[Illustration: THE PORTAL OF THE CANAL]
This river, now obliterated by the Cape Cod canal, had its origin in
Great Herring Pond in the Plymouth woods and flowed by a rather
circuitous route into Buzzards Bay at a point near the present
railroad bridge over the canal.
It was in 1627 that the colonists established a trading post on the
banks of this river, the exact point being known and marked. It was
on the south side of the river a short distance south of the Bourne
bridge spanning the canal. This structure was built for the purpose
of facilitating their intercourse with the Narragansett country, New
Amsterdam (New York), and the shores of Long Island sound. By
transporting their goods up the creek from Scusset harbor (Sandwich)
and transferring them to what is now Bournedale by land, they
reached the boatable waters of the Manomet (or Monument) river and
the open waters of Buzzards Bay.
Governor Bradford says; "For our greater convenience of trade, to
discharge our engagements, and to maintain ourselves, we built a
small pinnace at Manomet, a place on the sea, twenty miles to the
south, to which by another creek on this side, we transport our
goods by water within four or five miles and then carry them
overland to the vessel; thereby avoiding the compassing of Cape Cod
with those dangerous shoals, and make our voyage to the southward
with far less time and hazzard.
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