HISTORY tells of two Ohios—the old and the new. The old Ohio was all the territory of the Central West drained by the Ohio and Allegheny, which, together, formed the La Belle Rivière of New France. It included the territory between the Alleghanies, the Blue Ridge, the Mississippi, and the Great Lakes, unless we except the "Illinois" country which, early in history, became a territory distinct by itself, as the meadow lands of Ken-ta-kee became distinct later. As late, however, as the Revolutionary War a standard English map printed "Ohio" south, as well as north, of the Ohio river.[1]
Of this Central West—the old Ohio—only that part which lay north of the Ohio river contained a resident Indian population. The portion south of the Ohio was the Korea of the Central West—the "dark and bloody" battle ground of surrounding nations half a century before white men came, in their turn, to fight for it.
North of the Ohio river, in the valleys of the Allegheny, Beaver, Muskingum, Cuyahoga, Scioto, Sandusky, Miami, Maumee, Wabash, and Illinois rivers, white men came to know the red man more intimately than anywhere else on this continent in the eighteenth century. This knowledge of the Indian in his home-land resulted in giving to the world a mass of material concerning his country, customs, and character. Much was supplied by missionaries; a great deal by traders[2] and explorers. The armies of conquest and the first of the host of pioneers told the rest.
Among other things this knowledge of the Central West before the Indian left it made possible the making of many maps which pictured the country very much as it was, and a study of these maps proves that many of them are essentially accurate.[3]
Advancing civilization has made the valley and hillside blossom as the rose; the rivers are drained and dredged till they look little as they did a century ago; great chasms have been torn through hill and mountain by the railways—but the summits of some of the hills are left very much as they were. And here on the highlands, which were to the trade and travel of the olden time what our trunk railway lines are to us today, one may follow the serpentine tracks of the pilgrims and armies of the long ago with almost as great accuracy as the tow-path or railway bed in the valley below. For, in addition to having been mapped by many geographers, this region is in part a hilly country with many long watersheds. When a great watershed trail is once located by topographical maps, and all the testimony to be derived from the records of the earliest days has been considered, it is often possible to follow it for many miles. The explorer will be surprised at nothing more than at the fund of information which can yet be secured from aged residents along the old-time course.
Thus for field work, copies of the old maps and of good topographical maps are needed, together with a large acquaintance with the earliest pioneer literature, stout legs, and a knack for asking questions.
The main trails of the Central West may be charted as follows:
Heckewelder's Map of Northeastern Ohio, 1796
East and West Trails, No. 1.
Name: The Lake Shore Trail.
Termini: Niagara river and Fort Detroit.
Route: Ascended the eastern shore of Niagara river—followed southern shore of Lake Erie, usually on the "second rise." Connected Presque Isle, Fort Sandusky, and Fort Detroit.
Remarks: A trail of the second class. Mentioned in Zeisberger's Diary, vol. i., pp. 333–341; also in Rhea's Narrative, Pennsylvania Archives, second series, p. 669. For best map, see Heckewelder's Map of Northwestern Ohio, 1796.
East and West Trails, No. 2.
Name: The Mahoning Trail.
Termini: Fort Pitt and Fort Sandusky.
Route: Left the "Great Trail" near the mouth of the Beaver—ascended the Beaver and Mahoning valleys—crossed the watershed to the portage between Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas rivers—followed watershed until the Great Trail was met on head of Sandusky river—descended Sandusky river to Fort Sandusky.
Remarks: A trail of the second class, used perhaps largely by runners between Fort Detroit and the Pennsylvania frontier, to avoid passing over the Great Trail. Referred to incidentally in Zeisberger's Diary; also see Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio, vol. ii., p. 627. For best map, see Heckewelder's.
Indian Thoroughfares of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, Based on Hutchins
East and West Trails, No. 3.
Name: The Great Trail.
Termini: Fort Pitt and Fort Detroit.
Route: Followed north bank of Ohio river from Fort Pitt to the mouth of the Beaver—took the watershed to the "Crossing-place of the Muskingum" (Bolivar, Ohio)—Wooster, Ohio—Fremont, Ohio—River Raisin—Fort Detroit.
Remarks: The most important trail west of the Ohio river in the Revolutionary era; western extension of Nemacolin's Path (Braddock's Road). For references see Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio, vol. ii., p. 832; also Douglas's History of Wayne County, Ohio, p. 167; also Colonel Henry Bouquet's Journal in Bouquet's Expedition against the Ohio Indians. For best map, see Hutchins's map in same volume.
East and West Trails, No. 4.
Name: Scioto-Beaver Trail.
Termini: Scioto valley and Pennsylvania frontier.
Route: Crossed the watershed at the head of the Hockhocking river from the Shawanese village "Lower Shawnee Town" to the Tuscarawas valley near the Delaware capital near Coshocton—took to the watershed between the Tuscarawas and Ohio, and met the Great Trail at "Painted Post" (near Bouquet's camp No. 8). Connected on Tuscarawas with trails leading north and south.
Remarks: Next in importance in the West to the Great Trail; the main thoroughfare from the country of the Shawanese to the country of the Delawares and eastward. An extension led on into the country of the Miamis. Traversed by Christopher Gist on his mission for the Ohio Company to the Ohio country, see Gist's Journals, p. 35 et seq. For best map, see map with Pownall's Middle British Colonies in North America, 1776.
East and West Trails, No. 5.
Name: Scioto-Monongahela Trail.
Termini: Scioto and Monongahela valleys.
Route: Crossed from Lower Shawnee Town directly eastward to the Muskingum valley. From "Big Rock" (near Roxbury, Ohio) the trail took a southernly course on the watershed between the Muskingum and Ohio to the mouth of the Little Kanawha (Belpre, Ohio). Crossing the Ohio here, the trail ran by way of Dry Ridge and Ten Mile creek into the Monongahela valley.
Remarks: One of the more important routes of war and trade in the West, connecting the Scioto country with the home of the "Long Knives." A branch trail undoubtedly struck the Muskingum at "Duncan's Falls" (Taylorsville, Ohio), from whence a slight trail led straight eastward to "Mingo Bottoms" (near Steubenville, Ohio). For notices, see Hildreth's Sketches of Pioneer History, pp. 204–206; also History of Morgan County, Ohio, pp. 42, 126.
North and South Trails, No. 1.
Name: The Venango Trail.
Termini: Fort Pitt and Fort Presque Isle (Erie, Pennsylvania).
Route: Took the watershed between the Allegheny and Beaver straight north to Fort Venango (Franklin, Pennsylvania). Ascended the Rivière aux Bœufs (French creek) to the portage between Presque Isle, which it crossed.
Remarks: The main landward route to Lake Erie from Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt. Connected the last of the line of French forts built from Quebec to the Ohio, forts Presque Isle (Erie, Pennsylvania), La Bœuf (Waterford, Pennsylvania), Venango or Machault (Franklin, Pennsylvania), and Duquesne (Pittsburg, Pennsylvania). For references, see Sanford's History of Erie County, Pennsylvania, p. 24, also, Pennsylvania Archives, second series, p. 720, and Post's Journal for July and August, 1758. For best map, see Hutchins's "A Map of the Country on the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers."
North and South Trails, No. 2.
Name: Cuyahoga-Muskingum Trail.
Termini: Lake Erie and Ohio river.
Route: Ascended Cuyahoga valley from mouth of Cuyahoga river, crossed the portage to the Tuscarawas and descended the Tuscarawas and Muskingum valleys.
Remarks: One of the important river trails in the West. The lower Muskingum valley was little used by the Indians and the path between the Licking (Zanesville, Ohio) and the Ohio river (Marietta, Ohio) was probably little used. Through the country of the Delawares, along the Tuscarawas, it was a very important thoroughfare. For map, see Hutchins's.
North and South Trails, No. 3.
Name: Scioto Trail.
Termini: Fort Sandusky, on Lake Erie, and Virginia and Kentucky.
Route: Ascended the Sandusky valley and descended the Scioto valley to the Ohio. Principal thoroughfare of the Shawanese country, and a war and trade path southward and east. An important branch took the highland watershed between the Scioto and Hockhocking rivers and crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, which it ascended into Virginia. The main trail continued straight south through Kentucky to Cumberland Gap.
Remarks: One of the most important trails, both in peace and in war, in the West. The main route for the Sandusky-Virginian fur trade. The old-time "war path" through the mountains to the Cherokee country of the south. Main route of invasions on Kentucky and for the invasions of the Indian country from Kentucky during the Revolutionary War. Connected all the Shawanese villages from the mouth of the Scioto to the valley of the Sandusky. For best map in Kentucky, see Filson's map; in Ohio, Pownall's, in Middle British Colonies.
North and South Trails, No. 4.
Name: Miami Trail.
Termini: The Miami valley and Virginia and Kentucky.
Route: Various branches north of the Ohio, from the valley of the Little Miami and Great Miami, converged on the Ohio and crossed near the mouth of the Licking river. Ran through Licking and Kentucky river valleys to watershed between the Green and Cumberland rivers. Branch took to watershed south of the Green river through the Cumberland mountains into the country of the Cherokees. Another branch joined the Scioto trail ("Warriors' Path") through Cumberland Gap.
Remarks: The route from the country of the Miamis southward to Kentucky and the Cherokees' country. Indian war path and route of many of the invasions from each side of the Ohio during the Revolutionary War. For map, see Filson's.
North and South Trails, No. 5.
Name: Fort Miami Trail.
Termini: Lower Shawnee Town and Fort Miami on the Maumee river.
Route: Crossed in a northwest course on watershed between Scioto and the Little and Great Miami to the valley of the Maumee ("Miami-of-the-Lakes").
Remarks: Highway to the northwest, lakes Michigan and Superior. For best map, see Hutchins's map of 1764.
↑Map with Pownall's Middle British Colonies in North America, 1776.
↑"The map of Ohio, and its Branches, as well as the Passes through the Mountains Westward, is laid down by the Information of Traders and others who have resided there, and travelled them for many years together."—Darlington's Journals of Christopher Gist, p. 271.
↑For list of early maps see Baldwin's Early Maps of Ohio and the West in Western Reserve and Northern Ohio Historical Society publications, Tract No. 25; also appended list of maps in possession of the Society.
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