Exploring the Past

I've noticed that as I get older I get more interested in history. It all started when I began working at the Canal Boat and had to do research for developing my first person interpretation.

Now, people who live in Toledo and the surrounding area will tell you it's a rather boring place to be. While that may be true for some, others who know what the city's been through know better ;)

This part of Ohio, as in Lucas county, has been the site of many famous battles;

The Anthony Wayne Trail is named after General "Mad" Anthony Wayne who took his 3000 man strong army ( called the Legion of the United States) up against the 1500 man combined forces of The Indian army which consisted of Blue Jacket's Shawnees and Buckongahelas's Delawares, Miamis led by Little Turtle, Wyandots, Ojibwas, Ottawas, Potawatomis, Mingos, and even some Canadian militia at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Wayne's battle at Fallen Timbers is often called the “last battle of the American Revolution” and one of the three most important battles in the development of our nation. Supposedly as Wayne made his way from the battle field, he and his troops burned the forest and crops for 50 miles along the Maumee to prevent the Indians from resettling. The road that now runs along that supposed path is the Aforementioned Anthony Wayne Trail.

Perrysburg is named after Commodore Oliver "Hazard" Perry who turned a defeat against the British Navy during the Battle of Lake Erie in 1812 into a decisive victory. On September 9, the British Naval Commander Robert Barclay sailed out of Amherstburg with the intention of unblocking the Lake Erie supply line. He met Oliver Hazard Perry’s squadron at Put-in-Bay the next day.

After almost four hours of intense cannon fire, individual acts of heroism, and much human suffering, the British surrendered. On Perry’s flagship the Lawrence only 20 out of 103 men escaped the engagement without being killed or wounded. The battle ended in unequivocal victory for the Americans. It was the first time in history that an entire British fleet was defeated and captured by the enemy.

Immediately after the battle Perry sat down to scribble the dispatch that became the most-quoted phrase of the war: “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”

Toledo once sat at the edge of something called The Great Black Swamp, which covered a great part of northwest Ohio and bits of Indiana. To quote the City of Perrysburg site...

"40 miles wide and 120 miles long. It was the Great Black Swamp, an oozing mass of water, mud, snakes, wolves, wildcats, biting flies, and clouds of gnats and mosquitoes. It was nearly big enough to cover the entire state of Connecticut.

Water, often up to the belly of a horse, stood on the surface until it evaporated in the hot summer months. When it rained, or thawed in the winter, it was water and muck. Much of the swamp was covered with an almost impenetrable forest of giant oak, sycamore, hickory, walnut, ash, elm, maple and cottonwood trees, except in a few prairie areas where limestone just under the surface would not support timber growth.

Not even native Indians went into the swamp except to hunt, and unless you could follow a blazed trail, it was easy to become hopelessly lost since you could only see but a few yards ahead.

The swamp was created 20,000 years ago when the last glacier retreated."

Because of this swamp, it was almost impossible to get anything through this part of the territory. When Ohio was made a state in 1803 the Ohio Vally area was almost untouched because of the condition and hazards presented and encountered in the quagmire of the swamp. Their first official road laid through the swamp was in 1825, it was finally paved with gravel in 1832. Ditches were dug to drain the land, and the Canal projects were started in the 1820's.

The Miami and Erie Canal, started in 1825 and completed in 1845, was a big part in the development of this part of Ohio. Starting in Toledo, the M&E Canal went all the way to Cincinnati when it was finished, also connecting Lake Erie Indiana by way of the Wabash Extension which ended in Fort Wayne Indiana. The Canal's were booming in the mid 1800's, hauling supplies for the Civil War, giving farmers a way to get their crops out of the fertile Ohio Valley and to market, and even carrying supplies for the thing that would mean the Canal's downfall... the railroads.

Canals couldn't run in the winter and it often took a whole week or longer to travel the length of the M&E. Railroads could go year round, haul more product at a faster rate, and were a far more comfortable mode of transportation. Also, railroads were not limited to following the natural waterways as the canals were. After a major flood in 1913, the M&E Canal was closed for good.


That's just the early history... I focus mainly on 1825 to 1876 when I work on the boat. Things at the Manor House are between 1910 and now, so I get a chance to explore a good part of Ohio's history at work. I get paid to do this ;)

Later in it's history Toledo had Mob issues (Toledo's location between Detroit, New York, and Chicago was perfect for Mob activity), became the 'Auto-parts Capital of the World', suffered between a 50 and 80 percent unemployment rate during the depression, started a zoo that is now among the top 10 in the nation, and is the home of the ever famous Jeep.


Anyway, this whole long post DOES have a point.

Today is one of my days off, and on my days off I tend to think.... a lot.... I said earlier how the older I get the more interested I get in History, but at the same time I also get more unsure about the future.

History is documented. We know it happened and there's all this proof about it. There artifacts and maps and letters... it's something that's solid, unmoving, almost comforting. The future is a cloud of unknowing... and I think I'm afraid of it.

I'm afraid I won't finish school, and if I do that I won't find a job that lets me make a difference in people's lives. I'm afraid I'll never travel again, be bogged down with debt, end up alone... like the creepy cat lady ;)

Why am I writing all of this? Because writing has always been an outlet for me. This blog lets me express myself to no one and everyone at the same time. My experiences aren't unique, and maybe someone will take a look at that and realize they feel the same way. Because this way I have it as a record, because I won't be judged until it's all read...

I always wanted to write something profound, be it for myself or others. I want to make a difference and be able to relate it to others and have then connect with it. I suppose my work with history ties in with all of that... my job is to explain the time periods I work with and help people relate to and understand them.

Maybe exploring the past can help me be more certain about the future and where I'm headed.