HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE 65 



EARLY ROUTES AXD MEANS OF TRAVEL 



Of the early routes of travel, the Hudson and the 

 Moliawk valleys have been mentioned. At the pres- 

 ent site of Eome was the portage to Wood Creek 

 from which Oneida Lake and the Seneca and Oswego 

 rivers were accessible and led to the Finger Lakes 

 and Lake Ontario. The rivers, lakes and the other 

 parallel valleys opened the way to the middle hill 

 region. From Utica a line of travel led up Black 

 Eiver to the Jefferson County region. The Lake 

 George and Lake Champlain valleys opened up the 

 country to the north. In lower New York, low 

 passes led through the Catskills to the headwaters 

 of the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers on which 

 it was possible to float down stream into the new 

 country. The boats were also pushed up these rivers 

 by poles. From the Susquehanna its westerly tribu- 

 taries could be followed into the hill regions of lower 

 western New York, past Elmira and Hornell to the 

 headwaters of the Genesee River. In western New 

 York, the Genesee River was followed up to the pres- 

 ent region of Belmont or beyond, from which it was 

 possible to push a short distance overland to the Alle- 

 gheny River at Olean. 



Many of these routes were traversed later by a 

 canal and still later by railroads. The first canal 

 in America is said to have been constructed in Orange 

 County in 1750. The great movement for the con- 

 struction of canals began about 1790 and was pushed 

 during the next twenty years both by the elder and 



