Originally published, New York : McGraw-Hill, 1973.
Reprinted 2001.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 271-276) and index.
"The heavily traveled Great Wagon Road was the primary route for the early settlement of the Southern United States, particularly the "backcountry". Although a wide variety of settlers traveled southward on the road, two dominant cultures emerged. The German Palatines and Scotch-Irish American immigrants arrived in huge numbers because of unendurable conditions in Europe... Beginning at the port of Philadelphia, where many immigrants entered the colonies, the Great Wagon Road passed through the towns of Lancaster and York in southeastern Pennsylvania. Turning southwest, the road crossed the Potomac River and entered the Shenandoah Valley near present-day Martinsburg, West Virginia. It continued south in the valley via the Great Warriors' Trail (also called the Indian Road), which was established by centuries of Indian travel over ancient trails created by migrating buffalo herds. The Shenandoah portion of the road is also known as the Valley Pike. The Treaty of Lancaster in 1744 had established colonists' rights to settle along the Indian Road. Although traffic on the road increased dramatically after 1744, it was reduced to a trickle during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War) from 1756 to 1763. But after the war ended, it was said to be the most heavily traveled main road in America. South of the Shenandoah Valley, the road reached the Roanoke River at the town of Big Lick (today, Roanoke). South of Roanoke, the Great Wagon Road was also called the Carolina Road. At Roanoke, a road forked southwest, leading into the upper New River Valley and on to the Holston River in the upper Tennessee Valley. From there, the Wilderness Road led into Kentucky, ending at the Ohio River where flatboats were available for further travel into the Midwest and even to New Orleans. From Big Lick/Roanoke, after 1748, the Great Wagon Road passed through the Maggoty Gap (also called Maggodee) to the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Continuing south through the Piedmont region, it passed through the present-day North Carolina towns of Winston-Salem, Salisbury, and Charlotte and sites of earlier Indian settlements on the historic Indian Trading Path. The Great Wagon Road ultimately reached Augusta, Georgia, on the Savannah River, a distance of more than 800 miles (1,300 km) from Philadelphia." [wikipedia]
Contents
Chapters: pt. 1. The Appalachian warriors' path. The search for Eldorado -- War among the Iroquois -- pt. 2. The Philadelphia wagon road. Germans in Pennsylvania -- Enter the Scotch-Irish -- A Moravian journey to Carolina -- Along the way South -- Presbyterians in a new land -- Mapping the great mountains -- Bethabara and New Salem -- The threat from the French -- Life in the Appalachians -- pt. 3. The wilderness trail. The wagon road turns West -- The saga of Castle's Woods -- Apostle of the frontier -- pt. 4. A frontier in danger. Andrew Jackson of the Waxhaws -- The exodus of the Quakers -- "The Old Wagoner" against the king -- Conestoga's gift -- Hospitality, North and South -- The spirit of Luther -- In the cabins along the road -- Tuckahoe versus Cohee -- pt. 5. Division and reunion. Stagecoaches and turnpikes -- Great days of the horse -- The Cherokees go West -- The day Doctor Junkin drove North -- Hot heads and cold bodies -- A road is reunited.
