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24 history to have been at the junction of two streams, as the famous Braddock's ford over the Monongahela at the mouth of Turtle creek, or the "Great Crossings" over the Muskingum at the mouth of Sandy creek, or the crossing-places on the Ohio at the mouths of Wheeling and Sunfish creeks, the Little and Great Kanawha and Licking rivers. The explanation is that in the old days, before the era of slack-water navigation and dredging, bars of sand or mud were always to be found in any stream at the mouths of its tributaries. Here, if the crest of this earth deposit was carefully followed, a drier ford could be made than at almost any other point. If, in certain places, the rocky riffles offered a shallower ford, the approach to the rivers at such rocky places was exceedingly dangerous for horses and absolutely impassable for any vehicle.

Thus the "bar" became an important factor in early travel—as important as it was capricious. And he was a good guide indeed who knew the sign of the shifting sands—for no bar ever remained in the same relative position from year to year.