In the solution of this problem of diverting trade probably the
factor of greatest importance, next to open pathways through the
mountain barriers, was the rich stock-breeding ground lying
between the Delaware and the Susquehanna rivers, a region
occupied by the settlers familiarly known as the Pennsylvania
Dutch
In the solution of this problem of diverting trade probably the
factor of greatest importance, next to open pathways through the
mountain barriers, was the rich stock-breeding ground lying
between the Delaware and the Susquehanna rivers, a region
occupied by the settlers familiarly known as the Pennsylvania
Dutch. In this famous belt, running from Pennsylvania into
Virginia, originated the historic pack-horse trade with the ‘far
Indians’ of the Ohio Valley. Here, in the first granary of
America, Germans, Scotch-Irish, and English bred horses worthy of
the name. ‘Brave fat Horses’ an amazed officer under Braddock
called the mounts of five Quakers who unexpectedly rode into camp
as though straight ‘from the land of Goshen.’ These animals,
crossed with the Indian ‘pony’ from New Spain, produced the wise,
wiry, and sturdy pack-horse, fit to transport nearly two hundred
pounds of merchandise across the rough and narrow Alleghany
trails. This animal and the heavy Conestoga horse from the same
breeding ground revolutionized inland commerce.
