American pioneers crossed the Alleghenies into western Pennsylvania to take land, escape the law, and get rich growing grain.

They could have carried 600 kilograms of grain east across the mountains on six pack animals, on deer trails, taking many weeks. They could sell that grain for $6 in east-coast markets like New York.

But pioneers were smarter than that. Instead, they distilled their grain into 30 kg of whiskey, with the remaining mash to feed to animals. They could pack three barrels of whiskey on one pack animal, and sell each barrel for $16 back east, tripling the value of the product and increasing increasing dollars per transported kilogram 50-fold.

But pioneers were even smarter than that. Rather than sell the whiskey, they traded it for beaver furs trapped by the Iroquois, typically one fur per quart of whiskey. 30 furs (weighing only 20 kg) were worth $240 at the docks. Furs were transported to Europe, turned into hats, and sold for even more money. That money paid to ship more immigrants to America.

In time, America had many immigrants, and was depleted of beavers and Iroquois.