Historic Highways of America/Volume 2/Chapter 2

by Archer Butler Hulbert

CHAPTER II

DIVISIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS

INDIAN thoroughfares may be divided into Hunting, War, Portage, River, and Trade trails.

The hunting trails led from an Indian nation's villages to its hunting-grounds and through them. For these hunting-grounds were not always near at hand. The forests around the villages soon became devoid of game and the hunters were compelled to go each year to a greater distance from home. Consequently it became the custom of the stronger tribes and confederacies to obtain, by conquest or unopposed occupation, large tracts of distant forests which became their own peculiar property, and into which vagrant hunters from other nations came only on peril of their lives or freedom. These tracts, which were denominated "hunting-grounds," were stable and well defined, and, as among the Bedouin tribes of the Levant the degree of the conqueror's victory over his adversary was measured by the number of sheep and camels he purloined as trophy of war, so among the American Indians the victory of a nation was not infrequently measured by the extent of new hunting-grounds in which it might thereafter roam without challenge. These areas were a nation's pride and came first in the catalogue of its riches and power—and, thus, the Happy Hunting-Ground, of wide extent, rich in game, which no ruthless conqueror could wrest away, was the Indian's conception of a blessed life hereafter.

To these hunting-grounds "well-beaten hunting-paths"^[1] were made. Frequently, when the hunting-grounds were at a distance from the home-land, the hunters went to them, if possible, on water-ways, as in the case of the Iroquois who held, for a period, the territory between the Blue Ridge and Great Lakes as their hunting-ground to which they came in great fleets upon the "Oyo" and its northern tributaries, or the Ottawas, who, while they lived near Detroit, came to the hunting-grounds on the Wabash and Miami to the south, which they claimed.^[2]

Once on the ground, the parties separated and sought their quarry by various routes. In such a manner, it is easy to believe, many of the Indian thoroughfares which afterward were put to so many uses, were originally made. There is little doubt, however, that the routes broken long before by buffalo and pre-Columbian Indians were found and followed and served as main thoroughfares. With hunting-lodges built at convenient points on these thoroughfares, the minor cross-trails were broken to and fro along the watersheds and from the rivers upward and inland.

The war trails were what the name implies—routes to and from the home-lands of hostile confederacies, nations, or tribes. The higher a nation mounts in the plane of civilization the better it is known for its joys; the lower it sinks the more famous it becomes for its hatreds. If the Indian left us little of profit, he certainly left us the memory of countless, immemorial hatreds which perhaps are not equaled in the annals of human history. Nothing points more strikingly to the low plane of civilization which he occupied. The animosity of a Roman for a Carthaginian was nothing beside the hatred of an Iroquois for an Algonquin, a Shawanese for a Catawba, a Seneca for a Wyandot. These hatreds grew with the years and even centuries; they were so bitter that children were trained to undergo cruel torture at home without uttering complaint, lest when tortured by their foes they should some time give way to lamentation and disgrace their tribe.

"On the war path" is a common expression, but a little study of this subject would convince one that when those words are written, the article "the" should be italicized for emphasis—"on the war path." Not every Indian trail was a war path; indeed the number, compared with the whole number of trails, was exceedingly small. Looking at the Central West, for example, in the days of Indian régime, when it was known and mapped by white explorers, two or three great war paths are found, and only two or three. These run from the lake country southward into the lands below the Blue Ridge and Cumberland ranges. Each was known as the Great War Trail and each was doubtless trodden hard through many years by hurrying ochered cohorts burning with a hatred imbibed with their mother's milk. Upon these trails the Iroquois in early days made war on the Cherokees or Catawbas, as, within historic times, the Shawanese and Miamis were known to do. Such maps as those by Filson, Hutchins, and Heckewelder give no "war trails" in all the Indian-inhabited country north of the Ohio save the two or three great war paths southward. Thus, in the earliest days of which we know, the "Warriors' Path" was known throughout the length and breadth of the land and was a highway not to be followed lightly even in times of peace, if indeed there ever was an hour of peace between the southern confederacies and those to the north.

The war path was a deeper, wider, harder trail than any other early Indian thoroughfare, flanked by a thousand secret hiding-places and lined with a long succession of open spots where warring parties were wont to camp. Who may ever write the real story of the great "Warriors' Path" which ran southward through western Pennsylvania from the home-land of the Iroquois? What scenes of carnage have not those Alleghany ranges witnessed in all the years gone by! The long journeys on the war path, which was more of a "thoroughfare" than any trail, keenly tested the savage's endurance. Swiftly he journeyed many miles for a sudden stroke upon his enemy, enduring the while any lack of food and water without complaint. Food was all about him if the need was pressing, and some food could always be carried. But water was not always at hand, and this the Indian seldom, if ever, carried.

It is probably impossible for us of today to imagine what springs were worth to the first travelers on these primitive thoroughfares of America. We hardly notice, unless by a complaint, when our trains of today pause a moment in their struggle with mountain grades beside our modern watering-places; but should a water tank once be found destroyed when we have reached it, necessitating a long delay until assistance arrived, it would be more keenly realized what water is worth to engine, beast, and man on high lands—and here the long thoroughfares of the Indian lay. A good, never-failing spring in the old West was known to a continent, and a geographer would more readily have been forgiven the omission of a range of mountains than the omission of a single spring from his map. Journeys were always made from "water" to "water." "Go on to the next water," was Washington's command to his scoundrel guide on the return from Fort La Bœuf. And the "next water" was ever the eagerly sought goal of a million early toilers on the first pathways of America. As may hereafter appear, springs of water determined not a little the distribution of population in certain portions of the country, even as originally they determined the course of the Indian thoroughfares.

The ancient war trails were forgotten as the encroachments of the Europeans came on apace and as the Indian nations became fitfully allied with one or another of the white contestants for their land. Then it was, indeed, that all Indian trails became war paths—a thing that never happened before the white man came! From the first outbreak of Dunmore's war until the Indian confederacy in the north was blasted by the campaign of Mad Anthony Wayne at Fallen Timbers, all the paths of the Central West were war paths and all were dyed with blood. If the northern and southern Indians had never contested for Kentucky before the white man entered that fair domain, the battles fought on the war paths there would yet have made the gloomy title "the dark and bloody ground" the most appropriate that could have been devised. And, rather than one great Warriors' Path leading southward, the Revolutionary maps show "General Clark's War Road" and "Bird's War Road," and other trails appropriately described, "a bloody battle fought here."^[3] The evolution of Indian war paths and trails to military roadways of the whites will command more elaborate study in a future volume.

The portage paths were among the most important of all classes of Indian thoroughfares, and will be treated more at length in an independent study. Their purpose and characteristics should be noted here. As the name implies, portage paths were the routes by which the Indians made their way between adjacent bodies of water. They were essentially the land paths of those who traveled by water, over which canoes and baggage were carried. These may be classified, according to the circumstance of their environment, into river portages, or carrying-places about unnavigable portions of a river, headwater portages, or the path between the heads of two or more rivers, lake and lake portages or lake and river portages, the carrying-places between two lakes or between a lake and a river.

The portages, as a rule, were the most strategic portions of the interior of the continent; in times of war they were continually watched and guarded, and in times of peace they were filled with voyageurs and traders, explorers and missionaries, passing to and fro. Trading houses, forts, chapels, villages, cities grew up here. They were often the boundaries of empire, at least when the white man dictated the boundary. Indians were not accustomed to employ rivers as boundary lines, and, as we turn the pages of history, it is the sign of a significant innovation when Indians are found agreeing to rivers as boundary lines—a trifle, which, nevertheless, shows new influence gaining over the land. The great old-time significance of portages is nowhere shown more effectively than in the passage of the great Ordinance of 1787, which reads:

"The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other states that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefore."^[4]

One of the most vivid pictures remaining to us of an old-time journey is that left by George Croghan, who was taken prisoner on the Ohio and taken to Detroit. His description of the route, and especially the portages, is realistic:

"8th [June, 1765]—After dividing the plunder, (they left great part of the heaviest effects behind, not being able to carry them), they set off with us to their village at Ouitacanon, in a great hurry, being in dread of a pursuit from a large party of Indians they suspected were coming after me. Our course was through a thick woody country, crossing a great many swamps, morasses, and beaver ponds. We traveled this day about forty-two miles.

"9th—An hour before day we set out on our march; passed through thick woods, some highlands, and small savannahs, badly watered. Traveled this day about thirty miles.

"10th—We set out very early in the morning, and marched through a high country, extremely well timbered, for three hours; then came to a branch of the Ouabache, which we crossed. The remainder of this day we traveled through fine rich bottoms, overgrown with reeds, which make the best pasture in the world, the young reeds being preferable to sheaf oats. Here is great plenty of wild game of all kinds. Came this day about twenty-eight, or thirty miles.

"11th [1765]—At day break we set off, making our way through a thin woodland, interspersed with savannahs. . . .

"12th—We passed through some large savannahs, and clear woods; in the afternoon we came to the Ouabache; then marched along it through a prodigious rich bottom, overgrown with reeds and wild hemp; all this bottom is well watered, and an exceeding fine hunting ground. Came this day about thirty miles.

"13th—About an hour before day we set out; traveled through such bottoms as of yesterday, and through some large meadows, where no trees, for several miles, are to be seen. Buffaloes, deer, and bears are here in plenty. We traveled about twenty-six miles this day.

"14th—The country we traveled this day, appears the same as described yesterday, excepting this afternoon's journey through woodland, to cut off a bend of the river. Came about twenty-seven miles this day.

"15th—We set out very early, and about one o'clock came to the Ouabache, within six or seven miles of Port Vincent [Vincennes]. . . .

"16th—We were obliged to stay here to get some little apparel made up for us, and to buy some horses for our journey to Ouicatonon, promising payment at Detroit. . . .

"17th—At mid-day we set out; traveling the first five miles through a fine thick wood. . . .

"18th and 19th—We traveled through a prodigious large meadow, called the Pyankeshaw's Hunting Ground. . . .

"20th and 21st—We passed through some very large meadows, part of which belong to the Pyankeshaws on Vermilion River.

"22d—We passed through a part of the same meadow as mentioned yesterday; then came to a high woodland, and arrived at Vermilion River. . . . We then traveled about three hours, through a clear high woody country, but a deep and rich soil; then came to a meadow, where we encamped.

"23d—Early in the morning we set out through a fine meadow, then some clear woods; in the afternoon came into a very large bottom on the Ouabache, within six miles of Ouicatanon. . . .

"July 25th—We set out from this place (after settling all matters happily with the natives) for the Miames, and traveled the whole day through a fine rich bottom, overgrown with wild hemp, alongside the Ouabache, till we came to Eel River, where we arrived the 27th. . . .

"28th, 29th, 30th and 31st—We traveled still alongside the Eel River, passing through fine clear woods, and some good meadows. . . .

"August 1st—We arrived at the carrying place between the River Miames and the Ouabache, which is about nine miles long in dry seasons, but not above half that length in freshes. The head of the Ouabache is about forty miles from this place, and after a course of about seven hundred and sixty miles from the head spring, through one of the finest countries in the world, it empties into the Ohio. The navigation from hence to Ouicatanon, is very difficult in low water, on account of many rapids and rifts; but in freshes, which generally happen in the spring and fall, batteaux or canoes will pass, without difficulty, from here to Ouicatanon in three days, which is about two hundred and ten miles. From Ouicatanon to Port Vincent, and thence to the Ohio, batteaux and canoes may go at any season of the year. Throughout the whole course of the Ouabache the banks are pretty high, and in the river are a great many islands. Many shrubs and trees are found here unknown to us. . . .

"On the 6th of August we set out for Detroit down the Miame river in a canoe. This river heads about ten miles from hence. The river is not navigable till you come to the place where the river St. Joseph joins it, and makes a considerably large stream, nevertheless we found a great deal of difficulty in getting our canoe over the shoals, as the waters at this season were very low. The banks of the river are high, and the country overgrown with lofty timber of various kinds; the land is level, and the woods clear. About ninety miles from the Miames or Twightwee, we came to where a large river, that heads in a large lick, falls into the Miame river; this they call the Forks. The Ottawas claim this country, and hunt here, where game is very plenty. From hence we proceeded to the Ottawa village. This nation formerly lived at Detroit, but is now settled here, on account of the richness of the country, where game is always to be found in plenty. Here we were obliged to get out of our canoes, and drag them eighteen miles, on account of the rifts which interrupt the navigation. At the end of these rifts we came to a village of the Wyandotts, who received us very kindly, and from thence we proceeded to the mouth of this river, where it falls into Lake Erie. . . . On the 16th of August, in the afternoon, we arrived at Detroit river. . . .

"17th—In the morning we arrived at the fort. . . . September 26th—Set out from Detroit for Niagara; passed Lake Erie along the north shore in a birch canoe, and arrived the eighth of October at Niagara. The navigation of the lake is dangerous for batteaux or canoes, by reason that the lake is very shallow for a considerable distance from the shore. The bank for several miles is high and steep, and affords a harbor for a single batteau. The lands in general, between Detroit and Niagara, are high, and the soil good, with several fine rivers falling into the lake. The distance from Detroit to Niagara is computed three hundred miles."^[5]

Mr. Croghan does not mention a river portage path, undoubtedly because it was not considered worthy of mention. Often the portage path in a river portage followed the river bed closely, so that canoes could be dragged in the water if it was not too swift or too shallow. A brave Catholic missionary wrote concerning his journey up the St. Lawrence that the canoes were carried (over portages whose length varied from one to ten miles) thirty-five times and dragged fifty times by actual count.^[6] Another exulted that he had "travelled three leagues up the river without finding any portage!"^[7]

The river trails, as the name suggests, were the thoroughfares which followed the river valleys. Some of these were of great importance; many were not. It is surprising how the Indian ignored certain of the finest of our river valleys as village sites. No river of the second class in all the Central West today is more important than the lower Muskingum on which the government has spent millions for slack-water navigation. Yet, while the upper and narrower portion of the river was dotted with Indian villages and lodges, there is no evidence to show that the splendid stretch of seventy-five miles from the mouth of the Licking to the Ohio contained a single Indian village, though an ancient clearing was found by early explorers near Beverly. Accordingly, the Muskingum trail, which was a route of greatest importance for a century, did not follow the river to the Ohio but struck across from "Big Rock," near Roxbury, to the Ohio at the mouth of the Little Kanawha.

Our classification overlaps, necessarily. Every river trail was, between the rivers, the portage path already described, and many a river trail was a famous war trail. However, a distinction is easily remarked. The river trails followed, to a considerable extent, the windings of each river. But this was not done blindly, and the study of any river trail affords one of the most interesting illustrations of the genius of brute and savage instinct. The highlands were the routes of the river trails, and, as in the nature of a river valley the configuration of the topography is usually exceedingly broken, the courses of these valley trails portray a single choice where there was on every hand, almost, an alternative to be studied and ignored. Now, the trail mounts a long ridge which holds its even course, maybe, for several miles. Suddenly, the river swings off at right angles. Here, on the elbow, the explorer finds that a rivulet or creek breaks into the range. The path feels its way by some better course than any other across the ravine. But, once on the high ground beyond, he finds that the path strikes out with utmost assurance in a straight line onward, ignoring entirely the river course. He puts his trust in the genius of those whose feet—now so long silent—broke it open, and goes on. Soon the path debouches smoothly out on the highlands above the water again, having gained several miles on the water-way, and followed a course as practicable as it is expeditious.

Thus the valley trails exhibit, to an excellent degree, the early instinct or genius of buffalo and Indian for selecting routes of least resistance; and, though a valley trail keeps within touch of the river, yet it often leaves it to skirt on to the next elbow by the shortest practicable route. Often, however, when a river trail thus leaves the river, a branch trace may be found to have followed the river's meanderings, joining the main trail where it swings back to the river. This was very often the case when Indian villages stood beside the river at a point where the main valley trail had gone inland for a short cut as described.^[8]

Another class of trails were those which became the great routes of trade and became known as fur routes or trader's paths. These routes followed any path which offered an expeditious and stable course to the objective points to be reached. For instance, the Sandusky-Richmond fur route was by way of several great river trails and a war path. But frequently, as time went on, the courses of the Indian ponies laden with peltry, and the white traders' ponies stocked with weapons, trinkets, and liquor, revolutionized the traveled ways of the interior of the continent.

1. Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, vol. lxiii., p. 169.
2. Croghan's Journal, "The Olden Time," vol. i., pp. 414–415.
3. See Filson's Map.
4. Ordinance of 1787, Article iv.
5. Croghan's Journal, "The Olden Time," vol. i., pp. 409–415.
6. Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, vol. viii., p. 77.
7. Id., vol. lix., p. 181.
8. Map of the Overhill Cherokee towns by Timberlake, 1762, in Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, plate xxvi., facing p. 368.

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