INLAND WATERWAYS AND HISTORY 



191 



Revolution. If in the Revolution the British could have 

 obtained control of the Hudson, they would have effectu- 

 ally separated the colonists in the north from those in the 



OLD FORT DEARBORN 



Photographed from a model owned-by the Chicago Historical Society. 

 This fort on the Chicago River fostered the trading post that developed 

 into the city of Chicago. 



south and would probably have been able to crush each 

 separately. 



The Mississippi River served for years as the only artery 

 of transportation from the interior of the country to the 

 sea. When Spain held the mouth of this river and Con- 

 gress was unable or unwilling to exert itself to obtain the 

 privilege for American boats to pass to the sea, it seemed 

 for a time that the sturdy colonists along the Ohio and 

 Mississippi would either form an independent country 



