Geography of Ohio 391 



Kentucky and flowed northward through the present Scioto 

 valley; from the vicinity of Manchester, to Portsmouth, the Ohio 

 follows the valley of the former river. For a few miles north of 

 Waverly the Scioto follows the valley of this old stream, in re- 

 versed direction; the river formed by the union of the Portsmouth 

 and the Kanawha has been named the Chillicothe, the buried 

 course of which is supposed to run west of north for some distance, 

 then in a more westerly direction, uniting with another buried 

 river in or near Mercer county. From the east, between Chilli- 

 cothe and Columbus, the Chillicothe received two tributaries. 

 The northern of these has been called Vernon river, as Mt. 

 Vernon is situated in its old valley. The southern stream is 

 named the Newark river, which was formed by the junction 

 of tributaries in Coshocton county, and flowed westward past 

 Dresden, Hanover, and Newark; the Muskingum today leaves 

 this old valley in the vicinity of Dresden and flows southward 

 through Zanesville, entering the Ohio at Marietta. In part of 

 Muskingum county, and continuing into Licking county for a 

 few miles west of Newark, this abandoned valley is a very 

 obvious topographic feature. 



The map of the former drainage lines of Ohio shows a river 

 rising probably in Tuscarawas county, and flowing through Akron, 

 north along the valley now occupied by the Cuyahoga river. South 

 of Akron the drift is very level, giving no suggestion of the valley 

 carving which it covers. 



The Grand river is but a small portion of an old river which 

 flowed northward; the present stream follows the former valley 

 for a short distance. This old stream, the Pittsburg river, drained 

 much of western Pennsylvania, and had its origin in West Vir- 

 ginia, being identical, south of Pittsburg, with the Monongahela. 

 From the vicinity of Beaver, Pa., two branches have been traced 

 southward; the easternmost passed the present site of Pittsburg; 

 the course of the western branch is followed by the valley of the 

 present Ohio to the vicinity of Wheeling and possibly as far south 

 as Monroe county. Parts of the Allegheny were also included in 

 the Pittsburg river basin, which is drained today by portions of 

 the following rivers: Grand, Mahoning, Allegheny, Monongahela, 

 and Ohio. 



The above-mentioned rivers carved the main valleys in the 

 former river basins of Ohio. These had numerous tributaries, 



