The Harlem River is an 8-mile tidal strait flowing between the Hudson River and East River and separating the island of Manhattan from The Bronx on the New York mainland. The Native Americans once used the river for fishing and oystering, but most of the land along the river was acquired by Dutch in the 17th century, and then by the English, who pushed out the Dutch during the Anglo-Dutch Wars. In 1693, the first crossing over the river was built, beginning a long history of bridge construction and physical alterations of the river. In 1895, the Harlem River Ship Canal was dug between Manhattan and Marble Hill, and the original course was filled in in 1914.