the Alleghenies was proposed, and a Maryland (Cumberland) route was chosen by the commissioners appointed by President Jefferson, it seemed probable that Maryland's lead in the matter of trade was about to be materially increased.
But Pennsylvania, as we have seen, had been an early promoter of inland navigation; its "Society for promoting the improvement of roads and inland navigation" in 1791, had called specific attention to the rivers which should be made important routes of an expanding commerce. Among the most important recommendations of this society was that looking to the improvement of Pennsylvania's great western waterway, the Susquehanna River and its tributary, the Juniata. This latter stream interlocked, beyond the Allegheny crest, with the roaring Conemaugh, a tributary of the Kiskiminitas and Ohio. And in response to this appeal we have seen that £5,250 was appropriated to the improvement of Susquehanna navigation from Wright's Ferry to the mouth of Swatara Creek. As Philadelphia was the commercial center, the route thence by water
