Down The Ohio

Down The Ohio. In 1803. On September 1, 1803, Meriwether Lewis described this area in his journal as he began his expedition West. Reaching Woollery's Trap about 5 o'clock in the evening, he wrote, "after unloading again and exerting all our force we found it impracticable to get over, I therefore employed a man with a team of oxen with the assistance of which we at length got off we put in and remained all night having made only ten miles this day." , , The treacherous area was a swift chute on the Ohio River identified in early navigation guides as "Woollery's Trap” located here at Sewickley. A German sea captain, Henry Ulery, purchased a long stretch of land along the Ohio River at this site in 1798. Noting the struggle of keelboats trying to pass this area particularly in low water, he anchored a rope to help the keels pull through for a price which varied to suit Captain Ulery. Thus, 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. Meriwether Lewis began keeping his journal in Pittsburgh and William Clark joined him at the Falls of the Ohio as the first of the great expeditions began.