When settlers first crossed the Appalachian mountains from the Virginia/Carolina area, they found that the French trappers and Spanish explorers had long preceded them in using the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers as their highways”. Of course, the Native Americans preceded them. But, the shoals, bars, “sucks” and other hazards naturally occurring owing to the geological history of the region didn’t bother those who traveled pretty light. The settlers came in flat boats with animals, household goods and merchandise. Nashville, TN, was established by a party, which came down the Tennessee River to the Ohio and thence up the Cumberland for about 200 river miles. In 1799, this group lost several boats, people and possessions in the infamous “suck’ below Chattanooga. This hazard was only one of many which dogged the development of safe navigation on the Tennessee for well over one hundred years.
