Zambezi Region with the United Kingdom. Leo von Caprivi arranged for the Caprivi strip to be annexed to German South West Africa in order to give Germany access to the Zambezi River as part of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty. The German motivation behind the swap was to acquire a strip of land linking German South West Africa with the Zambezi River, providing easy access to Tanganyika (Tanzania) and an outlet to the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately for the Germans, the British colonisation of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe and Zambia) stopped them well upstream of Victoria Falls, which proved a considerable barrier to navigation on the Zambezi.
Fall River Bleachery decided to locate the new bleachery at the mouth of Sucker Brook, where it flowed into South Watuppa Pond, in the southeast corner of the city of Fall River. The Sucker Brook is fed by Stafford Pond, a spring-fed water body in nearby Tiverton, Rhode Island. Its water was exceptionally pure with a high flow rate. The bleachery mills were soon constructed from native Fall River granite found on the site. The factory was designed so that the water from the brook could flow through the facility without the need for pumping. Jefferson Borden was chosen as the first president