GeograpMj of Ohio 405 



which through Canada and northern Ohio now form connections 

 that reach to the Pacific. The most natural and therefore easiest 

 approach to Ohio from the Atlantic is across New York State, but 

 it was not the route taken by the first settlers who came into 

 Ohio. 



Mississippi river. Ohio may also be entered from the west, 

 through a door as wide as the distance between Lake Erie and the 

 Ohio river. An explorer ascending the Mississippi, following 

 the Ohio to the east, and one of its larger tributaries to the north, 

 would have found an easy portage to the Maumee, thence into 

 northwestern Ohio. Joliet appears to have entered Ohio from 

 the west, but it is not known where he crossed what is now the 

 state line. 



Appalachian gaps. The fourth route into Ohio is one 

 which, as far as settlement is concerned, was the first used, the 

 route across the Appalachian mountains, gradually rising many 

 hundred feet above sea level, and then slowly dropping into the 

 low plateau and the plains beyond. The altitude of the Appa- 

 lachians was formidable; their rugged wilderness condition, 

 extending three hundred miles when crossed by the most direct 

 route and much longer when crossed by other passes, was forbid- 

 ding. Traders and adventurers occasionally worked their way 

 over the barrier; but colonists did not attempt it till compelled 

 to do so. 



Every river that enters the Atlantic was tried for "South Sea" 

 affiliations, during the days of exploration. Each explorer 

 thought: this is the strait that will lead me through the barrier 

 of land between European markets and the wealth of the East. 

 The Potomac was thus explored; it did not lead to the silks and 

 spices of Asia, but later was effectively used both for canal and 

 railroad to transport the far more valuable coal and grain of the 

 Allegheny plateau and Mississippi basin. 



The Potomac rises near the Cumberland pass, on the west 

 side of which the pioneer had a choice of route, either northward 

 down the Youghiogheny and Monongahela to Pittsburgh, or 

 more directly westward towards Wheeling. This pass through 

 the Appalachians was much used, used even by emigrants from 

 New England. The route itself did not attract settlers, for the 

 mountains were rough, and the valleys heavily wooded; the emi- 

 grants therefore pushed westward into the plains beyond. The 



