GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY OF THE SCHOHARIE VALLEY 333 



Chapter 8 . • 



PHYSIOGRAPHY OF THE SCHOHARIE REGION 



We have hitherto spoken of the hills of the Schoharie region 

 as the most dominant topographic feature of the district. And 

 so they appear when looked at from the point of view of the 

 ordinary observer in the valley bottoms. To the inhabitants of 

 this region, since the days of its occupancy by the Indian, the 

 broad bottom lands margining the principal streams have been 

 the chief attraction, partly because of their great fertility, and 

 partly because of the ease with which communication between 

 settlements could be established on the level country. The hill- 

 sides and uplands are the last conquered portion of the region, 

 and even now have only been partially subjugated. The diffi- 

 culty of maintaining the roads, which of necessity follow the 

 streams by which the hillsides are dissected and which are 

 therefore subject to continual washouts by strong rains or by 

 the streams themselves, was a potent factor in the retardation 

 of the hillside settlement. This difficulty can be readily appre- 

 ciated if one follows the little frequented, and therefore poorly 

 mended roads which lead up over some of the hillsides, or the 

 abandoned roads which not infrequently have become stream beds. 

 Settlements being, then, in the valley bottoms, or more sparingly 

 along the valleys of streams laterally incising the hills, it is not 

 surprising that the Schoharie region is generally conceded to 

 have a mountainous topography. Yet if one climbs to the sum- 

 mits of some of the higher hills, where a comprehensive view of 

 the uplands may be obtained, the surprise of a moderately undu- 

 lating high plateau is met with. So uniform is the altitude to 

 which the apparently irregular hilltops rise, and so relatively 

 inconspicuous are the incisions in this upland, that, provided the 

 observer stands high enough, the sky line will appear a nearly 

 level one. This is specially noticed if one looks from a sufficient 

 altitude across the valley to the opposite line of hills. Only one 



