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 CHAPTER III

HE strategic value of the "Great Pass" from New York by way of the Hudson, Lakes George and Champlain, and the Richelieu River has already been emphasized. The important military points on the route were the portages from the Hudson to Lake George, from Lake George to Lake Champlain, the narrows at Crown Point, and the portage from Chambly to La Prairie on the St. Lawrence. These portages are marked on numerous early maps; the Hudson–Lake George portage is quite accurately drawn on Colonel Romer's Map of 1700. From that year on throughout the century the greater accuracy with which it is mapped illustrates its growing importance.

One of the most interesting early descriptions of this famous pass is given on a