The Hudson River is, in 1666, the north–south axis of the east coast of North America: a broad river navigable upstream to Albany, along which the region’s ports, towns, trade and disputes are arranged.
| Type | Place |
| Spanish entry | Río Hudson |
Description
It is “a wide river”, averaging about a kilometer locally: barely half a mile in places, nearly 5 miles at its widest. It runs between middling, “half-mountainous” hills. Near the sea it is “really more sea than river”, a salty estuary. At its widest it is crossed by “a strange bridge that has no arches”.
The stretch that matters runs nearly 300 miles, from the bay that “will in the future be New York and for now is New Amsterdam” to Albany, where navigation ends:
- Lower: the estuary called the Drowned Rivers, around New Amsterdam: salt water, port and commercial capital.
- Middle: the wide river between mountains, with the archless bridge and raft and canoe crossings; slow traffic makes piracy viable.
- Upper: toward Albany, with rapids, rocky barriers and “the last bridge”, limit of the difficult passage. Crossing it puts one “in the other part of the continent’s territory”.
Trade
The Hudson is “one of the few that can be navigated upstream”. This makes it the route inland and “all the trade of the River”, and the reason for Manhattan as a port and for where settlements lie.
In 1666 it is crossed by raft or canoe; bridges are exceptions. Bandits and pirates attack river travelers and harm the people of Acadia. The riverside speaks English and Dutch; knowing these rather than Spanish shows one has met no Spaniards on the way.
Settlements
Small towns lie inland, 10 to 20 miles from the river, for unrecorded reasons; Red Larch is “an easy 20 miles” away. The Algonquins were a tribe living on its banks.
Open questions
- The archless bridge’s material, support and location, and whether it is “the last bridge”, are unknown.
- Whether the bandits and pirates are one band or two, and where they shelter, is unclear.
- Who controls river traffic, and its tolls, are unrecorded.
- The upper rapids and rocky barriers are unnamed and unlocated.