Ohio River Travel Guides

“River guides became standard purchases for those who traveled the western waters. These guides provided maps and directions for navigating the rivers and descriptions of the towns and settlements which could be found along the way….

Each new guide was not just a copy of what came before it but an improvement over its predecessor. As flatboats and keelboats gave way to steamboats and the trans-Appalachian West continued to grow and develop, it was necessary to adapt the river guides of the period to the changes which were taking place.” (M’Lissa Kesterman, “American River Guides from 1800 to 1860,” AB Bookman's Weekly, 27 July 1998; pp 125-132)

The Ohio and Mississippi Navigator by Zadoc Cramer was an early guidebook that went through several editions as travel conditions and the settlement landscape changed. Some editions are only available in rare book collections; others I've found digitized. Here's a run-down:

1802 (Internet Archive); 1804; 1806; 1808 (Internet Archive); 1811; 1814 (OpenLibrary); 1817 (University of Missouri Digital Library); 1818 (Internet Archive); 1821; 1824 (Internet Archive)

Other publications filled the demand when Cramer's book ceased publication. Here are some I've found:

The Western Navigator/Pilot by Samuel Cumings: 1822 (for both steamboats and flatboats; 2vols, charts and directions); 1825; 1829; 1832; 1834; 1836 (spelled as Cummings); 1837 (Google Books); 1838; 1839; 1840; 1841; 1843; 1845; 1847 (Google Books); 1848 (Google Books); 1849; 1854

A variety of additional guides under other names and publishers

1818: Emigrant’s Guide to the Western and Southwestern States by William Darby
1820: The Ohio & Mississippi Pilot by JC Gilleland (with 200 pp on settlement, engraved charts)*
1821: The Ohio Pilot by Alexander Boyle (pamphlet)
1826: The Ohio & Mississippi Pilot by Henry Holdship but still attr to Gilleland
1848: A New River Guide (Conclin)—primarily for the traveler, not the navigator
1849-1856: Conclin’s New River Guide (several editions); 1854 example on Google Books
1856-1873: James’ River Guide by Uriah P. James, several editions