Hudson’s river

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Ever since the Dutch erected their first fort along its banks, Hudson's River has been of vital importance to both the survival and success of Albany. Described as "a most copious and majestic stream," it teemed with a variety of wildlife that provided food for the inhabitants and, just as important, was easily navigable so that it became the main artery of trade.

For a century, the sloops, canoes and "battoes" (shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boats used to transport cargo) of merchants and traders had plied the waters between Albany and New York City, bringing commodities and exportable goods to market. After the finish of the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the local economy was further stimulated by the influx of immigrants and newly available markets. As Albany slowly began to dominate the regional "carrying" trade, city officials in 1765 found it advantageous to construct large docks and develop the waterfront - creating the modern docking facilities required by a major inland port. For young, ambitious men like Philip Schuyler, involvement in commercial activities based on producing and shipping goods was the way to accumulate wealth.

Schuyler's river transport businesses began in 1762 when upon his return from England (where he was entrusted to settle Colonel John Bradstreet's war accounts), he was presented with a schooner that Bradstreet had built for him. With this vessel, Schuyler began to export lumber and grain from his Saratoga estate, and eventually expanded his enterprise to include pickled herring, which he sent as far as the West Indies. Exactly how much he profited in these early years is not entirely known, but it was an auspicious beginning for future prosperity.

It might be difficult to imagine Hudson's River as Schuyler would have known it in 1765. While once as broad as "two musket shots," much of the river near Albany today has been filled in, erasing the original shores. The riverfront where Schuyler's schooner and other sloops may have docked now lies beneath modern buildings and the voices of the river men have been replaced by the sound of traffic and motorboats.

Yet a vestige of the "serenely majestic stream" might be found and you are invited to listen to a riverfront where Schuyler might have fished or hunted, caught the ferry to the eastern shore, and where he would have seen the sails and rowers of many vessels bound for distant places.

audio files

#11 HUDSON’S RIVER

#12 PATH ALONG THE RIVERFRONT

#13 ON THE “BATTOE”

#14 MEAT FOR THE PIE

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schuyler’s city