"Whereas it is thought of great use to the British interest to have a settlement upon the nearest part of the Lake Erèe near the falls of Iagara you are to endeavor to purchase in his Majesty's name of the Sinnekes or other native proprietors all such lands above the falls of Iagara fifty miles to the southward of the said falls, which they can dispose off."1

In the answer of the Six Nations to Governor Burnet, under date of Sept. 17, 1724, they said:

"We say still that we are come out of Darkness into Light, Your kindness to us exceeds that of your predecessors, for you have been at the expence to mend & clear the carrying place & Wood Creek, and that you will order it further to be mended, for which we return our hearty thanks for now the old & decrepit may come over the carrying place whereas formerly it us [was] difficult to pass that way but now it will induce & encourage the Far Indians to come to trade here which will engage them to be firmly united to us. It is most certain that Trade is the cheifest motive to promote Friendship, therefore we repeat again that we return you our hearty thanks for this singular favor & kindness." 2

These and other important official papers, bearing on the trade relations of the Province, preceded the memorial of Cadwallader Colden, already mentioned. They were followed by other official papers, in which the commercial advantages of the Province were set forth from the different points of view of the writers, actuated as they were by strong commercial instinct.

Cadwallader Colden in his official report to Lieutenant Governor Clarke in 1737-1738, thus describes the adaptability of the topography of the Province for commercial development:3

"In the Mohawks Country, the Level of the Land seems to be at the greatest height above the sea; for in that part of the country, at about 50 miles west northwest from Albany, & 12 miles west from the Mohawks River, some Branches of the largest Rivers in North America, & which run contrary courses, take their rise within 2 or 3 miles of each other, viz., Ist a Branch of Hudson's river, which falls into the sea near New York, after having run about 250 miles.

"Second, the Oneida River running northward falls into Oneida Lake, which empties itself into the Cadarackin Lake at Oswego; from this Lake the great River St. Lawrence takes its rise which, passing Montreal and Quebec, empties itself into the Ocean opposite to Newfoundland.

"Thirdly, a Branch of Susquehana River, which running Southerly passes through Pennsylvania & Maryland, and empties itself into Chesapeak Bay in Virginia.

"The Province of New York has, for the conveniency of Commerce, advantages by its scituation beyond any other Colony in North America For Hudson's River, running through the whole extent of the Province, affords the inhabitants an easy Transportation of all their Commodities, to & from the City of New York. From the Eastern Branch there is only land carriage of sixteen miles to the Wood Creek, or to Lake St. Sacrament, both of which fall into Lake Champlain, from whence Goods are transported by water to Quebec. But the chief advantages are from the western Branch of Hudson's River. At 50 miles from Albany the Land Carriage from the Mohawks river to a lake from whence the Northern Branch of Susquehana takes its rise, does not exceed 14 miles. Goods may be carried from this lake in Battoes or flatt bottomed Vessels, through Pennsylvania, to Maryland & Virginia, the current of the river running every where easy, without any cataract in all that large space. In going down this River two large branches of the same River are met, which come from the westward, & issue from the long ridge of mountains, which stretch along behind Pensylvania, Maryland, Virginia & Carolina, commonly call'd the Apalachy Mountains. By either of these Branches Goods may be carried to the mountain & I am told that the passage through the Mountains to the Branches of the Misissipi which issue from the West side of these Mountains, is neither long nor difficult; by which means an Inland Navigation may be made to the Bay of Mexico.

"From the Head of the Mohawks River there is likewise a short land Carriage of four miles only, to a Creek of the Oneida lake, which empties itself into Cadarackui Lake at Oswego; and the Cadarackui Lake, being truly an Inland sea, of greater breadth than can be seen by the eye, communicates with Lake Erie, the Lake of the Hurons, Lake Michigan & the Upper lake, all of them Inland seas, By means of these Lakes, & the Rivers which fall into them, Commerce may be carried from New York, through a vast Tract of Land, more easily than from any other maratime Town in North America."

On February 17, 1738, Lieutenant-Governor Clarke in his report to the Lords of Trade, says:

"No Province is more happy in its situation for trade and navigation. This town (New York) is not above 21 miles from the sea, having a bold and safe channel to it for vessels even of a large size, and an excellent harbor before the town: Our inland navigation is inferior to none, for besides that to New Jersey and Connecticut, the Hudson river is navigable through the heart of the Province 150 miles from New York to Albany: From Albany to Schenectady is but 15 or 16 by land, and there you enter the Mohocks river, which is navigable for canoes and battows to the head of it, being about 120 or 130 miles; From thence there is a short land carriage of a few miles to the Wood Creek, which leads through the Oneidas Lake to Oswego, and the lakes and rivers even to the branches of Messasippi; It is from the Indians that inhabit near, and to the northward and westward of those lakes, that we have our beaver in exchange chiefly for goods of the manufacture of England."1

In the Remonstrance of the General Assembly to Governor George Clinton, under date of October 9, 1747, among other things, appear references to such garrisons and forts as that at Saraghtoga and at Albany, and the garrison and trading house at Oswego, which were considered of such importance that they "should be supplied and preserved at all events from falling into the hands of the enemy.'

112

Mr. Clinton in his letter to the Lords of Trade under date of July 25, 1745, represents that "Forts and trading houses" were erected "along the Lake in the Senekes Country (contrary to the faith of Treaties)," which enabled the French to exert great influence over the Indians to the detriment of the English.

On August 7, 1755, Lieutenant Governor De Lancey reports to Secretary Robinson that "Captain Bradstreet, who was sent in command at Oswego having in three hours time passed the great carrying place between the Mohawks River and the Wood Creek, with his Company,

Clarke to the Lords of Trade: 6 Col. Hist. N. Y., 113.

1.

2.

6 Col. Hist. N. Y., 619.

3. Ib. 645. The Morris map of 1749 in the British Museum shows several portages in New York, forming routes to the St. Lawrence.

provisions, Battoes and Baggage, which is less time than what the Traders generally take with a single Battoe when they hasten to the Mart at Oswego." Proceeding further in the same report Lieutenant Governor De Lancey in relation to transportation by water says:

"The same Battoes which carry the train, provisions ettc for the Army to Oswego, may carry them to Niagara, and being transported above the falls, the same may carry them to Presque Isle, the Fort on the South side of Lake Erie, so that it will be practicable to bring the expence of such an expedition into a moderate compass, far less, than the expence of Waggons, horses ettc which are necessary in an expedition by Land from Virginia to the Ohio.”2

IV. EARLIEST IMPROVEMENTS OF WATERWAYS.

There appeared on the topographical map of the country between the Mohawk river and Wood creek, from a survey taken in 1758, at the time General Abercrombie sent instructions to General Stanwix to build a fort at the Oneida carrying place, drawings of sections of the Mohawk and its tributaries and also of a section of Stoney creek, a part of Wood creek, with a sluice and dam in Stoney creek to raise a head of water to float batteaux to Fort Bull. It is stated in the notes that a sawmill with dam was built there on a branch or tributary of the Mohawk in 1758, at the time of the building of Fort Stanwix, and that there was a wood dam made by a prodigious number of trees thrown promiscuously by freshets across the Mohawk. The shortest distance in a straight line as represented on that map from the waters of the Mohawk to those of Stoney creek is 5,000 feet and the road over the carrying place was some longer, said to be 5,940 feet. It was also represented, if a ditch were cut between these two streams, loaded batteaux might pass without any portage, "besides by a sluice it might be made a dry or a navigable channel at pleasure."

The sluice in Stoney creek, "by being shut 6 or 8 hours before the batteaux were to go to and from Fort Bull, gave sufficient water to float them." 1

When General Philip Schuyler was in England, in 1761, he observed what England was doing in the way of canal construction and upon his return to this country prevailed upon Governor Sir Henry Moore to look into the matter of rendering the Mohawk river navigable by the construction of such canals as might be necessary to overcome the rapids at Little Falls and elsewhere.2

In the French report of the topography of the country between Oswego and Albany made in 1757, is contained, in addition to many other things of interest commercially, the following description of Wood creek:

"From Lake Oneida we enter the River Vilcrick, which empties into that lake, and ascend nine leagues to Fort Bull. This river is full of sinuosities, narrow and sometimes embarrassed with trees fallen from both banks. Its navigation is difficult when the water is low. It is, however, passable at all times with an ordinary bateau load of 14 to 1,500 weight. When the waters of this stream are low, an ordinary bateau load cannot go by the river further than a league of Fort Bull. It becomes necessary then to unload and make a carrying place of the remainder by a road constructed to the Fort, or to send back the bateau for the other half load."

Jonathan Carver, a captain in the Provincial troops during the French and Indian war, gives an account of a journey in 1766 from Boston to the western country, and in his description of the rivers and lakes says that "Oniada lake, situated near the head of the river Oswego, receives the waters of Wood creek, which takes its rise not far from the Mohawks river. These two lie so adjacent to each other that a junction is effected by sluices at Fort Stanwix," about twelve miles from the mouth of the former. This statement has

I. Col. Montresor to Capt. Green, July, 1758; 4 Doc. Hist. N. Y., 326. A good description of the Oneida portage and its several forts, and a copy of a British Museum map of the Oneida portage, 1756, are given in Hulbert's "Portage Paths" (7 "Historic Highways of America"), 138-150.

2.

Lossing's "Empire State," 347. Hosack's "Memoir of DeWitt Clinton,"