ABSTRACT
WITH its continental expanse and vast inland distances the United States was from the beginning peculiarly dependent upon river transportation. Sale crops were of little value unless they could be taken to market without great expense. As but few products could bear the cost of land carriage over appreciable distances, the rivers proved the only economical routes of commerce for early inland settlements. It was said in 1818 that two thirds of the market crops of South Carolina were raised within five miles of a river and the other third not more than ten miles from navigable water. 1 Though possibly somewhat exaggerated, this picture of dependence upon river transportation applied equally well to the rest of the country and properly emphasizes the dependence upon waterways.
