Kentucky and 

 Tobacco 



Handle disk pipe; sec page 21 



s 



onietime in the spring of 1787 a flat- 

 boat cargo began a momentous trip down tlie Mississippi 

 from Louisville. An American general, James \\^ilkinson, 

 later represented as "the mystery man of the West," was 

 responsible for the shipment. Included in the several 

 salable commodities in the cargo were some hogsheads 

 of tobacco, a recent product of Kentucky's virgin soil. 

 Not much of cured leaf or anything else was in the 

 shipment. It was tlie first venture of its kind, an experi- 

 ment tliat had more tlian its share of normal hazards. 



