按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
The Paths of Inland Commerce； A Chronicle of Trail； Road； and Waterway
By Archer B。 Hulbert
PREFACE
If the great American novel is ever written； I hazard the guess that its plot will be woven around the theme of American transportation； for that has been the vital factor in the national development of the United States。 Every problem in the building of the Republic has been； in the last analysis； a problem in transportation。 The author of such a novel will find a rich fund of material in the perpetual rivalries of pack…horseman and wagoner； of riverman and canal boatman； of steamboat promoter and railway capitalist。 He will find at every point the old jostling and challenging the new pack…horsemen demolishing wagons in the early days of the Alleghany traffic； wagoners deriding Clinton's Ditch； angry boatmen anxious to ram the paddle wheels of Fulton's Clermont； which threatened their monopoly。 Such opposition has always been an incident of progress； and even in this new country； receptive as it was to new ideas； the Washingtons； the Fitches； the Fultons； the Coopers； and the Whitneys； who saw visions and dreamed dreams； all had to face scepticism and hostility from those whom they would serve。
A。 B。 H。
Worcester； Mass。； June； 1919。
CONTENTS
I。 THE MAN WHO CAUGHT THE VISION II。 THE RED MAN'S TRAIL III。 THE MASTERY OF THE RIVERS IV。 A NATION ON WHEELS V。 THE FLATBOAT AGE VI。 THE PASSING SHOW OF 1800 VII。 THE BIRTH OF THE STEAMBOAT VIII。 THE CONQUEST OF THE ALLEGHANIES IX。 THE DAWN OF THE IRON AGE X。 THE PATHWAY OF THE LAKES XI。 THE STEAMBOAT AND THE WEST BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
THE PATHS OF INLAND COMMERCE
CHAPTER I。 The Man Who Caught The Vision
Inland America； at the birth of the Republic； was as great a mystery to the average dweller on the Atlantic seaboard as the elephant was to the blind men of Hindustan。 The reports of those who had penetrated this wildernessof those who had seen the barren ranges of the Alleghanies； the fertile uplands of the Unakas； the luxuriant blue…grass regions； the rich bottom lands of the Ohio and Mississippi； the wide shores of the inland seas； or the stretches of prairie increasing in width beyond the Wabashseemed strangely contradictory； and no one had been able to patch these reports together and grasp the real proportions of the giant inland empire that had become a part of the United States。 It was a pathless desert； it was a maze of trails； trodden out by deer； buffalo； and Indian。 Its great riverways were broad avenues for voyagers and explorers； they were treacherous gorges filled with the plunder of a million floods。 It was a rich soil； a land of plenty； the natives were seldom more than a day removed from starvation。 Within its broad confines could dwell a great people； but it was as inaccessible as the interior of China。 It had a great commercial future； yet its gigantic distances and natural obstructions defied all known means of transportation。
Such were the varied and contradictory stories told by the men who had entered the portals of inland America。 It is not surprising； therefore； that theories and prophecies about the interior were vague and conflicting nor that most of the schemes of statesmen and financiers for the development of the West were all parts and no whole。 They all agreed as to the vast richness of that inland realm and took for granted an immense commerce therein that was certain to yield enormous profits。 In faraway Paris； the ingenious diplomat； Silas Deane； writing to the Secret Committee of Congress in 1776； pictured the Old Northwest bounded by the Ohio； the Alleghanies； the Great Lakes； and the Mississippias paying the whole expense of the Revolutionary War。* Thomas Paine in 1780 drew specifications for a State of from twenty to thirty millions of acres lying west of Virginia and south of the Ohio River； the sale of which land would pay the cost of three years of the war。** On the other hand； Pelatiah Webster； patriotic economist that he was； decried in 1781 all schemes to 〃pawn〃 this vast westward region； he likened such plans to 〃killing the goose that laid an egg every day； in order to tear out at once all that was in her belly。〃 He advocated the township system of compact and regular settlement； and he argued that any State making a cession of land would reap great benefit 〃from the produce and trade〃 of the newly created settlements。
* Deane's plan was to grant a tract two hundred miles square at the junction of the Ohio and the Mississippi to a company on the condition that a thousand families should be settled on it within seven years。 He added that； as this company would be in a great degree commercial； the establishing of commerce at the junction of those large rivers would immediately give a value to all the lands situated on or near them。
** Paine thought that while the new State could send its exports southward down the Mississippi； its imports must necessarily come from the East through Chesapeake Bay because the current of the Mississippi was too strong to be overcome by any means of navigation then known。
There were mooted many other schemes。 General Rufus Putnam； for example； advocated the Pickering or 〃Army〃 plan of occupying the West； he wanted a fortified line to the Great Lakes； in case of war with England； and fortifications on the Ohio and the Mississippi； in case Spain should interrupt the national commerce on these waterways。 And Thomas Jefferson theorized in his study over the toy states of Metropotamia and Polypotamiabrought his
。。。trees and houses out And planted cities all about。
But it remained for George Washington； the Virginia planter； to catch； in something of its actual grandeur； the vision of a Republic stretching towards the setting sun； bound and unified by paths of inland commerce。 It was Washington who traversed the long ranges of the Alleghanies； slept in the snows of Deer Park with no covering but his greatcoat； inquired eagerly of trapper and trader and herder concerning the courses of the Cheat； the Monongahela； and the Little Kanawha； and who drew from these personal explorations a clear and accurate picture of the future trade routes by which the country could be economically； socially； and nationally united。
Washington's experience had peculiarly fitted him to catch this vision。 Fortune had turned him westward as he left his mother's knee。 First as a surveyor for Lord Fairfax in the Shenandoah Valley and later； under Braddock and Forbes； in the armies fighting for the Ohio against the French he had come to know the interior as it was known by no other man of his standing。 His own landed property lay largely along the upper Potomac and in and beyond the Alleghanies。 Washington's interest in this property was very real。 Those who attempt to explain his early concern with the West as purely altruistic must misread his numerous letters and diaries。 Nothing in his unofficial character shows more plainly than his business enterprise and acumen。 On one occasion he wrote to his agent； Crawford； concerning a proposed land speculation： 〃I recommend that you keep this whole matter a secret or trust it only to those in whom you can confide。