Background
The Falls of the Ohio are the only natural obstruction in the Ohio River. Both Louisville and other early towns later absorbed by Louisville, Portland and Shippingport, were founded before a canal was available. These towns based much of their early growth on portage from ships traveling down the river, which were unable to navigate the falls fully loaded except for a few weeks in spring when water was very high. Although this source of income was popular with locals, shippers and boatmen disliked the expense and hassle. The situation caused wide fluctuations in price for farmers upstream and merchants in the river's eventual destination, New Orleans, as there was a glut of shipments during the few weeks of high water each year.
Read more about this topic: Louisville And Portland Canal
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“Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
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—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)