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surface, as it occasionally does, it extends at this height only part way across the valley. In the upper part of the river the bed contains much coarse gravel and numerous boulders, but lower down a sand bed prevails. The See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary width of the upper See also:

HALF

half of the river is quite See also:

UNIFORM

uniform, from 1200 to 1500 ft., but it widens in the See also:

POOL

pool above Louisville, contracts immediately below the Falls, and then gradually widens again until it reaches a maximum width of more than a mile about 20 M. from its mouth. Islands are numerous and vary in See also:

SIZE

size from an See also:

acre or less to 5000 acres; above Louisville there are fifty or more, and below it about See also:

THIRTY

thirty. Many of them are cultivated. Besides its See also:

PARENT, SIMON NAPOLEON (1855– )

parent streams, the Allegheny and the Monongahela, the Ohio has numerous large branches.

On the N. it receives the See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of the Muskingum, Scioto, See also:

MIAMI

Miami and See also:

WABASH

Wabash rivers, and on the S. those of the Kanawha, Big Sandy, Licking, Kentucky, See also:

Green, See also:

Cumberland and See also:

TENNESSEE

Tennessee rivers. The drainage basin of the Ohio, in which the See also:

ANNUAL

annual rainfall averages about 43 in., is, especially in the S. part of the river, of the " See also:

QUICK

quick-spilling " See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind, and as the See also:

swift See also:

mountain streams in that section are filled in See also:

FEBRUARY

February or See also:

March by the storms from the Gulf of See also:

Mexico, while the See also:

NORTHERN

northern streams are swollen by melting See also:

SNOW (in O. Eng. sndw; a common Indo-European word; cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger. Schnee, Du. sneeuw; in Slavonic snieg', Lith. snegas; Gr. vi4a, Lat. nix, nivis, whence the Romanic forms, Ital. neve, Fr. neige, &c.; Ir. and Gael. sneachd; the original

snow and See also:

RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and Dan. regn; it has been connected with Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)

rain, the Ohio rises very suddenly and not infrequently attains a height of 30 to 50 ft. or more above low water level, spreads out ten to fifteen times its usual width, submerges the bottom lands, and often causes See also:

GREAT

great damage to See also:

PROPERTY

property in the lower part of the cities along its See also:

banks. See also:

Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, asserted that he discovered the Ohio and descended it until his course was obstructed by a fall (thought to be the Falls at Louisville); this was probably in 167o, but until the middle of the next See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, when its strategic importance in the struggle of the See also:

French and the See also:

ENGLISH

English for the See also:

possession of the interior of the See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

continent became fully recognized, little was generally known of it. By the treaty of 1763 ending the Seven Years' See also:

War the English finally gainedundisputed See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control of the territory along its banks. After Virginia had bought, in 1768, the claims of the Six Nations to the territory See also:

south of the Ohio, immigrants, mostly Virginians, began to descend the river in considerable See also:

numbers, but the See also:

SHAWNEE

Shawnee See also:

INDIANS, NORTH AMERICAN

Indians, whose See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title to the See also:

LAND

land was more plausible than that of the Six Nations ever was, resisted their encroachments until the Shawnees were defeated in See also:

OCTOBER

October 1774 at the See also:

BATTLE

battle of Point Pleasant. By the treaty of 1783 the entire Ohio See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country became a part of the See also:

UNITED

United States and by the famous See also:

Ordinance of 1787 the See also:

north See also:

side was opened to See also:

settlement. Most of the settlers entered the region' by the headwaters of the Ohio and carried much of their See also:

MARKET (Lat. mercatus, trade or place of trade)

market produce, See also:

LUMBER

lumber, &c., down the Ohio and Mississippi to New See also:

Orleans or beyond. Until the successful See also:

NAVIGATION (from Lat. navis, ship, and agere, to move)

navigation of the river by steamboats a considerable portion of the imports was carried overland from See also:

PHILADELPHIA

Philadelphia or See also:

Baltimore to Pittsburg. The first steamboat on the Ohio was the " New Orleans," which was built in 1811 by See also:

Nicholas J. See also:

ROOSEVELT, THEODORE (1858— )

Roosevelt and sailed from Pittsburg to New Orleans in the same See also:

YEAR

year, but it remained for See also:

CAPTAIN (derived from Lat. ca put, head, through the Low Lat. capitanus)

Captain See also:

Henry M. Shreve (1785-1854) to demonstrate with the " See also:

Washington," which he built in 1816, the success of this kind of navigation on the river. From 1820 to the See also:

CIVIL

Civil War the steamboat on the See also:

SYSTEM

system of inland water-ways of which the Ohio was a part was a dominant See also:

FACTOR (from Lat. facere, to make or do)

factor in the See also:

INDUSTRIAL

industrial See also:

LIFE

life of the Middle West.

See also:

CINCINNATI

Cincinnati, Louisville and Pittsburg on its banks were extensively engaged in See also:

BUILDING

building these vessels. The river was dotted with floating shops—drygoods boats fitted with counters, boats containing a tinner's See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment, a blacksmith's See also:

SHOP

shop, a factory, or a lottery See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office. Until the See also:

ERIE

Erie See also:

Canal was opened in 1825 the Ohio river was the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief commercial highway between the See also:

East and the West. It was connected with See also:

Lake Erie in 1832 by the Ohio & Erie Canal from See also:

Portsmouth to See also:

Cleveland, and in 1845 by the Miami & Erie Canal from Cincinnati to See also:

Toledo. In the natural See also:

state of the river navigation was usually almost wholly suspended during low water from See also:

JULY

July to See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November, and it was dangerous at all times on See also:

account of the numerous snags. The Federal See also:

government in 1827 undertook to remove the snags and to increase the See also:

DEPTH

depth of water on the bars by the construction of contraction See also:

WORKS

works, such as dikes and wing dams, and appropriations for these purposes as well as for dredging were continued until 1844 and resumed in 1866; but as the channel obtained was less than 3 ft. in 187o, locks with movable dams—that is, dams that can be thrown down on the approach of a See also:

flood—were then advocated, and five years later See also:

CONGRESS (Lat. congressus, coming together, from congredi; cum, with, and gradus, step)

Congress made an See also:

APPROPRIATION (from Lat. appropriare, to set aside)

appropriation for constructing such a See also:

dam, the See also:

Davis See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

Island Dam immediately below Pittsburg, as an experiment. This was opened in 1885 and was a recognized success; and in 1895 the Ohio Valley Improvement Association was organized in an effort to have the system extended. At first the association asked only for a channel 6 ft. in depth; and between 1896 and 1905 Congress authorized the necessary surveys and made appropriations for thirty-six locks and dams from the Davis Island Dam to the mouth of the Great Miami river. As the association then urged that the channel be made 9 ft. in depth Congress authorized the secretary of war to appoint a See also:

BOARD (O. Eng. bord)

board of See also:

ENGINEERS, MILITARY

engineers which should make a thorough examination and See also:

REPORT (O.Fr. report or raport, modern rapport, from O.Fr. reporter, mod. rap porter, Lat. reportare, to bring back, in poetical use only, of bringing back an account, news, &c.)

report on the See also:

COMPARATIVE

comparative merits of a channel 9 ft. in depth, and one 6 ft. in depth. The board reported in 1908 in favour of a 9-ft. channel and stated that fifty-four locks and dams would be necessary for such a channel throughout the course of the river, and Congress adopted this project. At the Falls is the Louisville & See also:

Portland Canal, originally built by a private See also:

CORPORATION (from Lat. corporare, to form into a body, corpus, corporis)

corporation, with the United States as one of the stockholders, and opened in 183o, with a width of 5o ft., a length of 200 ft., and three locks, each with a lift of about 8; ft. In 186o-1872 the width was increased to 90 ft. and the three old locks were replaced by two new ones.

The United States gradually increased its holdings of stock until in 1855 it became owner of all but five shares; it assumed the management of the canal in 1874, abolished tolls in 188o, and thereafter improved it in many respects. Sixty-eight locks and dams have been constructed on the principal tributaries, and the Allegheny. Monongahela, Cumberland, Tennessee, Muskingum, Kanawha, Little Kanawha, Big Sandy, Wabash, and Green now afford a total of about 96o m. of slack-water navigation. See the Board of Engineers' Report of Examination of Ohio River with a view to obtaining Channel Depths of 6 and 9 ft. respectively (Washington, 1908) ; A. B. Hulbert, Waterways of Westward Expansion (Cleveland, 1903) and The Ohio River, a Course of See also:

EMPIRE

Empire (New See also:

York, 1906); also R. G. Thwaites, Afloat on the Ohio (New York, 1900).

End of Article: OHIO RIVER

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