Down The Ohio

On September 1, 1803, as he began his expedition West, Meriwether Lewis described this area in his journal after reaching Woollery's Trap about 5 o'clock in the evening and wrote that after unloading again and exerting all their force, they found it impracticable to get over, so he employed a man with a team of oxen whose assistance finally got them off, and they put in and remained all night after making only ten miles that day. This treacherous area at Sewickley was a swift chute on the Ohio River identified in early navigation guides as Woollery's Trap. A German sea captain, Henry Ulery, purchased a long stretch of land along the Ohio River at this site in 1798 and, observing the struggle of keelboats trying to pass here, particularly in low water, anchored a rope to help the keels pull through for a price that varied to suit Captain Ulery. It became known as Ulery's Trap, later corrupted to Woollery's Trap. Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery gathered men and supplies as they journeyed down the Ohio River, with Meriwether Lewis beginning his journal in Pittsburgh and William Clark joining him at the Falls of the Ohio as the first of the great expeditions began.

Sewickley, Pennsylvania · United States