Maya Indians Once Lived On Ohio River? Some Think They Left Pittsburgh For Yucatan

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Maya are making news as archaeologists offer new theories about the ancient New World civilization that built fabulous cities and mysterious pyramids before fading into the jungles of Central America and Mexico. Meanwhile, New Agers in Pittsburgh are making news by offering theories the Mayan civilization had its roots in the Ohio River Valley. They believe forebears left behind a series of earthen Indian mounds during a long march and migration to the subtropic realm that ended with construction of the pyramids. The New Agers explained to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week that some Mayan ruins seem to depict the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers -- along with an underground waterway at the same spot -- which they described as a sacred portal between Earth and heaven. Vikki Hanchin, described as one of the devotees, explains the Mayan connection:

"But if confluence of the four rivers is depicted on the calendar, how did the ancient Maya come to know about it? Here's her thinking: The Meadowcroft Rockshelter, just south of Pittsburgh, is the oldest known human settlement in North America, dating back about 16,000 years. What if its inhabitants had migrated South, like a prehistoric Steeler Nation, carrying a cultural memory of the Point? She envisions them leaving a trail of burial mounds as they went, with their descendants eventually arriving in the Yucatan to become the great pyramid builders."

Meadowcroft Rockshelter is an actual archaeological dig where prehistoric artifacts and relics from the earliest Americans have been unearthed. But scientists have never linked it to the Maya. Still, the New Agers say the confluence of the three rivers "are an exact match for the 'Tree of Life' or 'World Tree' that the Maya saw at the center of the Milky Way. That, they say, makes it an important portal to another world."

Ohio River Targeted By Drillers: Going Beneath Streambed For Oil And Gas Wells

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Offshore drilling for oil and gas appears headed for the Ohio River, which may have valuable energy pools locked up in the geological strata deep beneath the waterway's channel. Officials in Ashland, Ky., approved two leases last week with a Colorado exploration company that plans to look for natural gas under the river. There has been no discussion about any potential environmental risks from such wells, which apparently will be drilled horizontally by rigs based near the Ohio side of the shoreline in Lawrence County.

Ohio has banned oil and gas offshore drilling in Lake Erie. There has been fear of polluting and despoiling a priceless freshwater supply. During discussions about protecting Lake Erie over the years, the topic of regulating drilling under the Ohio River appears not to have ever been seriously considered. Almost all of the Ohio River is in Kentucky, which is where any royalties would be paid. The Ohio border is near the 1792 low-water mark, which has been decided by federal court rulings over the years.

Adam Stover, an official with Nytis Exploration Company LLC, told Boyd County, Ky., officials last week that the firm would drill straight down several thousand feet, then horizontally to get under the riverbed. He said the drilling will take place in Ohio, but that the money will be paid to Boyd County.

"By doing this, Boyd County will get money and we won't even be on their property at all. They in no way have to worry about any external damages."

Carrie Kirshner, a reporter with The Independent in Ashland, has the full story and notes that horizontal drilling is becoming more common in the Appalachian basin, a huge multi-state oil and gas field that runs from New York to Alabama and includes a large portion of Ohio. The Appalachian basin, in fact, is the nation's original oil field and was the first ever tapped in 1859 when the Drake Oil Well struck black gold in Pennsylvania. Eventually, the oil field became the source of the Rockefeller riches and Standard Oil, the forerunner of modern oil companies such as Exxon and Chevron. There is more about the energy industry's renewed interest in the Appalachian basin in this news story that originally appeared in The Plain Dealer a little over two years ago. (I happened to be the PD reporter who wrote the story; it was part of the newspaper's series on tightening energy supplies.)

A $1.5 Billion Ohio-To-Kentucky Toll Bridge: Will It Cost Some Coin To Cross The Ohio River?

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The estimated cost of replacing the aging and functionally obsolete Interstate 71/75 bridge that crosses the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati is staggering -- up to $1.5 billion. More than 155,000 vehicles cross it daily, and the span is one of the most heavily travelled bridges -- some say it is the most heavily -- bridges in the United States. Transportation officials in Ohio and Kentucky want to build a replacement, but nobody knows yet how to cover the enormous cost.

But a bill filed quietly last week in the Kentucky Legislature by that state's Republican Senate President might offer a clue about where the money may come from. The measure allows creation of "infrastructure authorities," which would have power to issue bonds and collect tolls to build highways and bridges. The text of the measure drafted by State Sen. David Williams is here.

Infrastructure authorities would also have the ability to lease out roads and bridges to private contractors, who would operate them for a profit. Ohio officials are already paying attention to the developments in Kentucky because none of the Ohio River bridges are actually owned or operated by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The river is in Kentucky, and the bridges themselves are under control of that state's highway department.

Two Kentucky bloggers were first to spot the bill last week, and Catallaxy.net immediately recognized it as a way to raise funds for aging bridges.

Interstate 71/75 is a transportation lifeblood for Ohio, and the bridge in Cincinnati is a linchpin to the state's economy. Traffic and goods would move much slower -- or bypass Ohio completely -- if the bridge was not there, or became disabled. Catallaxy said tolls might not be a bad thing:

"A public-private partnership could revitalize these aging bridges and even could result in a new bridge being built over the Ohio River without taxing the taxpayers. A toll is a great way to help pay for repair or new bridges . . .

"Any true conservative would realize that this bill could get the ball rolling for much needed bridge repairs in the Commonwealth without breaking the bank."

The Bellwether has caught whispers that a similar measure may surface in Ohio over the next several months. Construction costs for new bridges are now so enormous that they could outstrip government resources. Tolls are not a new revenue-generating idea in Ohio -- the I-80 Turnpike that crosses northern Ohio was constructed decades ago with money raised by toll-supported bonds.

Some background on the Brent Spence Bridge, as the Interstate 71/75 span is known. is available here.

Ohio and Kentucky do shares costs on bridges that stitch the two states together -- but Kentucky owns the spans.

A Ship Fit For Ohio's Queen City: It's Time For Cincy To Land The Delta Queen

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The The Cincinnati Post says the fabled stern wheeler Delta Queen will soon be prohibited from plying inland waterways with passengers booked in overnight berths. Her wooden superstructure dates to 1926 and is considered hazardous under modern safety regs and rules. It is not clear yet what the future has in store for this truly historic vessel, but maybe the time has come to launch a campaign that would bring this Queen permanently to Cincinnati, the Ohio River home port whose name is stenciled upon its stern.

In truth, the Delta Queen has sailed out of New Orleans since 1984. Cincinnati Post reporter Greg Paeth says 2008 is the final cruising season for the 285-foot steamboat. The ship is officially a National Historic Landmark. He said nobody knows what is coming after the final season:

"It's unclear whether the Majestic America Line would continue to operate the 'DQ' even if it received a waiver that would extend beyond the end of 2008 -- the 'farewell season.' A spokesman says the company did all that it could before deciding that 2008 would be the final year for overnight cruises on the Queen."

However, the two queens really are made for each other. The Queen City instantly would have a legitimate and unique tourist attraction linked to its heritage as a prominent municipal center with a romantic Twainesque past. Acquiring the stern wheeler makes far more sense than docking a decommissioned U.S. Navy nuclear submarine on the riverfront. That idea has been floated for several years.

Cleveland has a 618-foot Great Lakes freighter tied up on its lakefront. The William G. Mather is a draw and symbolizes the city's enduring link to Lake Erie, the body of water that gave Cleveland life, prosperity and hope that it can remain a key metropolitan center. The freighter is still in the middle of plans to jazz up the lakefront, plans that can trigger debate.

Other cities have their own ships. The Belle of Louisville is a strong component of the Kentucky metropolis's civic identity. And Mobile has a World War II battleship, the USS Alabama, as a reminder of that Gulf seaport's ties to deep water adventures. The steamboat era is a slice of time that really belongs to three American cities -- St. Louis, New Orleans and Cincinnati. If the Queen City can somehow get its hands on the Queen, St. Louis and New Orleans would have to bow before the throne.

English As 'Official' Language: Must 'Ohio' Change Its Iroquois Name?

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A linguist I know pointed out a possible unintended consequence of congressional efforts to establish English as the sole "official language" of the United States -- an awful lot of things are described with words borrowed from other tongues. And she wondered if a federal law applied too literally would lead to a great scrubbing and cleansing. The problem, she said, is that it is often difficult to discern where English starts and other languages stop. We are a nation of immigrants and the words we use every day are a melange. English is predominant, but there are plenty of other languages in the cultural Cuisinart.

Take the word ballot. The plan is to make all ballots appear in English. But the word ballot itself is from Italy, ballotta. This might be an extreme, but consider the possibility that ballot is banned. Or this: A health inspector goes out to check a pizzeria. What word appears on the health report, which as an official government document has to be written entirely in English?

Citizens who pledge allegiance would be people whose description, "citizen," originated in Middle English, a polyglot of Low German, Old English, French and Latin. Allegiance came from the same source, the polyglot spoken and written between 1100 and 1500 in portions of the British Isles.

Other examples abound, starting in Washington, D.C., which is located in the District of Columbia, which means of or related to Christopher Columbus, who sailed for the Spanish Crown but was an Italian. U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Oh-02, who is cosponsoring two official English measures, comes from Clermont County, Ohio. Clermont is French, and presumably might have to be retranslated into English to appear in legal records, deeds, and on government-issued maps.

Ohio has its roots in the Iroquoian language family that was spoken by the Native Americans from a confederation of nations that exercised domain over what are now western and northern New York, Ontario and Quebec.

The French explorers who traded with the Iroquois were seeking a passage to the Pacific, and the Indians told them of a great or beautiful river -- Ohio. The French translated it as belle riviere -- beautiful river. If English becomes official, does Ohio officially become Beautiful River? Would that be the true English name used for the state and its namesake waterway?

Toledo is named after a city in Spain and Detroit is French, meaning of the strait, a geographical reference to the Motor City's location on bank of the short waterway that links Lake Huron to Lake Erie. And what about Erie? That, too, is an Indian word, meaning either fox or wildcat.

All across the United States, there are seemingly endless examples of non-English words in everyday use. Florida (flowers) , Los Angeles, San Francisco are all Spanish. Cincinnati is Latin. All the Berlins -- and there are many --hail from German. Pulaski, Tenn., is named for a Polish nobleman who served in the Revolutionary War.

American currency and money is designated as dollars -- a word that originated in low German and Dutch. An American slang expresssion, bucks, could easily be substituted for dollars. But inquiring minds want to know: Is switching to English worth making change?