October 21
Washington recorded passing Little Beaver Creek, hiding a barrel of provisions on an island and camping downstream.
1770 · BEFORE THE CITY
Washington on the Ohio.
A canoe journey, an autumn encampment and a river landscape that would later become a pottery city.
Along the river, before East Liverpool.
George Washington traveled down the Ohio in October 1770 while examining western lands. His journal supplies the sequence: on October 21, the party passed Little Beaver Creek and camped about three miles farther downriver. Those approximate distances connect the journey with the landscape near present-day East Liverpool, rather than fixing an exact modern campsite.
Two moments in one journey.
October 22
Snow delayed departure. The party continued toward Yellow Creek and then Mingo Town.
October 28
Farther downriver, Washington met Guyasuta, whom his journal calls Kiashuta. He described a warm welcome and an overnight stay.
A river already full of human stories.
The journal records Indigenous communities, interpreters, traders and conversations about trade and relations with Virginia. This was an inhabited landscape, with histories that preceded the future city. The supplied illustration gives an artistic view of Washington and Guyasuta; its date and artist remain unidentified, and it does not establish the appearance of an East Liverpool campsite.
Sources and image details
Washington’s 1770 journal · West Virginia Archives & History
The Diaries of George Washington, volume 2 · Library of Congress
Ohio History Journal · later commemorative context
The image was supplied by the site owner. Its printed title and inscription are transcribed in the Photo Vault; the journey year is distinct from the illustration’s unknown publication date.