of Gettysburg a copy of an historical novel describing the battle; it may have thrilled you but your old soldier friend will say "That man never was in battle." The old riverman will, by his smile, make you conscious that you speak in unfamiliar terms, though his manner may be politeness itself. "You have never been in battle" will be the gist of his implications.
The first generation of rivermen, excluding, of course the Indians, would cover the year from 1750 to 1780 and would include those whose principal acquaintance with the Ohio and its tributaries was made through the canoe and pirogue. The second generation would stretch from 1780 or 1790 to 1810, and for our purposes will include those who lived in the heyday of the keel- and flat-boat. The third generation would carry us forward from 1810 to about 1850, and in this we would count the thousands who knew these valleys before the railway had robbed the steamboat of so much of its business and pride. This classification is extremely loose; it will help us, however, to place some limits on a subject as boundless as human ambition.
