pitality could not be carried out without it. If one neighbor called on another to make a visit or do an errand, the bottle and a cup of water were invariably presented him, after being first tasted by the host, who drank to the health of his guest. Women treated their visitors with whiskey made palatable with sugar, milk and spices. It was used as a medicine in several diseases, and proved an unfailing remedy in some. Among laborers the bottle was passed around, and there was always some kind-hearted man to see that the little boys were not forgotten. Morning bitters were generally used, and a dram before meals. But this common use of liquor was not limited to Western Pennsylvania, it prevailed in all the new settlements, if not over the United States.

There was nothing, at that day, disreputable in either drinking or making whiskey. Distilling was esteemed as moral and respectable as any other business. It was early commenced and extensively carried on in Western Pennsylvania. There was neither home nor foreign market for rye, the principal grain then raised in that part of the country, and which was a profitable and sure crop. The grain would not bear packing across the mountains; a horse could not carry more than four bushels of it, but could carry the product of 24 bushels when converted into high wines, which found a market east of the mountains, and could be used in the purchase of salt, goods, etc. The settlers at an early day calculated that the whiskey trade would become a great source of wealth to the country, when the right way to New Orleans should have been settled and that market fully opened to their produce. Monongahela whiskey was reputed to be superior to any in the United States, and had the preference in every market. There was very naturally a general disposition to engage in distilling, as the only business which promised sure gain; and the people of Western Pennsylvania regarded a tax on whiskey in the same light as the citizens of Ohio would now regard a United States tax on lard, pork or flour.

There were many aggravating circumstances calculated to render the whiskey tax odious, and to array the western people in hostility to the Government. For years they had

suffered unspeakable hardships and privations; the Government had neither protected the frontiers from Indian massacres, nor paid the militia service of the settlers, and the Western posts had been suffered to remain in possession of the British, contrary to the treaty of peace. Thus exposed, and deprived of the advantages of peace, which were enjoyed by the rest of the United States, destitute of money and the means of procuring it, a direct tax appeared to them unjust and oppressive. Unjust, because they had not received that protection which every government owes to its citizens; oppressive, because the tax was levied on the scanty product of their agricultural labor, and was required to be paid in specie, or its equivalent, which could not be furnished. Whether these opinions were well founded or not, it is doubtful whether even the law-abiding descendants of the Pilgrims would have quietly submitted to the law under just such circumstances. The settlers cultivated their land for years at the peril of their lives. Like the Jews under Nehemiah, their weapons of defence were never laid aside; and when by extraordinary efforts they were enabled to raise a little more grain than their immediate wants required, they were met with a law restraining them in the liberty of doing what they pleased with the surplus.

The policy of laying a direct tax on the products of labor, found few advocates in the western country, and many violent opposers. It was contended that a tax on whiskey was but the commencement of a system of taxation as odious and oppressive as that of the British Government, which had given rise to the War of the Revolution, and that, if the system were carried out, independence would prove but an empty name. It was argued that if rye could not be converted into whiskey without a license from Government, wool could not be converted into a hat, nor a hide into boots without its special permission; and that it was against just such assumptions of power that the American people had rebelled, and had continued for seven years to pour out their blood freely rather than submit to the evils and degrading consequences of British taxation. They had fought for liberty, and not for a change of masters; and while the

wounds they had received in battling against tyrants were scarcely yet healed, it is not astonishing that they should regard with abhorrence the swarm of Government officers which everywhere beset them, spying into their domestic affairs, and demanding, with official arrogance, more than a tithe of their hard labor. This was too much to be borne by men who were imbued with the wild spirit of liberty which then pervaded our country. Whatever might have been the necessities of Government, or however defensible the principle of direct taxation, a more critical time to make the experiment could not have been selected. Our whole country was agitated with political discussions. The political volcano which had broken out in France, and was sweeping over Europe like a sea of lava, threatening to overwhelm in its fury all forms of government, cast its frightful glare across the Atlantic, and so perverted the political vision as to make law appear like tyranny, and anarchy like liberty.

VII.

CHANNEL OF TRADE-WESTERN BOATMEN.

The prosperity and security resulting to the people from the suppression of the insurrection, were increased by a treaty concluded at Greenville* with the combined Indian tribes, who had made war on our frontiers. This treaty was hailed with joy by all the settlers. The Ohio frontiers had long suffered all the horrors of Indian war; many children had lost their parents, many widows mourned their murdered husbands, and many mothers their lost children, some of whom had been for years in captivity among the Indians, and some sold to the French or English and held in bondage in Canada. Provision was made in the treaty for restoration of these captives. But it was not the frontiers alone which were to profit by a lasting peace with the Indians. Great

The treaty of Greenville, O., signed Aug. 3, 1795, between Gen. Wayne and ten of the Northwest tribes, ceded to the United States about two thirds of the present State of Ohio.

The frontier posts,

national interests were promoted by it. Mackinaw, Detroit, Niagara, and Oswego, which the British had continued to occupy in violation of the treaty of peace, were soon after surrendered. The British no longer possessed the power of exciting the Indians to war, and of furnishing them supplies, which, it was alleged, they had been in the practice of doing.

The occupation of these posts by the American army, opened new fields of enterprise. The garrisons were to be supplied with provisions, ordnance and military stores. These could only be transported by vessels on the lakes, which had to be built, fitted out, and manned. This gave profitable employ to a large number of laborers.

Among others, whose attention was drawn to this new field of enterprise opened on the lakes, was Gen. James O'Hara, a distinguished citizen of Pittsburgh. He entered into a contract with the Government to supply Oswego with provisions, which could then be furnished from Pittsburgh cheaper than from the settlements on the Mohawk. Gen. O'Hara was a far-sighted calculator; he had obtained correct information in relation to the manufacture of salt at Salina, and in his contract for provisioning the garrison, he had in view the supplying of the western country with salt from Onondaga. This was a project which few men would have thought of, and fewer undertaken. The means of transportation had to be created on the whole line, boats and teams had to be provided to get the salt from the works to Oswego, a vessel built to transport it to the landing below the falls, wagons procured to carry it to Schlosser; then boats constructed to carry it to Black Rock; there another vessel was required to transport it to Erie. The road to the head of French Creek had to be improved, and the salt carried in wagons across the portage, and finally boats provided to float it to Pittsburgh. It required no ordinary sagacity and perseverance to give success to this speculation. Gen. O'Hara, however, could execute as well as plan. He packed his flour and provisions in barrels suitable for salt. These were reserved in his contract. Arrangements were made with the manufacturers, and the necessary advances paid, to

secure a supply of salt. Two vessels were built, one on Lake Erie and one on Lake Ontario, and the means of transportation on all the various sections of the line were secured. The plan fully succeeded, and salt of a pretty fair quality was delivered at Pittsburgh, and sold at four dollars per bushel; just half the price of the salt obtained by packing across the mountains. The vocation of the packers was gone. The trade opened by this man, whose success was equal to his merits, and who led the way in every great enterprise of the day, was extensively prosecuted by others. A large amount of capital was invested in the salt trade, and the means of transportation so greatly increased that in a few years Pittsburgh market was supplied with Onondaga salt at twelve dollars per barrel of five bushels.

Much of the surplus produce of the country bordering on the lower Ohio and its branches, which rapidly increased after the permanent peace with the Indians, could find no other market than Pittsburgh. This rendered an ascending navigation indispensable to the prosperity of the country, and led to the introduction of keel-boats. These boats were long and narrow, sharp at bow and stern, and of light draft. They were provided with running-boards, extending from bow to stern, on each side of the boat. The space between the running-boards was enclosed and roofed with boards or shingles. These boats would carry from 20 to 40 tons of freight, well protected from the weather, and required from six to ten men, besides the captain, who steered the boat, to propel them up stream. Each man was provided with a pole with a heavy socket. The crew, divided equally on each side, set their poles near the head of the boat, and bringing the end of the pole to their shoulders, with their bodies bent, walked slowly down the running-board to the stern, returning at a quick pace to the bow for a new set.

In ascending rapids, the greatest effort of the whole crew was required, so that only one at a time could shift his pole. This ascending of rapids was attended with great danger, especially if the channel was rocky. The slightest error in pushing or steering the boat exposed her to be thrown across the current, and to be brought sidewise in contact with rocks