Jeremy, I would think that people would have visited different settlements
for different purposes. (I suppose we could call it something like "access
to differentially distributed resources").  Your best bet would be to seek
out account books kept by farmers and storekeepers in the area that you plan
to use for your study, and analyze them with your questions in mind.  It
will entail some work, but it'll get you actual distances, which will be, as
David said, dependant on geographical and historical factors.

Lauren J. Cook, RPA
Senior Archaeologist
Richard Grubb & Associates, Inc.
30 North Main Street
Cranbury, NJ 08512

Ph: 609 655-0692 ext 312
Fx: 609 655-3050
email: [log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of David
Babson
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 3:26 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Historical Distances question


Off the top of my head, I think the classic "catchment area" (this is
not the right term) for a 19th century agricultural town with
dirt-surfaced roads and animal-powered transportation (horseback,
buggies, wagons) has a 10-15 mile radius, at the outside.  This distance
would, of course, apply more exactly in Christaller's concept of a
featureless plain, but be dependant upon topography and local historical
development in an actual place.

D. Babson.


-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of MARY
NIENOW
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 3:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Historical Distances question

What I am trying to determine is which town site to include within a
given distance for an individual on an agrarian frontier in SE Minn
during that period.

Basically, if I associate a given population with a town at point A - I
want to include all those individuals that can make it to that town site
in a day.  Furthermore, I want to include in my model nearby towns that
a person on the maximum fringe of my central town could go to (I.e. in
an opposite direction) in a given day - hence the competitive
destinations part of my work.

Your point on technology is good to consider - in SE Minn. during the
1850-1870 people were moving (by wagon, horse, and on foot) around on
minimally maintained roads (native/contact period trails, some stage
lines, one military road), rail lines were just coming in, but were not
well established until a few years later - river travel (I.e. the
Mississippi) is possible - anyone have stats for river (up and down) in
a given day (assuming steamboat through canoe).

Any additional information (and actual studies/citations) would be
appreciated.

thanks,

Jeremy N.
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: David Babson<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
  To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
  Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 1:18 PM
  Subject: Re: Competing Destinations Modeling - Historical Distances
question


  By 1850-1870, you have a technological factor to consider.  Were the
  people you are studying traveling by foot or with animal-powered
  transportation, or by rail?  If on foot/with animal power, they were
  probably making less than 20 miles a day, much less, if they were not
  traveling on an improved road.  By rail, they could move 100-200 miles
a
  day (on a mid-19th century railroad, probably closer to 100 than 200
  miles), on days that they were moving, not sitting in a yard, etc.
  Stopping and waiting would need to be figured into either mode of
  travel.

  D. Babson.


  -----Original Message-----
  From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
MARY
  NIENOW
  Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 1:51 PM
  To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
  Subject: Competing Destinations Modeling - Historical Distances
question

  Hello fellow list members,

  I am curious if anyone has done any work in Competing Destination
Models
  (or gravity models) within an Archaeological/ Historical
Archaeological
  setting?

  Similarly, has anyone heard of using Institutional Diversity at a
  settlement as a gage of settlement success?

  Finally, I am working with Historic Period (1850-1870) distance
factors,
  has anyone done any research into the distance an
individual/family/etc.
  can travel in one day within a Frontier Setting - based on historical
  accounts?

  Please feel free to either post here or email me directly

[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:
[log in to unmask]>>

  Jeremy Nienow
  PhD Student
  University of Minnesota