Trading with the Indians 



(from an old print) 



AFTER painstaking research, the exact spot on 

 which this trading station stood, has been 

 verified without a shadow of doubt. Careful 

 excavation has disclosed many interesting 

 relics and the complete foundations — the size 

 and type of building have been revealed. 



Located on the south side of Cape Cod, at the begin- 

 ning of the ancient Manamet* portage across the isthmus 

 near the mouth of Manamet River, now the western end 

 of the Cape Cod Canal, at Bourne, Massachusetts, it 

 furnished for many years a central trading point between 

 the Indians of Long Island Sound, the English at Ply- 

 mouth, the Dutch from New York, and the French from 

 Canada via the Connecticut River. 



From the correspondence of Governor Bradford, and 

 from his history "Of Plimoth Plantation," it has been found 

 that this Trading Post not only played a most vital part 

 in the financial struggles of the early settlers, but appears 

 to have been what can truthfully be called the Cradle of 

 American Commerce. 



In the spring of 1627 — 301 years ago — the leaders of 

 the Plymouth Colony decided that if the debts of the 

 plantation were to be liquidated, the trade of the colony 

 would have to be placed in the hands of a syndicate which 

 would and could control the entire situation, assume all 

 debts and pay them off in a much shorter time than if 

 each member of the company were to trade on his own ac- 

 count. 



They drew up what has, so far, proved to have been the 

 first business contract written and signed in America. This 

 contract (given verbatim in Governor Bradford's Letter 

 Book), specifically establishing this Trading Post, repre- 

 sents the beginning of orderly, well-organized business in 

 this country. In view of the present world-wide develop- 

 ment of our great industries and the creation on this side 



*The Indian word meaning "Trail of the burden carriers.' 



