The towers of the Procter and Gamble headquarters peer complacently down at the Ohio River, as it ripples pleasantly but indifferently past Cincinnati on its never ending flow to the Mississippi. Possibly, in the minds of the P&G executives, this confluence of corporate skyscrapers and river is symbolic ·a kind of fortuitous meeting of soap and water. Who knows?

At the water? edge, a tethered paddle wheel steamboat tugs at its moorings, tall stacks glinting in the morning sunlight. Today, the boats are just part of a riverboat festival, but a viewer nevertheless feels transported abruptly back a 150 years to the era of cotton bales, mint juleps, and banjos, to a time when these fresh-water packet ships were both the work horses and luxury liners of our continent? interior.

It? a busy waterway: coal barges, speedboats, yachts, ferries, bridges, and dredges. Over 500,000 spectators at the September fireworks, almost a million at the Tall-Stack festival. And between the bustle, most of the year, in the parks and playgrounds along the river? borders, there are always strollers, picnickers, softball batters, soccer ball kickers, catfish catchers, roller-bladers, joggers, boat watchers ·and metal detectorists (but not many, which is fine with me).

The Cincinnati ground is often hard to dig, containing a large amount of heavy clay ·great for Rookwood pottery, but a bit of a strain for a retrieval tool. In soil like this, the coins don? sink much. I recently scooped out a 150 year old five-cent piece and a 100 year old dime from under an inch of topsoil. Below the rich topping, the clay formed a natural barrier. There just was no place for the coins to go. So they waited there to be picked up by an alert detectorist.

The river is almost 1,000 miles long. Back in prehistoric times, according to geologists, it ran the other way, out to the Atlantic Ocean. But since the last glacier (the Wisconsinan, about 20,000 to 30,000 years ago), it winds up (via the Wabash and Mississippi) in the Gulf of Mexico. In its travels, it passes through, or skirts the rims of, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. Since I moved to this area, my explorations, which I hope to extend, were along a 50-mile stretch of the northern shore east of Cincinnati. That short a distance, particularly on a one-day trip, doesn? tell you much. And not being a diver, I miss out on many really valuable finds. But I? happy just to explore the river? banks and the communities along its pathway. The results have been satisfying enough for an old man who enjoys finding things and doesn? want to work very hard to do so.

The Ohio isn? the first river I?e explored. I?e worked the East River, Hudson River, Mohawk River, and Black River in New York; the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania; the Russian and Sacramento Rivers in California; and the San Antonio River in Texas. They all were interesting and had a lot to offer. Some were also handsome; but the Ohio is beautiful, and I? not the only one who thinks so. The haunting waltz ?eautiful Ohio·is the state song, and the name ?hio·was a Native American way of saying, ?and of the beautiful river.·

The Ohio has also played a prominent part in American history. Although claimed by Kentucky, it straddles the Mason and Dixon line in the Cincinnati area, forming a natural boundary between North and South (which, happily, is a very amicable one today). In fact, the Cincinnati metropolitan area includes two cities in Northern Kentucky, and a section of eastern Indiana as well. Although never under direct attack, Cincinnati nevertheless played a prominent role in the Civil War. My home county (a quiet, semi-rural, area east of the city) has experienced several of Morgan? raids. It has also been witness to a gold rush in 1868, extensive Underground Railway operations (tunnels under some buildings still exist), the arrival of the Marquis de Lafayette in 1825 (after his boat sank in the river near Indiana), the disappearance of schoolteacher John Smith in 1827 (he was actually Louis Philippe, future king of France, secreted here for his protection by Lafayette), the battle of Grassy Run in 1792 (Tecumseh vs. a group of Kentucky settlers), and the birth of Ulysses S. Grant in 1822. Towns along the river were steamboat stops in the late 1800s and covered-wagon stopoffs in the early 1800s. The area was also a hangout for Daniel Boone. There have been large county fairs here since 1849. (Ohio? first state fair was also held near here in 1849 ·on the water ·on gondolas and flatboats in the Miami-Erie Canal just north of Cincinnati.)

Most of this past activity in quiet Clermont County ·and even more in the bumptious counties to the west and north was made possible by the river. And all rivers offer something to a coinshooter. They?e the natural sites of activity in any community, and exert a magnetic pull even to those who have no commercial or recreational interest in them as waterways. Among the people who understood this lure was the author Herman Melville. Let? take a minute to listen to him: ?ut look! Here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and seeming bound for a dive. Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land; they must get as neigh the water as they possibly can without falling in. Were Niagara but a cataract of sand, would you travel your thousand miles to see it? Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries · stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region. Meditation and water are wedded forever.·

From a practical point of view, a TH?r has much to benefit from this almost lemming-like human drive. An astute treasure hunter who prefers to remain on land should have no problem finding valuable items, without having to enter the water at all, lost by the multitudes that have passed along the shore. But, more daring detectorists would do well to read Michael Paul Henson? article ?illions Lost on Sunken Ships in the Ohio River,·which appeared in the January 1984 issue of Lost Treasure. In it, he states that there were 129 known wrecks in the Ohio River right after the Civil War, with the suggestion that they are still there. He also itemizes 14 specific wreckage sites, and the contents of the ships that went down.

Then, there? Thomas Terry. In Volume 7 of his well known Treasure Atlas, he lists 10 potential treasure sites in Clermont County alone, 10 more in nearby Brown County, and 27 additional ones in Hamilton County (including Cincinnati). Surprisingly, they include possible locations of placer gold, raw diamonds, and freshwater pearls as well as the expected ghost towns, riverboat pirate caches, and Civil War artifacts. And directly across the Ohio from CINergy Field (home of the Reds and Bengals ·OK, yeah, wait ?ill next year) there may be Morgan Raider? treasure and counterfeiter? caches along the Licking River in northern Kentucky. An interesting way to get there is over the stone and wire bridge built by John Roebling in 1865, completed 18 years before his major effort, the Brooklyn Bridge. Soon, ground will be broken for a municipal light-railway line from Covington Kentucky straight though the center of Greater Cincinnati. Part of the way, this path follows that of a defunct subway system started just before World War I. Excavations of this sort usually bring a lot of artifacts, relics, and coins to within easy detection range. There? enough activity going on in this historic area to keep a detectorist happy for a long time.

In the three months that I?e lived by the Ohio, I believe that I have absorbed some of the graciousness of the area? long-term residents. This graciousness and consideration, which is immediately apparent to a new arrival, may very well have been influenced by the presence of the delightful river. But whatever the reason, Cincinnati is a benevolent, as well as good-looking and comfortable city. Consequently, although a newcomer, I feel free to extend an invitation to treasure hunters to visit. There? more than enough for everyone. (Surprisingly, there? no local treasure hunting club, the nearest being 50 miles away in Dayton, although there are five equipment dealers listed in the Greater Cincinnati yellow pages.) If you decide to visit, however, please don? come as conquistadors, but rather with the resolve to leave the area even nicer than it was when you arrived. You?l want to return. Otherwise, enjoy the rivers near your hometown. Chances are they contain enough treasure to keep you busy for years.

Editors note: After the writing of this article, The Tri-State Historical and Recovery Association has been added to the LT Online Clubs and Associations listing.

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