按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
Century Limited。
We may understand something of what the lure of the West meant to Washington when we learn that in order to carry out his proposed journey after the Revolution； he was compelled to refuse urgent invitations to visit Europe and be the guest of France。 〃I found it indispensably necessary；〃 he writes； 〃to visit my Landed property West of the Apalacheon Mountains。。。。 One object of my journey being to obtain information of the nearest and best communication between Eastern & Western waters； & to facilitate as much as in me lay the Inland Navigation of the Potomack。〃
On September 1； 1784； Washington set out from Mount Vernon on his journey to the West。 Even the least romantic mind must feel a thrill in picturing this solitary horseman； the victor of Yorktown； threading the trails of the Potomac； passing on by Cumberland and Fort Necessity and Braddock's grave to the Monongahela。 The man； now at the height of his fame； is retracing the trails of his boyhoodcovering ground over which he had passed as a young officer in the last English and French warbut he is seeing the land in so much larger perspective that； although his diary is voluminous； the reader of those pages would not know that Washington had been this way before。 Concerning Great Meadows； where he first saw the 〃bright face of danger〃 and which he once described gleefully as 〃a charming place for an encounter；〃 he now significantly remarks： 〃The upland； East of the meadow； is good for grain。〃 Changed are the ardent dreams that filled the young man's heart when he wrote to his mother from this region that singing bullets 〃have truly a charming sound。〃 Today； as he looks upon the flow of Youghiogheny； he sees it reaching out its finger tips to Potomac's tributaries。 He perceives a similar movement all along the chain of the Alleghanies： on the west are the Great Lakes and the Ohio； and reaching out towards them from the east； waiting to be joined by portage road and canal； are the Hudson； the Susquehanna； the Potomac； and the James。 He foresees these streams bearing to the Atlantic ports the golden produce of the interior and carrying back to the interior the manufactured goods of the seaboard。 He foresees the Republic becoming homogeneous； rich； and happy。 〃Open ALL the communication which nature has afforded；〃 he wrote Henry Lee； 〃between the Atlantic States and the Western territory； and encourage the use of them to the utmost。。。and sure I am there is no other tie by which they will long form a link in the chain of Federal Union。〃
Crude as were the material methods by which Washington hoped to accomplish this end； in spirit he saw the very America that we know today； and he marked out accurately the actual pathways of inland commerce that have played their part in the making of America。 Taking the city of Detroit as the key position； commercially； he traced the main lines of internal trade。 He foresaw New York improving her natural line of communication by way of the Mohawk and the Niagara frontier on Lake Eriethe present line of the Erie Canal and the New York Central Railway。 For Pennsylvania； he pointed out the importance of linking the Schuylkill and the Susquehanna and of opening the two avenues westward to Pittsburgh and to Lake Erie。 In general； he thus forecast the Pennsylvania Canal and the Pennsylvania and the Erie railways。 For Maryland and Virginia he indicated the Potomac route as the nearest for all the trade of the Ohio Valley； with the route by way of the James and the Great Kanawha as an alternative for the settlements on the lower Ohio。 His vision here was realized in a later day by the Potomac and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal； the Cumberland Road； the Baltimore and Ohio Railway； and by the James…Kanawha Turnpike and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway。
Washington's general conclusions are stated in a summary at the end of his Journal； which was reproduced in his classic letter to Harrison； written in 1784。 His first point is that every State which had water routes reaching westward could enhance the value of its lands； increase its commerce； and quiet the democratic turbulence of its shut…in pioneer communities by the improvement of its river transportation。 Taking Pennsylvania as a specific example； he declared that 〃there are one hundred thousand souls West of the Laurel Hill； who are groaning under the inconveniences of a long land transportation。。。。 If this cannot be made easy for them to Philadelphia。。。they will seek a mart elsewhere。。。。 An opposition on the part of ＇that＇ government。。。would ultimately bring on a separation between its Eastern and Western settlements； towards which there is not wanting a disposition at this moment in that part of it beyond the mountains。〃
Washington's second proposal was the achievement of a new and lasting conquest of the West by binding it to the seaboard with chains of commerce。 He thus states his point： 〃No well informed mind need be told that the flanks and rear of the United territory are possessed by other powers； and formidable ones toonor how necessary it is to apply the cement of interest to bind all parts of it together； by one indissoluble bondparticularly the middle States with the Country immediately back of themfor what ties let me ask； should we have upon those people； and how entirely unconnected should we be with them if the Spaniards on their right or Great Britain on their left； instead of throwing stumbling blocks in their way as they do now； should invite their trade and seek alliances with them？〃
Some of the pictures in Washington's vision reveal； in the light of subsequent events； an almost uncanny prescience。 He very plainly prophesied the international rivalry for the trade of the Great Lakes zone； embodied today in the Welland and the Erie canals。 He declared the possibility of navigating with oceangoing vessels the tortuous two…thousand…mile channel of the Ohio and the Mississippi River； and within sixteen years ships left the Ohio； crossed the Atlantic； and sailed into the Mediterranean。 His description of a possible insurrection of a western community might well have been written later； it might almost indeed have made a page of his diary after he became President of the United States and during the Whiskey Insurrection in western Pennsylvania。 He approved and encouraged Rumsey's mechanical invention for propelling boats against the stream； showing that he had a glimpse of what was to follow after Fitch； Rumsey； and Fulton should have overcome the mighty currents of the Hudson and the Ohio with the steamboat's paddle wheel。 His proposal that Congress should undertake a survey of western rivers for the purpose of giving people at large a knowledge of their possible importance as avenues of commerce was a forecast of the Lewis and Clark expedition as well as of the policy of the Government today for the improvement of the great inland rivers and harbors。
〃The destinies of our country run east and west。 Intercourse between the mighty interior west and the sea coast is the great principle of our commercial prosperity。〃 These are the words of Edward Everett in advocating the Boston and Albany Railroad。 In effect Washington had uttered those same words half a century earlier when he gave momentum to an era filled with energetic but unsuccessful efforts to join with the waters of the West the rivers reaching inland from the Atlantic。 The fact that American engineering science had not in his day reached a point where it could cope with this problem successfully should in no wise lessen our admiration for the man who had thus caught the vision of a nation united and unified by improved methods of transportation。
CHAPTER II。 The Red Man's Trail
For the beginnings of the paths of our inland commerce； we must look far back into the dim prehistoric ages of America。 The earliest routes that threaded the continent were the streams and the tracks beaten out by the heavier four…footed animals。 The Indian hunter followed the migrations of the animals and the streams that would float his light canoe。 Today the main lines of travel and transportation for the most part still cling to these primeval pathways。
In their wanderings； man and beast alike sought the heights； the passes that pierced the mountain chains； and the headwaters of navigable rivers。 On the ridges the forest growth was lightest and there was little obstruction from fallen timber； rain and frost caused least damage by erosion； and the winds swept the trails clear of leaves in summer and of snow in winter。 Here lay the easiest paths for the heavy； blundering buffalo and the roving elk and moose and deer。 Here； high up in the sun； where the outlook was unobstructed and signal fires could be seen from every direction； on the longest watersheds； curving around river and swamp； ran the earliest travel routes of the aboriginal inhabitants and of their successors； the red men of historic times。 For their encampments and towns these peoples seem to have preferred the more sheltered ground along the smaller streams； but； when they fared abroad to hunt； to trade； to wage war； to seek new； material for pipe and amulet； they followed in the main the highest ways。
If in imagination one surveys the eastern hal