176 
Frank Carney 
country they are influenced by certain relationships of topography 
in locating their homes and their villages. Some general princi- 
ples may be cited as representing these tendencies. 
In the first place, all the great cities of the world today are 
either on the sea, on estuaries leading tidal-waters some dis- 
tance into the land, or on the flood plains of rivers. In areas 
that are distant from the sea, the river-valleys usually deter- 
mine where the early abodes are to be. Travel across conti- 
nents is easier along the trenches that have been cut by the rivers ; 
if a different course is required, the divides are chosen. A map 
of the Indian trails that the white men discovered in Ohio shows 
that the Indians followed the divides quite as often as the val- 
leys; they wanted a lookout in their travels. This principle 
of river-valleys directing the early movements of men in Ohio 
may be illustrated by a study of the early cities of this state. 
Again, we very often find man planting his abodes and devel- 
oping his industry in areas marked by the confluence of river 
valleys, because, where streams unite, the flood plain is always 
broader, and the soil of the bottom land is richer. The early 
farms, therefore, can be larger and more productive. The most 
expensive farm land in Licking county is found in the very mature 
valley of what was probably the largest river that ever crossed 
central Ohio, a valley long out of use, except as portions of the 
present rivers follow segments of its course. 
FACTORS IN THE LOCATION AND GROWTH OF POPULATION 
CENTERS 
Early settlements in Ohio. During the early settlement of 
Ohio, the centers of population were very few and widely scat- 
tered. Invariably they were in agricultural regions. The pio- 
neers of Ohio were farmers. These early farm locations, so far 
as was allowable under the conditions of the grants acquired by 
the land companies, were contiguous to routes that led the pio- 
neers into the state. Of these routes, the Ohio river was the one 
that was most dependable all the year round; therefore, the loca- 
tion of the earliest farms in Ohio was often decided by the point at 
which the pioneer reached the Ohio river. If he came directly 
from the east, approaching the river from the present site of 
Pittsburg or of Wheeling, he was probably attracted by some of 
