Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/251

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��HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY

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��the northern part of the county. The march of Crook's army opened the road west of Mans- field through to Upper Sandusky, and settlers followed this road, settling in Springfield and other townships west.

The road from Mansfield to Ashland, or a point near Ashland— Treckle's cabin— was cut in 1813. Samuel Lewis cut six miles of it. beginning at Mansfield, and Capt. Ebenezer Rice the remainder, beginning at the cabin mentioned. It was ten feet wide, and they re- ceived $9 per mile, and went to Chillicothe to draw their pay.

Where no roads existed, numerous '• blazed " trails led off through the woods in every direc- tion, from the diflferent settlements to the home of the solitary settler in the great woods. One of the most important and most used of the early roads was the one north and south from Mount Vernon to the lake. From Mansfield this road bore directly north to Brubaker Creek, in Eranklin Township, thence northeast through what is now Shiloh, to Plymouth and New Ha- ven, in Huron County, thence to the mouth of Huron River. At Plymouth it intersected BealFs trail, which is followed from that place to the lake.

This road was the great outlet for grain and produce in the rich and older settled counties of Knox, Licking and others. Great covered freight wagons, with tires seven or eight inches broad and an inch thick, drawn by six horses or mules, made regular trips from Baltimore and Philadelphia over the national road to Zanesville ; thence over this mud road, stopping at the little stations on the way to re- ceive and discharge freight. Many of those teamsters were men of high character, standing and credit, and, in transacting their business, would require persons who shipped goods by their wagons to make out three bills of lading, all properly signed, with as much regularity as a ship at sea or the freight trains of to-day; one bill to accompany the goods, one to be re-

��tained by the shipper, and one to go by mail to the consignee. One of those teams would to- day be a greater curiosity than a steamer or a train of cars. They are yet to be found on the gTcat prairies of the West, transporting freight to points not yet reached by the iron horse.

These wagons did most of the carrying trade of the country. The merchant who wished to purchase goods in the East, sent his order and received his goods by these wagons, and, in order to pay for the goods, often intrusted large sums of money to these teamsters. The prod- ucts of the country, received by the merchant in exchange for goods, consisting mostly of wheat, whisky, furs, etc., were also shipped by these wagons, going, generally, to the lake, where they were sold, or shipped on a vessel for some point east, and months would often elapse before returns could be received.

Another source of outlet for the produce of the country was by the water-courses, which were then untrammeled by mills, or bridges, and, by reason of the swampy condition of the coun- try and the consequent abundance of water, were navigable for small boats to points which would seem incredible at this time. Flat-boats were built, carrying from twenty to fifty tons. These were loaded with pork, flour, whisky, the products of the chase, etc., and taken to New Orleans, where the cargo and boat were sold, and the pioneer, with his money in his pocket, would return across the country, walking per- haps the entire distance, or may be, purchasing a mule or horse by the way, or taking occa- sional advantage of the well-remembered stage coach for short distances. In this primitive way, the early pioneers of Richland County com- municated with the outside world. Nearly forty years elapsed from the time of the first settle- ment before these means of transportation were superseded by that great civilizer— the railroad. The products of the country, for want of a market, brought very low prices: The average being, for wheat, 35 cents per bushel ;

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