182 The National Geographic Magazine 



larger phases of our manufacturing de- 

 velopment practically coincides with 

 those colors on a density-of-population 

 map showing forty or more inhabitants 

 to a square mile. Naturally we have 

 not developed large manufacturing in 

 areas that average a fewer number of 

 persons. If we look at a map of our 

 irrigation centers we may see today a 

 large number of them scattered over the 

 plateau region. But those dots repre- 

 sent only small areas of irrigated land. 

 Perhaps we shall never see the irriga- 

 tion centers largelyincreased in number 

 but many of the dots on the present 

 maps will spread out into broad or long 

 patches of color representing very im- 

 portant areas of reclaimed lands. 



RIVER VALLEYS AS LINES OF 

 DEVELOPMENT 



River valleys have always facilitated 

 the advance of man into the interior of 

 the continents and for this reason the 

 Nile, the Euphrates, the Ganges and 

 other great rivers are spoken of as the 

 creators of history. Exploration is usu- 

 ally retarded wherever physical obstacles 

 make it very difficult to ascend the rivers, 

 such as the rapids of the Mekong and 

 the Congo ; the latter river was known 

 less than 200 miles from its mouth until 

 Stanley launched his boats on the upper 

 river and floated down the stream. Our 

 rivers also have been the creators of his- 

 tory. Just as the Jesuit Fathers paddled 

 their canoes up the St. Lawrence and 

 the Ottawa, carried them across portages 

 to rivers leading to the Great Lakes, 

 followed up the western tributaries of 

 Lake Michigan and finally pushed their 

 little craft into the current of the Mis- 

 sissippi, so our forefathers used the 

 rivers and lakes to push their hamlets 

 and their farm lands inland ; and reach- 

 ing out on both sides of the waterways 

 they found new opportunities for settle- 

 ment and enterprise. The old Dutch 

 burghers lined the Hudson with their 

 farms and villages. In the course of 



time the settlements spread farther and 

 farther from the river edge. The pio- 

 neers, for example, pushed up on the 

 great limestone plateau of the Catskills 

 to see what they might find. They dis- 

 covered fine forests of hemlock and the 

 day came when immigrants from Con- 

 necticut and other regions went to the 

 Catskills for the primary purpose of 

 using hemlock bark to turn into leather 

 the hides produced by farmers. As the 

 population of the valley steadily in- 

 creased it was certain that a town would 

 rise at the head of navigation on the 

 Hudson ; for wherever an important 

 amount of transshipment of freight be- 

 tween land and water is made there 

 must be freight handlers, blacksmith 

 shops, living accommodations, and fod- 

 der and shelter for animals ; a town is 

 sure to rise at such a place and thus 

 Albany and Troy were founded at the 

 head of navigation. The valley of the 

 Mohawk was discovered opening an easy 

 route of penetration to the west. The 

 gradually growing stream of immigrants 

 pushed westward clearing farms, and 

 founding settlements along the Mo- 

 hawk ; following up a little tributary of 

 the river some of them made their way 

 into the forests of Fulton count} - where, 

 finding plenty of deer, they began to 

 dress buckskin and make gloves for 

 which the}' found a ready market. The 

 farmers' wives and daughters took up 

 the industry in increasing numbers and 

 finally skilled labor from Europe came 

 over and taught better methods of glove- 

 making ; so the industry grew until 

 today we have Gloversville and the 

 towns around it, the greatest centers of 

 glove-making in the country. 



Entering the Onondaga valley from 

 the Mohawk the pioneers found the salt 

 springs of Syracuse, long the largest 

 source of salt in the country ; Oswego 

 on lake Ontario is one of the oldest set- 

 tlements in New York because the early 

 farmers found along the Oswego river a 

 natural route of penetration from Syra- 



