachusetts delegate Nathan Dane, the author of the Ordinance, removed article six because a majority of the states attending Congress were from the South. Southern delegates, however, encouraged Dane to restore the prohibition because Southerners did not want a competing slave economy north of the Ohio River. It was also expected that most immigrants to the territory would come from Northern States and thus would probably oppose slavery. Furthermore, by overtly prohibiting slavery north of the Ohio, Congress tacitly would be allowing slavery in the Southwest Territory. With freedom just across the Ohio River, a fugitive slave clause was added to the sixth article. The Articles of Confederation had an extradition clause aimed at runaway criminals but no fugitive slave clause. When the delegates to the Constitutional Convention then meeting in Philadelphia saw the fugitive slave clause in the Northwest Ordinance they without much debate inserted a similar clause into the draft Constitution. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 proved to be somewhat inconsequential in returning runaway slaves, but the much harsher Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was one of the important steps leading to the Civil War.

Truth being stranger than fiction…

Thomas Jefferson, a slaveholder, signed the Northwest Ordinance. By that time, he was fathering children on the enslaved Sally Hemings. Their relationship is repugnant to my modern sensibilities, but not on racial grounds. Jefferson started exploiting her when she was 14 or 15. His eldest daughter was just a year older than Sally. In a bizarre twist, Sally was half-sister to Jefferson’s deceased wife Martha. Her father, John Wayles, took Sally’s mother as his “concubine” and fathered her five children.

My mind reels at the mental and moral gymnastics required of everyone in slave cultures. As a white woman, I suppose it’s natural that I cogitate the white wives of planters. How did they cope with the billy goats they’d married and their enslaved progeny?

Family values sure do shift over time. Let’s keep that in mind during the ongoing culture wars.

Thank you for reading The 981 Project.

Invitation to Winter Burrow

Come to Eastern Kentucky for Winter Burrow, where I’m speaking on the racial history of the Ohio River Valley. I’ll start my session with a quiz, and faithful readers will have a leg up on the rest of the audience. The conference is December 15-17 at the Hindman Settlement School.

There’s always someone in the audience who adds to my understanding of this topic. Maybe that will be you.

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Readers (and listeners) loved last month’s Ohio River Trivia. More, more! Encore, encore!

You asked for it, you’ve got it. My first newsletter each month will be ten trivia questions about the six states that border the Ohio River. I pull several questions from my prior newsletters, so faithful readers have a leg up! ANSWERS IN THE FOOTNOTES, so don’t click them until you’ve made your final choices.

Free and paid subscribers never miss a quiz or newsletter.

QUESTIONS

In which Ohio River city did the screenwriter and novelist Dalton Trumbo serve his federal sentence for contempt of Congress in 1950?
What city’s famous overlook of the Ohio River features a huge bronze statue of George Washington and Guyasuta, a leader of the Seneca people? Hint: The statue is named “Point of View.”
What Americans call the French and Indian War was part of a global clash of European colonial powers known to them as the Seven Years War. Which two European countries fought at the edge of the Ohio River Valley?
Which Ohio town about 30 miles from the Ohio River suffered a fiery train derailment and exposure to vinyl chloride in February? Hint: It shares a name with a region in the Middle East.
Which Ohio River city was named for Marie Antoinette?
The German Triangle of the Midwest is where you’ll find the largest concentration of German-Americans in the country. St. Louis and Milwaukee are two points on the triangle. What Ohio River city makes the third point?
Which river city is home to the last government-owned uranium enrichment facility operating in the United States? Hint: Before enriching uranium, the site was known as Kentucky Ordnance Works.
Which American president’s father apprenticed as a tanner in Maysville, Kentucky? Hint: The father moved to Hudson, Ohio, and lived and worked with Owen Brown, the father of abolitionist John Brown.
Which American president from Ohio was the last to be born under foreign rule? Hint: The others were Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J. Q. Adams, and Andrew Jackson, who were all born as British subjects.
Which Ohio River town is home to the first Hindu ashram in the United States?

Quiz Intermission Message

I hate taking a quiz when the answers are printed too close to the questions and spoil the fun of figuring them out. That’s why I’m taking this space to invite you to hear me speak about the racial history of the Ohio River Valley region this December:

For longtime readers of my newsletter, yes, Hindman is indeed where I lost my new motorcycle to the thousand-year flood in 2022.

ANSWERS

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Born in the 1960s, I missed the nuclear duck-and-cover drills, where school children knelt under their desks and covered their heads. We learned that same drill for tornado sirens, not nuclear annihilation. My first memory of anything nuclear (outside of history books) was Three Mile Island in 1979, not bombs.

It wasn’t until 2023 that I learned that the Ohio River Valley had played a major role in the country’s uranium enrichment program because, once again, it was mostly over by the time I finished high school. The Atomic Energy Commission located plants, labs, and ancillary operations along a stretch of the river that was referred to as the Atomic River Valley.

Can you place the Atomic River Valley on a map? Obviously it’s somewhere along the Ohio River, but do you have any idea where exactly? When the enrichment sites were built and operated? What’s going on with the sites today?

I’ll answer these questions in order, based on an article in the journal Ohio Valley History by Dr. Jason Krupar.

Where’s the Atomic River Valley?

It’s roughly the area from Portsmouth, Ohio, to Paducah, Kentucky. The area was suited to uranium enrichment because of its water supply and relative safety from the range of Soviet bombs. That last advantage was short-lived, since intercontinental ballistic missiles were developed in 1958.

Instead of building government towns like Los Alamos and Hanford, congressional budget hawks demanded that the Atomic Energy Commission build facilities near existing skilled labor forces.

The commission's top choice was a site east of Louisville, which already had Rubbertown for manufacturing tire and synthetic rubber during World War II. As you might imagine, the Building Trades Council badly wanted the plant, but the strong opposition from residents and businesses prevailed.

Greater Cincinnati was the second preference, but that also fell through. Piketon, Ohio (north of Portsmouth), and Paducah, Kentucky got the gaseous diffusion plants, which required massive amounts of electrical power, and that meant hydro.

Here’s a video with history of the Portsmouth facility from its groundbreaking to its deactivation, demolition, and final remediation plans.

The Paducah plant was the last government-owned uranium enrichment facility operating in the United States. It was originally a WWII munitions plant called Kentucky Ordnance Works.

When did it all begin?

The Atomic Energy Act was passed in 1946, and the Atomic Energy Commission inherited personnel and policies from the Manhattan Project. The commission’s expansion period ran from 1947 to 1956 and its “unlimited” funding dried up during the Cold War.

What’s going on today?

The projects continue providing jobs to their local communities, but I doubt anyone feels good about the reason these jobs exist: environmental remediation in the wake of destruction. Cleanup activities at Portsmouth will continue until 2039-2043. Paducah’s remediation might last until 2065-70. Gasp!

Family history with nuclear components

My grandfather, now deceased, was exposed to a beryllium spill while working at the Air Force base in Heath, Ohio back in the late seventies. One of beryllium’s uses is nuclear weapons, but to my knowledge that wasn’t the work he did at the base. Heavy emphasis on to my knowledge. I remember family members talking about his exposure and “the cover up” but he would have been the only one who could have given me straight answers.

This raises the question of whether anyone reading this newsletter has personal or family history with the atomic programs in the Atomic River Valley. If so, would you be willing to share them with me?

Nuclear novel recommendation

A couple of summers ago I read a novel based at the Hanford lab in Washington state, The Cassandra, by Sharma Shields.

The protagonist moves from the typing pool to a plum role as one of the leading scientists’ administrative assistant, without ever knowing what exactly is underway, but feeling good about serving her country and getting on in the world.

Like the Cassandra of Greek mythology, Mildred has the gift/curse of second sight. After a prophetic vision, Mildred confronts her boss, Dr. Hall, with her foreknowledge:

After they drop the bomb, the men will look out of the windows of a plane named Mother. They’ll see the fires, the smoke. They’ll guess then what they’ve done. Some will celebrate but one of them will mourn. He will realize how those below them suffer.

At first, Mildred mistakes Dr. Hall’s awestruck, appreciative look for belief, but he then dismisses her. “I could see from his face that he’d closed his mind to me. I was a woman, unpredictable and shrill. He muttered something about me nearing my menses.”

What books do you recommend with nuclear plot lines? Have you seen the movie, Oppenheimer? Let’s keep the conversation going.

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Hello friends,

I have been told I have a “trap mind” because it traps and holds onto random facts and scenes. For example, I remember the leopard-printed socks that my friend Carola bought 34 years ago when our oldest children were in their strollers. Obviously, my trap mind is unpredictable and undiscriminating, but it occasionally serves me well—for example, trivia nights and marital arguments disagreements discussions.

How about you? Would you love some Ohio River trivia to whip out at your next office lunch or PTA fundraiser? Look no further. I’ve got you covered.

Here’s a quiz about the six states that border the Ohio River. ANSWERS IN THE FOOTNOTES, so don’t click them until you’ve finalized your answers.

QUESTIONS

Easy first question: name the six states that border the Ohio River.
After Alaska, which Ohio River border state has more navigable miles of water than any other in the union?
Blennerhassett Island sits between Ohio and West Virginia. Which former Vice President of the United States used it to stage a conspiracy for taking over the Texas Territories and the Louisiana Territory?
Name the only U.S. state with a continuous border of rivers running along three of its sides.
Before the Civil War, which river city was known as “The Northernmost Southern City”?
Before the American Revolution, which two states fought over the ownership of Pittsburgh?
Faithful newsletter readers will know this one: which two states fought over a large boulder in the Ohio River known as “Indian Rock” or “Indian Head Rock”?
What famous man was born in a small cabin on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky in February 1809?
Name the four rivers that join within 40 miles of Paducah, Kentucky.
Southern Illinois has been called Little Egypt for two reasons. Name one of them.

Quiz Intermission Message

For longtime readers of my newsletter, yes, Hindman is indeed where I lost my new motorcycle to the thousand-year flood in 2022.

Alright, please comment with your favorite bits of Ohio River trivia and I’ll include it in the next round.

ANSWERS

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Say what you will about the algorithms of online sellers, for me, there’s no way to outdo a human bookseller near your research. During my June research trip to Kentucky, I went on book-buying sprees at Roebling Books and Coffee in Covington, and Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville. Here’s the scoop on some of the titles I bought and why.

Germans in the Ohio Valley

My recent post about Covington, Kentucky mentioned the large influx of Germans to the Cincinnati area after the Great War (WWI). I couldn’t have written it without the scholarship of Don Heinrich Tolzmann, whose books I pictured here. I will rely on them as I continue exploring the region. Thanks to Emily at Roebling Books for introducing them to me.

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Underground Railroad

Emily at Roebling also turned me onto these books set in Ripley, Ohio, 50 miles upriver from Cincinnati. I photographed them with a brochure from Clermont County’s Freedom Trail, because they are all linked to the Underground Railroad. Clermont County was home to several abolitionist communities, where many southerners moved and freed their enslaved workers. President Grant was born in Clermont County.

Beyond the River brings to life the stories of men and women, both Black and white, who fought against slavery along the Ohio River through the Ripley line of the Underground Railroad. I’ve heard the Underground Railroad movement called “the war before the war.”

His Promised Landis a slave narrative from John P. Parker, who may be the most interesting American ever born. Born to an enslaved mother and a white Virginian “aristocrat,” he was sold at the age of eight and eventually bought his freedom after many harrowing runaway attempts detailed in the book. When he made it to Ohio, he literally worked day and night; by day as an inventor and business owner, and by night as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. He was issued US patents for an improved tobacco press, a portable tobacco press, and soil pulverizer, and used his earning s to send his sons to university. Someone should make a biopic of him.

Louisville

Sometimes the best way to absorb history is through the lens of a small community—instead of a metropolis, state, region, or country.

If You Write Me a Letter, Send it Here, is a collection of essays by Russell residents about the neighborhood's history, current state, and future prospects. Honestly, I bought this book based on its cover, but I am reading the stories because they’re insightful. The gorgeous full-color book on thickly coated pages is a project of the Louisville Story Program.

To the far right is a micro-history of another Louisville neighborhood, Portland. The Nearly Forgotten History of Portland Kentucky starts with pre-history and colonial history, then carries us through through the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War. We see how the Ohio River town shaped the destinies of Daniel Boone, Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, William Lytle, John James Audubon, and Lewis & Clark, as well as America’s first female riverboat captain Mary Millicent Miller.

I’ll tell you about The Louisville Anthology (pictured center) in the section below.

Cincinnati

I bought two books about the 2001 uprising in Cincinnati that really bookend the spectrum of opinion on why the riots raged, what was at stake, and what was accomplished in the aftermath. This uprising took place five months before the bombing of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, so that may be why you don’t remember it.

For those who like to “do their own research,”before making up their mind, here’s your big chance. The graphic story in Six Days In Cincinnati is from the viewpoint of a man who was in high school when he joined the protests against police violence. Behind the Lines, written by the former editorial page editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, it focuses on the major players in the conflict and concludes with what happened to each of them in the aftermath. Nary the twain accounts shall meet, which is still the case in present day discourses. Sigh.

Kentucky History

I have always been a horsey girl. I’ve toured several Thoroughbred racing barns in the Bluegrass region, as well as the tracks at Keeneland and Churchill Downs, so you won’t be surprised that I’m reading Hidden History of Horse Racing in Kentucky. This slim book is full of historical photographs and etchings. I’ll knock it out in a weekend.

The two other books pictured here explore aspects of Kentucky’s history as a slave state. When Congress established the Northwest Territory (north of the Ohio River) as slavery free in 1787, the river became the longest slave boundary in the United States.

I’d love to do an experiment with average Americans and ask if Kentucky was a Union or Confederate state. I would have failed the quiz. Kentucky did not join the Confederacy, although it was a slave state.

Creating a Confederate Kentucky, explains why Kentucky acts like a former Confederate state up to the present day, although it never seceded. This identity didn’t begin to form until the war was over. I’m being simplistic here, but in a nutshell, white Kentuckians had expected to be rewarded for their loyalty by being permitted to remain a slave state.

In the words of one Kentucky soldier, “I enlisted to fight for the Union and the Constitution, but Lincoln puts a different construction on things and now has us Union Men fighting for his Abolition Platform and thus making us a hord of Subjugators, houseburners, Negro thieves, and devastators of private property.” I’m about a third of the way through it now, and will give you an update when I finish.

Freedom on the Border is a curated collection of oral histories from folks who lived during the civil rights movement. Both white and Black voices are included for each topic. I’ve read the first chapter, “Living Under Segregation,” that includes a story from a white woman who had invited a college friend from New York home to Louisville for the weekend:

…we’re walking down the platform to go into the station, and I turn around and Sandy is white as a ghost. I mean, she’s stopped in her tracks and she’s white as a ghost…I followed her eyes, where she was looking, and what she saw was white/colored: white drinking fountain, colored drinking fountain, white waiting room, colored waiting room. She was horrified…It took this experience with a stranger for me to see it…I had never seen it before.

City Anthologies

Belt Publishing offers a wide range of city anthologies and neighborhood guidebooks for Rust Belt cities. They include essays, poetry, and sometimes graphic stories from writers with unique perspectives on what it’s like to live, work, and love in each city.

I’ve seen some of the anthologies in indie bookstores (including Carmichael’s in Louisville) but you can buy them directly from the publisher or from any online retailer.

Okay, now it’s your turn to recommend books from the Ohio River Valley. I’m especially interested in topics from Indiana and Illinois, as well as local booksellers in both states. I’ll be up that way again soon.

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Now that summer’s over (sigh) you may be ready to get into a new podcast or two. Scroll down for a list of recommendations. I'd love to hear what you're listening to that comes from any of the 981 miles of the Ohio River.

Did you know that the narrated version of my newsletter goes out in a podcast? Here’s a linked list to services that carry The 981 Project podcast:

Apple. Audible. Amazon Music. Audacy. PlayPilot.

The Road to Now

Here’s a podcast I never miss, The Road To Now. It’s not focused on a particular era, region, or theme, but it always holds my attention and makes me reconsider something I thought was settled fact. Hosted by Dr. Benjamin Sawyer, a history professor (and stand-up comedian!) and Bob Crawford, a founding member of The Avett Brothers band, their banter is intelligent and well informed.

In light of my recent newsletter on Tecumseh, I was buzzy listening to the latest episode: Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison’s Struggle for a Nation.

The episode features an interview with author Peter Stark, whose book about Tecumseh and Harrison is out this week.

Calling for Ohio Valley Regional Podcasts

My search for 981 Project-related podcasts is incomplete. Will you help? Give me your best recommendations so I can share them in a future update.

Mysteries of the Ohio Valleyis a short-form podcast averaging 10 minutes—perfect for taking the dog around the block. This is the only one I’ve found that overlaps with the region I’m covering, but with a narrow focus on mysteries. Everyone will enjoy this one on The Mothman, a folklore figure that played a role in the collapse of the Silver Bridge connecting West Virginia to Ohio between Point Pleasant and Gallipolis.

Ohio Versus The World doesn’t cover the entire Valley, but the seven seasons of archives are terrific. Lawyer Alex Hastie looks at moments in history and Ohio’s role in that history, as well as Ohio-focused topics like Ten Cent Beer Night in 1974 when over-served Clevelanders stormed the Cleveland Indians field and attacked the players.

Kentucky History Podcast has 100+ episodes worth browsing. A good bit of local (county) history, which I always find fascinating. Has a community radio station vibe that feels earnest and comforting.

General History Podcasts

The Rest is History is worth listening to for the rapartee alone! Historian and author Dominic Sandbrook and popular historian Tom Holland (both Brits) are serious scholars with a jocular chemistry. I love them. You’ll find a diverse range of subjects and eras. Here’s one about the American Revolution from an English perspective that includes ground I’ve previously covered here about the French and Indian War (featuring George Washington).

Slate Presents: One Year. The people and struggles that changed America—one year at a time. The current season, focused on 1955, just concluded. I’m writing a novel with roots in 1942, a year with its own season.

I’ll be back after Labor Day, hopefully to share your podcast recommendations from the Ohio Valley. You can reply to this email or comment below. Thanks in advance!

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During my June motorcycle sojourn along the Ohio River, I spent a couple of days in walkable Covington, Kentucky, home to the south shore of the Roebling Bridge. Cincinnati is on the other side.

You may feel you've seen this bridge before if you've seen Roebling’s Brooklyn Bridge in New York. But Cincinnati-Covington’s predates Brooklyn’s by 14 years—think of this one as a model for the larger one in New York. Both are National Historic Landmarks, are defined by their iconic stone towers and suspension cables, and feature pedestrian footpaths.

Floodwall Murals!

Dedicated readers know I love me some floodwall murals! The foot of the Roebling Bridge is home to eighteen that document the city’s history from 8000 B.C. to 2008 A.D. Here’s an Instagram live video I took of the murals while I was there. Oh, you’re not following me on the ‘gram? Easily fixed!

If you take your kids to see the murals, be sure to download the scavenger hunt that goes with them. I’ve pictured half of the questions here.

Welcome, Germans

One thing you can’t miss in the Cincinnati-Covington-Newport area is the German influence, including our favorite bridge engineer. John Roebling immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1831 along with others in the professional/intellectual class who fled the political revolutions that flared up after losing the Great War (WWI).

Ohio recognized this influx if immigrants by authorizing the printing of state law and its constitution in German. Hm, imagine that in 2023—honoring a large immigrant population with important documents in their native tongue. But wait! There’s more! In 1840, Cincinnati created the first public school system that taught in both German and English, showing that Germans were welcome in the city.

In the half-dozen books I’ve read about Germans in the Ohio Valley region, experts agree they were anti-nativist and favored a bottom-up system of governance, which is why monarchies and other top-down institutions were under attack in the Old Country. This philosophy naturally led them to hold abolitionist views, and therefore, to support the Union in the Civil War.

Other German cultural landmarks in Covington include:

Mainstrasse Village
The Glockenspiel Clock Tower in Goebel Park
The Goose Girl Fountain
Mutter Gottes Kirche “Mother of God Church”
Mother of God Church Cemetery, final resting place of many Catholic clergy
The Cathedral Basilica
Duveneck House and Duveneck Monument

In a couple of fascinating books by University of Cincinnati’s Don Heinrich Tolzmann, I learned that the Cincinnati metropolitan area, including Covington and Newport, is one of the three corners of what’s known as the “German Triangle” of the Midwest, with the other two being Milwaukee and St. Louis.

Roebling Books

How can I possibly praise Roebling Books and Coffee to the extent it deserves? Their book-buyer, Emily, immediately jibed with my 981 Project, as well as the book I’m writing on race in the Ohio Valley, and recommended perfect titles for my library. THANK YOU!!

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When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death so that when their time comes, they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

~Attributed to Chief Tecumseh, 1768-1813, this poem is commonly known as the Chief Tecumseh Death Song

Last month I spent a week exploring the Ohio River between Chillicothe, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky. Yes, I know Chillicothe isn’t a river city. I visited because I wanted to refresh my memory of the long-running outdoor drama about Shawnee Chief Tecumseh that I first saw in the 1970s.

Tecumseh’s story (and legend) is an essential part of Southern Ohio’s history, and that of the whole Northwest Territory. Before I tell you his gallant and tragic story, watch this about conflicts between Native Americans and colonists.

Tecumseh’s History in Three Minutes

The Shawnee homelands (covering most of the current states of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania) were the first epic battleground in the United States’ acquisition of new territory. Tecumseh’s father fought against Lord Dunmore and lost his life during a retreat across the Ohio River in 1774. As he lay dying, he supposedly told his eldest son, Cheeseekau, to never make peace with the Virginians (who were then still British), and to supervise the warrior training of his other male children, including Tecumseh.

Cheeseekau was fatally wounded in 1792, while attacking a stockade near present-day Nashville, Tennessee. Two years after Cheeseekau died, another brother, Sauwauseekau, was shot and killed at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

Tecumseh had seen almost constant fighting since the age of twelve, and took part in numerous conflicts with settlers and militia by the time he reached fifteen. Yes, Tecumseh was a proven warrior, but his true gifts were diplomacy and leadership.

You can’t understand Tecumseh’s story without also knowing about his younger brother, an alcoholic who took the name of Tenskwatawa. He became the leader of a purification movement after reporting that the Great Spirit revealed to him a paradise of honey and game for those who followed the traditional way of life, including abstinence. Tenskwatawa may have been a charlatan, but the brothers’ combined talents were initially good for native people both spiritually and militarily. Together, the founded Prophetstown (in what’s now Indiana) as the center of their community.

Tecumseh left his brother in Prophetstown while he tried to create an alliance of Native Americans of many tribes in the Great Lakes region to resist American expansion. At its height, the movement included thousands of warriors.

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Tecumseh had two meetings with the Indiana Territory Governor William Henry Harrison (who later became the ninth president). Harrison said of him that he was “one of those uncommon geniuses who spring up occasionally to produce revolutions and overturn the established order of things.” Harrison destroyed Prophetstown in the Battle of Tippicanoe, which is now accepted as the first engagement of the War of 1812.

Tecumseh ended up working against his father’s wishes when he joined forces with the British in that war. He had no other hope of prevailing. General Henry Procter abandoned Tecumseh at the Battle of the Thames, and Tecumseh died, ending any hopes of stopping white settlement in native lands.

The Legend Lives On

Despite Tecumseh's views, William Tecumseh Sherman’s parents named their boy after him. Maybe the name was a good luck charm for the Civil War general, whose March to the Sea is regarded as the first example of the use of total war in the modern era.

A recent book on the Shawnee brothers has gained critical praise, Tecumseh and the Prophet: The Shawnee Brothers Who Defied a Nation. Its author says of their era, “It was their misfortune that the Shawnee people inhabited the ‘fault line between French and British interests, and as such was fated to become an imperial battleground.’”

About the Tecumseh! Outdoor Drama

The Tecumseh! drama’s first season was 1973 and I remember it looking much like the picture of its construction that I’ve pasted here. Today it seats nearly 1700 in the comfort of stadium seats and offers a full-service concession area.

If I hadn’t refreshed my memory of Tecumseh’s story, I would have been content to watch the acting and stagecraft (including live horses). The amphitheater is gorgeous and the sound system superb.

If the producers ask me, I’d suggest revisiting the script and portrayals of historical figures. There were times I felt the story relied too much Indians-as-exotics, and a fabricated romance between Tecumseh and a white woman who taught him to read English. In the script he tells her he is unmarried, but the historical record shows otherwise. Please. We expect more from historical dramas in the twenty-first century, and Tecumseh’s story is plenty interesting without embellishment.

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If you’re interested in the show, it runs June 16, 2023 – September 3, 2023.

Weeknight Tickets:from $26

Weekend Tickets:from $36

VIP Package:from $51

Showtime: 8 PM

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No man ever steps in the same river twice. For it's not the same river and he's not the same man. ~Heraclitus

Heraclitus’ famous quote is philosophically inclined, but I thought of it recently when telling a friend about a legal case between Ohio and Kentucky concerning, of all things, a boulder removed from the river.

Okay, when I put it that way, it sounds ridiculous (albeit true). It’s a little writerly device to keep you reading!

Indian Head Rock

Known as Indian Head Rock or Indian Rock, geologists think the boulder in question rolled into the river from the Kentucky hills of sandstone before the 19th Century. Someone carved what we would call a smiley face on the rock before pioneers discovered it and attributed the face to an Indian, hence the name.

Back before locks and dams, locals used the boulder to gauge the water level—by how many inches they could see over the eyes, the nose, or the mouth. The first record in the log was dated November 10, 1839, when the mouth of the figure was said to be “10 1/4 inches out of the water.’” Boys being boys, several initials were added over the years, too.

Indian Head Rock was permanently submerged around 1917 when the Ohio River Lock and Dam No. 31 was finished, although it made a brief appearance in 1920 when No. 31 suffered damage. The Portsmouth Daily Times reported that "Hundreds of Portsmouth people Sunday took advantage of an opportunity to view the famous Indian Rock, which is located just across from the old [Portsmouth] waterworks plant. Many pictures of it were taken from all angles Sunday."

Did people forget about the boulder after 1920? Apparently, its memory was kept alive because an amateur historian set out to find it some eighty years later. Steve Shaffer assembled a team of divers and eventually located and photographed Indian Head Rock in 2002. By 2007, he and his crew successfully lifted the boulder from the riverbed and floated it to Portsmouth’s shore where a cheering crowd of locals waited. Shaffer made a pretty speech about Portsmouth's future generations once again being able to see the rock themselves and planned to place it on public display. Why in Portsmouth? The smiley face was seen from the Portsmouth side, so the locals presumably felt more sentimental about it.

Possession and the Law

All the fanfare about the boulder’s removal stirred up possessive sentiments in Kentucky. The Kentucky Native American Heritage Council, passed a resolution on November 1, 2007, calling for the return of Indian Head Rock to its original location—Ohio River bottom. Then a Greenup County (KY)grand jury issued an indictment against Shaffer for violating Kentucky's Antiquity Act. The University of Kentucky protected it as an archaeological object in 1986.

Eventually both the Ohio and Kentucky legislators got involved in the dispute until finally (cut to the chase) Kentucky got Indian Head Rock back by virtue of its original position on its side of the Ohio River.

Folks, there are lots of serious aspects to this funny little story, as its documentary film will show you. All of them involve doing what’s right on principle more than the inherent value of a sandstone boulder with (supposedly) ancient markings.

The Ohio River is an Exception to River Boundary Rules

Where a river separates two states, the legal boundary line is usually in the middle of the river. But not when it comes to the Ohio.

Before the U.S. gained independence from its colonial overlords and before the Articles of Confederation, a good deal of the Midwest was claimed by the sovereign and independent states of Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Virginia laid claim to land on both sides of the Ohio River from the headwaters to the Mississippi.

In 1784, the Continental Congress laid claim to Virginia’s claims north and west of the Ohio River. However, the Ohio River itself remained outside of the bargain—Virginia owned it. When Kentucky became a state in 1792, ownership transferred from Virginia along with the land.

When Ohio became a state in 1803, it sought greater control appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to shift the boundary line to the middle of the river. The Court, however, ruled that because Virginia had owned the Ohio River originally, it should remain a part of Virginia’s domain i.e. Kentucky. By that precedent, when Virginia lost its westernmost counties to the new state of West Virginia, the river boundary went with West Virginia in 1863.

In 1820, when Indiana became a state, the Supreme Court rejected Indiana's argument then, and again in 1890. The 1890 case was over Green River Island between Evansville, Indiana, and Henderson, Kentucky. Rivers change their course as is their nature. Little channels silt up or wash away with floods and erosion. Green Island is attached to Indiana; it only appeared to be an island when the original boundary was drawn. So thanks to the Supreme Court, Green Island is still in Kentucky.

While civic pride plays some role in boundary matters, as we saw with Indian Head Rock, the real issue is money: revenue from fishing, boating, liquor, and other licenses granted for use on any portion of the river. Follow the Money!

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Should the Borders Change?

In a day when we use satellite technologies for everything, it seems quaint that original surveying techniques sometimes relied on transitory objects like the white oak post marking a boundary in the West Virginia Northern Panhandle. We still rely on old boundaries, and as we see with Indian Rock, state legislatures are loathed to cede anything to another, especially when the monies that go with the land are significant.

Here’s a quote from a story by public radio station WVXU that explains it better than I could summarize.

(In) 1966…(Ohio )…wanted the border to be whereever the low water mark was.

(University of Cincinnati's) Brad Mank says that challenge bounced around the courts for a few years. A special master assigned to the case rejected Ohio's argument saying it was difficult to determine where the 1792 boundary was, but it wasn't impossible.

Finally in 1980, the case wound up in the Supreme Court. Mank says the three dissenting justices argued that the border should change as the river changes. Which is what happens with the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

"But for the Ohio River, because it's based on what Virginia gave up in 1784 and 1792, it's all based on the historical boundaries and not where the river is," Mank says. "It seems awfully inconvenient, but that's what the Supreme Court said."

That's why the signs welcoming visitors to Kentucky are close to the Ohio side on bridges. It's also why Kentucky is responsible for those bridges.

I hope this helps you win your next trivia contest!

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Everybody is looking for KRISHNA.

Some don't realize that they are, but they are. ~George Harrison (former Beatle)

I primarily remember the Hare Krishna movement of the 1960s and ‘70’s because it pushed the buttons of so many adults—adults who had no problem with the equally ecstatic so-called “Jesus Freaks”of the day.

I grew up about thirty miles east of Columbus, Ohio, and I don’t remember seeing any Hare Krishnas there, but I remember seeing a group at Port Columbus Airport when we waited for my grandparents’ plane to land from California. About a dozen shaven-headed, bare-chested, young white men banged tambourines and chanted Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna…at the arrivals area. My parents scooted us kids out of their way, and while I don’t recall their exact words, their warnings would have matched what I heard everywhere else about the counterculture movement, hippies, LSD, brainwashing, and cults: STAY CLEAR.

Fifty years later, I learned that the first American ashram (religious retreat) was built 150 miles due east of Columbus, just across the Ohio River near Moundsville, West Virginia. Back in the day, we would have called it a commune.

The first swami

In 1965, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, an Indian man from Bombay, made a 12,000-mile ocean voyage to New York City hoping to bring Krishna Consciousness to the West, preaching a monotheistic version of Hinduism. By 1967, his movement was well underway, and two of his disciples decamped to West Virginia on a mission to start an ashram just outside of Moundsville. The property, New Vrindaban, is named after the holy land of Vrindavan, India, the place of Krishna’s birth.

On May 31, 1967, Prabhupada suffered a stroke and returned to India to recuperate. While recovering, he desired to establish a place in India for his foreign disciples to be trained. He planned to call it the American House; sometimes he called it the Indian-American House. He returned to America in December, 1967 to continue the expansion of Krishna consciousness. Then in 1970, he acquired the Los Angeles temple, which became the world headquarters of his ministry.

That same year, New Vrindaban in West Virginia held its first annual three-day celebration of Krishna’s birth. Hundreds of devotees from as far away as Australia are reported to have attended. By 1985, it’s said that 600 people lived and worked at New Vrindaban’s temple, schools, dairy, and Palace of Gold. At its peak, 250,000 tourists visited each year.

Visiting the ashram

My dear friend and longtime traveling companion, Jill, traveled with me to New Vrindaban by motorcycle in 2021. Do yourself a favor and click this link for pictures and explanations of what you’ll see. Here’s my account.

If you’re considering an overnight visit, you’ll be welcomed to book lodging there, with no obligation to attend services or eat meals at the ashram. Jill and I did both.

Checking in at dinnertime, we ate vegetarian dishes from a buffet in the dining hall off the temple, where we later watched a woman’s initiation into a holy order. The temple offers several services each day, and sometimes we saw various rituals taking place simultaneously at the various altars around the perimeter.

Our affordable lodgings reminded me of a college dorm room—plain, clean, and serviceable. Most of the other weekend visitors seemed to be ethnically South Asian. Fellow visitors and staff were gracious and open to our questions, and we fell asleep with the haunting cries of the ashram’s roaming peacocks punctuating the stillness.

The Palace of Gold

The next morning, we took a tour of Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. Constructed over a period of years by volunteers with no architectural plans, the local believers intended the palace to be Swami Prabhupada’s retirement home. While he visited the palace seven times, he returned to India to continue his work, then passed away in 1977 at the age of 81.

While we waited for our tour of the palace itself, we lingered in the tranquil rose garden adjacent to the palace and beside the nearby lotus pond, where giant bullfrogs leaped and serenaded. At our appointed time, we doffed our shoes to enter the palace itself, which sits beneath a thirty-ton main dome with a 4,200-piece crystal ceiling. They imported the marble and onyx flooring from Europe, Asia, and Africa. While murals and other works of art cover ceilings and walls, 31 stained glass windows are reflected in crystal chandeliers. We could not take pictures inside, so you’ll have to take my word for its ostentation, which rivals that of Europe’s Baroque cathedrals.

Why couldn’t they keep it up?

Except for the temple itself, which is earnestly and continuously attended, the rest of the property was in a state of genteel decay: a bucket under a leaking ceiling here, rotted wood and blistered paint there. Sadly, whatever money and labor had built and maintained New Vrindaban to its height in the 1980s no longer flowed. Why couldn’t they keep it up?

Jill and I opted out of dinner at the ashram on the second night and rode our motorcycles down the ridge to Grandma Jo’s Polkadot Cafe in Moundsville. Our waiter had the fuller story of New Vrindaban, claiming that the community was a viper pit from its start. Now, I wasn’t surprised by that remark because Americans in general can be pretty intolerant of non-Western religions. But then he started giving details so awful that I just knew they had overblown. He said the ashram’s leaders had engaged in sexual predation of children and adults; that financial crimes (including arson) had funded their operations; and its most powerful temple leader had ordered an assassination on dissidents during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. WHAT?

Sadly, the public record backs the waiter’s story. Turns out, the ashram’s lavish buildings had been funded not by pilgrims or tithing, but by 10 million dollars in illegal fundraising schemes, including the sale of caps and bumper stickers bearing fraudulent copyright and trademark logos. A co-founder of New Vrindaban was found guilty of racketeering in August 1996. His crimes included conspiracy to murder.

My heart sank to learn about yet another religion that can’t police itself. I had my answer to New Vrindaban’s descent. I can only imagine the difficulty of raising money and volunteers under clouds of so much criminality that runs counter to the movement’s peaceful teachings.

I respect the true believers who work like Sisyphus each day to greet the visitors, weed the gardens, milk the cows, repair the roofs, and adorn the temple gods with fresh flowers. I would find it painful to continue living and working there in the wake of so much harm and deceit. Their faith is stronger than most.

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Hare Krishna in the wider culture

In the two years since leaving New Vrindaban, I’ve noted the ways the Hare Krishna movement showed up in my life, and continues to do so.

The Hare Krishnas made such an impact on the common culture that Hanna-Barbera (who gave us Scooby Doo) produced a 1973 episode of Wait Till Your Father Gets Hometo lampoon the movement. The daughter, Alice, joins a commune so she learn how to farm and “get back to nature.” By the end of the episode, we learn a swami impersonator runs the commune so he can build a radish fortune on exploited labor. A radish fortune!

By 1967 Jimi Hendrix’s second album was released with an appropriated version of a Hindu devotional painting and I remember seeing posters and t-shirts in this unique style.

By 1969 the movement had reached and spread through the Beatles.

George Harrison produced a hit single, The Hare Krishna Mantra, one of five songs to his credit that mention Krishna, the most famous of which being My Sweet Lord.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded Give Peace a Chance in their room at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel, surrounded by Hare Krishnas and various celebrities who sang along.
The words "Hare Krishna" are included in Lennon's I Am the Walrus, and the background vocals of Ringo Starr's 1971 hit It Don't Come Easy.

Then of course there’s yoga, which I practice several times a week. Here’s a fascinating history of yoga in America. In 1893, a Hindu monk spoke of it at an interfaith conference held during the massive World's Columbian Exposition. His version of yoga did not include the flowing sequences of the asanas or postures we practice today in YMCA classes and private yoga studios. Nevertheless, he paved the way for the 1920s and ‘30s, when Hatha yoga made its way to the West. Seeing the Beatles in lotus position and then the lovely Ali McGraw on VHS teaching us asanas and breathing techniques had to figure into the growth of what is today a $9 billion industry in the U.S. alone, with more than 40,500 yoga and pilates studios here.

How about the common use of the Sanskrit word “mantra?” It’s supposed to mean “a sacred utterance” but it seems to only have caught on in the worst kind of business-speak.“, as in, My mantra is buy low, sell high.”

I loved chanting the 16-word Hare Krishna mantra at the temple in West Virginia with devotees and found it to be hypnotic and uplifting.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,

Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama,

Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Here’s Krishna Das leading the mantra in call-and-response. If you’re a fellow oldster, you might recognize him from his Blue Oyster Cult days as Jeff Kagel.

Okay, there’s a lot here to unpack. What do you remember from the sixties and seventies? Did you ever encounter the Hare Krishnas? Ever visit the Palace of Gold? Did a religion ever test your faith?

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Educated in Ohio public schools, I had an overly simplified understanding of slavery in America, making it easy to be proud of our state’s history on the right side of the Underground Railroad and Civil War. Enter The 981 Project, which required a ton of research. Oh, how much I didn’t know!

Today’s newsletter covers two of the topics that took me 61 years to learn.

Slavery existed north of the Ohio River

At its inception, the Northwest Territory was set aside as a slavery-free zone, and the Ohio River marked a bright line between slave- and free states. Law settled the matter. Cut and dried. Right? That’s how I learned it.

Oh, no. What a fool I’ve been. While the river marked the legal boundary between slave- and free states—even before there were states in the Territory—slavery was practiced everywhere. Sometimes it just had a different name. Did I forget that? Or was it glossed over in the classroom? I am trying to find some of my old Ohio History textbooks to see for myself what was in my public school curriculum. I got a hot tip that Harvard’s Gutman Library might have copies of my textbooks along with others, so stay tuned.

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One of the books I’ve been reading to correct my understanding is Slavery’s Borderland: Freedom and Bondage Along the Ohio River.

Historian Matthew Salafia Ph.D., brought me up to speed:

Chattel slavery became chattel servitude north of the Ohio River, despite article six of the Northwest Land Ordinance, which stated, “There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory…”.
Article six did not, and could not, free slaves already in the territory; neither did it include an enforcement clause.
Then-governor of the Indiana Territory, William Henry Harrison (who became America’s ninth president) brought slaves with him to Vincennes, the territorial capital, and petitioned Congress to suspend article six. When Congress declined to do so, he passed a series of indenture laws that combined elements of chattel slavery and indentured servitude.
Cincinnati implemented the Overseers of the Poor to enforce the state's "black laws" which, among many other things, required blacks to register with the county clerk to ensure that they were not fugitives and to obtain a certificate to work in the city. Can you imagine coming up with $500 for a bond guaranteeing your “good behavior” in the 1800s? That’s about $12,000 today!

Salafia also argues that the river was “both a physical boundary and a unifying economic and cultural force that muddied the distinction between southern and northern forms of labor and politics.”

A “unifying economic and cultural force?” Do tell, Dr. Salafia.

Kentucky didn’t secede largely because “an unstable border between states within a union was better than a hostile border between enemy nations.”
“The diverse mixture of free and slave labor in their state left white Kentuckians less vulnerable and defensive than cotton planters in the Deep South and convinced them that slavery was somehow milder in their state than further south.”
“Their belief in the mildness of slavery in Kentucky led antislavery northerners along the river to view Kentucky as a state where gradual and peaceful emancipation was possible.”
“Neither Ohioans nor Indianans nor Kentuckians ever stopped looking to the federal government as the last resort to resolve interstate conflicts…Thus they could fight over slavery, but never lose faith in the Union.”

The KKK Thrived in the Former Northwest Territory

Just a month ago, I learned that the county where I grew up had hosted two of the largest Ku Klux Klan konclaves of the twentieth century. In 1923 and 1925, over 75,000 members of the “Invisible Empire” made their way to Buckeye Lake, Ohio, where hooded and robed Klansmen stood side-by-side with sheriff deputies directing traffic. I couldn’t help but wonder how this history shaped the community, which in turn shaped me. I’ve included a video on Buckeye Lake below.

Last week, author Timothy Egan released A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them. While Egan mentions the two Buckeye Lake konclaves in passing, he hews to the main thread of why and how the Klan gained more traction in its second wave than its first.

I had heard about the 1920s Indiana Klan some thirty years ago, from a friend whose father had been one (he was also a colonel in the US Army). In her telling, the Klan performed selfless acts of community service and claimed a membership thick with respectable ministers of mainline churches, businessmen, congressmen, and senators eager to improve their communities. I let her account sit until The 981 Project led me to dig into history. My friend wasn’t completely wrong in claiming the organization was involved in charity, but what she didn’t mention about Klan-built hospitals was the fact that they were for the exclusive use of white Protestants. Didn’t mention that the Klansmen on boards of education attempted to keep Jews out of public schools and outlaw Catholic ones.

I’ll let Egan’s words explain how white Protestants used the Klan to deal with the onrush of modernity in the Jazz Age:

The original hooded order directed most of its venom against Black people. With Jews and immigrants of an old faith based in Rome pouring into the country, the revived Klan would open up fresh categories of undesirables. Hate was tailored to the region—Asians on the Pacific coast, Mexicans in the Southwest, Mormons in the Rocky Mountains, Blacks in the South, Jews on the East Coast, and immigrants and Catholics everywhere. To this list was added sex—that is, all the new cultural expressions of sensuality. ~A Fever in the Heartland p. 23

With so much research under my belt, get ready for a torrent of newsletters this year! And thanks to my paying subscribers for your monetary vote of confidence in what’s to come.

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I grew up in Licking County, Ohio, about 20 miles from Ye Olde Mill in Utica, which I had always been told was a stop on the Underground Railroad (URR). Today, the site is home to the Velvet Ice Cream Company, which moved its operations to the former gristmill in the 1960s after outgrowing its original location.

Cloaked in secrecy

There isn’t irrefutable evidence that the property had been a URR stop, despite anecdotal evidence. I imagine there are several disputed depots in the region, after all, secrecy was essential to its operation.

The US Department of Interior’s National Park Service commissioned a study for Congress (published in 1995), documenting Utica’s Ye Olde Mill as a stop. Of course what interests me are the sites along the Ohio River, documented here along with others north of the river. Ye Olde Mill is #52 on the map.

Is Ashland, Kentucky, another location?

As I’ve mentioned before, I have family in Ashland, Kentucky. The last time I visited there with my great-aunt Buntin, she took me to a home that “everyone knew” had been a stop on the URR, but it does not make the official map in the National Park Service report of 1995. Known as the Culbertson House, it sits on a hill overlooking the river. Aunt Buntin said there was a long tunnel from the basement to the river where the enslaved could hide and then continue their journey across the river. It seems plausible to me.

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I followed up with the executive director of Visit AK, who was interested in Aunt Buntin’s claim of the Culbertson House as part of the URR but couldn’t verify it. However, she said there’s a big project underway to discover URR sites in Kentucky.

The Lawrence County Convention and Visitors Bureau/ Lawrence County Economic Development Corporation (Ohio) has been awarded $1.5 million by the Appalachian Regional Commission to create a “regional collaboration of Underground Railroad cultural assets for coal-impacted communities with nearly 20 partners in 9 counties in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio.”

Shawnee State University’s Center for Public History has received over $210,000 of that $1.5 million grant to assist the Appalachian Underground Railroad Heritage Tourism Initiative.

That’s not the only federal agency interested in the URR. The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program was established in 1998 and has made generous grants in several states.

My request

Please tell me all the places you’ve been TOLD were part of the Underground Railroad anywhere within ten miles of the Ohio River, from Pittsburgh to Cairo. I’d love to know the stories and myths that went along with these places, and if they are being preserved for generations to come. Thanks in advance!

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I was sickened by the news of the February 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment and subsequent explosion in the village of East Palestine, Ohio. I think it was February 5 when I heard it described as an “American Chernobyl.” That’ll draw the hairs up on your forearms, eh?

The closest I’ve come to the village is East Liverpool, some 28 miles south, a river town with a fascinating history that I’ll write about here soon. Twenty-eight miles is not a great distance for poisoned water to travel into the Ohio River, which provides drinking water to about five million people. But was that ever a risk? Is it now?

In this age of extreme partisanship, disinformation, and information overload, it takes a savvy and committed news consumer to develop well-informed views.

The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy.

~Thomas J. Watson (Chair & CEO of IBM)

Folks on the ground in East Palestine

Fellow Substacker Status Coup offers a compilation of interviews with people on the ground in East Palestine or who, in Erin Brockovich’s case, will take their calls seriously. Brockovich’s name may be familiar from the film made about her work in Hinkley, California, which featured Julia Roberts in the title role.

On a personal note, my parents went to high school in Barstow, California, with folks who were a part of the settlement that Ms. Brockovich brought to fruition from Pacific Gas & Electric in 1996. She has earned my trust.

Like many of us, Ms. Brockovich is not prepared to blindly trust the information provided by politicians who are on corporate payrolls or the underfunded agencies they control. She says the unhealthy symptoms that East Palestinians are reporting have been falling on disbelieving ears. This is similar to what residents experienced in Flint, Michigan.

Follow Ms. Brockovich directly on Substack, on Twitter, and on her website.

Social media options

Over the last five years, I have built a list of Twitter folks with interests in the Ohio River and Appalachia (yes, this part of Ohio is Appalachia). That doesn’t mean I agree with everything they think, say, or do, but if you’re interested in what’s being said, done, and refuted, you might scroll through their posts.

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Tamela, get up! Tamela!” A flashlight blinds me.

“Josh?” I sit up. What’s the director of the Appalachian Writers Workshop doing in my room at 2:30 in the morning?

“What’s wrong?”

“Your bike might already be washed away. You might save it if you leave now.”

Save my bike? My brand-new bike!

For three days in late July, 2022, our mobile phones had buzzed with severe thunderstorm and flood warnings in southeastern Kentucky. The aptly named Troublesome Creek, which runs alongside the campus of Hindman Settlement School, had risen daily as we writers trekked from our dorms high on the mountainside to the classrooms below, where we studied poetry and perfected our prose. We even joked about preventing the rain by carrying umbrellas.

The daily deluge had petered out hours earlier while we were in our evening program. Nevertheless, Josh had reminded us during end-of-day announcements to move our vehicles away from Troublesome in light of forecasted overnight rain. When I described where I had parked my three-month-old BMW F 900 XR, Josh confirmed that the creek had never risen to that height. Satisfied, I trudged up the mountainside to my dorm and turned in without a care in the world.

Josh’s flashlight disappears and I hear him knock on the door across the hall. God’s bowling alley thunders overhead as a burst of wind rattles the windows. I jump out of bed. How can this be happening? I turn on the phone’s flashlight to find my clothes, key, and helmet.

My fellow dorm-mates poke their heads out of their doors as I dash into the hallway and head for the front door. The emergency lighting casts eerie shadows on their worried faces. “Be safe,” they whisper.

Now I’m headed down the mountain. Fast-moving water runs three inches deep along the only paved path from dorm to holler. My Gore-Tex boots will keep me dry if the water stays below my calves. Seventy-some steps later, I’m at the Gathering Place building when I realize that runoff from the dorm’s path has met the rising tide of Troublesome Creek, and I’ll be swept away in chest-high water if I proceed. I turn and sprint to the high end of the building where there’s a set of stairs to the parking lot below. I hope Josh is already there. He said he would come down to help me.

Gripping the stair rail with my left hand, I shine my phone light to prevent a misstep as I descend. Relieved when I reach the sidewalk that runs along the back side of the Gathering Place, I strain to see my brand-new bike. It has to be there. It’s only another 100 yards away.

I shout into the dark void, “Josh?” No answer; with the thunderstorm and rushing water, he probably can’t hear me until we’re side by side.

From the base of the stairs I rush down the sloping sidewalk as water creeps over the curb. In a couple dozen steps, it laps at the foundation of the building. “Josh? You here?”

I press on as the water continues to rise. As I near my bike I see that the sidewalk is underwater. My light reflects off the stickers on my top case when I get within six feet. Whew, it’s still here.

Josh is nowhere to be seen. I hope he’s safe. Safe, and on his way. Can I really afford to wait for help? I might have to move it by myself. That’s when I remember the handlebars are locked. I can at least unlock them while I wait for Josh…but, I’ll have to step into the water.

I point my light downward to gauge the water’s height. It’s over the curb and well up the bike’s frame. My stomach falls. I hesitate. I can’t just let my new bike drown! If I’m gonna do something, I gotta do it now! The water is only going up!

Tentatively, I leave my right foot on the sidewalk and step down into the water with my left. It gushes over the top of my boot, cold and fast. Phone outstretched, I lean toward the bike, lifting my right foot off the sidewalk to get closer and assess how I can maneuver to the far side to unlock the handlebars. My gut tells me not to take another step.

I tilt my head toward the angry heavens. “Is anyone out here? Can you hear me?” My brand new bike is six feet away and I’m too weak to save it. Why didn’t I make sure I had help before coming down here? I take a picture of the bike then step back onto the sidewalk, ashamed of my hesitation and the opportunity it cost me.

Don’t give up. I’ve got to keep trying. I pull up Josh’s phone number. Voicemail. Try again. Voicemail. Into the night I shout once more, “Help! Is anyone here?”

I redial; Josh answers. “Josh, where are you?” Lots of static. “Josh?” Out of the corner of my eye, a flash. It’s lightning reflecting off the windshield of my bike as it floats toward me and bumps up against Nancy’s blue Subaru. How did it rise that fast?

The bike bobs against the Subaru’s rear quarter panel. Even if it comes up beside me like a pony, I can’t ride it out. Too much water rising too fast. Crestfallen, I save myself instead.

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The next morning, everyone is packing up. There is no potable water, no electricity, and anyone who can’t help with the cleanup needs to get out of the way. I am not the only one who lost a vehicle in the flood, but it’s common knowledge that a motorcycle is special. Friends try to assuage my sadness with reminders that a bike can be replaced while I can’t. Of course they’re right.

One of the workshop faculty lives relatively close to my home in North Carolina and I accept a ride. We make small talk as we are rerouted around washed-out roads and closed gas stations. Instead of crying, I numb out when I see people still stranded on rooftops, neighborhoods under water, and the hundred deadly beautiful mountain waterfalls that let loose where the soil liquified. My mind jumps ahead and pictures the coming months, when everything dries out and hundreds of rock slides will devastate residents once again.

Nearly three weeks after getting home I told a friend about my tendency to stare for hours and how much more I’d been sleeping. She said I should look up PTSD—I might have similar symptoms. Turns out I did (and still do), especially survivor’s guilt. Now Hurricane Ian has devastated Florida and parts of South Carolina.

With my new flood survivor’s perspective, I’m working on a couple of pieces about the Ohio River flood of 1937. That flood took 385 lives, left one million people homeless, and accrued $500 million in property damage.

Stay tuned.

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High above the Ohio River, atop Mount Washington, the meeting between Guyasuta and George Washington in 1770 is memorialized in bronze. As you can tell from comparing me to the two historical figures, it’s a massive piece of public art that just begs to be admired.

Waiting for Jack to finish taking my picture, I wrestled with what I could remember from fifth grade Ohio History, unsure if Washington was a British officer or a newly minted American in this scene. Guyasuta, a leader of the Seneca people, made me think the statues commemorated the French and Indian War, but I couldn’t remember if that conflict took place before or after the Revolution. For that matter, why were the French fighting the Indians? Or were the Americans fighting the French and the Indians? How could this be, since there weren’t really Americans before the Revolution? I could never keep that straight.

French and Indian War—who fought whom?

The answer: Britain and France were the chief rivals in what American textbooks call the French and Indian War. That title is fraught for many reasons, the first of which is that different tribes of Indians sided with each country in different regions for different reasons. In the final analysis, England fought both the French and French-allied Indians. As victors, they named the war for their adversaries.

Whew. I’m today years old when it finally hit me that whoever won the war gets to name the battle after their foes, which explains why it isn’t the Greek-Trojan war, but the Trojan War. However, this doesn’t explain why the Mexican-American War isn’t just the Mexican War.

Moving on.

What did the French call the French and Indian War? French Canadians called it the guerre de la Conquête ('War of the Conquest'). Fair enough.

What did the rest of the world (that wasn’t France or England) call it?

The First World War, aka The Seven Years’ War

For Europeans, America was a theater within the Seven Years’ War.

What? You mean America wasn’t the centerpiece of its own war?

Correct.

I sorted out all the pieces at the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, spending an hour in the “Clash of Empires” exhibit. There, I learned that after two years of fighting in America, the French and British declared war in 1756. But that wasn’t all that went down in Europe. As it always happens, a war between two countries breaks out, their allies join in, and before you know it, Portugal, Spain, Prussia, and Austria joined on different sides. The fighting spread to India, the West Indies, Africa, and the Philippines before the end of the conflict in 1763.

Holy cow, no wonder Churchill called it the first world war. This video does a super job of summing it up and putting the American colonies in a global context.

As told in the video (you did watch the whole thing, didn’t you?), after the Treaty of Paris, the British quickly established an Indian Reservation with the Ohio River as an essential boundary. Aha, now the importance of Pittsburgh, especially its Golden Triangle, becomes apparent—why the French erected Fort Duquesne, why they burned it when it was apparent they couldn’t hold it, and why the British built Fort Pitt on the same spot.

Stay tuned for my next installment. Meanwhile, how about sharing this one with friends?

“

The Arts & Science Council took a shine to my idea and is supporting the 981 Project as it becomes a book. THANK YOU!

This is Tamela’s Newsletter. First project: The 981 Project.

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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” ~Mark Twain

Any good river trip begins at its headwaters. For the Ohio, that’s in Pittsburgh at the Golden Triangle formed by the Allegheny River to the north and the Monongahela to the south. They merge at Point Park, then continue flowing 981 miles to the Mississippi.

It’s one thing to see the headwaters from the ground and quite another to see it from above, so when my Airbnb host Jack asked if I wanted a tour of the city from Mt. Washington at night, I cleared my schedule. A word about Jack: he’s a historic preservationist with a passion for the city, and I thank the Fates for guiding me to choose his place on the North Shore as home base.

West End-Elliott Overlook Park

The trip from his Allegheny West neighborhood to Elliott Bluff requires a bridge crossing (no surprise, as Pittsburgh has 426 of them), and from there, we motor up 450 feet via narrow streets never intended to carry cars, much less two SUVs going in opposite directions. I know these two-story houses built into the hillsides. They are the houses of my grandparents’ age; my great-grandparents’ age. The front porches where adults (kind of) watched children play on the sidewalks and streets while they decompressed from long days in the mines, railroad yards, gardens, and canning kitchens.

I spy the occasional window air conditioner bulging from upstairs windows and recall how, when we got our first unit, Mom and Dad let us three kids sleep on the floor in their bedroom. Sometimes a night of uninterrupted sleep holds more allure than anything else marital life offers.

We reach the parking lot, where there are plenty of empty spaces on a Thursday night, then climb the steps to the observation area. At the top, we come upon a small group milling about—multi-ethnic couples, singles, and a family with a baby stroller. Someone had arranged votive candles on the sidewalk, long extinguished, their waxen pools stuck hard to the concrete. Someone’s birthday? No, maybe a dreadful gender reveal party, including fireworks. Ugh.

As Jack and I head to the far end of the 100-foot observation path to view the Ohio River below, a burst of wind ruffles my oversized Bass Pro Shops rain jacket that I only wear over my motorcycle gear in foul weather (unless of course, I’m in Pittsburgh at night). Grateful for the extra layer, I rub my arms to stimulate circulation as we approach the rail.

“Oh Jack, this is so lovely!”

I’m not sure if he noticed the surprise in my voice.

Video of my view from Elliott Bluff

Before starting my visit two days earlier, the only Pittsburgh scenes that stuck with me were from TV: the yellow sea of Terrible Towels in Heinz Field, historical newsreels of the city shrouded by industrial dust and teeming with blue-collar energy, and the 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagog in Squirrel Hill. Whew.

Past the yellow West End Bridge, the fountain at Point Park surges 150 feet to the skies. Behind Point Park, the city skyline glitters with the changing purple-pink-orange light. The tallest buildings are glass-clad, likely sourced from hometown Pittsburg Plate Glass (PPG), which built a gorgeous corporate plaza there. I’m a sucker for spires—and PPG built 231 in the castle-like complex.

Jack points to Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning on the Allegheny side of the city. At 535 feet, the Late Gothic Revival Cathedral made of limestone is the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere.

A collective gasp from the group pulls me out of my reverie as the group releases sky lanterns into the purpling skies of twilight. One lantern snags in a tree overhead, and when a man comes over to retrieve it, he confirms that they’re celebrating the life of a deceased friend gone to a better place.

A celebration of life

Pittsburgh is having a “better place” moment too. Accolades for 2022 include:

Forbes named Pittsburgh the best housing market for Baby Boomers.

WalletHub named Pittsburgh the nation’s best city for football fans and the second-best hockey city in the country for 2022.

Fodor’s Travel declared Pittsburgh as one of the best coffee destinations in America.

Gi-Jin ranked No. 48 on Yelp’s Top 100 U.S. Restaurants 2022.

U.S. News & World Report rated Pittsburgh among the best places to live in the U.S.

Betsports ranked all three major Pittsburgh sports stadiums in the top 20, with PNC Park second-best, Heinz Field No. 16 and PPG Paints Arena No. 19.

Lantern Credit named Pittsburgh among the top 10 best cities for college grads to live.

PredictHQ declared Pittsburgh one of the 10 busiest U.S. cities in terms of events/festivals for June 2022.

Paris of the Appalachians

I turn my attention back to the beauty of the hills and valley below and remember someone saying Pittsburgh is the Paris of the Appalachians. For those who hear that as a slam, I’d love to get your comments on why. Would it be any different if someone said (a certain city) is the Paris of the Rockies? Look, we all have our unfounded stereotypes.

Whether you accept the comparison of Pittsburgh to the City of Lights, it’s true that Pittsburgh is in Appalachia, and it’s the largest city. It has an abundance of cultural resources unheard of in cities of a similar size.

Like much of the mountainous region, the city owes its existence to abundant natural resources, which have been exploited, along with her people, in service to America’s unbridled appetites.

Examining my own prejudices and preconceived notions about Pittsburgh, I realized they were inherited Ohio chauvinism (which is crazy because we had an actual river go up in flames at least a dozen times). To my callow mind however, Pittsburgh wasn’t nearly as bad as West Virginia. I parroted West Virginia jokes with the rest of my clan, even those that defied common sense like this one:

Q: Why do ducks fly over West Virginia upside down?

A: There’s nothing worth crapping on!

Maybe everyone feels the need for someone to look down on, a sorry statement if ever there was one. Usually we look down on the poor and immigrants. Friends from the Upper Midwest told Ole and Lena jokes like this one:

The judge had just awarded a divorce to Lena, who had charged non-support. He said to Ole, “I have decided to give your wife $800 a month for support.”

“Vell, dat’s fine, Judge,” said Ole. “And vunce in a vile I’ll try ta chip in a few bucks myself.”

Standing there on Elliott Bluff, I reflected with gratitude that travel, as Mark Twain noted, had broadened my horizons beyond my otherwise unexamined life. When I hear media reports of red and blue states I now have my own experience in 49 of them. I know and love people everywhere that both defy and conform to stereotypes, and I consider it my responsibility to approach everyone who isn’t waving a gun in my face or deflating my tires with an open mind and heart.

Please, tell me YOUR best memories of a time when travel made you rethink something you thought you knew about a place or people.

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The Arts and Science Council took a shine to my idea and is supporting the project as it becomes a book. Thank you ASC.

I’ll see you next time here on The 981 Project.

Get full access to The 981 Project at the981project.com/subscribe

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Get full access to The 981 Project at the981project.com/subscribe

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Get full access to The 981 Project at the981project.com/subscribe

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“I have great respect for the past. If you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you're going…” ~Maya Angelou

I learned to love the open road as a child. My family spent many hot summers in the Vista Cruiser station wagon traveling from Ohio to California during the Vietnam Era. At the time, Route 66 was still fully maintained, and motels featured swimming pools with high, medium, and low diving boards (can you believe it?). The promise of air conditioning featured prominently in neon signage, and many of the beds had “Magic Fingers” that would jangle the mattress for fifteen minutes at 25 cents a pop.

Now I explore the country on a motorcycle and share my travels in books, the OTL Magazine, and here on Substack.

Why the 981 Project?

Maybe I’m nostalgic.

I grew up near Columbus, Ohio, but never appreciated the rich cultural and natural history of the Ohio River Valley until I had grown up and moved away. After living in the South since 1982, I want to reconnect with my Midwestern roots and decided to explore the history, culture, and lore of the Ohio River.

This is the Ohio River Valley (yellow) with the Ohio River (dark blue) from its headwaters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its confluence with the Mississippi River in Cairo, Illinois 981 miles later. Although we commonly think of this area as part of the Midwest, it includes Appalachia, the Blue Grass, and Abe Lincoln country.

Image courtesy of Karl Musser, who created it based on USGS data. Sourced from Wikipedia

Is this a travel blog?

Not really. Things might change with subscriber input, but for now, I’m planning a series of personal essays prompted by something I’ve seen or done, someone I’ve met, or something in the news that touches these 981 miles.

Some editions will include lots of travel resources—maps, itineraries, books, and websites—to help you explore the region from your armchair or the open road.

I’ve lined up book and movie reviews, and reflections on how the region is depicted in a news story vis-à-vis my experience.

Most of my newsletters will include a podcast of me reading what I’ve written so you can multitask while basking in all things 981. Some of them will include interviews with interesting people I meet along the way or sounds from nature or a street fair—stay tuned.

Guaranteed roadside kitsch

Yes, that picture below is me in the Ohio River town of Chester, West Virginia with the World’s Largest Teapot. The 981 Project will include lots of selfies like this one because if there’s anything I thrive on, it’s roadside kitsch!

I’ll also give you the history of these roadside treasures. Roadside America gives us the scoop:

The Teapot stands on a manicured lawn between elevated US 30 and its Chester exit ramp. It is 12 feet high, 44 feet wide, and was originally built as a giant keg by Hires Root Beer. It was then bought by David Strickler (who claimed to be the inventor of the banana split) who cut windows and doors into the keg and turned it into a concession stand at a miniature golf course in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. In 1938 it was bought by William "Babe" Devon, who brought it to Chester, added the spout, lid, and handle, and converted it into the World's Largest Teapot. Devon was a booster of the region's then-vibrant pottery industry, and used the Teapot to sell teapots as well as snacks and souvenirs.

The Teapot went out of business c. 1980 and fell into disrepair. A major restoration in 1990 brought it to its current state, followed up every few years with repairs and repainting.

How to get involved

Please, give me your “must meet”, “must-see,” and “must-do” recommendations.

You can also support the project by sharing it with like-minded friends and family.

Oh, and you can support this project by subscribing. The Arts & Science Council took a shine to my idea and is supporting the 981 Project as it becomes a book. THANK YOU!

This is Tamela’s Newsletter. First project: The 981 Project.

Get full access to The 981 Project at the981project.com/subscribe

The 981 Project Podcast: Recent Episodes

Tamela Rich