A journey through the West

by Thomas Rodney

In A Journey through the West, Thomas Rodney writes vividly about flea-infested taverns, bad roads, drunken crew members, squatters, Indians, sodden berths, food from the wild, and treacherous waters. His is one of the most detailed early-nineteenth-century travel accounts. Rodney, a Revolutionary War patriot and veteran, had been active in Delaware politics and had served in the Continental Congress. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson appointed him as a land commissioner and a territorial judge in the newly formed Mississippi territory. Rodney kept a precise journal and sent letters to President Jefferson documenting his trek from the settled East through the barely charted paths of the western wilderness. He hobnobbed with Meriwether Lewis, enjoyed the hospitality of Harman Blennerhassett, and received a tour of Cincinnati from Arthur St. Clair. Dwight Smith and Ray Swick have compiled, edited, and annotated Rodney's story to present it in complete form for the first time.