The grain farmers in the Allegheny region shipped their wheat down the river on flatboats, Amos--what they couldn't sell, they turned into whiskey.

Incidentally, this event is generally only briefly described in in histories(like most events), and then skewed for the purposes of another overarching point (much in the way our much beloved Mr. Bridge has done here)--for those who are entertained by history, here is an account of The Whiskey Insurrection which rich in detail and local color, and which takes what, at first seems
a ridiculous episode, and illuminates it in a way that both edifies and delights--