352

PIONEERS OF THE WEST.

which is Chillicothe, the name given by the Indians to the town.

But here a difficulty presents itself to the hermit: how shab he cross the river without making himself known to the travelers? Unwilling to do this, he halted, and allowed them to proceed and cross the river, which they did, after some considerable difficulty in getting a craft. Concluding to wait till morning, he laid himself down at the root of a tree, and slept until sunrise. Rising refreshed, he went to the river, and for a coon-skin obtained a passage across.

His next object was to obtain a purchaser for his skins and furs, which he was enabled to do in the first store that he entered. The first stores which were opened in the "West depended mostly on their trade in country produce, such as bees-wax, ginseng, feathers, eggs, chickens, turkeys, skins and furs of all kinds, hickory brooms, ax handles, country sugar and molasses, hoop poles and barrel staves, shingles and hominy blocks   in fact, everything that the country produced; and would give in exchange for it groceries, whisky, powder, shot and lead, iron, salt, and dry goods. There was then but little money, and what there was was Owl Creek, "Wild Cat, Muskingum, and Belmont, which proved to be of little value. The great amount of business transactions was carried on in trade. Houses and lots in town, and lands in the country, were bought and sold for