This gave opportunity for the growth of a
thicket of bushes and small trees, and such spots were equally
likely to be the habitations of wild beasts and the hiding-places
of warlike bands of redskins.
There were always adventurous pioneers who scorned the
settlements and went off with their families to fix their abodes
in isolated places. But the average newcomer preferred to find a
location in, or reasonably near, a settlement. The choice of a
site, whether by a company of immigrants wishing to establish a
settlement or by an individual settler, was a matter of much
importance. Some thought must be given to facilities for
fortification against hostile natives. There must be an adequate
supply of drinking-water; and the location of innumerable pioneer
dwellings was selected with reference to free-flowing springs.
Pasture land for immediate use was desirable; and of course the
soil must be fertile. As a rule, the settler had the alternative
of establishing himself on the lowlands along a stream and
obtaining ground of the greatest productiveness, with the almost
certain prospect of annual attacks of malaria, or of seeking the
poorer but more healthful uplands.
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