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 much of their merchandise from the east by way of Buffalo and the Cuyahoga–Tuscarawas portage.

The Scioto and Miami rivers were not as large as the Muskingum but were easily plied at most seasons by the light canoe. The Sandusky and Auglaize (emptying into the Maumee) offered a waterway which, with portages, took the traveler from Lake Erie to the Ohio by these routes. That they were uncertain and difficult courses is shown by the records of Croghan and Bonnécamps.

The spot of ground at the head of the Great Miami (from the source of Loramie Creek to the head of the St. Mary and Auglaize) was a more important point than one would believe without considerable investigation. Looking at the matter from the olden view-point it seems that this was one of the strategic points in the West in the canoe age. Here on Loramie Creek three routes focused—those of the St. Mary,