Joseph Ruffner II was traveling extensively between Charleston and Cincinnati during the period 1805 and 1820. Riverboat was the most popular form of transportation and in 1801 Zadok Cramer began publishing "The Navigator; Containing Directions For Navigating the Monongahela, Allegheny, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers". It sold for a dollar a copy and was a bestseller. In a 1966 Readex Microprint Corporation reprint of the 1814 edition the preface reads: "Cramer constantly enlarged and corrected his original edition, adding material about the new territories acquired by the United States and expanding and bringing up-todate earlier sections. In less than twenty-five years, The Navigator had run through twelve editions. Authors of similar guides plagiarized it freely.
"The enormous popularity of The Navigator is easily explained. It contained the right blend of information a busy, practical people needed and wanted. Cramer told them where to obtain river boats, what to -watch for in their purchase, how to load and how to pilot them. Detailed maps of the principal rivers, with textual descriptions of the towns and villages along the way, allowed the traveler to plan ahead. The individual bound for Pitts-burgh knew he could expect to find the town "enveloped in thick clouds of smoke, which even affect respiration" because of the coal used in numerous manufactures there. He knew what articles Pittsburgh produced, the quantity, and the names of the persons engaged in their manufacture. If he desired to settle there, The Navigator told him cultivated land could not be had for under ten dollars an acre, forty if in the immediate vicinity of the town. Settlers headed farther west learned from The Navigator that in time of very low water Wheeling was a better starting point by boat than Pittsburgh. From the same source they knew that Cincinnati contained 400 dwellings, an elegant court house, jail, and other buildings. Perhaps they might find use for information that Mr. A. Chateau had erected a mill and distillery at St. Louis with excellent prospects for improvement. Doubtless they read with interest that planters around Natchez accumulated immense fortunes by raising cotton.
The Navigator also supplied historical background of the principal towns, evaluated the climate, and suggested projects for the improvement of the region. Throughout, Cramer exuded optimism about the development of the West and a pride in American accomplishment. "Prosperity smiles, must smile," he exclaimed, "on all governments equally mild, and equally just" as those of western Americans.
The 1814 Navigator overview of Charleston.
The 1814 Navigator overview of Cincinnati.
Revised July 2000