Lewis & Clark Trip Day 2: West Virginia (5/9/2021)

Sunday, May 9, 2021

Happy Mother's Day!

Rain and wind as we followed the Ohio River.

It is apparent that every city (in fact every region) has many layers of history, from geological formation to the dinosaur age, the First Peoples and Westward Expansion, multiple wars, railroads and canals, and the industrial and technological ages. We will try to focus on the Corps of Discovery Expedition, but will surely be distracted by other eras.

*On 9/7/1803, Meriwether Lewis arrived in Wheeling* (then part of Virginia).

Wheeling, WV: Heritage Park Lewis & Clark Marker

Heritage Park on the Ohio River

Wheeling, WV: Lewis & Clark Historical Marker

*On 9/8/1803, Meriwether Lewis met with Dr William Patterson (son of Dr Robert Patterson of Philadelphia), who had one of the largest collections of medicines west of the mountains. Lewis also picked up the goods he had sent by wagon and purchased a second pirogue to carry the additional provisions.*

Welcome to Wheeling, WV!

*On 9/9/1803, Meriwether Lewis departed Wheeling, where the Ohio River was broader and deeper.*

Moundsville, WV Grave Creek Mound Historical Site,
sacred mound (250-150 BCE in stages during the Adena Period) 

Grave Creek Mound Historical Marker (KSS)

*On 9/10/1803, Meriwether Lewis visited a mound of earth that was 700 paces but not visible from the Ohio River.*

Marshall County Court House (1875-1876, by
Charles C Kemble in Greek Revival style)

Civil War Memorial (1910) with one of a pair
of cannon, this one from the Union

This monument is a reminder that when the state of Virginia voted to secede from the Union in 1861, citizens in the western counties did not agree and organized to form their own state. West Virginia was granted statehood by Congress on 6/20/1863.

The Ohio River from the Moundsville Bridge

*On 9/13/1803, Meriwether Lewis arrived in Marietta, OH where he wrote a letter to President Thomas Jefferson. The Corps of Discovery observed flocks of passenger pigeons so large that they obscured the sun.*

Marietta, OH: Lewis & Clark Historical Marker Side A

Lewis & Clark Historical Marker Side B

We did not see any passenger pigeons, as they have been hunted to extinction. However, we have already thoroughly explored Marietta, OH, on 9/3/2017.

*On 9/19/1803, Meriwether Lewis passed Point Pleasant, and had seen squirrels swimming across the Ohio River. His dog, Seamen, caught a couple of them.*

Point Pleasant, WV: murals on the floodwall, city side

Murals on the floodwall, river side

Point Pleasant, WV: Riverfront Park on the Ohio River

We did not see any swimming squirrels!

Riverfront Park stainless steel statues of Chief Cornstalk of the
Shawnees and Colonel Andrew Lewis of the Virginia Militia,
who were adversaries in the Battle of Point Pleasant on 10/10/1774

After the Battle of Point Pleasant, Chief Cornstalk was forced to sign a treaty ceding Shawnee claims on all lands south of the Ohio River. In 1777, Chief Cornstalk made a diplomatic visit to Fort Randolph in what was then Virginia, but was arrested. When an American militiaman was killed by Native Americans nearby, angry soldiers executed Cornstalk. It is said that the spirit of Cornstalk cursed the region, and is the reason for local misfortunes, such as sending the mysterious Mothman (1966-1967) to terrorize Point Pleasant and the tragic collapse (1967) of the Point Pleasant Silver Bridge.

Mothman Museum exhibits props and memorabilia from the
2002 movie "The Mothman Prophecies" (KSS)

The Mothman (2003, by Bob Roach)

Historic Lowe Hotel (1901) is said to be haunted 

Next: Lewis & Clark Trip Day 3.