Day-by-Day / September 25, 1803

September 25, 1803

The Augusta ferry

On or near this date, Lewis and his boats travel through the area between Maysville and Augusta, Kentucky. On October 4 of that same year, fellow traveler Thomas Rodney described small settlements and ferry crossings on this stretch of the Ohio River.[1]Because we have no journal entry from Lewis for this day, his exact location is unknown. He was at Letart Falls on 18 September and arrived in Cincinnati on 28 September. Based on Thomas … Continue reading

Chilo-Bradford Ferry

Black and white photo of a small ferry powered by two horses

Courtesy https://www.nkyviews.com. Used with permission.

The horses in the photo appear to be powering this ferry’s side wheels. It is not known if the ferry was powered by horses when Lewis passed by in late September 1803.

Ferry Crossing

[W]e passed a long stoney sand bar in the middle of the river but rather nearest the Kentucky shore, and a fine settlement on that shore just below the bar, and a ferry over from that settlement opposite on the NW shore; and from the appearance of the road on the Kentucky side it is a highway much used.
—Thomas Rodney (4 October 1803)[2]Dwight L. Smith and Ray Swick, ed., A Journey Through the West: Thomas Rodney’s 1803 Journal from Delaware to the Mississippi Territory (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1997), 95–96.

Augusta, Kentucky

A little before sundown we cast ankor opposite to a large brick house in the town of Augusta. This little town contains about 20 houses has one of the most pleasant situations that we have seen on the Ohio. The Major and Shields went on shore and got soap, candles, and whiskey . . . .
—Thomas Rodney (4 October 1803)[3]Ibid., 97.

 

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Notes

Notes
↑1 Because we have no journal entry from Lewis for this day, his exact location is unknown. He was at Letart Falls on 18 September and arrived in Cincinnati on 28 September. Based on Thomas Rodney’s journal of his similar trip down the Ohio and Cramer’s 1802 river guide, The Navigator, one conjecture is that Lewis stopped for the night at Augusta near this date.
↑2 Dwight L. Smith and Ray Swick, ed., A Journey Through the West: Thomas Rodney’s 1803 Journal from Delaware to the Mississippi Territory (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1997), 95–96.
↑3 Ibid., 97.

Discover More

  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.

This page was funded in part by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, U.S. National Park Service.

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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).