An Atlas Of Appalachian Trails To The Ohio River

An Atlas Of Appalachian Trails To The Ohio River

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An Atlas of Appalachian Trails to the Ohio River; by Carrie Eldridge; Published: 1998; 17x11; VIII+42 pp; Soft Cover; Item # CE01

Standing between many of the early American colonies and the majority of the continent were the Appalachians. The entire mountainous region was thick with tree and undergrowth, hillsides and rivers, breached only by the game trails of buffalo and game. These buffalo trails were used by both the Indians and early settlers alike. Settlers like trappers, hunters, traders and cattlemen crisscrossed the isolated region along these often difficult trails. Overtime, these trails were widened time and again, to accommodate humans, horses, and eventually wagons as settlers sought to expand ever westward. The volume by Carrie Eldridge, shows the location of little known trails as well as the major routes which passed through Virginia during those early expansion years.

Along these routes grew towns and communities. Only four major routes crossed the Appalachians from the eastern seaboard to the Ohio River. But, the area spread out along minor routes and eventually many of the major and minor routes became state and interstate highways. With so few routes and so many settlers, this Atlas potentially offers a wealth of research information to the town names and routes one’s ancestors may have used to move out west.

At 11″ x 17″ this Atlas offers maps at a size which are easy to read. Mixed with the maps are an extensive background to the early settlers, their migrations, and the importance of these towns and trails. With two columns per text page, each the size of a standard page, this book is the equivalent to a book twice as thick. Below are the Table of Contents followed by a listing of the Maps and Illustrations in the order in which they appear in the book.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Early English Settlements

The Physical Barrier

A Road System to Communicate

The First English Highway

Original Trails on the Frontier

  • Buffalo Trails and Indian Paths
  • Traders Trails
  • Routes of the Fur Trade

The Moveable English Frontier

  • The Frontier in New England
  • A Southern Frontier

Building a Road System

  • The First Obstacle – The Fall Line
  • The Carolina Road (Upper Road-Rogues Road)
  • The Great Wagon Road
  • Trails East of the Mountains

War on the Frontier

  • The Road of War
  • Aftermath of the French and Indian War

Attaching the Mountains

  • Settlers Fill the Valleys and Cross the Ridges
  • Revolution and the West

Eastern Virginia Meets the Valley

Kentucky Country

Ohio on the Other Side 1785-1795

Trails on Highway and Turnpikes

  • Trails to the Forks of the Ohio
  • Central Virginia Trails
  • Trails of Kentucky

Turnpike Life

The Continent is Open

Bibliography

 

Maps and Illustrations

Figure A. Western Trails of Virginia

Figure 1. Physical Regions of the East Coast

Figure 2. King’s Highway

Figure 3. Early Indian Trails

Figure 4. Trails East of the Mountains

Figure 5. Trails at the Time of the French and Indian War

Figure 6. Military Roads of the French and Indian War

Figure 7. Frontier Defenses 1755-1760

Figure 8. Frontier Trails 1766-1776

Figure 9. Virginia’s Blue Ridge Gaps

Figure 10. Kentucky Settlement Area

Figure 11. Kentucky & Tennessee Pioneer Trails

Figure 12. Ohio’s Lands

Figure 13. Roads to the Ohio by 1800

Figure 14. The Ohio Company Trek

Figure 15. The Travels of Levi Van Hoose & Family

Figure 16. Virginia Fortifications 1769-1787

Appendix A – The Travels of Settlers Levi Van Hoose & Family

Appendix B – Western Virginian Blockhouses, Stockades, and Forts of the Revolutionary War Period