Following Henry Hudson’s voyage in 1609, the Dutch established a trading post near the future site of Albany in 1614, and permanent settlement was made at Fort Orange, Albany, in 1624. Esopus, Kingston, was settled in 1653, and other villages followed in the next centuries. Huge land grants begun with the Van Rensselaer patroonship and followed by the Livingston, Philipse, and Van Cortlandt manors in the 17th century gave the valley an aristocratic quality. French Huguenot, German Palatine, Dutch, and English farmers then came and cultivated wheat and flax. In the 1840’s, tenants protested the manorial survivals in Antirent riots. River transport was strategically important in the Revolution, although the British never gained control of the Hudson. Sailing sloops and, after Robert Fulton’s Clermont in 1807, steamboats carried passengers and freight. Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, and Hudson were seaports from which, until the middle of the 19th century, whaling expeditions ventured to distant waters. The lordly Hudson inspired writers like Washington Irving and the Hudson River School of artists, including Thomas Cole. Imposing residences and some unique structures contributed to the valley’s enchantment. Scenic beauty, natural resources, rich history, and economic assets combined to make the Hudson a great waterway.