Indian Paths in the Great Metropolis
It was rocky INDIAN PATHS throughout, with a scanty deposit of soil, the hollows insufficiently drained, and therefore boggy. In the difficulties of maintaining vegetation in Central Park we have an illustration of its meager character, its thin soil, its irregular surface, its infertility and scanty sustenance. But the main objection, from an Indian point of view, lay in the exposure of the west side of the island to the bitter wintry winds.
In the course of explorations of native sites in and around the island, it has been very definitely determined that the natives preferred the eastern side of hills, or a southern exposure, and the scattered places where aboriginal debris has been found along the west shore of Manhattan indicate their use as summer fishing camps rather than as residential sites. The Dyckman Street site (100) is an exception, but it was peculiarly situated and sheltered on all sides except due west.