Why is the Hudson so important to early American history?
The Hudson was one of the first great rivers that explorers came upon when they arrived in the New World. Its banks already supported a rich indigenous culture that had been here for centuries. The Hudson led into the uncharted interior. For the Dutch in the 17th century, it led to the riches of the fur trade. It was the first line of defense in the American Revolutionabout a third of the battles of the war were fought in the Hudson Valley. It was the great gateway to the west, especially after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. It was the river of Americas first writers, James Fenimore Cooper and Washington Irving and as this show demonstrates, it inspired Americas first great landscape painters. Everyone who encountered it was inspired by its ineffable beauty. Q: And isnt the Hudson still a history-maker? In the late 20th century, the river became a battleground for environmentalists, starting in 1964 when public opposition arose against plans to build a hydroelectric facility at
