Still others went by boat from Boston to New York,
Philadelphia, or Baltimore, in order to approach the Ohio by a
more southerly course.
The natural outlet from Pennsylvania was the Ohio River.
Emigrants from the western parts of the State floated down the
Allegheny or Monongahela to the main stream. Those from farther
east, including settlers from New Jersey, made the journey
overland by one of several well-known roads. The best of these
was a turnpike following the line that General Forbes had cut
during the French and Indian War from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh
by way of Lancaster and Bedford. Baltimore was a favorite point
of departure, and from it the route lay almost invariably along a
turnpike to Cumberland on the upper Potomac, and thence by the
National Road across the mountains to Wheeling. In later days
this was the route chiefly taken from Virginia, although more
southerly passes through the Blue Ridge were used as outlets to
the Great Kanawha, the Big Sandy, and other streams flowing into
the Ohio farther down.
Thus the lines of westward travel which in the East spread
fan-shape from Maine to Georgia converged on the Ohio; and that
stream became, and for half a century remained, the great pathway
of empire.
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