excellent harbour and a large navigable river, which opens a
communication with the interior parts of the country; and here we find a
flourishing city, containing forty thousand[9] inhabitants, and
increasing beyond every calculation. The North or Hudson River, at the
mouth of which New York stands, is navigable from thence for one hundred
and thirty miles in large vessels, and in sloops of eighty tons burthen
as far as Albany; smaller ones go still higher. About nine miles above
Albany, the Mohawk River falls into the Hudson, by means of which, Wood
Creek, Lake Oneida, and Oswego River, a communication is opened with
Lake Ontario. In this route there are several portages, but it is a
route which is much frequented, and numbers of boats are kept employed
upon it in carrying goods whenever the season is not too dry. In long
droughts the waters fall so much that oftentimes there is not sufficient
to float an empty boat. All these obstructions however may, and will one
day or other, be remedied by the hand of art. Oswego river, before it
falls into Lake Ontario, communicates with the Seneka river, which
affords in succession an entrance into the lakes Cayuga, Seneka, and
Canadaqua. Lake Seneka, the largest, is about forty miles in length;
upon it there is a schooner-rigged vessel of seventy tons burthen
constantly employed. The shores of these lakes are more thickly settled
than the other part of the adjacent country, but the population of the
whole track lying between the rivers Genesee and Hudson, which are about
two hundred and fifty miles apart, is rapidly increasing. All this
country west of the Hudson River, together with that to the east,
comprehending the back parts of the states of Massachusetts and
Connecticut, and also the entire of the state of Vermont, are supplied
with European manufactures and West Indian produce, &c. &c. by way of
New York; not directly from that city, but from Albany, Hudson, and
other towns on the North River, which trade with New York, and which are
intermediate places for the deposit of goods passing to, and coming from
the back country. Albany, indeed, is now beginning herself to import
goods from the West Indies; but still the bulk of her trade is with New
York. Nothing can serve more to shew the advantages which accrue to any
town from an intercourse with the back country, than the sudden progress
of these secondary places of trade upon the North River. At Albany, the
number of houses is increasing as fast as at New York; at present there
are upwards of eleven hundred; and in Hudson city which was only laid
out in the year 1783, there are now more than three hundred and twenty
dwellings. This city is on the east side of the North River, one hundred
and thirty miles above its mouth. By means also of the North River and
Lake Champlain a trade is carried on with Montreal in Canada.
Footnote 9:
Six inhabitants may be reckoned for every house in the United States.
But to go on with the survey of the towns to the southward. In New
Jersey, we find Amboy, situated at the head of Raritan Bay, a bay not
inferior to any throughout the United States. The greatest
encouragements also have been held out by the state legislature to
merchants who would settle there; but the town, notwithstanding, remains
nearly in the state it was in at the time of the revolution: sixty
houses are all that it contains. New Brunswick, which is built on
Raritan River, about fifteen miles above its entrance into the bay,
carries on a small inland trade with the adjacent country; but the
principal part of New Jersey is naturally supplied with foreign
manufactures by New York on the one side, and by Philadelphia on the
other, the towns most happily situated for the purpose. There are about
two hundred houses in New Brunswick, and about the same number in
Trenton on Delaware, the capital of the state.
[Sidenote: VIEW OF THE TRADING TOWNS.]
Philadelphia, the largest town in the union, has evidently been raised
to that state of pre-eminence by her extensive inland commerce. On one
side is the river Delaware, which is navigable in sloops for thirty-five
miles above the town, and in boats carrying eight or nine tons one
hundred miles further. On the other side is the Schuylkill, navigable,
excepting at the falls, for ninety miles. But the country bordering upon
these rivers is but a trifling part of that which Philadelphia trades
with. Goods are forwarded to Harrisburgh, a town situated on the
Susquehannah, and from thence sent up that river, and dispersed
throughout the adjoining country. The eastern branch of Susquehannah is
navigable for two hundred and fifty miles above Harrisburgh. This place,
which in 1786 scarcely deserved the name of a village, now contains
upwards of three hundred houses. By land carriage Philadelphia also
trades with the western parts of Pennsylvania, as far as Pittsburg
itself, which is on the Ohio, with the back of Virginia, and, strange to
tell, with Kentucky, seven hundred miles distant.
Philadelphia, however, does not enjoy the exclusive trade to Virginia
and Kentucky; Baltimore, which lies more to the south, comes in for a
considerable share, if not for the greatest part of it, and to that is
indebted for her sudden rise, and her great superiority over Annapolis,
the capital of Maryland. Annapolis, although it has a good harbour, and
was made a port of entry as long ago as the year 1694, has scarcely any
trade now. Baltimore, situated more in the heart of the country, has
gradually drawn it all away from her. From Baltimore nearly the entire
of Maryland is furnished with European manufactures. The very
flourishing state of this place has already been mentioned.
[Sidenote: VIEW OF TRADING TOWNS.]
As the Patowmac river, and the towns upon it, are to come more
particularly under notice afterwards, we may from hence pass on to the
other towns in Virginia. With regard to Virginia, however, it is to be
observed, that the impolitic laws[10] which have been enacted in that
state have thrown a great damp upon trade; the Virginians too have
always been more disposed towards agriculture than trade, so that the
towns in that state, some of which are most advantageously situated,
have never increased as they would have done had the county been
inhabited by a different kind of people, and had different laws
consequently existed; still however we shall find that the most
flourishing towns in the state are those which are open to the sea, and
situated most conveniently at the same time for trading with the people
of the back country. On Rappahannock River, for instance, Tappahannock
or Hobb’s Hole was laid out at the same time that Philadelphia was.
Fredericksburgh was built many years afterwards on the same river, but
thirty miles higher up, and at the head of that part of it which was
navigable for sea vessels; the consequence of this has been, that
Fredericksburgh, from being situated more in the heart of the country,
is now four times as large a town as Hobb’s Hole.
Footnote 10:
For some account of them see Letter XIII.
York River, from running so closely to James River on the one side, and
the Rappahannock on the other, does not afford a good situation for a
large town. The largest town upon it, which is York, only contains
seventy houses.
Williamsburgh was formerly the capital of the state, and contains about
four hundred houses; but instead of increasing, this town is going to
ruin, and numbers of the houses at present are uninhabited, which is
evidently on account of its inland situation. There is no navigable
stream nearer to it than one mile and a half, and this is only a small
creek, which runs into James River. Richmond, on the contrary, which is
the present capital of the state, has increased very fast, because it
stands on a large navigable river; yet Richmond is no more than an
intermediate place for the deposit of goods passing to and from the back
country, vessels drawing more than seven feet water being unable to come
up to the town.
[Sidenote: VIEW OF TRADING TOWNS.]
The principal place of trade in Virginia is Norfolk. This town has a
good harbour, and is enabled to trade with the upper parts of the
country, by means of James River, near the mouth of which it stands. By
land also a brisk trade is carried on with the back parts of North
Carolina, for in that state there are no towns of any importance. The
entrance from the sea into the rivers in that state are all impeded by
shoals and sand banks, none of which afford more than eleven feet water,
and the passage over some of them is very dangerous from the sand
shifting. Wilmington, which is the greatest place of trade in it,
contains only two hundred and fifty houses. In order to carry on their
trade to North Carolina to more advantage, a canal is now cutting across
the Dismal Swamp, from Norfolk into Albemarle Sound, by means of the
rivers that empty into which, a water communication will be opened to
the remote parts of that state. Added to this, Norfolk, from its
contiguity to the Dismal Swamp, is enabled to supply the West Indian
market with lumber on better terms than any other town in the United
States. It is in consequence increasing with wonderful rapidity,
notwithstanding the disadvantages it labours under from the laws, which
are so inimical to commerce. At present it contains upwards of five
hundred houses, which have all been built within the last twenty years,
for in the year 1776 the town was totally destroyed by orders of Lord
Dunmore, then regal governor of Virginia.
Most of the rivers in South Carolina are obstructed at their mouths,
much in the same manner as those in North Carolina; at Charleston,
however, there is a safe and commodious harbour. From having such an
advantage, this town commands nearly the entire trade of the state in
which it is situated, as well as a considerable portion of that of North
Carolina. The consequence is, that Charleston ranks as the fourth
commercial town in the union. There are two rivers which disembogue on
each side of the town, Cooper and Ashley; these are navigable, but not
for a very great distance; however, from Cooper River a canal is to be
cut to the Santee, a large navigable river which runs a considerable way
up the country. Charleston has unfortunately been almost totally
destroyed by fire of late, but it is rebuilding very fast, and will most
probably in a few years be larger than ever.
The view that has been taken so far is sufficient to demonstrate, that
the prosperity of the towns in the United States is dependant upon their
trade, and principally upon that which is carried on with the interior
parts of the country; and also, that those towns which are most
conveniently situated for the purpose of carrying on this inland trade,
are those which enjoy the greatest share of it. It is now time to
examine more particularly how far the situation of the federal city is
favourable, or otherwise, for commerce: to do so, it will be necessary,
in the first place, to trace the course of the Patowmac River, on which
it stands, and also that of the rivers with which it is connected.
[Sidenote: PATOWMAC RIVER.]
The Patowmac takes its rise on the north-west side of Alleghany
Mountains, and after running in a meandering, direction for upwards of
four hundred miles, falls into the Chesapeak Bay. At its confluence with
the bay it is seven miles and a half wide; about thirty miles higher, at
Nominy Bay, four and a half; at Aquia, three; at Hallowing Point, one
and a half; and at Alexandria, and from thence to the federal city, it
is one mile and quarter wide. The depth of water at its mouth is seven
fathoms; at St. George’s Island, five; at Alexandria, four; and from
thence to Washington, seven miles distant, three fathoms. The navigation
of the Patowmac, from the Chesapeak Bay to the city, one hundred and
forty miles distant, is remarkable safe, and so plain that any navigator
of common abilities, that has once sailed up the river, might venture to
take up a vessel drawing twelve feet water without a pilot. This could
not be said of any other river on the continent, from the St. Lawrence
to the Mississippi. In its course it receives several large streams, the
principal one of which falls in at the federal city. This river is
called the Eastern Branch of the Patowmac; but it scarcely deserves that
name, as it extends no more than thirty miles up the country. At its
mouth it is nearly as wide as the main branch of the river, and close to
the city the water is in many places thirty feet deep. Thousands of
vessels might lie here, and sheltered from all danger, arising either
from freshes, or from ice upon the breaking up of a severe winter. Thus
it appears that the federal city is possessed of one essential
qualification for making it a place of importance, namely, a good
harbour, from which there is a ready passage to the ocean; it will also
appear that it is well situated for trading with the interior parts of
the country.
[Sidenote: WATER COMMUNICATIONS.]
The water in the Patowmac continues nearly the same depth that it is
opposite to the city for one mile higher, where a large rock rises up in
the middle of the river, on each side of which there are sand-banks. It
is said that there is a deep channel between this rock and the shore,
but it is so intricate that it would be dangerous to attempt to take a
large vessel through it. The navigation, however, is safe to the little
falls for river craft, five miles further on; here a canal, which
extends two miles and a half, the length of these falls or rapids, has
been cut and perfected, which opens a free passage for boats as far as
the great falls, which are seven miles from the others. The descent of
the river at these is seventy-six feet in a mile and quarter; but it is
intended to make another canal here also; a part of it is already cut,
and every exertion is making to have the whole completed with
expedition[11]. From hence to Fort Cumberland, one hundred and
ninety-one miles above the federal city, there is a free navigation, and
boats are continually passing up and down. Beyond this, the passage in
the river is obstructed in numerous places; but there is a possibility
of opening it, and as soon as the company formed for the purpose have
sufficient funds, it will certainly be done. From the place up to which
it is asserted the passage of the Patowmac can be opened, the distance
across land to Cheat River is only thirty-seven miles. This last river
is not at present navigable for more than fifty miles above its mouth;
but it can be rendered so for boats, and so far up that there will only
be the short portage that I have mentioned between the navigable waters
of the two rivers. Things are only great or small by comparison, and a
portage of thirty-seven miles will be thought a very short one, when
found to be the only interruption to an inland navigation of upwards of
two thousand seven hundred miles, of which two thousand one hundred and
eighty-three are down stream. Cheat River is two hundred yards wide at
its mouth, and falls into the Monongahela, which runs on to Pittsburgh,
and there receives the Alleghany River, united they form the Ohio, which
after a course of one thousand one hundred and eighty-three miles,
during which it receives twenty-four other considerable rivers, some of
them six hundred yards wide at the mouth, and navigable for hundreds of
miles up the country, empties itself into the Mississippi.
Footnote 11:
For a further description of these Falls see Letter XXXI in Volume II.
If we trace the water communication in an opposite direction, its
prodigious extent will be a still greater subject of astonishment. By
ascending the Alleghany River from Pittsburgh as far as French Creek,
and afterwards this latter stream, you come to Fort le Bœuf. This place
is within fifteen miles of Presqu’ Isle, a town situated upon Lake Erie,
which has a harbour capable of admitting vessels drawing nine feet
water. Or you may get upon the lake by ascending the Great Miami River,
which falls into the Ohio five hundred and fifty miles below Pittsburgh.
From the Great Miami there is a portage of nine miles only to Sandusky
River, which runs into Lake Erie. It is most probable, however, that
whatever intercourse there may be between the lakes and the federal
city, it will be kept up by means of the Alleghany River and French
Creek, rather than by the Miami, as in the last case it would be
necessary to combat against the stream of the Ohio for five hundred and
fifty miles, a very serious object of consideration.
[Sidenote: RIVERS AND LAKES.]
Lake Erie is three hundred miles in length, and ninety in breadth, and
there is a free communication between it, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan.
Lake Huron is upwards of one thousand miles in circumference; Michigan
is somewhat smaller. Numbers of large rivers fall into these lakes,
after having watered immense tracts of country in various directions.
Some of these rivers too are connected in a most singular manner with
others, which run in a course totally different. For instance, after
passing over the Lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Michigan, to the head of
Puan’s Bay, you come to Fox River; from hence there is a portage of
three miles only to Ouisconsing River, which empties itself into the
Mississippi; and in the fall of the year, when the waters are high, and
the rivers overflow, it is oftentimes possible to pass from Fox River to
Ouisconsing River without ever getting out of a canoe. Thus, excepting a
portage of three miles only at the most, it is possible to go the whole
way by water from Presqu’ Isle, on Lake Erie, to New Orleans, at the
mouth of the Mississippi, a distance of near four thousand miles. It
would be an endless talk to trace the water communication in every
direction. By a portage of nine miles at the Falls of Niagara, the
navigation of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence is opened on one side,
and at the other that of Lake Superior, by a still shorter portage at
the Falls of St. Mary. This last lake, which is at least fifteen hundred
miles in circumference, is supplied by no less than forty rivers; and
beyond it the water communication extends for hundreds of miles farther
on, through the Lake of the Woods to Lake Winnipeg, which is still
larger than that of Superior.
But supposing that the immense regions bordering upon these lakes and
rivers were already peopled, it is not to be concluded, that because
they are connected by water with the Patowmac, the federal city must
necessarily be the mart for the various productions of the whole
country. There are different sea-ports to which the inhabitants will
trade, according to the situation of each particular part of the
country. Quebec, on the river St. Lawrence, will be one; New York,
connected as has been shewn with Lake Ontario, another; and New Orleans
at the mouth of the Mississippi, which by the late treaty with Spain has
been made a free port, a third. The federal city will come in also for
its share, and what this share will be it now remains to ascertain.
[Sidenote: NATIONAL BANK.]
Situated upon the banks of the Patowmac, there are already two towns,
and both in the vicinity of the federal city. George Town, which
contains about two hundred and fifty houses; and Alexandria, with double
the number. The former of these stands about one mile above the city,
nearly opposite the large rock in the river, which has been spoken of;
the latter, seven miles below it. Considerable quantities of produce are
already sent down the Patowmac to each of these towns, and the people in
the country are beginning to look thither in return for a part of their
supply of foreign manufactures. It has been maintained, therefore, that
these two places, already in the practice of trading with the back
settlers, will draw the greater part of the country trade to themselves,
to the prejudice of the federal city. Both these towns have as great
advantages in point of situation as the city; the interests of the three
places therefore must unquestionably for a time clash together. It can
hardly be doubted, however, but that the federal city will in a few
years completely eclipse the other two. George Town can furnish the
people of the back country with foreign manufactures, at second hand
only, from Baltimore and Philadelphia; Alexandria imports directly from
Europe, but on a very contracted scale: more than two thirds of the
goods which are sent from thence to the back country are procured in the
same manner as at George Town. In neither place are there merchants with
large capitals; nor have the banks, of which there is one in each town,
sufficient funds to afford them much assistance; but merchants with
large capitals are preparing to move to the city. As soon also as the
seat of government is fixed there, the national bank, or at least a
large branch of it, will be established at the same time; this
circumstance alone will afford the people of the city a decided
advantage over those of Alexandria and George Town. Added to all, both
these towns are in the territory of Columbia, that is, in the district
of ten miles round the city which is to be subject to the laws and
regulations of congress alone; it may be, therefore, that encouragements
will be held out by congress to those who settle in the city, which will
be refused to such as go to any other part of the territory. Although
Alexandria and George Town, then, may rival the city while it is in its
infancy, yet it cannot be imagined that either of them will be able to
cope with it in the end. The probable trade of the city may for this
reason be spoken of as if neither of the other places existed.
[Sidenote: PROBABLE TRADE OF WASHINGTON.]
It may be taken for granted, in the first place, that the whole of the
country bordering upon the Patowmac river, and upon those rivers which
fall into it, will trade with the city of Washington. In tracing the
course of the Patowmac all these rivers were not enumerated; a better
idea of them may be had from an inspection of the map. Shenandoah, which
is the longest, is not navigable at present; but it has been surveyed,
and the company for improving the navigation of the Patowmac have stated
that it can be made so for one hundred miles. This would be coming very
near to Staunton, behind the Blue Mountains, and which is on the high
road from Kentucky, and from the new state of Tennessee, to the city of
Philadelphia. Frankfort, the capital of the former of these states, is
nearly eight hundred miles from Philadelphia; Knoxville, that of the
other, seven hundred and twenty-eight. Both these towns draw their
supplies of foreign manufactures from Philadelphia, and by landcarriage.
Supposing then that the navigation of the Shenandoah should be
perfected, there would be a saving of four hundred and thirty-six miles
of land carriage from going to Washington by the Shenandoah and Patowmac
instead of going to Philadelphia; such a saving, it might be imagined,
would draw the whole of this trade to Washington. Whether the two
western states, Kentucky and Tennessee, will trade to New Orleans or
not, at a future day, in preference to any of these places, will be
investigated presently.
[Sidenote: WATER CARRIAGE.]
By means of Cheat and Monongahela rivers it has been shewn, that an
opening may be obtained to Pittsburgh. This will be a route of about
four hundred and fifty miles from Washington, and in it there will be
one portage, from the Patowmac to Cheat River, of thirty-seven miles,
and perhaps two or three others; but these will be all very small. It
has been ascertained beyond doubt, that the Pittsburgh merchant can have
his goods conveyed from New York, by means of the Hudson and Mohawk
rivers, to Oswego, and from thence by the lakes Ontario and Erie, and
the Alleghany River, to Pittsburgh, for one third of the sum which it
costs him to transport them by land from Philadelphia. He prefers
getting them by land, because the route from New York, is uncertain; his
goods may be lost, or damaged, or delayed months beyond the time he
expects them. From Hudson River to the Mohawk is a portage of ten miles,
or thereabouts; and before they can get to Oswego are two or three more.
At Oswego the goods must be shipped on board a vessel suitable for
navigating the lakes, where they are exposed to tempests and contrary
winds. At the Falls of Niagara is a portage of nine miles more; the
goods must here be shipped again on board a vessel on Lake Erie, and
after arriving at Presqu’ Isle must be conveyed over another portage
preparatory to their being laden in a boat upon the Alleghany River. The
whole of this route, from New York to Pittsburgh, is about eight hundred
miles; that from the federal city not much more than half the distance;
if therefore the merchant at Pittsburgh can get his goods conveyed from
New York for one third of what he pays for the carriage of them by land
from Philadelphia, he ought not to pay more than one sixth of the sum
for their carriage from the federal city; it is to be concluded,
therefore, that he will avail himself of the latter route, as there will
be no objection to it on account of any uncertainty in the mode of
conveyance, arising from storms and contrary winds.
The people in Pittsburgh, and the western country along the waters of
the Ohio, draw their supplies from Philadelphia and Baltimore; but they
send the productions of the country, which would be too bulky for land
carriage, down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans. From Pittsburgh
to New Orleans the distance is two thousand one hundred and eighty-three
miles. On an average it takes about twenty-eight days to go down there
with the stream; but to return by water it takes from sixty days to
three months. The passage back is very laborious as well as tedious; on
which account they seldom think of bringing back boats which are sent
down from Pittsburgh, but on arriving at New Orleans they are broken up,
and the plank sold. These boats are built on the cheapest construction,
and expressly for the purpose of going down stream. The men get back the
best way they can, generally in ships bound from New Orleans to the
southern states, and from thence home by land. Now, if the passage from
the Ohio to the Patowmac is opened, it cannot be supposed that the
people in Pittsburgh and the vicinity will continue thus to send the
produce down to Orleans, from whence they cannot bring any thing in
return; they will naturally send to the federal city, from whence they
can draw the supplies they are in want of, and which is so much nearer
to them, that when the navigation is perfected it will be possible to go
there and back again in the same time that it requires merely to go down
to New Orleans.
[Sidenote: FLOODS AND EDDIES.]