A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE OHIO RIVER. 



743 



entered the present channel of the Ohio near Lawrenceburg, In- 

 diana. 



At the present time the Ohio passes by the city of Cincinnati 

 and follows a channel cut between the hills at a more recent 

 period than the greater portion of its bed. At the time of the ex- 

 istence of the old valley extending north from Cincinnati, a bar- 

 rier of land extended across from Ohio to Kentucky and barred 

 the way of the river to the west. This was cut down probably 



:map op 



4; CINCINNATI and Vicinity 



SHOWING 



ANCIENT CHANNEL OF THE 



OHIO RIVER. 



|THE SHADED PORTIONS REPRESENT LOWLANDS 

 I 



at the time the country was occupied by the glaciers, and as a 

 result we find in the present bed of the stream immense banks 

 of coarse gravel alternately on the Kentucky and on the Ohio 

 side for some miles below Cincinnati, while near the mouth of 

 the Big Miami is another immense deposit which resulted from 

 the melting of the glaciers as they retired northward up that 

 valley. 



The consequences of the stoppage of the current of the river 

 are plainly seen. The glaciers creeping down from the north 

 would naturally follow the old channel of the river and prevent 

 its egress to the north, so it was probably during the on-coming 



