Magic on the Mon
History Comes Along for a Ride on the River
The Dominion Post
June 4, 2000
By Norman Julian
Tim Terman knows the river.
Knows kayaking.
Knows how to present news and information, too.
Terman, associate director of West Virginia University News and Information Services, owns Adventures on Magic River, a kayaking company that puts you in touch with the Monongahela River in ways you might not have dreamed were "there."
One soft, sunny May morning, we "put in" just off the confluence of the river with Booths Creek and I watch, alternately, a Canadian goose bathing, then Terman paddling.
The human begins to propel his kayak forward, almost as agile as the bird. He dips silently into the green Monongahela River as it slides by, hardly disturbing the surface.
There is an absence of any disturbing sound, like a motor or motorcar. All you hear is the sounds of the river and of nearby birdsong.
I, a first-timer, wary of what may lie ahead, try to imitate Terman's technique and in no time, it seems, I am moving on the water. I soon reach a level of comfort. The craft is more stable than I thought and easy to maneuver beneath me.
"If you want to turn, make a 'C' in the the water with the paddle," says Terman.
Like so, he leads, I follow to mid-stream.
"I've never had one to turn over," Terman yells across the water at me when I wonder out loud whether I should have this expensive camera and tape recorder on board and risk a dunking for them.
"Just don't stand up in the kayak," he yells.
I begin to feel the Mon current catch us and we coast downstream. Not much different than handling a canoe, I think. If anything, it's easier. A kayak seems more buoyant.
I know something of Terman's history and as he shows the way, a constant stream of river lore coming out of his mouth, I realize that this man is most at home on, in or around water.
Historical Kayaking Adventures on the Monongahela River is one way he bills his business. He'll take as many as 13 people along to hear the colorful history of the ancient river.
As a nod to modernity, he is equipped with a loud speaker and a cell phone (304-276-8306). He'll book tours even while on the water.
Terman talks of native Americans and early settlers.
Coming up on Dorsey's Knob, he tells the story of Tobias Decker and family who first settled in 1758 along the river where a creek, later named for Decker, enters.
Women and children were at the Knob picking pawpaws in October 1759 when about 30 Indians attacked the village. The women and children returned to find the eight bodies of the menfolk lying about and their cabins burned. End of that pioneer effort.
Terman talks of flatboats, keelboats and steamboats that once made this river, referred to as the Rhine of North America, the busiest for its size in North America. The 125-mile stream that starts in Fairmont and ends in Pittsburgh is one of the few rive rs that run due north. The Nile is the significant other one.
He talks of coal mining and the legacy of the Industrial Revolution as it affects this waterway.
He informs that rye whiskey was the first major export the river carried. It was consumed as far away as New Orleans.
He tells of the "heavy water" used at the Morgantown Ordinance Works to be used in the atomic bomb.
He narrates the tale of the Hezikiah Napolen Bonaparte Alsoupe, the Hermit of Uffington, an eccentric who lived on an island in the river before dams and locks raised the water to the level it is now.
Many of his tales come straight out of Earl Core's multi-volume "The Monongalia Story," with a little embellishment from the newsman tour guide.
Terman grew up along the Ohio River at Louisville, Ky., and lived there most of his life until he went to Key West to work on fishing boats.
Later he spent a couple of years on the North Carolina Outer Banks working on dredges and ferry boats.
In 1973, he was back in Louisville working on tow boats on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
"I started as a deck hand and rose to second mate in the 10 years I worked for three different companies as a member of the National Maritime Union," says Terman.
"I guess I would have become a pilot -- working in my time off as a steersman to 'learn the river' -- if it hadn't been for an economic downturn in the late 1980s that caused the company I was working for to sell its boats to a non-union outfit."
So he went to school to get a degree in journalism. In 1978, he married Maureen Busch of Parkersburg, they parented two daughters (Rachael at the University of Maryland and Jennie a sophomore at Morgantown High) and Terman never went back to the river li fe.
Until now.
He's not at it full-time but his company provides alternative enjoyment, and employment.
He has been at WVU since 1987. In 1994, he was named associate director. He got his master's degree in 1996 and is president of the North Central Chapter of the School of Journalism Alumni Association.
Though each year he vacations by doing some sea kayaking around the islands off North Carolina's Outer Banks, he is most at home on the river.
"I started my kayaking business last summer to spend more time on the water," he says. "That is the place I like to be."
He says on the water he is able "to meet people and to give them a recreational alternative in Morgantown."
He says the river "really is magical -- a beautiful place with herons and king fishers and beavers and wonderful sunrises and sunsets.
"Plus, I try to make history come alive. That is always magical."
Terman didn't have to evangelize to convert me to the magic of the river.
Terman smiles in acknowledgment. He says hardly an outing passes without encountering a blue heron, a large spindly-legged bird that takes up residence hereabouts.
He most often encounters them on these "morning mist" tours. But he will take you on the river any time.
He talks of the "cool shadows that creep across the water" at evening.
He talks of "a glimpse of the nocturnal Mon River beavers." He schedules special night time tours during the full moon.
He'll even take you through the Morgantown Lock and inform you about it and the adjacent dam.
Tours cost either $25 or $30, depending on how long you wish to be on the river.
"Best time I've had in months, maybe a year," I say to Terman as we finally exit the river.
"It's a healthy thing for mind and body," he says. "Sometimes I have people come out. The kids want to do it. Maybe the wife is into it and the husband doesn't want to go. And they get out here, do the tour, and they come out happy, smiling, holding hand s. "That's the magic of the river."
To check things out on the internet: www.magicriverwv.com.