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 Timeless Raven Rock rears its rocky head northwesterly from the junction of the southerly flowing Scioto River with the westerly flowing Ohio approximately two miles west of Portsmouth, on U.S. Highway 52. From its crags, which are approximately 500 feet above the rivers and about three quarters of a mile across the broad Ohio Valley, the nature lover can see the twisting waters of the Ohio River for a distance of fourteen miles or so.
Old folklore tells us that Shawnee Indians used it as a lookout for early flat boats which drifted lazily down the Ohio, bearing intrusive settlers which warlike Shawnees endeavored to keep from their sacred soil. The immortal Tecumseh, great Shawnee chief, crossed Raven Rock many times. Tales of pioneers tell how Daniel Boone escaped from his Shawnee captors by taking a daring jump from the clif into a tall tree which he shimmied down to safety and freedom while the ont-so-daring Shawnee braves took a slower, longer and safer route down and around the cliff. This timie handicap gave Booone a sufficient start to beat his pursuers across the Ohio River and return, a free man, to his beloved Boonesboro, in old Kentucky. The fact is well established that Raven Rock was the junction of the famous Quascioto Trail, or "Warriors Path," and the Pickawillany Trail, The Quascioto Trail ran from Lake Erie to Cumberland Gap, Kentucky. it was an ancient buffalo trail and was later used by various tribes. This trail followed ridges of the high Scioto hills on both sides of the river, but for some reason, the Indians seemed to preer the hills on the westerly side. The pickawillany Trail led from Raven Rock on the west side of the Scioto river to Piqua (old Piqua -- the Shawnee town located near what iis now Springfield) which was the birthplace of Tecumseh. Why is it called Rven Rock? Whiite men cannot give a reason. "The memoirs of Lieutenant Henry Timberlake, 1756-1765" allude to the general area. It seems the Cherokees wandered northerly on the Quascioto Trail for an engagement with the Shawnees, who had important towns on both sides of the Ohio River at this point. In the pitched battle which followed, a Cherokee named "The Raven of Toqua," was killed. The Raven was a name applied to an important sub-chief and signiified certain ranks of attainment in chieftainship and leadership of tribes. it is possible that this spot became known to both Cherokees and Shawnees as "The Ravens Rock" in memory of the death of this famous  Indian. It is possible that white settlers copied the name. The most logical explanation of the term Raven Rock comes from the Indians themselves, who point out that the very hill itself is in the form of a giant bird. The wings extend generally east and west for approximately one-half of a mile. The tail extends to the north. The head is to the south, with the long raven -like beak pointing to the east. From the air, it actually resembles a great birid with extended wings in much the same fashion as the Indian draws a thunderbird. When one stands on the eighth floor of the Masonic Building in Portsmouth and gazes westerly down the broad oOhio Valley, Raven Rock resembles a hiuge birid in a hovering flight with its neck and beak extending low and to the right of the spectator. it does not take a great stretch of imagination to see outlines of the colossal bird, either from the ground or from the air, if the general contours are pointed out to the observer. |
