APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS

Named for the Apalachee Indians, the Appalachian Mountains form a great continental divide which runs roughly parallel to the eastern seaboard of the Unites States. On the eastern side of the mountains waterways drain into the Atlantic Ocean; on the western side they drain into the Gulf of Mexico. The Appalachians extend 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers), from Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula to Birmingham, Alabama. The chief ranges include the Notre Dame (in Quebec), the White Mountains (in New Hampshire), the Green Mountains (in Vermont), and the Catskills (in New York). South of New York the Appalachians divide into three sections: farthest to the east lie the Blue Ridge Mountains (which include the Appalachians' tallest peaks, in the Black Mountains of North Carolina); the middle section is called the Great Valley (which includes the Cumberland, Lehigh, and Shenandoah valleys); the western-most section is the Ridge-and-Valley Province (whose western boundary is formed by the Cumberland and Allegheny mountains).

Although the mountain range was a barrier to the settlement of the country, British acquisition of the territory west of the Appalachians in 1763 prompted people to cross the mountains and move into the fertile land beyond them. In the late 1700s settlers followed the Great Valley south to the Cumberland Gap near the intersection of North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. They followed the narrow trails forged by Native Americans—widening them for wagons. The chief trail was the Wilderness Road forged by U.S. pioneer Daniel Boone (c. 1734–1820). Settlers also followed a western route to the Ohio River through the river valleys of Pennsylvania and into Pittsburgh. In 1811 construction of a federal route called the National Road began. The northernmost westward trail was the Mohawk, which ran through New York state. It followed the southern shores of the Great Lakes. In 1825 the completion of New York's Erie Canal aided westward movement. By the 1840s railroads crossed the mountain range.

On this frontier farmers cultivated crops in the valleys. Settlers were mostly Scots-Irish, English, and German. The principal products in the northern regions included apples, barley, hay, potatoes, wheat, and dairy. Chief products in the South included corn, tobacco, and poultry. Trees from the Appalachians were cut for the U.S. furniture industry, centered in North Carolina. Approximately 50,000 square miles (130,000 square kilometers) of the mountains were rich in coal and other mineral deposits. These resources were important to the economies of Alabama, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

See also: Back Country , Cumberland Gap, Erie Canal, National Road, Maysville Road, Subsistence Agriculture, Wilderness Road