Andrew Shaw
Marshall Expedition Recap
Posted by Andrew Shaw on October 9, 2012 200 years ago today Chief Justice John Marshall, along with a crew of boatmen, completed a river survey through Appalachia aimed at determining the feasibility of a canal that would connect Richmond with the Ohio River Valley. A canal would drastically improve the movement of goods and people through the Appalachian frontier and would facilitate…
A lot has happened in the last few weeks on the Marshall Expedition. At last writing the crew was holed up in Buchanan, VA waiting out the rain with about 65 more up-river miles to cover. The river increased in difficulty as the level rose and rapids came in quick succession. We reached the head of…
Marshall Expedition: Into Appalachia
Posted by Andrew Shaw on April 23, 2012 Having traveled 138 miles upriver through the Piedmont, the Marshall Expedition trailered the boat around 23 miles of dams to Snowden, Virginia where we began our ascent through the James River Gorge: by far the most challenging part of our upriver journey. In the Gorge the James breaks through the Blue Ridge mountains, dropping at an…
Marshall Expedition arrives in Lynchburg, VA
Posted by Andrew Shaw on April 16, 2012 Last night at about nine o’clock the crew of the Marshall Expedition poled into Lynchburg, VA (where four of the six crew call home) greeted by about 40 friends and family members and a pot luck dinner. Physically drained but energized by our hosts we reveled in good company and shared stories from the river. In ten days…
200 years ago Chief Justice John Marshall lead a six week river survey through western Virginia to determine the feasibility of realizing Washington’s vision of establishing a river based trade route between the eastern seaboard and the Ohio River Valley. Marshall’s journey took him upstream on the James River from Lynchburg, VA for over 80 miles…
