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Archiver > RHEA > 1998-03 > 0890025934


From: PHHGENE <>
Subject: [RHEA-L] Early American Trails and Roads: Part 1
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 00:25:34 EST


<< 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.

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