The building (trading post) seen today is a replica erected on the original foundation archeologically excavated in the 1920s. The site was located through references found in Governor William Bradfords history of Plimoth Plantation and the correspondence of Isaac De Rasiere, secretary to the Dutch governor of Manhattan.It was in 1626 that leaders of Plimoth Plantation signed a contract with their English backers agreeing to assume the colonys debts in return for a monopoly on trade with the areas Native Americans; as the first such contract on record it earned for Aptucxet the title Cradle of American Commerce.The trading post was established where it is for several reasons. Before the construction of the Cape Cod Canal, two small rivers separated by a short portage served as a safe short cut from Cape Cod Bay to Buzzards Bay. While the Manomet River flowed into Buzzards Bay and thus gave access by water to Dutch New Amsterdam, the Scusset River fed Cape Cod Bay.The Native American encampment closest to Plimoth Plantation was located at Herring Run, about three miles up the Manomet River from Aptucxet (about midway between the present Bourne and Sagamore Bridges).