rise seems
to have been suggested to Washington as early as the year 1753, after
his celebrated trip from Jamestown to Fort Duquesne as an envoy of
Governor Dinwiddie. At the close of the Revolutionary war he made an
arduous and personal exploration of the country for many hundred miles.
He kept a journal in which were minutely recorded his conversations with
all intelligent persons he met respecting the facilities for internal
navigation afforded by the rivers rising in the Alleghany Mountains and
flowing either east or west. Returning to Mount Vernon October 4, 1784,
he wrote, as the result of his observations, to the then governor of
Virginia, the father of William Henry Harrison: "I shall take the
liberty now, my dear sir, to suggest a matter which would (if I am not
too short-sighted a politician) mark your administration as an important
era in the annals of this country. It has been my decided opinion that
the _shortest_, _easiest_ and _least expensive_ communication with the
invaluable and extensive country back of us would be by one or both of
the rivers of this State which have their sources in the Appalachian
Mountains." General Washington, on the 26th of August, 1785, became the
first president of the company authorized by the legislation which he
had suggested previously to Governor Harrison. It is well known that the
same views entertained by Washington and Jefferson were held and
advocated by Mr. Madison, long before the most prescient statesman could
descry the faintest image of that colossal empire of population, wealth
and rapid development now lying west of the Alleghanies.

For the great future water-ways which are needed for the Western, the
North-western and the Mississippi Valley trade there are several routes
that have been demonstrated to be practicable. One of these is by a
projected canal to connect the Coosa River with the Alabama River, and
thence following that stream to the Gulf of Mexico. This, if ever
carried out, as eventually it is probable will be the case, would avoid
the bars and dangers of the navigation of the lower Mississippi, and in
a measure obviate the necessity of the proposed sub-canals in Louisiana
and other engineering expedients to remove or turn the very serious
river-obstacles to an outlet south of New Orleans. Another proposal is
to connect the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers, and to run a canal from the
latter to the Ocmulgee or Savannah River, and thence by the use of slack