On or near this date, the expedition passes Henderson, Kentucky. The town and river hazards in the area leave an unfavorable impression with contemporary traveler Thomas Rodney.[1]No known record exists of expedition’s travel between Louisville and Fort Massac. Using information from travelers of the period and Cramer’s 1802 river guide, The Navigator, one … Continue reading
Henderson Bridge
© Richard Hunt. Used by permission.
Originally built for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1885, the bridge is now owned by the CSX Transportation.[2]“Henderson Bridge (Ohio River)”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henderson_Bridge_(Ohio_River), accessed 20 September 2024.
1814 Map of the Ohio
Zadok Cramer, The Navigator, 1814.
The numbers on this map refer to river hazards, mostly islands, between Yellow Banks and Henderson. The editions of The Navigator available to the captains did not include this map.
A Poor Miserable Place
This is a poor miserable place, composed of logged huts and most of them deserted. It was first inhabited by renegads and planters and they upon governments being extended here were obliged to decamp and leave their huts, and few others are yet settled here. Nothing is to be had here. It is however a hansome cite for a town, but not favorable to business.
—Thomas Rodney[3]27 October 1803. 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), … Continue reading
Hitting a Log
[W]e were in the strength of the current; and a fair wind and sail up, our skiff swung on a log that the boat run very near and broke her pointer and loged on a log. We had to down sail, row back, and cast ankor near her; and I threw her off with the setting pole.
—Thomas Rodney[4]Ibid., 142.
Notes
| ↑1 | No known record exists of expedition’s travel between Louisville and Fort Massac. Using information from travelers of the period and Cramer’s 1802 river guide, The Navigator, one conjecture is that the captains were at or near Henderson on this date. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | “Henderson Bridge (Ohio River)”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henderson_Bridge_(Ohio_River), accessed 20 September 2024. |
| ↑3 | 27 October 1803. 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), 141. |
| ↑4 | Ibid., 142. |
Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
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.
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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).