The Raritan River

The Raritan River. . , The Raritan Indians lived in this valley. Indian trails from the Hudson to the Delaware and from the mountains to the sea crossed the river near here., Henry Hudson discovered the Raritan in 1609 and the English settled at Piscataway in 1667., New Brunswick, where the ford was and later a ferry, was settled by Dutch and English about 1680. It was granted a city charter by George II in 1730., Rutgers University, called Queens College until 1825, was granted a charter from George III in 1766., Washington was in the city in 1775 on his way to take command of the army at Cambridge and in 1776 with his army in retreat. Here in camp after the battle of Monmouth he celebrated the fourth of July 1778 and here in 1781 he united his forces for march to final victory at Yorktown. The British under Cornwallis and Howe occupied the city December 1776 to June 1777., The Raritan River was an important waterway for colonial travel and trade, for early steam navigation, and from 1834 for great traffic of the Delaware and Raritan Canal.