Since roads were few and usually poorly maintained, lakes, rivers, and streams became the highways of colonial America. The Mohawk River formed a natural break in the Appalachian Mountain chain that runs from Maine to Georgia. It linked the Hudson River in the east with Wood Creek, Oneida Lake, the Oswego River, and Lake Ontario in the west. By carrying boats and their cargo around obstructions in these waterways or from one waterway to another, travelers could reach the interior of the continent. Settlers, travelers, merchants, and soldiers on the Mohawk River favored bateaux.