Cycling the Underground Railroad--Part 2

 DAY 12: DELAWARE TO BELLEVILLE,  OH

An "Ohio Century Farm" north of Delaware, Ohio.

The streets were wet and it was threatening rain on my departure from Delaware.   But somehow on my traverse through (mostly) gentle rolling woods and farmland, I managed to avoid the surrounding storms.  Thunder was ever present, but rain over my head never materialized, for which I am grateful.

Dark skies typical of today's ride, as sceen from Main Street in Fredericktown, OH.

As I journeyed today, I thought of the minor sense of relief that fugitives from human bondage must have felt being assisted by conductors on the Underground here in Ohio, and traveling over less hostile terrain.  But they could still be pursued by slave catchers and returned to bondage, if they lived through the lashings and punishment for their attempted escape.  Freedom was still at least 70 miles away (the port of Sandusky) over land and boat ride to Canada.  It would be further if the safest exit was through Detroit or Buffalo. 

On my trip I have passed several "Ohio Century Farms."  These are lands that have been worked by generations of the same family for at least 100 years.  In this day of large agricultural corporations and high tech farming, that's quite an accomplishment!

Every bike trip has its own set of challenges.  In the March-April ride, weather was my primary nemesis.  Weather has been very good (relatively speaking) this time, but construction and road closures have been more frequent.

On this ocassion, heavy equipment had created a huge gap across the entire road.  The foreman told me if I felt safe I could try to find my way through. 

After a bit of reconnaissance, I decided to slug my way through the mud and goo of the adjacent soybean field to right of the photo above.  All is well that ends well.

The further north I traveled, the more horses became a part of today's experience.  I passed several corrals with beautiful equines, signs that admonished me to "Share the Road" with horses (but no bicycle Share the Road signs), and a few of these warnings:

Though I didn't see any Amish carriages,  I passed several stores selling Amish goods.

Shortly before arriving at my B&B on a farm just south of Belleville, there was a sign pointing to an historical marker I could see about a quarter mile off the route.  Following the gravel path,  I learned about the Treaty of Greenville of 1795.

European setllers continued moving West after the Revolutionary War, and Native Americans reacted to the encroachments on their traditional lands. A group of tribes known as the Western Confederacy, under the leadership of chief Little Turtle, engaged the U.S. Army in an attempt to slow the envasion.

Being outgunned, they were forced into the Treaty of Greenville, in which they gave up claims to what would become most of the State of Ohio, and large portions of what would become Michigan, Indiana and Illinois (including Fort Dearborn,  which is bow Downtown Chicago).  

This marker was on the surveyed line that specified these lands.  Subsequent treaties took away the lands that were promised to the Tribes, and by the time of the Civil War almost all of these Native American tribes had been relocated west of the Mississippi River.

Today's mileage: 48.6

Total mileage this trip:  529.6

Total on the Underground Railroad:  

     1,663.0 miles