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  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Champlain-Hudson 
  valleys 
  to 
  tidewater. 
  The 
  former 
  of 
  these 
  

   routes* 
  — 
  that 
  through 
  the 
  Mohawk 
  valley 
  — 
  Avas 
  the 
  pathway 
  from 
  

   the 
  east 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  when 
  the 
  white 
  man 
  first 
  came. 
  Here 
  the 
  

   Iroquois 
  warriors 
  journeyed 
  back 
  and 
  forth, 
  and 
  here, 
  where 
  the 
  

   Dutch 
  patroons 
  built 
  with 
  the 
  fur 
  trade 
  the 
  early 
  beginnings 
  of 
  

   what 
  is 
  now 
  a 
  vast 
  interstate 
  commerce, 
  is 
  the 
  great 
  highway 
  of 
  

   today. 
  At 
  Rome, 
  the 
  highest 
  point 
  on 
  the 
  divide 
  between 
  the 
  

   Mohawk 
  river 
  and 
  the 
  Great 
  Lakes 
  drainage, 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  

   ground 
  is 
  only 
  430 
  feet 
  above 
  tidewater. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  lowest 
  pass 
  

   from 
  the 
  Adirondacks 
  to 
  Alabama; 
  all 
  other 
  lines 
  of 
  communica- 
  

   tion 
  rise 
  to 
  much 
  higher 
  altitudes 
  than 
  this. 
  Hence, 
  it 
  was 
  inevi- 
  

   table 
  that 
  New 
  York 
  State, 
  by 
  virtue 
  of 
  position 
  alone, 
  should 
  

   become 
  a 
  great 
  manufacturing 
  State. 
  

  

  Let 
  us 
  see 
  wh}^ 
  the 
  great 
  waterpowers, 
  indispensable 
  to 
  the 
  

   development 
  of 
  manufacturing, 
  happen 
  to 
  be 
  located 
  on 
  the 
  direct 
  

   line 
  of 
  greatest 
  commercial 
  activity. 
  The 
  explanation 
  is 
  partly 
  

   geologic 
  and 
  partly 
  topographic, 
  or, 
  if 
  we 
  consider 
  topography 
  

   a® 
  an 
  outcome 
  of 
  geology, 
  then 
  the 
  explanation 
  is 
  all 
  geologic. 
  

  

  Favorable 
  natural 
  conditions. 
  New 
  York 
  State 
  is 
  great 
  in 
  

   water 
  resources, 
  not 
  only 
  by 
  virtue 
  of 
  her 
  position 
  between 
  the 
  

   Atlantic 
  ocean 
  and 
  the 
  Great 
  Lakes, 
  but 
  because 
  topographic, 
  

   geologic 
  and 
  climatic 
  conditions 
  have 
  combined 
  to 
  make 
  her 
  the 
  

   highway 
  of 
  commerce 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  manufacturing 
  center 
  of 
  the 
  

   United 
  States. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  contributing 
  causes 
  to 
  this 
  position 
  

   may 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  her 
  mountain 
  systems, 
  affording 
  great 
  water 
  

   centers, 
  from 
  which 
  large 
  streams 
  descend 
  to 
  the 
  neighboring 
  low- 
  

   lands, 
  affording 
  large 
  opportunities 
  for 
  the 
  economic 
  development 
  

   of 
  waterpower, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  insuring 
  an 
  adequate 
  supply 
  of 
  potable 
  

   water 
  to 
  her 
  towns 
  .and 
  municipalities. 
  

  

  As 
  regards 
  waterpower, 
  the 
  other 
  chief 
  contributing 
  causes 
  are 
  

   the 
  possession, 
  as 
  part 
  of 
  her 
  domain, 
  of 
  the 
  Niagara 
  and 
  St 
  Law- 
  

   rence 
  rivers, 
  with 
  their 
  extensive 
  waterpower 
  development. 
  

  

  A 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  climatology 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  shows 
  that 
  in 
  nearly 
  

   every 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  the 
  amount 
  and 
  distribution- 
  of 
  the 
  rain- 
  

  

  