Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

HUDSON RIVER

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 853 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

HUDSON See also:RIVER , the See also:principal river of New See also:York See also:state, and one of the most important highways of See also:commerce in the See also:United States of See also:America. It is not a river in the truest sense of the word, but a river valley into which the ocean See also:water has been admitted by subsidence of the See also:land, transforming a large See also:part of the valley into an inlet, and thus opening it up to See also:navigation. The Hudson lies entirely in the state of New York, which it crosses in a nearly See also:north-and-See also:south direction near the eastern boundary of the state. The See also:sources of the river are in the wildest part of the Adirondack Mountains, in See also:Essex See also:county, north-eastern New York. There are a number of small See also:mountain streams which contribute to the headwater See also:supply, any one of which might be considered the See also:main stream; but assuming the highest collected and permanent See also:body of water to be the true See also:head, the source of the Hudson is See also:Lake See also:Tear-of-the-Clouds, which lies near See also:Mount See also:Marcy at an See also:elevation of about 4322 ft. This small mountain stream flows irregularly southward with a fall of 64 ft. per mile in the upper 52 See also:miles, then, from the mouth of North See also:Creek to the mouth of the Sacondaga, at the See also:rate of nearly 14 ft. per mile. In this part of its course the Hudson has many falls and rapids, and receives a number of mountain streams as tributaries, the largest being See also:Indian river, Schroon river and Sacondaga river. Below the mouth of the Sacondaga the Hudson turns sharply and flows eastward for about 12 m., passing through the mountains, and leaping over several falls of See also:great height and beauty. At Glens Falls there is a fall of about 50 ft.; and just below this, at Sandy See also:Hill, the river again turns abruptly, and for the See also:rest of its course to New York See also:Bay flows almost due south. There are numerous falls and rapids between Glens Falls and See also:Troy which are used as a source of See also:power and are the seats of busy manufacturing See also:plants. Several large tributaries join this part of the river, including See also:Batten Kill, See also:Fish Creek, Hoosic river and the See also:Mohawk, which is the largest of all the tributaries to the Hudson, and contributes more water than the main river itself. From Troy to the mouth of the Hudson the river is tidal, and from this point also the river is navigable, not because of the river water itself, but because of the See also:low grade of the river See also:bed by which the See also:tide is able to back up the water sufficiently to See also:float See also:good-sized boats.

From See also:

Albany, 6 m. below Troy, to the mouth of the Hudson, a distance of 145 m., there is a See also:total fall of only 5 ft. It is this See also:lower, tidal, navigable portion of the Hudson that is of so much importance and See also:general See also:interest. Numerous tributaries enter this part of the Hudson from both the See also:east and the See also:west, the largest and most important being the Wallkill which enters at See also:Kingston. In general there is in this part of the river a broad upper valley with a much narrower See also:gorge cut in its bottom, with its See also:rock See also:floor below See also:sea level and drowned by the entrance of the sea. Although this is true in a general way, the See also:character of the river valley varies greatly in detail from point to point, under the See also:influence of the See also:geological structure of the enclosing rock walls. Most of these See also:variations may be included in a threefold See also:division of the lower Hudson valley. The uppermost of these extends from the south-eastern See also:base of the Adirondack Mountains to the See also:northern portal of the See also:Highlands in Dutchess and See also:Ulster counties. This is a See also:lowland region of See also:ancient Paleozoic rocks. Into the upper portion of this See also:section of the river the non-tidal Hudson is depositing its load of detritus, See also:building a See also:delta below Troy. This, shifted about by the currents, has interposed an obstacle to navigation which has called for extensive dredging and other See also:work, for the purpose of maintaining a navigable channel. The width of the tidal river varies somewhat, being about 300 yds. at Albany and thence to the the Mohawk. The Dutch See also:place-names of the region clearly show the significance of this See also:early use of the Hudson See also:highway.

Later, in See also:

wars, and notably in the See also:American See also:War of See also:Independence, and American War of 1812, the valley became a region of great strategic importance. This was increased by the fact that from the Hudson near Sandy Hill there are two low gaps into the northern See also:country, one along the valley occupied by Lake See also:George, the other into the Lake See also:Champlain valley. The See also:divide between this part of the Hudson and Lake Champlain is only 147 ft. above sea level, and a depression of the land of only 200 ft. in the region between Albany and the St See also:Lawrence river would convert the Hudson and Champlain valleys into a navigable strait having a See also:depth sufficient for the largest vessels. Movements of armies across these gaps were noteworthy events in the wars between the United States and the See also:French and See also:British; but See also:modern commerce has made far less significant use of this highway, mainly because the gaps See also:lead to a region of little economic importance, and thence to the boundary See also:line of a See also:foreign country. Far more important has been the highway westward along the Mohawk, which has cut a See also:gap across the mountains that has been the most useful of all the gaps through the Appalachians. It has been useful in exploration, in war and in commerce, the latter especially because it leads to the fertile interior and to the waterway of the Great Lakes. By the See also:Erie See also:canal the river is connected with Lake Erie, with a See also:branch to Lake See also:Ontario, and other branches to smaller lakes. The Champlain canal connects the Hudson with Lake Champlain. Although these canals are far less used than formerly, the Hudson is still a busy highway for navigation. It is of interest to See also:note that it was on the Hudson that See also:Fulton, the inventor of See also:steam navigation, made his first successful experiment; and that it was along this same highway, from Albany, that one of the first successful See also:railways of the country was built. A railway line now runs parallel to each See also:bank of the Hudson, the New York Central & Hudson River on the eastern See also:side and the West See also:Shore on the western side, each with connexions to the north, east and west, and each turning westward along the Mohawk to See also:Buffalo. It is largely because of the importance of this highway of commerce, by water and by See also:rail, from the See also:coast to the interior, that the greatest and densest See also:population in the United States has gathered at the seaward end of the route in New York See also:City, See also:Jersey City, See also:Hoboken and other places on and near New York Bay, making one of the leading See also:industrial and commercial centres of the See also:world.

Highlands varying from 300 yds. to 900 yds. The scenery in this part of the river, though not tame, is a little monotonous, the gently sloping hills, with the variegated See also:

colours of See also:wood and cultivated land, and the occasional occurrence of a See also:town or See also:village being repeated without any marked feature to break their regularity. See also:Thirty miles from Troy See also:noble views begin to be obtained of the See also:Catskill Mountains towering up behind the west bank, the nearest See also:eminence at the distance of about 7 m. Along the immediate See also:banks of the river are great beds of See also:clay which is extensively used in the manufacture of See also:brick; and the brick-burning plants and huge See also:ice houses are conspicuous features in the landscape. Although the river freezes in the See also:winter, so that ice-boating is a favourite winter See also:sport, the summer See also:climate is warm enough for the cultivation of grapes and other fruits, which is aided to a considerable extent by the influence of the large body of water en-closed between the valley walls, which tends to retard both early and See also:late frosts, and thus to extend the growing See also:season. In addition to smaller towns and villages, there are a number of larger towns and cities, including Hudson and Catskill, nearly opposite each other, and farther down Kingston and the thriving city of See also:Poughkeepsie. Near the extreme end of this section of the Hudson lies the city of See also:Newburgh, a See also:short distance below which, at See also:Cornwall Landing, the river enters the Highlands, the second division of the tidal part of the Hudson and far the grandest of all. The river enters the northern portals of the Highlands between a See also:series of hills whose frequently precipitous sides rise often abruptly from the water's edge. For about 16 m. the river is bordered by steeply rising hills, giving picturesque and striking views of great variety. These are due to the fact that the river here is See also:crossing a See also:belt of ancient crystalline rocks of moderately high See also:relief, comparable in geological structure to the Adirondack region. The views in this part of the river, often compared with those along the See also:Rhine, are of a character in some respects unparalleled, and at several points they have an impressiveness and surprising grandeur rarely equalled. About 10 m. after the Highlands are entered West Point is reached, a favourite landing-place of tourists and the seat of the United States Military See also:Academy, from whose grounds See also:fine views of the river may he had.

This point is historically interesting as the seat of Fort See also:

Putnam, now in ruins, built during the American War of Independence, at which See also:time a See also:chain was stretched across the river to prevent the passage of British See also:ships. The third and lowest section of the tidal part of the Hudson extends from the lower end of the Highlands to New York Bay. This is a region of ancient and metamorphic Paleozoic rocks on the eastern side, and mainly Triassic rocks on the west. Because of their less resistance to denudation, these rocks have permitted a broadening of the valley in this part of the course. Just below See also:Peekskill the river broadens out to See also:form See also:Haverstraw Bay, at the extremity of which is the headland of Croton Point. Below this is the wider expanse of Tappan Bay, which has a length of 12 M. and a breadth of from 4 to 5 in., while below this bay the river narrows to a breadth between 1 and 2 M. On Tappan Bay stands Tarry-town, famous both historically and from its connexion with See also:Washington See also:Irving, whose cottage of Sunnyside is in the vicinity. At Piermont, where the bay ends, the range named the Palisades rises picturesquely from the water's edge to the height of between 300 and goo ft., extending along the west bank for about 20 m., the opposite shore being level and dotted with hamlets, villages and towns. The Palisades are a See also:lava rock of the variety called See also:trap, which has been intruded as a See also:sheet into the Triassic sandstones, and, on cooling, has See also:developed the prismatic jointing which is so much more perfectly seen at Fingal's See also:Cave in See also:Scotland and See also:Giant's See also:Causeway in See also:Ireland. It is this imperfect hexagonal jointing that has given rise to the name " palisade," applied to the range whose See also:face fronts the lower Hudson. At its mouth the Hudson both broadens and branches, forming a series of islands and an excellent See also:harbour, owing to the fact that the sinking of the land here has permitted the sea to fill the valleys and even to See also:flood low divides. A submerged valley, traceable over the See also:continental shelf, south-east of New York, is commonly believed to represent an earlier course of the Hudson when the land stood 2000 or 3000 ft. higher than at See also:present, and when the inner gorge above New York was being excavated.

Although the Hudson river has a total length of only about 300 m., and a drainage See also:

area of but 13,370 sq. m., it has been one of the most significant factors in the development of the United States. With an excellent harbour at its mouth, and navigable See also:waters leading into a fertile interior for a distance of 15o m., it early invited exploration and See also:settlement. Verrazano proceeded a short distance up the Hudson in.a See also:boat in 1524; but the first to demonstrate its extent and importance was See also:Henry Hudson, from whom it derives its name. He sailed above the mouth of the Mohawk in See also:September 1609. The Dutch later explored and settled the valley and proceeded westward along For references to articles on the physiography of the Hudson river see R. S. Tarr, See also:Physical See also:Geography of New York State (New York; 1902), pp. 184-190. For See also:Pleistocene conditions see J. B. Wood-See also:worth, Ancient Water Levels of the Champlain and Hudson Valleys (Albany, 1905), N.Y. State Museum, Bulletin 84.

For facts concerning water supply see See also:

Surface Water Supply of the Hudson, See also:Passaic, Raritan and See also:Delaware River Drainages (1907), being U.S. Geological Survey, Water Supply See also:Paper, No. 202. For relation between physiography and See also:history see chapters in E. C. Semple's American History and its Geographic Conditions (See also:Boston, 1903); A. P. Brigham, Geographic Influences in American History (Boston, 1903), and From Trail to Railway through the Appalachians (Boston, 1907). See also E. M. See also:Bacon, The Hudson River (New York, 1902); W. E.

Verplanck and M. W. See also:

Collyer, Sloops of The Hudson: See also:Sketch of the Packet and See also:Market Sloops of the Last See also:Century (New York, 1908), D. L. Buckman, Old Steamboat Days on the Hudson River (New York, 1907), and See also:Clifton See also:Johnson, The Picturesque Hudson (New York, 19o9). (R. S. T.) HUDSON'S BAY See also:COMPANY, or " the See also:Governor and Company of Adventurers of See also:England trading into Hudson's Bay,"_ a See also:corporation formed for the purpose of importing into Great See also:Britain the furs and skins which it obtains, chiefly by See also:barter, from the See also:Indians of British North America. The trading stations of the Company are dotted over the immense region (excluding See also:Canada proper and See also:Alaska), which is bounded E. and W. by the See also:Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and N. and S. by the See also:Arctic Ocean and the United States. From these various stations the furs are despatched in part to posts in Hudson Bay and the coast of Labrador for transportation to England by the Company's ships, and in part by steamboat or other conveyances to points on the railways from whence they can be conveyed to See also:Montreal, St See also:John, N.B., or other Atlantic See also:port, for shipment to See also:London by See also:Canadian Pacific Railway Company's See also:mail ships, or other line of steamers, to be sold at See also:auction. In the See also:year 1670 See also:Charles II. granted a See also:charter to See also:Prince See also:Rupert and seventeen other noblemen and gentlemen, incorporating them as the " Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay," and securing to them " the See also:sole See also:trade and commerce of all those seas, straits, bays, See also:rivers, lakes, creeks and sounds, in whatsoever See also:latitude they shall be, that See also:lie within the entrance of the straits commonly called Hudson's Straits, together with all the lands and territories upon the countries, coasts and confines of the seas, bays, &c., aforesaid, that are not already actually possessed by or granted to any of our subjects, or possessed by the subjects of any other See also:Christian prince or state." Besides the See also:complete lordship and entire legislative, judicial and executive power within these vague limits (which the Company finally agreed to accept as meaning all lands watered by streams flowing into Hudson Bay), the corporation received also the right to " the whole and entire trade and See also:traffic to and from all havens, bays, creeks, rivers, lakes and seas into which they shall find entrance or passage by water or land out of the territories, limits or places aforesaid." The first settlements in the country thus granted, which was to be known as Rupert's Land, were made on See also:James Bay and at See also:Churchill and See also:Hayes rivers; but it was See also:long before there was any advance into the interior, for in 1749, when an unsuccessful See also:attempt was made in See also:parliament to deprive the Company of its charter on the plea of " non-user," it had only some four or five forts on the coast, with about 120 See also:regular employes. Although the commercial success of the enterprise was from the first immense, great losses, amounting before 1700 to £217,514, were inflicted on the Company by the French, who sent several military expeditions against the forts.

After the cession of Canada to Great Britain in 1763, See also:

numbers of See also:fur-traders spread over that country, and into the north-western parts of the See also:continent, and began even to encroach on the Hudson's Bay Company's territories. These individual speculators finally combined into the North-West Fur Company of Montreal. The fierce competition which at once sprang up between the companies was marked by features which sufficiently demonstrate the advantages of a See also:monopoly in commercial dealings with savages, even although it is the See also:manifest interest of the monopolists to retard the advance of See also:civilization towards their See also:hunting grounds. The Indians were demoralized, body and soul, by the abundance of ardent See also:spirits with which the See also:rival traders sought to attract them to themselves; the supply of furs threatened soon to be exhausted by the indiscriminate slaughter, even during the breeding season, of both male and See also:female animals; the worst passions of both whites and Indians were inflamed to their fiercest (see RED RIVER SETTLEMENT). At last, in 1821, the companies, mutually exhausted, amalgamated, obtaining a See also:licence to hold for 21 years the monopoly of trade in the vast regions lying to the west and north-west of the older company's See also:grant. In 1838 the Hudson's Bay Company acquired the sole rights for itself, and obtained a new licence, also for 21 years. On the expiry of this it was not renewed, and since 1859 the See also:district has been open to all. The licences to trade did not of course affect the See also:original possessions of the Company. Under the terms of the See also:Deed of Surrender, dated See also:November 19th, 1869, the Hudson's Bay Company surrendered " to the See also:Queen's Most Gracious See also:Majesty,' all the rights of See also:Government, and other rights, privileges, liberties, franchises, See also:powers and authorities, granted or purported to be granted to the said Government and Company by the said recited Letters Patent of His Late Majesty See also:King Charles II.; and also all similar rights which may have been exercised or assumed by the said Governor and Company in any parts of British North America, not forming part of Rupert's Land or of Canada, or of British See also:Columbia, and all the lands and territories within Rupert's Land (except and subject as in the said terms and conditions mentioned) granted or purported to be granted to the said Governor and Company by the said Letters Patent," subject to the terms and conditions set out in the Deed of Surrender, including the See also:payment to the Company by the Canadian Government of a sum of £300,000 See also:sterling on the See also:transfer of Rupert's Land to the Dominion of Canada, the retention by the Company of its posts and stations, with a right of selection of a See also:block of land adjoining each See also:post in conformity with a See also:schedule annexed to the Deed of Surrender; and the right to claim in any township or district within the Fertile Belt in which land is set out for settlement, grants of land not exceeding one-twentieth part of the land so set out. The boundaries of the Fertile Belt were in terms of the Deed of Surrender to be as follows:—" On the south by the United States' boundary; on the west by the Rocky Mountains; on the north by the northern branch of the See also:Saskatchewan; on the east by Lake See also:Winnipeg, the Lake of the See also:Woods, and the waters connecting them," and " the Company was to he at See also:liberty to carry on its trade without hindrance, in its corporate capacity; and no exceptional tax was to be placed on the Company's land, trade or servants, nor any import See also:duty on goods introduced by them previous to the surrender." An See also:Order in See also:Council was passed confirming the terms of the Deed of Surrender at the See also:Court of See also:Windsor, the 23rd of See also:June 1870. In 1872, in terms of the Dominion Lands See also:Act of that year, it was mutually agreed in regard to the one-twentieth of the lands in the Fertile Belt reserved to the Company under the terms of the Deed of Surrender that they should be taken as follows: " Whereas by See also:article five of the terms and conditions in the Deed of Surrender from the Hudson's Bay Company to the See also:Crown, the said Company is entitled to one-twentieth of the lands surveyed into Townships in a certain portion of the territory surrendered, described and designated as the Fertile Belt. " And whereas by the terms of the said deed, the right to claim the said one-twentieth is extended over the See also:period of fifty years, and it is provided that the lands comprising the same shall be determined by lo', and whereas the said Company and the Government of the Dominion have mutually agreed that with a view to an equitable See also:distribution throughout the territory described, of the said one-twentieth of the lands, and in order further to simplify the setting apart thereof, certain sections or parts of sections, alike in numbers and position in each township throughout the said Territory, shall, as the townships are surveyed, be set apart and designated to meet and See also:cover such one-twentieth: " And whereas it is found by computation that the said one-twentieth will be exactly met, by allotting in every fifth township two whole sections of 64o acres each, and in all other townships one section and three quarters of a section each, therefore " In every fifth Township in the said Territory; that is to say: in those townships numbered 5, TO, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and soon in regular See also:succession northerly from the See also:International boundary, the whole of sections Nos.

8 and 26, and in each and every of the other townships the whole of section No. 8, and the south See also:

half and north-west See also:quarter of section 26 (except in the cases hereinafter provided for) shall be known and designated as the lands of the said Company." See G. See also:Bryce, Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company (London. 1900) ; and A. C. See also:Laut, See also:Conquest of the great Northwest; being the See also:story of the adventurers of England known as Hudson's Bay Co. (New York, 1909).

End of Article: HUDSON RIVER

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
HUDSON BAY (less often, but more correctly, HUDSON'... 		[next]
HUDSON, GEORGE (180o-1871)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries