How to Use
the Map

Table of
Contents

Through central New York flows a river starting just north of present day Rome, New York. This river is known as the Mohawk River. The river flows east to Albany. The Mohawk River has rich agricultural lands bordering its entire length. These agricultural lands were highly prized by European settlers.

Just one mile to the west of the bend of the Mohawk River is Wood Creek. Wood Creek flows west to Oneida Lake. Oneida Lake continues to flow west to the Oswego River and the Oswego River flows out to Lake Ontario. Between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek is a span of level ground. People traveling from east to west, or west to east, could carry their water craft over this land through Oneida Nation Territory. This portage area was known as the Great Carry or the Oneida Carry. The portage area was between 1 to 6 miles in length depending on the season and the amount of water in the river and creek.

For centuries this route served as an important avenue for travel and trade for Native-Americans, and later European settlers. The Iroquois, French, Dutch, British and Americans all prospered from the trade through this area.

Questions for Map 1

1. Examine Map 1. Start at New York City. Follow the Hudson River north to Albany. Find where the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers intersect. Once the Mohawk River is located, follow the Mohawk River west to where the river turns north. Find Wood Creek and follow it west to Oneida Lake, the Oswego River, and then out to Lake Ontario. By following this route you will see one of the major travel and trade routes from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes.

2. Locate a current New York State road map. How do the modern automobile routes compare to the 18th century water routes?

3. Analyze the physical features in Map 1. What features blocked travel from the east coast to the Great Lakes?

4. What features in New York State allowed for easier travel?

* The map on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a high quality version of Map 1, but be aware that the file may take as much as 25 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.