Some Famous Trails
See Wilderness Road, in this list.
the first postal route in colonial America. It linked Boston with New York City, and had three main branches. The route was a single trail from New York to New Haven (Connecticut), where it divided into the upper route and the lower route. The upper route, first used for carrying mail in 1673, went north from New Haven to Hartford (Connecticut) and Springfield (Massachusetts), then northeast to Boston. The lower route ran along the coast to Providence (Rhode Island), then north to Boston. U.S. Highway 1 today follows this route closely. The third branch, the middle route, branched off from the upper route at Hartford and ran northeast through upper Connecticut and southeastern Massachusetts.
the first road across the Alleghenies. It went from Fort Cumberland (Cumberland, Maryland) almost to Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). The road was begun about 1752 by the settlers sponsored by the Ohio Company of Virginia and was extended in 1755, during the French and Indian War, by the military expedition of General Edward Braddock. Part of Braddock's Road was later incorporated into the Cumberland Road.
the first United States overland mail route to the Far West. The express company of John Butterfield carried mail and passengers over this route, 1858-61. Stagecoaches went from St. Louis (Missouri), or alternatively from Memphis (Tennessee), across Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), and through Texas. Crossing the Rio Grande at El Paso, they went on to Tucson (Arizona), Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
a route that branched off to the southwest from the Oregon Trail. Most travelers bound for California left the Oregon Trail at Fort Bridger (following the Mormon Trail to Salt Lake City), at Soda Springs, or at a point beyond Fort Hall. They followed the Humboldt and Truckee rivers, and crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the interior of California through the Truckee Pass. A more southerly branch followed the Carson River through Carson Pass.
See Overland Stage Route, in this list.
a major cattle trail in use from 1867 through the 1880's. It began near San Antonio (Texas). Cattle were driven north through Indian Territory to Abilene (Kansas) to be shipped east by rail. The trail followed a route first used by the trader Jesse Chisholm.
the first road built by the United States government. It started at Cumberland (Maryland), passed through small sections of Pennsylvania and what is now West Virginia, continued through central Ohio and central Virginia, continued through central Ohio and central Indiana, and terminated at Vandalia (Illinois). Construction began in 1811. West of Wheeling (West Virginia) the road was paved with macadam. The route of the Cumberland Road is today followed closely by U.S. Highway 40.
the road from Mexico City to the Spanish colonies in the present United States. (The name means “the royal road.”) There were three main branches. The one leading to California was established in 1769-70 by the Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolá. He followed the coastline north from the San Diego mission to the site of the present San Luis Obispo, turned inland to the Salinas River and followed it to Monterey Bay, then again followed the coastline, to San Francisco Bay. Later a chain of missions was founded at distances a day's journey apart along Portolá's approximate route. Other branches of El Camino Real ran to the Spanish outpost at Santa Fe (New Mexico) and through Texas to Saint Augustine (Florida). The route of California's Camino Real is today followed closely by U.S. Highway 101.
a road through the Alleghenies over which many settlers traveled to the Ohio country. The road was cleared in 1758, during the French and Indian War, by the soldiers of General John Forbes. They cut a wagon trail from Raystown (now Bedford, Pennsylvania) to Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh).
an important Indian path through the low-lying Mohawk River valley and west to Lake Erie. It joined the principal villages of the Indian tribes of the area. After New York was settled by white men, the trail connected the communities of Albany, Schenectady, Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Batavia, and Buffalo, ending at Lake Erie. The trail served as the approximate route for a system of roads and later for the Erie Canal. Sections of the Conrail railway system and the New York State Thruway today follow closely the route of the old trail.
a variant of the Oregon Trail. It was established by the Mormons in 1846-47 after they left Nauvoo (Illinois) to found a new settlement in the West. Early in 1846 the Mormons left temporary winter quarters near Omaha (Nebraska). They followed the Platte and the North Platte rivers, traveling along the north banks. (The Oregon Trail ran on the south banks.) From Fort Laramie to Fort Bridger, the Mormons followed the Oregon Trail, then continued southwest to the valley of the Great Salt Lake. This trail was later followed by thousands of travelers. It was made a national historic trail in 1978.
a trail from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi. It was the major land route through the southern frontier area during the late 18th and early 19th century. It was used mainly as a return route by merchants, traders, and settlers who floated their produce down to New Orleans on the Mississippi River. From Natchez the trail struck northeast through Mississippi to the northwestern corner of Alabama, where it crossed the Tennessee River and continued to Nashville. The route generally followed an Indian path called the Chickasaw Trail. The Natchez Trace was made a postal route by the United States government in 1800. In 1938 it was made a national parkway.
See Cumberland Road, in this list.
See Spanish Trail, in this list.
a 2,000-mile (3,200-km) route from the Missouri River to the Far West. It was first used by fur traders and other explorers early in the 19th century. In the 1840's and 1850's many thousands of settlers traveled over it to the fertile Oregon country. Most travelers on the Oregon Trail started at Independence (Missouri), near Kansas City. The main trail followed the Kansas, the Little Blue, the Platte, and the North Platte rivers past Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff (Nebraska). It then wound along the Sweetwater River to the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, went on to Fort Bridger, Soda Springs, Fort Hall, along the Snake River to Fort Boise, then to Fort Walla Walla. It followed the Columbia River to The Dalles and Fort Vancouver. There were many variations in the route. It was made a national historic trail in 1978.
from the Midwest to California, was used in the 1860's by mail lines, stagecoach lines, and settlers. The route from Atchison (Kansas) followed the Platte and South Platte rivers to Denver, then curved northward to Fort Bridger. From there it closely followed the fairly straight trail of the Pony Express west to Sacramento. The route was used by the Central Overland, California and Pike's Peak Express; the Butterfield Overland Express (after 1861); the Ben Holladay lines; and the Wells, Fargo & Company lines.
the principal trading route to Mexico and the Southwest, 1821-80. William Becknell, an American trader, traveled the route in 1821, departing from Franklin (Missouri). Later starting points were Independence and Westport Landing (now Kansas City). The main trail passed through Council Grove (Kansas), and followed the Arkansas River past Pawnee Rock and Fort Dodge. The trail turned south at Bent's Fort (near present La Junta, Colorado), crossed Raton Pass, and ended at Santa Fe.
One alternate route, the Cimarron Cutoff, left the main trail near Fort Dodge and went straight southwest to Fort Union, where it rejoined the main trail. The other well-known alternate was the Taos Trail, which continued beyond Bent's Fort to the Huerfano River (in Colorado), through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains over La Veta Pass, and to Santa Fe by way of Taos.
The Santa Fe Trail was made a national historic trail in 1987.
the earliest trail from Santa Fe to California. Most of it was laid out in 1775-76 by Spanish Franciscan missionaries. It became an important trading route in the 1830's, and many American settlers later used it. From Santa Fe the trail went northwest along the Chama and Dolores rivers, then crossed to the Sevier River, where it turned southwest, followed the Virgin River, crossed the Mohave Desert, and went over Cajon Pass through the San Bernardino Mountains to Los Angeles.
the first important route from Virginia to the interior of Kentucky. The trail was cleared and marked in 1775 by a party led by Daniel Boone. Boone's original trail began in the area of the Watauga settlements (in present north-eastern Tennessee), passed through southwestern Virginia and the Cumberland Gap, and ended at Boonesborough (Madison County, Kentucky). A branch eventually reached the Falls of the Ohio (Louisville, Kentucky). In the 1790's the road was improved for wagon traffic. Today U.S. Highway 25 follows the trail blazed by Boone.
