Binghamton and Upper Susquehanna

Binghamton and Upper Susquehanna. Historic New York. The valleys of the Upper Susquehanna River were natural routes for Indians, traders and settlers. Oquaga, near Windsor, was an Indian fur-trading post, and became an objective of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign of 1779. From a dam at the outlet of Otsego Lake, flood waters were released to float General James Clinton's troops down the river to join General Sullivan's forces from Pennsylvania at Tioga. They defeated the Tories and Indians at Newtown, near Elmira, and devastated the Indian settlements of western New York, thus securing this area for the United States. In 1785 an Indian treaty opened this region for settlement., Many settlers of the Southern Tier counties of New York came from Pennsylvania. A Philadelphia merchant and landholder, William Bingham, gave his name to the city of Binghamton. In 1837 the Chenango canal connected the Erie Canal with the Pennsylvania coal regions, and in 1848 the Erie Railroad opened communication with metropolitan New York, and later through to the Great Lakes. Important manufactures have included cigars, shoes, leather goods, photographic materials and business machines.