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The Oneida Carry was an important link in the main 18th century trade route between the Atlantic seaboard of North America and interior of the continent. From Schenectady, near Albany, New York on the Hudson River, cargo would be carried upstream along the Mohawk River using boats known as ''bateaux''. At the location at modern-day Rome, New York, the cargo and boats would be portaged one to four miles overland to Wood Creek. This portage was known as the ''Oneida Carry'' or as ''The Great Carrying Place''. After relaunching into Wood Creek, the ''bateaux'' would navigate downstream to Oneida Lake, the Oswego River, and ultimately Lake Ontario at Oswego. Lake Ontario was the gateway to all the Great Lakes stretching another thousand miles inland. The only other significant waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the continental interior was the Saint Lawrence River, which flows northeast out of Lake Ontario to Montreal and Quebec City. Thus for nearly a hundred years movement of military goods, trade goods, and other supplies into and out of the continental interior required control over the Oneida Carry. The Carry was strategically important in the colonial wars between Great Britain and France, in the American Revolution, and in the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States, and the City of Rome, New York was founded there in 1796. Its military importance declined with the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, after which it became just one of many "ports". ==Early development and the French and Indian War== Interest in improving transportation across the Oneida Carry began as early as 1702 when native Americans petitioned Governor Cornbury to have improvements made to allow easier passage of boats.〔 Synopsis from a still earlier book.〕〔 Transcript of a talk given to the Canal Society of New York.〕 As at this time the Oneida Carry was nothing more than a path between the two bodies of water. Although important to trade it wasn't until the beginning of the French and Indian War that the Oneida Carry was finally improved with fortifications, supplies, and dams. Following the failure of British campaign plans in 1755, a chain of forts along the Mohawk River and up to Lake Ontario were garrisoned during the winter of 1755–1756 to protect the route from a French Invasion and provide a staging area for the invasion of New France. The largest garrison was left at Fort Oswego, at the end of the chain, which depended on the others for its supplies. The two forts occupying either end of the Oneida Carry were a key element of this supply chain. Fort Williams, on the Mohawk, was the larger of the two, while Fort Bull, on Wood Creek, was little more than a palisade surrounding storehouses. In March 1756 this palisade, holding a large amount of supplies for Fort Oswego, would be the scene of the first battle, known to history, to take place on the Oneida Carry. The Battle of Fort Bull lasted only one day, but saw the entire fortification, and the supplies within, destroyed when its Powder Magazine exploded.〔. First published in 1884; see the book's article, ''Montcalm and Wolfe'', for other editions.〕 Starting in May 1756 the British refortified the Oneida Carry by adding Fort Craven, Fort Newport, and Fort Wood Creek. However, these forts would only remain until August 1756, when they were destroyed by the British themselves in anticipation of a massive attack by the French Army and Marines after the capture of Fort Oswego. Direct control of the Oneida Carry by the British would not be re-established until two years later with the construction of Fort Stanwix in August 1758.〔(【引用サイトリンク】first=William )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Oneida Carry」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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