The following was posted to another surname list I belong to. I found it
to be interesting and thought it was worthy to pass along to this list.
My apologies if this has been duplicated elsewhere...I am behind on reading
all the genealogy lists I am on!
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(originally posted by Jim Young to the Bradshaw-L)
I have found a very interesting website entitled "Early American Trails and
Roads" and it can be found at:
http://members.aol.com/RoadTrails/roadtrai.html
It lists 16 trails representing the most significant routes in pioneer
America.
I'm sending the contents of the website to this list in case the website is
disabled in the future. This way the information will be archived forever.
Please visit the website for future updates.
Happy Huntin'
Jim Young
List Moderator and
RootsWeb Donor
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Early American Trails and Roads
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Beverly Whitaker, your Genealogy Tutor, is located in Kansas City, Missouri.
My e-mail address is: GenTutor(a)aol.com This page was last updated on February
10, 1998.
Living here where major trails to the Far West began is what stirred my
interest in this subject. My genealogical studies and research show me how
important it is to try to determine the migration trails of our ancestors. So
that's what led to this page!
~Introduction~
Expansion by Americans from the Atlantic to the Pacific took many years, often
spanning generations. During the colonial years, travel was largely
North-South. Following the Revolutionary War, citizens of the new nation began
to forge westward and were often joined by newly arriving immigrants.
Expansion occurred by different paths and a variety of transport means. Among
the trails and roads of special interest to genealogists and historians are
the sixteen described here in capsule form. These brief sketches are based on
information contained in the author's set of "American Trails and Roads
Reference Cards." Audiotapes have been prepared for a number of the trails and
roads, along with one titled, "Leaving Home: Reasons for Migration." Recently,
the author has made available a number of program kits which genealogical and
historical societies are using to present programs at their meetings about
some of the most significant migration routes in pioneer America.
Here is a list of the trails for which I provide summary paragraphs on this
web page:
The Boston Post Road
Braddock's Road
The California Trail
The Fall Line Road
The Great Wagon Road
The King's Highway
The Mohawk (Iroquois) Trail
The Mormon Trail
The Natchez Trace
The National Road
The Oregon Trail
The Pennsylvania Road
The Santa Fe Trail
The Upper Road
The Wilderness Road
Zane's Trace
I welcome comments and suggestions for books and articles to read about early
American migration routes, particularly the major ones.
Or if you need information about one of the trails or roads (beyond what is
shown on this page), send an e-mail inquiring about products on this subject.
E-mail to Beverly Whitaker: GenTutor(a)aol.com
~How to Cite References~
If you include any of the information here in your own compiled genealogy or
history sketches, you should cite as your reference: "American Trails and
Roads Reference Cards, Kansas City, Missouri: Genealogy Tutor, Beverly
Whitaker, 1995."
THE BOSTON POST ROAD
A crude riding trail was created in 1673 to carry mail from New York to
Boston. It became known as the Boston Post Road. The first postrider's round
trip, a journey of over 250 miles, took four weeks, following the Upper
Northern Route. The Middle Route was a bit shorter, the Southern Route a bit
longer. All went from Boston to New York City. The first stagecoach in service
(1772) made the trip in just one week. During the Revolutionary War, the
King's Highway (which included the Boston Post Road) became the mustering
point for several of the Revolutionary War battles, including the final battle
at Yorktown. The Post Roads were used for maneuvering soldiers and equipment.
Stagecoach service and the mail took second place. Following the War, the Post
Roads became important links between the states of the new nation and sections
were improved.
BRADDOCK'S ROAD
The predecessor of this military road was called Nemaolin's Path, named for
the Delaware Indian who assisted Colonel Thomas Cresap in blazing a path from
Cumberland, Maryland to a trading post of the Ohio Company of Virginia at
present-day Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Soon after Virginia's governor sent
Major George Washington in that direction to expel the French from British
territory. To accommodate his supply wagons, it was necessary to widen the
trail, and that portion became known as Washington's Road. Washington went
with Britain's Major General Edward Braddock during the French and Indian War.
A company of 600 soldiers set out from Ft. Cumberland to widen Washington's
old road through Maryland, past the ruins of Fort Necessity on into western
Pennsylvania, moving toward the French stronghold at the Forks of the Ohio,
site of present-day Pittsburgh. Braddock's road was the first road to cross
overland through the Appalachian Mountains. He insisted that the road be 12
feet wide so that horse-drawn wagons could travel on it to haul the necessary
supplies for his advancing army. As the years advanced, Braddock's Road became
impassable. Pioneers who trekked into western Pennsylvania usually preferred
to depend on packhorse trails, traveling in caravans. When construction began
on the new Cumberland Road, it roughly followed this old road. The Cumberland
Road and its extension West became known as the National Road and now U.S.
Highway 40.
CALIFORNIA TRAIL
Following the discovery of gold in California, President James Polk's Message
to Congress on December 5, 1848, set off a raging epidemic of gold fever.
40,000 gold seekers came to California by sea. An almost equal number came
overland on the California-Oregon Trail, making the 2000-mile journey by
covered wagon, horseback, or on foot. Around 10,000 came by the Santa Fe Trail
into southern California. The most frequently traveled overland route to the
gold fields was the one that followed the Oregon Trail from the Missouri River
to the Rocky Mountains, and from there down the California Trail to Sutter's
Fort. St. Joseph, Independence, Council Bluffs, and other frontier towns were
jumping-off points to start this main trail overland to California. The trail
coincided with the Oregon Trail until it crossed the Rockies. Then, some went
north of the Great Salt Lake, others south, before coming together at the
Humboldt River. Gold-seekers heading for California included city people who
were inexperienced with outdoor life. Many were without experience at handling
mules or oxen; they couldn't fix wagons; they didn't know how to hunt. They
didn't anticipate the dangers of the trail and relied too heavily on
guidebooks which were frequently misleading. Those who failed to join
companies with experienced outsdoorsmen ran great risk of being stranded or
lost in the wilderness. Nevertheless, many preferred to travel on their own.
Some rode horses or mules, used ox-drawn wagons, or walked.
THE FALL LINE ROAD
The Fall Line Road ran parallel to and between the King's Highway and the
Upper Road. The road broke off from the King's Highway at the town of
Fredericksburg, Virginia. By 1735, it carried traffic into the interior of
Virginia and the Carolina and across into Georgia. The road followed the fall
line, a geographical feature caused by erosion, a separation line stretching
from Maryland all the way to Georgia, running between the river tidelands and
inland elevations on the Atlantic coast--it defines an east and west division
between the upper and lower elevations. Persons traveling from Pennsylvania to
Maryland to the inland areas of Carolina before 1750 probably followed this
road because it was an easier road to travel than the Piedmont road (called
the Upper Road). The road was of particular importance to the Carolinas
because it connected them to their neighbors. North Carolina's local laws
called for building roads only "to the nearest landing," which created a
haphazard system of major roadways which led only to water routes. The result
had been that although the major towns in North Carolina soon had roads, they
didn't lead to each other! The road saw heavy use during the Civil War and
afterwards, and was gradually improved.
THE GREAT WAGON ROAD
including THE GREAT VALLEY ROAD
Hordes of early German and Scotch-Irish settlers used what became known as the
Great Wagon Road to move from Pennsylvania southward through the Shenandoah
Valley through Virginia and the Carolinas to Georgia, a distance of about 800
miles. Beginning first as a buffalo trail, a great Indian Road (the Great
Warrior Path) ran north and south through the Shenandoah Valley, extending
from New York to the Carolinas. The mountain ranges to the West of the Valley
are the Alleghenies, and the ones to the east constitute the Blue Ridge chain.
The Second Treaty of Albany (1722) guaranteed use of the valley trail to the
Indians. At Salisbury, North Carolina, the Great Warrior Path was joined by
the Indian's "Great Trading Path." By the early 1740s, a road beginning in
Philadelphia (sometimes referred to as the Lancaster Pike) connected the
Pennsylvania communities of Lancaster, York, and Gettysburg. The road then
continued on to Chambersburg and Greencastle and southward to Winchester. In
1744, the Indians agreed to relinquish the Valley route. Both German and
Scotch-Irish immigrants had already been following the route into Virginia and
on to South Carolina, and Georgia. After 1750 the Piedmont areas of North
Carolina and Georgia attracted new settlers. From Winchester to Roanoke the
Great Wagon Road and the Great Valley Road were the same road, but at Roanoke,
the Wagon Road went through the Staunton Gap and on south to North Carolina
and beyond whereas the Valley Pike continued southwest to the Long Island of
the Holston, now Kingsport. The Boone Trail from the Shallow Ford of the
Yadkin joined the road at the Long Island of the Holston.
THE KING'S HIGHWAY
From Boston to Charleston on the King's Highway was about 1300
miles. It was
possible to travel this road by wagon, averaging about 20-25 miles per
day. A
traveler making the entire journey would have taken at least two months.
Conestoga freight wagons, drawn by four to six strudy horses, were especially
designed for mud with iron-rimmed wheels nearly a foot wide. The road's
origins are traced to the old Delaware Indian trail (across Jersey) which
Peter Stuyvesant used to force out the Swedes in 1651. Then in 1673, in
response to King Charles' wish that communication be established between his
colonies, the first crude riding trail was created for mail service between
Boston and New York. Named the "Boston Post Road," it eventually expanded into
"the King's Highway." By 1750, a continuous road existed for stagecoach or
wagon traffic from Boston to Charleston, linking all thirteen colonies, but
the road was a difficult one to travel. During the Revolutionary War, the
King's Highway as a link between the colonies helped them to coordinate their
war efforts. However, the name was looked upon with such disfavor by American
patriots that many began once again to use the name "Boston Post Road."
----------------See Part 2----------------------------