238 FORT OSWEGO. 



parably the most valuable and splendid of all colonial 

 possessions. 



Resting upon the port of New York, as a basis of 

 supply by sea, the British northern line of communica- 

 tions, 150 years ago, was the Hudson River to Albany ; * 

 thence it divided into two branches : the first via the 

 Upper Hudson to Lakes George and Champlain, and 

 thence to the St. Lawrence : the other via the Mohawk 

 River thence by a short portage to a narrow channel 

 called " Woods Creek, " which gave access by a series 

 of lakes and streams for a distance of nearly 300 miles 

 to Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario. Such in brief were 

 their main trade-routes with the great lakes, and the 

 whole of the mighty western wilderness, f 



The possession of Oswego by the British was found 

 to be ruinous to the French fur*trade with the Indians, 

 for the British gave the western Indians, who brought 

 their peltries to exchange for goods, both better 

 prices and better goods than the French, and their 

 business was much more skilfully conducted than that 

 of their rivals there was far less of red tape and 

 fewer vexatious restrictions upon trade than there were 

 in Canada under the old regime. The British Indian 

 trade at Oswego and Albany in consequence flourished 

 exceedingly, and above all, by fair dealing and a judi- 

 cious Indian policy, the friendship of almost the whole 

 of the native tribes inhabiting the shores of the great 



* Distance 144 miles by water. 



-j- There were two ancient passes from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, 

 thus giving access to the Mississippi and great internal river systems. 

 The first of these was via Sandusky Creek to the head waters of the 

 Sioto, which was navigable for large boats 200 miles to the Ohio; the 

 other via the Miami River and down the Wabash to the Ohio, a dis- 

 tance of 412 miles. These were the ancient trade-routes marked upon 

 the old maps. 



