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From: <>
Subject: [RHEA-L] Trail Tales of the U. S.
Date: Sat, 1 Aug 1998 17:46:26 EDT

This comes from one of the newsletters I take online. Part 2 next month. when
I get it. Pat H.

Trail Tales of the United States" (Part 1 of 2)

One of the lesser mysteries of the universe is trying to discover
where ancestors moved during their lifetime. This is no small feat as
the researcher goes further back in time. One possible avenue to explore
involves studying migration patterns and how regions of the country
were repopulated after the Native residents were politely shoved out
of the way. Acquisition of territory for the United States did not follow
a sequential order. For example, the western tip of New York was
considered "Indian Territory" in 1790. Yet, Pennsylvania, having a
common boarder with New York to the north, had no designated
tribal land during this same time period.

Many times the speed by which territory was "colonized" depended on
the availability of waterways and paths used to explore the land. This
explains why the region around the Mississippi delta was populated
much earlier than western Georgia. In this case, as land between
Louisiana and Georgia was taken over by the American government,
pioneers may have actually migrated in an easterly direction from
such a town as New Orleans.

In many occasions, the trails used by the Native Americans as
commerce routes became the foot-tails that were eventually
transformed to wagon trails and railroad lines. In the Mississippi
case, the major trail was the Natchez Trace. For many miles it ran
parallel to the Mississippi River. Yet it linked the area around
Nashville, Tennessee with New Orleans, Louisiana. Traders and
merchants would float their materials down the Mississippi River
then trade out boats for beasts of burden then walk the Trace
back north.

The Natchez Trace was, in a sense, the rope that formed the
western part of the noose that squeezed the Native Americans
from the Southeastern United States (some exceptions noted).
This thoroughfare was responsible for bringing thousands of people
into the Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and western Tennessee
and Kentucky areas. The trail saw continuous use until the advent
of the steam-powered ships that made foot traffic obselete. But
until that point, the Trace has a wonderful history associated with it.

The Natchez trace was the primary trail used by various armies to
establish claim to the region. The Spanish and French made heavy
use of its tactical position to retain land claimed by their European
monarchies. The various American wars used the Trace to move
troops and supplies along this frontier area. Andrew Jackson brought
his bride home to Tennessee by use of this trail. He also took
advantage of its location to move his armies throughout the region.

The trail is steeped in dark history as it was also a road plagued
with rouges of all sorts who seemingly waited in the shadows for
any small group of travelers to pass by and be waylaid. A common
rule on this trail was: big groups or bust (literally). It was also on
this frontier road that Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame,
allegedly took his own life.

The Natchez Trace is just one of many major trails used to
colonize the Lower 48 states. It has great significance to researchers
who may have had family lines that seemed to vanish during the 18th
and early 19th century only to be found in the Deep South. The trail
is now one of the nation's historic trails managed by the Department
of the Interior.

As one searches the "family geography," it might be prudent to know
the major route taken to settle the particular area of the country. Most
of the major trails ran from East to West--but not always. (Settlements
in California preceded most settlements to its immediate east.) Trails
like the Chisholm, developed in 1866 by fur trader Jesse Chisholm,
ran from Texas to trading posts in Kansas. This trail was famous for
its use by cowboys driving their cattle to the Kansas rail yards up
until the 1880s.

The western trails merged on many occasions or split off into different
directions. It is estimated that some 300,000 people used the Oregon
trail and its offshoots to make settlements in the Western territory
starting as early as 1841. This trail established a means of crossing the
Continental Divide through a 7,750 foot high South Pass in the Rocky
Mountains. The Mormon Trail, used from 1846-1869, was 1624 miles
long and brought pioneers from Nauvoo, Illinois to the Salt Lake Basin
in the present state of Utah. It merged with the Oregon trail for many
miles. Another branch of this latter trail was the Great Platt River Road
that allowed some 70,000 people (most seeking gold) to pass over the
Sierra Nevada range into California in 1849-50.

Of course these trails had a relatively short life span. The 1203 mile
Santa Fe trail linked Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico. A railroad line
established in 1880 left the dirt trail abandoned. The same occurred
when the Transcontinental Railroad was completed at Promitory Point,
Utah in 1869.

Getting mail from one coast to the other was a major reason for
establishing transcontinental roads. The Butterfield Southern Route,
also known as the Southern Overland Trail, was the first mail route to
be used for mail traffic. Mr. John Butterfield, owner of a company
called American Express, was awarded a contract in 1857 to take
mail from St. Louis to Los Angeles and San Francisco. This endeavor
led to the use of stagecoaches instead of circuit riders in 1861.
Mr. Butterfield then shifted his business to other endeavors.

The famous Pony Express Trail, began in 1860 and again linking
the Eastern U.S. with California, had another form of extinction. It
was said that with its network of stations and riders, a letter could
be sent across the continent in only eight days (has the mail improved
much in the past century?). The Pony Express lasted a mere 18 months.
It's demise was due to the telegraph. The previously mentioned
Transcontinental Railroad followed much of the same route as
the post and wire.

These frontier trails were the tracks that ultimately lead to major
rail lines and national highways that cross our country. Many thousands
of people used these avenues to relocate and start a new life. Knowing
about these trails may help explain how some family members wound
up in very unique places--sometimes thousands of miles from their
ancestral stomping grounds. I have deliberately excluded the eastern
trails, e.g. The Cumberland, Wilderness Road, the National Road,
etc. due to some differences in how these trails were developed
and maintained. Part 2 will take up these "older" roads.

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