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Crowds at the levee are nothing new, in fact, they have been happening since Marietta was a young settlement in the "west." One of the interesting things about a river town is that sometimes unexpected things, and people, come floating up for a visit.
One such visitor arrived on May 23, 1825, when General Marquis de La Fayette, the Frenchman who had fought alongside Americans in the Revolutionary War stopped by for a visit. He was in the middle of a tour of the 24 states of the United States and stopped here on his way up the Ohio River.
Like most people on long trips, his journey was not without issues. A few weeks before he arrived in Marietta he was involved in a horrible accident. The Marietta-built Mechanic, which was piloted by Capt. Wyllys Hall, of Marietta, hit a snag on the river and sank. The passengers, including Lafayette, ended up in the water. According to an account in the "History of Washington County," published in 1881, the general lost thousands of dollars in the mishap.
He soon resumed his journey, transferring to the steamboat Herald. It was a Monday morning when the Herald got within sight of Marietta. The crew fired a gun to let the residents know that the general was arriving. They also put his name across the bow of the boat to remove any doubt about who was on board.
According to the American Friend and Marietta Gazette of May 27, 1825, his arrival caught the town by surprise. Marietta leaders knew that Lafayette was traveling to Wheeling, but it was believed that he would travel there via the interior of the state. His arrival was broadcast by cannon fire and the community soon showed up to greet him near the spot where the hotel named for him now stands. He was soon escorted to the mansion of Nahum Ward who he knew from Ward's time in Paris. Ward's home was at Second and Putnam streets and it was from there that townspeople came to welcome the veteran. After the visit he was escorted "by a large concourse of people to the beach from whence he embarked upon the Herald for Wheeling, amidst the acclamations and cheers of the people and the roaring of cannon."
The general's visit around the young country sounds exhausting. He started the journey on July 13, 1824, when he left France. On Aug. 15 he arrived at Staten Island in New York. The next day he arrived in New York City and was the focus of a parade. He then made his way to Boston and New England before making his way back down to New York City, all along the route he attended dinners and celebrations in his honor. He arrived in Washington D.C. in October, the first of several stops there during his trip.
He then heads south, spending the colder months visiting cities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana. He finally starts heading north again when he boards the steamer Natchez in New Orleans to start his trip up the Mississippi River. He visited cities and people all the way up the river system, speaking at colleges and communities, attending dinners and being honored by parades along the way.
After his brief visit to Marietta, he reboards his boat and heads to Wheeling, he continues to head north to Pittsburgh before heading to western New York and Niagara Falls before turning east and heading back across New York. He headed back to Boston and eventually made his way to Maine, before heading south again for a second visit to Washington D.C. Here he meets with President John Quincy Adams and addresses a joint session of Congress before boarding a ship on Sept. 7 for his return to France.
By the time he was done he had traveled more than 6,000 miles via stagecoach, horseback, canal barge and steamboat. It was the ultimate road trip before road trips were a thing.
Art Smith is online manager of The Times, he can be reached at asmith@mariettatimes.com