Ohio History

This is a fabulous indexed resource. I was only recently aware of the existance of the link which gives you access to so many articles and stories: http://publications.ohiohistory.org/. Here is an example from

GALLIPOLIS AS TRAVELERS SAW IT, 1792-1811

By JOHN FRANCIS MCDERMOTT

October 20, 1790.
An accident having happened to one of our boats, we have put into a small creek on the east side of this great river to repair the damages. I am now writing on the stump of a tree we have just cut down, so that you will not look for elegance or fine sentiment in this letter, which I send you by a young man, a native of Pennsylvania, who is going to New Jersey. We traveled by short days' journeys from the place of embarkation, and can not say much in favor of the manners of the inhabitants of the road by which we passed, a very few excepted, who paid some attention to us and sold the products of their farms at a reasonable rate; as to others, they took every mean advantage, and frequently imposed upon us, in a shameful manner, demanding three or four prices for the casual refreshments of which we and our little ones had occasion. We hope soon to arrive at our new territory, where we shall find things in their original state, such as God made them and not perverted by the ungrateful hand of man. To some the surrounding woods might appear frightful deserts; to me they are the paradise of nature; no hosts of greedy priests; no seas of blood to wade through; all is quiet, and the savages themselves shall soon be taught the art of cultivating the earth, refinement of manners, and the duties of genuine devotion. Under this free and enlightened dominion the unfortunate and oppressed of our nation shall ever find an asylum, our language and customs will here be preserved in their original purity for ages to come, and France shall find herself renovated in the Western World, without being disgraced by the frippery of kings or seeing the best blood wasted in gratyfing [sic] the ambition of knaves and sycophants. The weather is already cold, my hand is numbed, and our little temporary cabin is so full of smoke that I dare not venture in. So I bid you adieu.