River Highway for Trade, the Savannah : Canoes, Indian Tradeboats

RIVER HIGHWAY FOR TRADE THE SAVANNAH BY RUBY A. RAHN CANOES. INDIAN TRADEBOATS, FLATBOATS, STEAMERS, PACKETS. AND BARGES UG 23 S29 PUBLISHED BY 1968 U. S. ARMY ENGINEER DISTRICT, SAVANNAH CORPS OF ENGINEERS SAVANNAH, GEORGIA JUNE 1968 FOREWORD River Highway for Trade by Ruby A. Rahn is the result of nearly a quarter of a century of research into contemporary newspaper files, old letters, and documents as well as personal memories. Miss Rahn, a long-time school teacher in the school sys tem of Savannah, was born in Effingham County in 1883. She grew up close to the River, during those years when the life and excitement of the River was still a part of local living. Miss Rahn was assisted in the compilation of the monograph by her niece, Naomi Gnann LeBey. The information of the mono graph offers a vivid and valuable record of river activities from the time of Indian habitation through the 19th century. Sometimes supplementary items of the period are included which seem proper in this miscellany of interesting infor mation. M. L. Granger Editor I NTRODUCTI ON I wish to acknowledge with gratitude the help and en couragement received from Mrs. Lilla Hawes, Miss Bessie Lewis, and Mr. Edward Mueller. They were, indeed, friends in my need. The information on the poleboats was all taken from the Marine News reports of the daily newspapers of the time. The totals of cotton bales for these boats can only be ap proximate, as the poleboats were hauling cotton for a few years before the papers started to publish the Marine News. The steamboats' cargoes would be approximate totals, also, as some papers were missing, and some quite illegible. The reports were casual, especially in the way the word liS teamboat 11 was wr i tten and in the use of cap ita Is. In quoting the various articles, the words and capitals have been used as they appeared in the paper. The Marine News was a joyous education for me, and sincerely hope the results of my perusals will be of interest to others. Ruby A. Rahn RIVER HIGHWAY FOR TRADE THE SAVANNAH The river we know today as the Savannah River took its final name from the Shawnee or Savannah Indians, who in the 1680's drove out and almost annihilated the Westo Indians, who had been in possession of a good portion of the land on the lower river. The headwaters of the Savannah stemmed from the Keowee, a small river flowing down from the mountains, fed by tributaries high in the Indian country of what is now North Carol ina. It was joined by the Eatolo and the Toxaway Rivers as it moved southward. The Chauga and the Chatugo Rivers also had their springs high in the Indian country of northwestern North Carolina, flowing southwards to join the Tugaloo River, which joined the Keowee. These two rivers formed a large and beautiful river which continued to flow south to the sea, keeping the name of the Keowee. This name was later changed by the Indians to the Isundiga, and still later to the Westobou, or the Westo, for a fierce tribe of Indians of that name, and then later and finally to the Savannah. SAVANNAH RIVER AS VIEWED DURING TRADEBOAT ERA The Spanish knew the river as the Rio Dulce, meaning soft or quiet river. DeSoto, in 1540, seems to have been the only known Spaniard to have been on the river itself. He crossed the river at Cofitachequi, or Silver Springs. in his search for gold and pearls, and probably did not know that the river ran down to the ocean. The French referred to the river as the Grande when Jean Ribaut settled Port Royal in 1562. In 1603, a naval battle took place at the mouth of the Savannah River, or as the Spanish called it, the Bay of Los Bajos. A French cruiser was captured by a Spanish fleet as the French bartered with the Indians for sassafras roots and bark, an item much in demand by the French at the time. Captain de Ejica, of the Spanish fleet, de scribed the mouth of the river as a deep bay with a wide harbor, a fresh water river emptying into it, and an island over two leagues wide within the bay. The Indians called the island Tybee. The Gascoyne Plat of 1685 shows the river as the Westo, although the Westo Indians had been practically annihilated by the combined forces of the South Carolina settlers and the Shawnee (also Shawano), or Savannah Indians in 1683. The few Westo Indians left alive soon vanished. The Savannah Indians gathered all their tribes together and built a village at the fall line of the river, on the Carolina side, which became known as Savannah Town. The Yamassee Indian War of 1715 convinced the Carolinians of the need of fortification on the river. In 1716 Fort Moore was established on the Carolina bank of the Savannah River, about 200 miles upstream from the mouth. It was garrisoned by two or three officers and about twenty-five men. A main storehouse or trading room was built in the fort itself to provide a place where the traders could bar- gain with the Cherokees and other friendly tribes. By the end of two years, trade was so brisk the agent of the trading post had to request the services of three more clerks to add to the two already provided. The Colonial Records of South Carolina record an act passed in 172~ "For the better strengthening and securing the Frontiers of this Province by continuing the Garrison at Fort Moore, and re-establishing a Garrison at the Palla Chuckalla Old Town, on the Savannah River." According to the same records, on 7 September 1730. a treaty was signed at the Palachocola Garrison by the Lords Commissioners of South Carolina and the Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation. This treaty was binding as "long as the mountains and rivers shall last or the Sun shine, whereupon we give this belt of Wampum." The Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation were Oboyhathey of the Abekers, Youbolomew, Coosaw King, Liftahatchey of the Oakchoys, Fannemiche of the Oakfuskeys, Tickhonaby, Tomeecheyof the Pallachucolas Town, Tuccaftanogee of the Pallachucolas, Hotl of the Ouseeshees, and Hubble Bubble of the Cheehaws. In 1731, the Savannah flowed quietly on its way to the Atlantic with only an occasional canoe or tradeboat riding the current down the river on a long trip to Charleston by water in preference to the overland trip from Fort Moore through the wilderness. General James Edward Oglethorpe caused a change in the quiet 1 ife of the Savannah when, on 12 February 1733. he sailed up the 2 river with the incoming tide, seeking a safe site for the first set tlement in his new Colony of Georgia. The beauty of the river was easy to see, but the treachery of the hidden and constantly shifting sandbars, plus the tree roots and snags were to be discovered later. In a letter to the Trustees of the Colony, General Oglethorpe de scribed the site he chose in the following words: "1 went myself to view the Savannah River; I fixed upon a healthy situation about ten miles from the Sea. The River here forms a Half Moon, along the South side of which the banks are about forty foot high; and upon the Top a Flat, which they call a Bluff. The plain high ground extends into the Country five or six miles, and along the river side about a mile. Ships that draw twelve foot water can ride within ten yards of the bank --- The River is pretty wide, the water fresh, and from the Key of the Town you see its whole course to the sea, with the Island of Tybee, which forms the mouth of the river; and the other way you see the river for about six miles up into the country." General Oglethorpe named his settlement "Savannah" for the river on which it was located. The site had a safe, deep harbor and was soon destined to become a very important port for the young American Colonies. Savannah was the first planned city in America with large EARLY PLAN OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA squares or parks breaking the straight lines of the streets, giving the little town a feeling of airiness, as well as affording the citi zens protected places to gather together in times of danger or places to relax in the shade of the beautiful oaks in the hot summers. 3 In 1735, two short years after settling Savannah, General Oglethorpe took control of the navigable part of the Savannah River from the town up the river to Ft. Moore. On the Georgia banks just below the falls almost opposite Ft. Moore, he directed that the town of Augusta, named for the Royal princess of Saxony, be laid out. He needed a settlement at this location as a defense outpost against possible enemies and to be in a good position to take advantage of the Indian trade. Thus, in a short two years commerce on the river had begun, supplies went up to Augusta and hides and furs were brought down to Savannah. At first, the new settlement of Augusta was only a small log fort 120 feet square, built to house ten to twenty men and one commissioned officer. The walls of the fort were musket proof, and eight iron cannon were mounted on its ramparts. What a chore it must have been for the colonists to get those cannons up the river against the current! The fort was also to be a place of refuge for the inhabitants of Augusta in time of danger.

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