Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/141

 HISTOKY OF OHIO.

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��tlicir stores, and fled, while the Americans, under their gallant commander, followed them in Perry's vessel to the Canada shore, overtaking them on the River Thames, October 5. In the battle that ensued, Tecumseh was slain, and the British Army routed.

The war was now practically closed in the West. Ohio troops had done nobly in defending their northern fi'ontier, and in regaining the Northwest- ern country. Gen. Harrison was soon after elected to Congress by the Cincinnati district, and Gen. Duncan McArthur was appointed a Brigadier General in the regular army, and assigned to the command in his place. Gen. McArthur made an expedition into Upper Canada in the spring of 1814, destroying considerable property, and driv- ing the British farther into their own dominions. Peace was declared early in 1815, and that spring, the troops were mustered out of service at Chilli- cothe, and peace with England reigned supreme.

The results of the war in Ohio were, for awhile, similar to the Indian war of 1795. It brought many people into the State, and opened new por- tions, before unknown. Many of the soldiers im- mediately invested their money in lands, and became citizens. The war drove many people from the Atlantic Coast west, and as a result much money, for awhile, circulated. Labor and provisions rose, which enabled both workmen and tradesmen to enter tracts of land, and aided emigration. At the conclusion of Wayne's war in 1795, probably not more than five thousand people dwelt in the limits of the State ; at the close of the war of 1812, that number was largely increased, even with the odds of war against th-m. After the last war, the emigration was constant and gradual, building up the State in a manner that betokened a healthful life.

As soon as the effects of the war had worn off, a period of depression set in, as a result of too free speculation indulged in at its close. Gradu- ally a stagnation of business ensued, and many who found thi-mselves unable to meet contracts made in "flush" times, found no alternative but to fail. To relieve the pressure in all parts of the West, Congress, about 1815, reduced the price of public lands from $2 to $1.25 per acre. This measure worked no little hardship on those who owned large tracts of lands, for portions of which they had not fully paid, and as a consequence, these lands, as well as all others of this class, reverted to the Government. The general market was in New

��Orleans, whither goods were transported in flat- boats built especially for this pupose. This com- merce, though small and poorly repaid, was the main avenue of trade, and did much for the slow prosperity prevalent. The few banks in the State found their bills at a discount abroad, and gradu- ally becoming drained of their specie, either closed business or failed, the major part of them adopt- ing the latter course.

The steamboat began to be an important factor in the river navigation of the West about this period. The first boat to descend the Ohio was the Orleans, built at Pittsburg in 1812, and in December of that year, while the fortunes of war hung over the land, she made her first trip fi-om the Iron City to New Orleans, being just twelve days on the way. The second, built by Samuel Smith, was called the Comet, and made a trip as far south as Louisville, in the summer of 1813. The third, the Vesuvius, was built by Fulton, and went to New Orleans in 1814. The fourth, built by Daniel French at Brownsville, Penn., made two trips to Louisville in the summer of 1814. The next vessel, the ^tna, was built by Fulton & Company in 1815. So fast did the business increase, that, four years after, more than forty steamers floated on the Western waters. Improvements in machinery kept pace with the building, until, in 1838, a competent writer stated there were no less than four hundred steamers in the West. Since then, the erection of railways has greatly retarded ship-building, and it is alto- gether probable the number has increased but little.

The question of canals began to agitate the Western country during the decade succeeding the war. They had been and were being constructed in older countries, and presaged good and prosper- ous times. If only the waters of the lakes and the Ohio River could be united by a canal run- ning through the midst of the State, thought the people, prosperous cities and towns would arise on its banks, and commerce flow through the land. One of the firmest friends of such improvements was De Witt Clinton, who had been the chief man in forwarding the " Clinton Canal," in New York. He was among the first to advocate the feasibility of a canal connecting Lake Erie and the Ohio River, and, by the success of the New York canals, did much to bring it about. Popular writers of the day all urged the scheme, so that when the Assem- bly met, early in December, 1821, the resolution, offered by 5licajah T. Williams, of Cincinnati,

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